Press Releases

Today, Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) applauded Eastern Michigan University’s decision to end its partnerships with two Chinese universities tied to the Chinese military and national security apparatus.

In February, Chairman Walberg and Chairman Moolenaar urged EMU leadership to sever ties with Beibu Gulf University and Guangxi University. Beibu’s Maritime College has trained students as wartime reserve forces—contributing directly to China’s military posture in the South China Sea—while Guangxi University has supported key national defense initiatives of the People’s Republic of China.

Following the letter from the committees outlining national security risks, EMU confirmed it has cut ties with both institutions.

"EMU’s decision to end its partnerships with these Chinese Communist Party-controlled schools is a strong first step to protecting American national security," said Chairman Walberg. "For years, the CCP has worked behind the scenes to infiltrate our higher education system to indoctrinate American students and undermine our interests. Other schools must follow suit and end their dangerous partnerships with Chinese schools that work hand-in-hand with the tyrannical CCP regime."

"I'm proud to see that Eastern Michigan University has ended their partnerships with these two Chinese universities," said Chairman Moolenaar. "University affiliations with CCP collaborators pose a direct threat to U.S. research and technology. The CCP is committed to exploiting our economic and national security and partnerships like these give them direct access to do so."

Eastern Michigan University now joins Oakland University and the University of Detroit Mercy in becoming the latest Michigan schools to end joint institutes with Chinese counterparts, following letters from the Education and Workforce Committee and the Select Committee.

The three Michigan universities become the fifth, sixth, and seventh schools to terminate such partnerships—following Georgia Institute of Technology; University of California, Berkley; University of Michigan; and University of Pittsburgh.

In a report released in September of 2024, titled “CCP on the Quad,” the two committees warned that Defense Department-funded research at U.S. universities was at risk of fueling China’s military advancements in areas including high-performance explosives, AI, drone networks, nuclear and high-energy physics, quantum technology, and hypersonics.

Additional information on the terminated partnerships at the three Michigan universities is available here.

 

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