After Republican members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) urged seven schools in the country to do so, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT) has terminated its agreement with the China Scholarship Council (CSC), an organization affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education.
In their request letter, committee members noted security risks with this and similar programs allowing foreign students to work on federally funded government projects, calling the program a “nefarious mechanism” to steal technology for the Chinese government.
Though described as merely a study abroad program, Committee Chair U.S. Rep. John Moolenar stated the program was in reality, “a CCP-managed technology transfer effort that exploits U.S. institutions and directly supports China’s military and scientific growth.”
