Secretary of State Marco Rubio has formally recommended that the Treasury Department launch an investigation into reports that Harvard University hosted officials from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-affiliated paramilitary organization sanctioned by the U.S. for human rights abuses. The New York Times initially reported on the alleged connection.
According to the NYT, officials from the XPCC, a group blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury in 2020 for its involvement in human rights abuses against China’s Uyghur ethnic minority, have reportedly attended the “Training Course on Health Financing” conference.
This event has been held since 2019 by Harvard’s T.H. Chan School for Public Health in collaboration with the World Bank and China’s National Health Insurance Administration.
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The Treasury Department’s 2020 press release, issued during the Biden administration, described the XPCC as “a paramilitary organization in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) that is subordinate to the CCP.” The release further stated that the XPCC “enhances internal control over the region by advancing China’s vision of economic development in XUAR that emphasizes subordination to central planning and resource extraction.”
The health insurance conference is part of Harvard’s broader “Harvard China Health Partnership,” an initiative described on the school’s website as “a school-wide initiative dedicated to advancing scholarship on China’s health system, evaluating and designing health policy interventions, and improving health care in China.” Attendance at these events has at times exceeded 200 individuals.
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The New York Times reportedly discovered an archived Harvard webpage featuring photos of the event with Chinese script, which indicated the XPCC’s involvement. However, since the U.S. sanctions were imposed on the state-run enterprise, Harvard has reportedly removed any references to the XPCC from its website.
This recommendation for an investigation comes amidst heightened scrutiny of Chinese influence within U.S. institutions and follows recent controversies involving Harvard University. In May, a Harvard student commencement speaker was found to have alleged ties to the CCP, and the university has been a focal point in the ongoing debate surrounding foreign student policies.
The Treasury Department has yet to publicly comment on whether it will pursue an investigation based on Secretary Rubio’s recommendation.
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