House Republicans passed a bill preventing the DHS from funding schools with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

From The Epoch Times. The House passed a bill to reduce Chinese influence in American universities on Sept. 10, the second day of “China Week,” a week the House Republican leadership designated to push through a package of China-related legislation. …

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The bill introduced by August Pfluger (R-Texas) prevents schools that partner with Confucius Institutes (CI), a Chinese influence program under the guise of language teaching, or receiving Chinese-based funding, from obtaining Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants.

The bill’s Senate version is currently with the committee of jurisdiction.

Any universities that host Confucius Institutes are already banned from receiving funding from the Department of Defense, and Pfluger said on the House floor that the DHS should follow suit. …

Confucius Institutes are funded by the CCP, which picks and pays for textbooks and selects and pays Chinese nationals who come to the United States to teach Chinese language, culture, and history.

A 2018 report by the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission said the institutes had “longstanding and formal ties” to the CCP’s United Front Work Department, an agency responsible for coordinating its influence operations.

A 2022 report revealed that although the institutes went through massive closure in the United States in 2020 and 2021 after the State Department designated the Confucius Institute U.S. Center (CIUS) as a Chinese foreign mission, a significant portion of them re-branded under similar programs. …

The bill passed later in the afternoon with a vote of 249–161, with most representatives voting on party lines. Thirty-six Democrats voted for the bill.

The amended version narrowed down the definition of Chinese entities of concern to those that assist the persecution of Uyghur Muslims, work against U.S.–Taiwan relations, or take part in the Thousand Talents Program, a Chinese initiative to attract talent with critical military technology.

Only the recipient of funding from these Chinese entities of concern will disqualify an American higher education institution from receiving DHS funding.

The amended version also requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to report to Congress any colleges among DHS grant recipients that work with a Confucius Institute or Chinese entity of concern. …

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(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: Arthur Wang on Unsplash)