Harvard, roiled by allegations of antisemitism following scores of pro-Palestinian protests earlier this year, is under scrutiny again by House Republicans for its handling of an anti-Chinese Communist Party demonstration in April.
Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, wrote a letter Monday to Harvard interim President Alan Garber seeking answers after students were forcibly removed by an unidentified individual during the April 20 event that featured a speech by Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S., at the Harvard Kennedy School.
"This incident raises serious questions regarding possible transnational repression by the Chinese government and the involvement of international students from China at Harvard in acts of harassment and intimidation condoned by the Chinese government against its critics," Moolenaar wrote. "This spring, a Boston court convicted and sentenced a former Berklee College of Music student from China for threatening and harassing a fellow Chinese student for posting pro-democracy fliers on campus.
"Repeated incidents involving some students from China infringing on their fellow students' freedom of expression also call into question whether our universities are doing enough to educate students about civil liberty and ensure students' safety for freedom of expression."
The event with Xie was organized by the Kennedy School's Greater China Society as part of its two-day Greater China Conference, The Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported. As Xie began to speak, six protesters affiliated with Students for a Free Tibet and Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP interrupted him by shouting and holding Tibetan flags and banners that criticized China.
Moolenaar, who earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard, wrote that during Xie's speech, Cosette Wu, a Harvard undergraduate student, shouted slogans in protest of China's human rights abuses. He wrote that an individual in a dark suit, whom Wu identified as a Harvard student from China, promptly dragged her out of the event.
"The video footage of Wu's forcible removal from the event has been widely circulated on the internet and elicited an uproar in the Chinese community in the United States," Moolenaar wrote. "The individual's actions appear to constitute assault and battery under Massachusetts law.
"Additionally, Tsering Yangchen, another Harvard student protester removed from the event after Wu, later told Voice of America that a student from China, who appeared to be one of the event organizers, approached her and asked for the names of protesters," he wrote. "That individual then followed her, causing her to feel scared."
Moolenaar wants Harvard to describe how it regulates "foreign government-backed student organizations" and whether it has used any federal funding to support such organizations. He also wants the university to answer whether the Greater China Society coordinates its activities with the Chinese government or the Chinese diplomatic missions.
He also wants Harvard to explain its oversight of the Greater China Society and the China Society, an organization that has ceased operations. He alleged before the China Society ceased operations, it was affiliated with the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, an organization that has been criticized for its ties to the CCP and efforts to censor anti-China dialogue on university campuses in the U.S. Moolenaar asked Harvard to describe any ties between the organizations.
Moolenaar's committee joins the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in investigating the university. In February, three members of Harvard's top leadership, including Garber, were subpoenaed by the Education and the Workforce Committee for their handling of campus antisemitism.
A Harvard spokesperson confirmed in an email to Newsmax the university received the letter but declined further comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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