US university ‘over-thinking’ by rejecting funds

A US university’s rejection of funds from a Hong Kong-based foundation over its alleged links to China’s Communist Party resulted from “over-thinking” and reflected waning American confidence, a Chinese expert said Monday.

The University of Texas was rejecting the China United States Exchange Foundation for its links to the Communist Party of China (CPC), according to an opinion article published in the Washington Post on Sunday.

A foundation spokesperson was quoted as saying that the foundation was not an agent of the Chinese government and was supported by private donors who believe a positive Sino-US relationship “is essential for global well-being.”

The US was “over-thinking” by regarding all Chinese foundations operating in the US as government agencies, said Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University.

Many Chinese foundations in the US have been observing local customs, complying with local laws and enriching the US melting pot of cultures, he said.

The latest rejection is not an isolate incident challenging China’s influence. Confucius Institute have also come under tight scrutiny and in some cases have been closed at US host universities over concerns of rising Chinese influence.

“If we apply the US standard in viewing these US organizations in China, and politicize and even demonize their activities, there will be no healthy exchanges between the two sides at all,” he said.

The article singled out foundation leader Tung Chee-hwa, vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), explaining that it cooperates with the CPC United Front Work Department on China’s influence operations abroad.

US schools must have a messedup concept of the CPPCC and mistakenly equate it with the US Congress, Li said. There are plenty of CPPCC members who are also entrepreneurs running private firms with no government support and they are not necessarily official government mouthpieces, he noted.