State Universities and Their Reckless Ties With China

Two new reports highlight more reckless canoodling with Asian communist superpower China by state universities in America. That these working relationships pose a clear national security threat to the United States is undeniable today, but that didn’t stop two governors last decade, one Democrat and one Republican, from doing all they could to welcome the bloody Beijing regime into the halls of higher education within their domains.

“The University of Washington (UW) had a longstanding relationship with Origincell, a Shanghai biotechnology company. The US Department of War designated Origincell a Chinese military company,” Strategy Risks, a global geopolitical risk analysis and consulting firm that specializes on China, reported Sept. 17.

The findings are alarming.

‘Tied to China’s Defense-Industrial System’

The research “uncovers concrete links between Origincell, UW, and institutions tied to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and China’s defense-industrial system,” Strategy Risks writes. “The report identifies a potential pathway through which sensitive, dual-use biotechnology and research know-how could move from a US university into China’s military-industrial ecosystem. The work involves a researcher supported by US government funding and a Chinese company already flagged by the [Department of War], raising questions about PLA ties at UW.”

If that sounds harrowing, wait until you hear what is going on at Michigan State University.

“MSU partners with the Communication University of China (CUC) through a dual-degree master’s program in International Digital Advertising,” as a second Strategy Risks report released on Sept. 16 reveals. “CUC describes itself as an important ‘base’ for Party propaganda and ideological work and has links to laboratories focused on public-opinion analysis and cognitive-domain research. MSU faculty and programs have also engaged with Chinese domestic and external propaganda officials and universities working in areas such as digital media, artificial intelligence, and information warfare.”

To put it bluntly: A state-funded American university is boosting China’s repressive domestic and military machinery.

“MSU has worked with Chinese universities that maintain close relationships with the Communist Party’s propaganda apparatus and provide training and institutional support to the People’s Liberation Army,” Strategy Risks CEO Isaac Stone Fish told Just the News in an interview.

To understand how all this began, one must examine the shockingly selfish commercial courting of the communist nation by these governors, which is now widely acknowledged to be the number one geopolitical threat to the US throughout most of the first two decades of this century.

Washington and Michigan featured two governors especially eager to woo Chinese business.

Jay Inslee Offers ‘Portfolio of Intellectual Talent’ to China

Jay Inslee served as Democrat governor of Washington from 2013-25. A former longtime US House member, Inslee achieved “rising star” status in the party as a progressive governor focused on climate change. His popularity crested with a failed campaign for the presidency in 2020.

But Inslee was also focused on something else during his time in the governor’s mansion in Olympia: doing everything possible to attract Chinese dollars to his state. Obvious national security pitfalls did not seem to deter him in the least.

“Because of our great growth in computer science, we now have biotechnology, bioinformatics, aerospace, rocketry, global health, video gaming. And what we’re finding we’re reaching critical mass where those industries are giving you a portfolio of intellectual talent that’s really unsurpassed,” Inslee told state-run Chinese television broadcaster CGTN in 2015 as he made his pitch to the nation’s corporations.

Inslee similarly welcomed China partnership with the University of Washington with open arms.

“In pursuit of solutions to some of the biggest global challenges, two of the world’s leading research universities, the University of Washington and Tsinghua University, are partnering to create the Global Innovation Exchange (GIX), an institute dedicated to educating the next generation of innovators,” UW announced in June 2015.

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“Based in a new facility in the Seattle area, this is the first time a Chinese research university has established a physical presence in the United States. GIX will open its doors in the fall of 2016 with an inaugural master’s degree in technology innovation, and will grow with additional degree and certificate programs and fields of study over the next decade,” the university boasted.

Inslee was quoted by UW praising the partnership.

“This is outstanding news for Washington and a result of our ongoing efforts to strengthen our unique and cutting-edge education and business relationships with China,” Inslee declared.

“Given our state’s close economic ties to China and our history of fostering innovative, forward-looking industries, the Puget Sound region is the perfect place for leading minds from around the world to collaborate on scientific and technical solutions to global challenges. GIX is a groundbreaking and unprecedented idea that will create new opportunities for the people of Washington, China and beyond.”

Rick Snyder: Eight Trips to China in Eight Years as Michigan Gov

Meanwhile, in Michigan, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder was every bit as all-in on bringing China to the Midwest.

“Gov. Rick Snyder is leaving Friday for an eight-day investment mission to China, his eighth trip as governor to Michigan's third-largest export market,” WKAR, Michigan State University’s NPR-affiliated radio station, reported in 2018.

Snyder served in office from 2011-2019, which means he averaged one trip to China per year during his tenure.

“Snyder says the value of building relationships with other countries ‘cannot be overstated.’ He says Michigan has seen more than 400 foreign direct investment projects since 2011, and Michigan this year ranks third in the US in the number of investment projects from China,” WKAR related.

“Michigan is among the most committed US states to building and maintaining a strong relationship with China,” Snyder exclaimed during his 2016 “China investment mission,” an ebullient press release from his office stated.

University partnerships were high on Snyder’s agenda.

“The Governor and Chinese officials signed a memorandum of understanding that encourages cooperation between the auto industry and universities in Michigan and China,” WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo reported of the 2016 trip.

All this snuggling up to China has led to potentially catastrophic national security consequences today. “The Chinese institutions collaborating with MSU... maintain active relationships with the [People’s Liberation Army] and military-affiliated research organizations, creating dual-use concerns regarding the use of knowledge and learning from an American university to the Chinese military,” Strategy Risks’ report on Michigan State ominously notes.

Politically ambitious governors seeking short-term economic gain to help keep them in office were easy pickings for Chinese manipulation. It’s no coincidence that both Inslee and Snyder served multiple terms in their respective states. The bill for their recklessness would come later.

“On the whole governors focus on trade and considerations with trade with China in a way that senators don’t need to. And so you’ll see a lot more United Front operations that engage governors and their staff than senators and their staff,” Strategy Risks CEO Stone Fish told Liberty Nation News in July.

America’s leading universities are helping an oppressive communist superpower develop cutting-edge technology and refine its control apparatus over its own people. This scandalous activity could not have been possible without the power and influence of shortsighted US governors along the way.