In January, the chair of the Harvard Chemistry Department was charged by the FBI for lying about his ties to China. This happened while the Harvard China relationship dates back 40 years which has played a role in the recent Harvard history.
In 1978, Howard H. Hiatt, the Dean of the School of Public Health at Harvard at the time wanted to explore the possibility of an institution-to-institution relationship with China.
Then Harvard’s relationship with the CCP continued to deepen. Starting in 1998, the CCP has been sending its selected officials to study at the Ash Center of the Harvard Kennedy School.
The China economy became the second largest in the world in 2010. With that comes the Chinese Communist Party’s increased influence.
Since 2013, hundreds of universities in America have received funding from the CCP and its affiliates totaling over 1 billion dollars, Harvard as the largest target has received about 100 million dollars.
But research capability seems to be the real factor in tipping the balance between Harvard and China. China’s research budget has been gradually catching up with the U.S. since 2008. And after decades of development, its universities are now considered important partners Harvard.
On top of that, since 2012, Harvard has received an increased number of Chinese students and scholars which it believes to be valuable to its research in the U.S. This includes an exchange program with the Harvard Medical School.
According to the Harvard Crimson, in 2015, Teng Biao, a visiting fellow at Harvard Law School, was asked to postpone an event where he and another Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng were scheduled to share their experiences. The reason was that the then Harvard president was supposed to meet with China’s Xi Jinping.
Teng’s case might be unique. When the current Harvard president Lawrence Bacow visited China in 2019, he brought up China’s human rights issue just before meeting with Xi Jinping. But this incident could open the door for self-censorship. And the likely consequence would be the loss of academic freedom. Besides, western Harvard faces a more imminent threat- espionage. The Harvard China history might be just a small piece of the broader U.S.–China relation.
0:00 Introduction
0:33 The Harvard Opportunity
2:02 “The Second Central Party School”
3:43 Tipping the Balance
5:47 The Powerful Person Who Cannot Be Named
7:38 Paying the Price
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We discuss world economy, history, and politics. Our main focus is U.S.-China relations. We make short documentaries and tell you the hidden stories.
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References:
Harvard chemistry chief’s arrest over China links shocks researchers https://go.nature.com/2ETyNxj
The End of the Harvard Century by The Harvard Crimson https://bit.ly/3a2BZCc
Jiang Addresses Harvard, America https://bit.ly/3ftdcbl
Thousands protest Jiang’s visit to Harvard https://cnn.it/2PB8oq9
China’s long history with Harvard https://bit.ly/31kSq8O
Harvard Leads U.S. Colleges That Received $1 Billion From China https://bloom.bg/30wMIlj
Harvard-Trained Communists Vie for Power as Party Gathers https://bloom.bg/3kbr0Lj
Why is Harvard training the next generation of Chinese Communist Party leaders https://bit.ly/3gtTZru
“New World Harvard Kennedy School Fellows Programme” https://bit.ly/3hZwSp4
Harvard’s president read a Uyghur poem to students at Peking University https://bit.ly/30q41Eg
About the Harvard-China Project https://bit.ly/3i6Xfcz
Harvard China Student https://bit.ly/30rjBzr
CCP’s Influence in Universities: Harvard | NTD https://bit.ly/3iadllE
West China Hospital is the epitome of the close cooperation between China and the US: CGTN https://bit.ly/39SWsJB
Closer to China: China’s Science and Technology III- Education, Evaluation, Integrity https://bit.ly/2DADM50
#US China Harvard
