New Foreign Disclosure Policy in an Age of Opacity
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CounterCurrent: Week of 11/10
New Foreign Disclosure Policy in an Age of Opacity
CounterCurrent is the National Association of Scholars’ new weekly newsletter, bringing you the biggest issues in academia and our responses to them.
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Category: Accountability/Public Disclosure; Reading Time: ~2 minutes
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** Featured Article - NAS Comments on Proposed Foreign Disclosure Regulations ([link removed][UNIQID])
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The fact that foreign influence pervades higher education should come as no surprise; because colleges and universities matriculate many of tomorrow’s “movers and shakers,” it’s only natural that institutions attract significant international attention. To influence students is to shape the future of a nation. Externally-funded programs are not fundamentally malign, as they have the potential to facilitate a fruitful cultural exchange when implemented properly. However, if and when they are left unchecked, these same programs open the door for other countries to hold dangerous amounts of leverage in our domestic affairs. While the problem is certainly complex, one obvious response is to strengthen and enforce foreign gift disclosure regulations within higher education.
As the law exists currently, colleges and universities need only to report gifts that exceed $250,000 per calendar year from a single source. Neither the name of the donor nor the purpose of the gift are required in these foreign gift reports, rendering them meaningless as a check on foreign interference. It is alarming that an institution can receive over a quarter of a million dollars per year from a foreign donor and only be required to report the amount and country of origin.
These ineffectual regulations have caused a number of negative externalities for American higher education, particularly in the realm of academic espionage. In her report titled Outsourced to China ([link removed][UNIQID]&utm_source=National+Association+of+Scholars+General&utm_campaign=31099553ff-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_08_03_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_407924b2a9-31099553ff-42636925&mc_cid=31099553ff&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) , NAS Policy Director Rachelle Peterson exposes the malicious activity undergirding Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes, including student surveillance and historical whitewashing. The Department of Education discovered that Georgetown and Texas A&M both received gifts from Huawei and ZTE
([link removed][UNIQID]&utm_source=National+Association+of+Scholars+General&utm_campaign=31099553ff-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_08_03_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_407924b2a9-31099553ff-42636925&mc_cid=31099553ff&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) , Chinese tech firms long suspected of spying on users. It is clear that the existing law needs to be updated and expanded in order to properly monitor foreign influence in higher education.
The problem lies not only in the content of the law: enforcement of the meager regulations currently in place has been scant at best. For example, nearly 70% of colleges receiving Chinese-government funding for Confucius Institutes never reported their gifts ([link removed][UNIQID]&utm_source=National+Association+of+Scholars+General&utm_campaign=31099553ff-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_08_03_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_407924b2a9-31099553ff-42636925&mc_cid=31099553ff&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) to the Department of Education (ED). The same two universities listed above also received over $250 million undisclosed dollars from the nation of Qatar. Why? No one knows. We see that even gifts ten times the size of the established threshold can be kept secret by schools that simply neglect to report them; anyone who values national security or the financial self-reliance of higher education should find this wholly unacceptable. Once the law is changed, it needs to be enforced strictly in
order for foreign giving to be truly transparent.
Despite all of these worrying findings, there has been significant pushback. Several senators have taken concrete steps to close American Confucius Institutes, including Josh Hawley ([link removed][UNIQID]&utm_source=National+Association+of+Scholars+General&utm_campaign=31099553ff-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_08_03_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_407924b2a9-31099553ff-42636925&mc_cid=31099553ff&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) (R-MO) and Ted Cruz ([link removed][UNIQID]&utm_source=National+Association+of+Scholars+General&utm_campaign=31099553ff-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_08_03_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_407924b2a9-31099553ff-42636925&mc_cid=31099553ff&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) (R-TX). The NAS has sent detailed disclosure policy recommendations to the Department of Education ([link removed][UNIQID]) , which have received the attention of
Secretary Betsy Devos. In this week’s featured article ([link removed][UNIQID]&utm_source=National+Association+of+Scholars+General&utm_campaign=31099553ff-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_08_03_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_407924b2a9-31099553ff-42636925&mc_cid=31099553ff&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) , the NAS comments on recently proposed changes by the ED and encourages Congress to pass the updated legislation. Most notably, the new laws would lower the disclosure threshold to $50,000 and require institutions to report the name of the donor as well as the purpose of the gift. These changes would drastically increase foreign gift transparency and thereby identify potential threats to U.S. national security within higher education, assuming the law is enforced.
Until next week.
John David
Communications Associate
National Association of Scholars
P.S. Don’t forget to register ([link removed][UNIQID]) for tomorrow’s conference call as Rachelle Peterson breaks down the higher education plans of leading presidential candidates. Register here ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
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For more about foreign influence in higher education:
July 15, 2019
** U.S. Universities' Dangerous Lack of Foreign Gift Transparency ([link removed][UNIQID])
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Rachelle Peterson
Colleges often don't disclose gifts from foreign governments, even when legally required. What are they hiding?
August 5, 2019
** Senator Josh Hawley Takes Aim at Confucius Institutes ([link removed][UNIQID])
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Rachelle Peterson
A Missouri congressman asks colleges in his state to reconsider their arrangements with the Chinese government.
May 24, 2018
** NAS Applauds Ted Cruz's Stop Higher Education Espionage and Theft Act ([link removed][UNIQID])
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NAS
NAS is pleased to see the introduction of this new bill which provides further transparency of foreign governments' activities on American campuses.
March 1, 2019
** Criticizing Confucius Institutes ([link removed][UNIQID])
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NAS
Three new reports from the federal government and from the UK reiterate NAS’s concerns: Confucius Institutes need to go.
** About the NAS
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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.
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