The University of Texas at Austin has rejected funding from a Hong Kong-based foundation given concerns over its ties to an arm of the Chinese Communist Party tasked with garnering influence in foreign universities.
The university’s decision not to accept money from the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), headed by the former chief executive of Hong Kong, Tung Chee-hwa, came after a months-long investigation and intervention by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), the Washington Post reported on Monday.
Cruz warned in a letter to UT-Austin president Gregory Fenves earlier this month that accepting funds from CUSEF, which he described as a “pseudo-philanthropic foundation,” could compromise the credibility and independence of the university.
Cruz noted that Tung serves as the vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body that operates closely with the communist party’s “united front organization” on China’s international influence campaigns.
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