In Epic Speech, Rep. Mike Gallagher Demands That Universities Quell Chinese Influence

With China occupying the news in myriad ways, one aspect that’s underreported is the country’s nefarious influence on America’s college campuses.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), a subject matter expert and political thought leader, recently testified before the “Universities and Technical Colleges Committee” in his state to outline steps that we can take to protect ourselves from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s ill intentions.

The 37-year-old former Marine with a Ph.D. in international relations covered extensive ground and unleashed vital information about the dangers of universities’ dependence on China.

Step 3: Defund communist genocide by prohibiting American universities from partnering with Chinese researchers and technology companies that, by nature of China’s military-civil fusion, fund crimes against Uyghurs. pic.twitter.com/xWCRUo4eH4

— Rep. Gallagher Press Office (@RepGallagher) October 26, 2021

Gallagher explained how China has a “holistic vision of national power” that combines military and commercial technology into “military-civil fusion,” where any private innovation can be co-opted by the CCP.

“Despite this, many American technology companies, universities, and many investors continue to partner with Chinese researchers and technology companies under the auspices they’re working on civilian non-threatening technologies,” Gallagher said.

This naïveté is debunked by China’s recent nuclear-capable hypersonic weapon test, as their missile program benefited from access to American semiconductor technology.

Even left-leaning Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said this week that China’s test was “very concerning” and combating the CCP is our “biggest geo-strategic challenge.”

The popular third-term congressman also hopes to defund China’s ongoing genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province by prohibiting our universities from partnering with Chinese researchers and technology companies that fund such crimes against humanity.

Related: Does Biden Administration Value Human Rights in China or Climate Change Agenda?

University dependence on the CCP as a source of revenue needs to end, Gallagher argued, by “preventing dark foreign money from corrupting our campuses.”

Using money as leverage, he said Beijing works through proxies, which “inevitably leads those entities to lobby against tough-on-China policies.”

Confucius Institutes at U.S. colleges are another troubling situation. They sit on more than 100 college campuses, receiving over $150 million from Chairman Xi’s regime. Gallagher wants schools to “commit to full transparency” on their foreign funding sources, which recent investigations report are cumulatively over $5 billion.

“Until American universities come clean and end these dependencies, they’ll feel compelled to stay within the CCP’s good graces,” he claimed.

But earlier this year, the Biden administration and congressional Democrats inexplicably scrapped a Trump-era proposal that required universities to disclose their foreign monetary ties, including to China.

“It’s time to choose,” Gallagher summarized. “American universities can side with our country or with the communist regime. The five steps I’ve outlined are a start, but they all rest on the assumption that American universities are still committed to intellectual freedom.”