The plagues upon higher education converge at Columbia

[link removed]

CounterCurrent: China Edition
Agents of Chaos at Columbia University
The plagues upon higher education converge at Columbia

View this email in your browser. ([link removed])
CounterCurrent: China Edition is a monthly newsletter of the National Association of Scholars uncovering and highlighting the effects of the Chinese Communist Party's influence on American education.
[link removed]
Category: China, Foreign Influence, Higher Education;
Reading Time: ~5 minutes
------------------------------------------------------------


** Agents of Chaos at Columbia University ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------


Sometimes the zeitgeist of a tumultuous era is concentrated in a single place. At the opening of this school year, Columbia University is managing to combine the blights of Chinese Communist influence, anti-Semitism, incompetent leadership, and intellectual disintegration by the first day of class. Columbia combines the worst aspects of higher education at one time and place. This whirlwind of incompetence and foreign influence provides revisionist powers such as Russia, China, and Iran the air to proclaim and act on their anti-American narratives.

In 2021, authorities in India began investigating ([link removed]) a media portal company called Newsclick over suspected money laundering and ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). When the company’s offices were searched, India discovered emails between Newsclick and the CCP, and alleged ([link removed]) that monies flowed to Newsclick from an American businessman and an alleged ([link removed]) Chinese influence agent named Neville Singham. India was concerned that China used ([link removed]) the
company to build a “media narrative” supportive of Beijing while the two nations fought ([link removed]) hand-to-hand battles in the Himalayas around the disputed territory of Ladakh and Tibet.

Last year, the Daily Beast reported that Singham funded ([link removed]) “International People’s Media Network” news agencies. The Daily Beast stated that the International People’s Media Network includes news outlets replete ([link removed]) with pro-Russian influencers from propaganda outlets like Radio Sputnik, and RT America. The media network was noted ([link removed]) as working with the think tank Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, run by Dr. Vijay Prashad, who has defended China’s treatment of the Uighurs. The Daily Beast reported ([link removed]) that Prashad and the pro-Russia and pro-China media outlets
met at East China Normal University to speak to representatives from Venezuela, Iran, and Russia to underscore a need to “challenge the predominance of U.S., Japanese, and European outlets.” Singham lives in Shanghai and ([link removed]) has worked for Huawei.

Back at Columbia University, the New York Post ran a story ([link removed]) late last month on Singham’s “cadre of operatives” at the college. According to the Post, Singham helped fund ([link removed]) several leftwing nonprofits after selling his company, ThoughtWorks, for $785 million in 2017. These groups included the communist group People’s Forum in Midtown, who helped organize ([link removed]) anti-Israel protests on campus following the Hamas attack on October 7. Individuals ([link removed]) tied to Columbia’s Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice were beneficiaries of this support.
Kairos’ “Poor People’s Campaign ([link removed]) ” is an academic center devoted ([link removed]) to “building a movement to end poverty, led by the poor.” The Post described Kairos as supporting the “People’s Church of the Poor,” which hosted ([link removed]) anti-Israel House member Cori Bush (D-MO).

The leftwing group, CODEPINK, was founded ([link removed]) by Singham’s wife ([link removed]) , Jodie Evans. CODEPINK’s website describes itself as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) ([link removed]) organization. While the IRS explicitly states ([link removed].) that such organizations are “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office,” CODEPINK happily recounts ([link removed]) its “disruption” of the 2016 Republican National Convention.
It was also part ([link removed]) of the “Women’s March” and “Pussy Hat Project” to protest the inauguration of President Trump.

The Jerusalem Post further found ([link removed]) that Singham and Evans connected groups such as the Shut it Down For Palestine Coalition, the Answer Coalition, the People’s Forum, and the International People’s Forum. At Columbia University in April, New York’s chapter of the People’s Forum and the Answer Coalition coordinated ([link removed]) the campus’ “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” Columbia’s protests were special, as the campus protestors not only commandeered the school’s Hamilton Hall, but also allegedly ([link removed]) mistreated the university’s custodial staff during the takeover. When the custodial staff’s union, the Transport Workers Union, confronted Columbia’s administration about th
e incident, it stated, “Columbia cannot be relied upon to protect their blue collar workers.” The irony writes itself.

The Oxford Dictionary defines ([link removed],'%20%2B%20Geist%20'spirit'.) “zeitgeist” as the “defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.” If the chaos at Columbia shows anything, it is that the emerging global conflict between the West and hostile powers like China, Russia, and Iran are not only connected, but that academia is part of a broader political strategy to undermine American social cohesion. The fact that Columbia’s committed Marxists are reliant upon the largesse of millionaires and empower protestors to intimidate real working people only highlights that irony and hypocrisy are oxygen to a movement that ultimately stands for nothing but power.

Few policymakers or media pundits are connecting the war in Gaza with the one in Ukraine, or with China's increasing influence within America's borders. Worse, American universities receive a free pass from the press and politicians for endangering the security of America and our allies. China is instrumental ([link removed]) to the sanctions-evading programs of Iran and Russia, and has benefited greatly from discounted oil in return. Iran has sent ballistic missiles ([link removed]) to Russia, supported ([link removed]) Hamas, and has backed ([link removed]) campus protests. And yet, American universities continue to accept payments from these regimes, partner with them, and host their “cultural centers” and
proxies. Our universities, particularly those deemed “Ivy League,” should know better. Originally founded as King’s College in 1754, Columbia’s history ([link removed]'s%20King%20George%20II.) includes figures such as John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence—Robert Livingston. Columbia University lost wisdom long ago, and whatever role it played in the country’s founding, it is now involved in the country’s undoing.

Until next week.

Ian Oxnevad

Senior Fellow for Foreign Affairs and Security Studies
National Association of Scholars
Read the Article ([link removed])
For more on foreign influence, current news, and higher ed:
[link removed]

September 12, 2024


** How the Modern Law School Promotes Political Division and “Lawfare” ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew G. Andersson

“Lawfare” involves manipulating the judiciary to distort its normal functions, disadvantage opposing parties, or even undermine legislation and constitutional principles.

[link removed]

September 10, 2024


** Biden’s Indifference to Foreign Influence is Affecting the Education Department Too ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Neetu Arnold

There are a host of shady dealings between President Joe Biden and foreign interests—at least according to a 300-page impeachment report released by the House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees on August 19.

[link removed]

June 15, 2022


** Report: After Confucius Institutes ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Rachelle Peterson, Ian Oxnevad, and Flora Yan

This report documents the new ways in which the Chinese government exerts undue influence on American colleges and universities.


** About the NAS
------------------------------------------------------------
The National Association of Scholars, founded in 1987, emboldens reasoned scholarship and propels civil debate. We’re the leading organization of scholars and citizens committed to higher education as the catalyst of American freedom.

============================================================
Follow NAS on social media.
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Donate ([link removed])
| ** Join ([link removed])
| ** Renew ([link removed])
| ** Bookstore ([link removed])
Copyright © 2024 National Association of Scholars, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website, membership or donation forms, contact forms at events, or by signing open letters.

Our mailing address is:
National Association of Scholars
13 West 36th Street
4th Floor
New York, NY 10018-7138
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.