Virginia government tells elite high school to ‘cut ties’ with Chinese government

The Virginia Schooling Division directed Fairfax County Public Colleges (FCPS) to “lower ties” with Chinese language government-linked entities after it was revealed by the Washington Examiner that certainly one of its elite excessive colleges had collaborated with a Chinese language military-linked group for years.

Virginia Secretary of Schooling Aimee Guidera despatched a letter to FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid on Wednesday, urgent the college system on revelations that Thomas Jefferson Excessive Faculty for Science and Know-how (TJHSST) and the TJHSST Partnership Fund have “accepted important monetary contributions from entities identified to have connections to the Chinese language Communist Social gathering.”

VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL WORKED WITH CHINESE MILITARY-LINKED ORG

The Virginia-based college partnered with Tsinghua College Excessive Faculty, or TUHS, to help it and China usually with adopting the science, know-how, engineering, and arithmetic, or STEM, and superior lab analysis. TUHS is intently tied to Tsinghua College, thought-about by the Pentagon to be a Chinese language navy college.

Guidera advised FCPS on Wednesday to “direct colleges inside your division to chop ties with CCP-linked companions” and mentioned she had requested her division to “examine the prevalence of such relationships between CCP-linked companions and native college divisions” throughout Virginia.

The Virginia schooling secretary mentioned the revelations that “a Virginia highschool accepted contributions from CCP-linked entities” have been “regarding, and warrant a response concerning the character of those funds.” Guidera advised FCPS to say precisely how a lot cash the TJ fund had acquired from the Chinese language entities and the way these funds have been used, and whether or not any of the Chinese language entities “supplied any steering, affect, or tutorial supplies associated to content material taught” at TJHSST.

Guidera additionally requested FCPS whether or not “any personal pupil data” or “any tutorial supplies, class schedules, and particular person efficiency or analysis indicators” have been supplied to the Chinese language entities.

The Virginia authorities inquiry comes following a Washington Examiner investigation into the saga.

The nonprofit group Mother and father Defending Schooling (PDE) helped unearth the Chinese language funding for TJHSST and had requested Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to analyze.

“We’re grateful that Gov. Youngkin and Secretary Guidera have taken swift steps to analyze the scope of this scandal — not solely at TJ, however all through the Commonwealth,” PDE President Nicole Neily mentioned. “This incident highlights the acute want for federal lawmakers to deal with this drawback going ahead, and to mandate disclosure of overseas funding to America’s Ok-12 colleges.”

FCPS lately tried to defend the association between TJHSST and the Chinese language entities. Julie Moult, the media relations supervisor for FCPS, advised the Washington Examiner final week that TJHSST is “world-renowned” and that “it’s not uncommon for elite public colleges, faculties, and universities within the U.S. to profit from donations and grants from varied sources, together with worldwide sources.”

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FCPS didn’t reply to a request for remark in regards to the new state-level investigation.

The TJPF acquired lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} from Tsinghua College as a part of its settlement with TUHS. The TJPF additionally acquired lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} from Ameson Schooling and Cultural Trade Basis, in addition to the Chinese language firm Shirble, which have been all led by males tied to China’s United Entrance Work Division, which manages Chinese language authorities overseas affect campaigns.