House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar have requested that Harvard University President Alan Garber provide all documents, agreements, and financial records regarding the university’s connections with entities associated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government or the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The request follows statements from several whistleblowers who allege that Harvard has maintained formal relationships with CCP organizations. According to these whistleblowers, there are links between Harvard and the Central Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CCP, as well as other Chinese government entities. The information also points to efforts by Harvard to develop relationships with high-ranking CCP members.
Stefanik has previously called for more transparency from Harvard about its interactions with Chinese government-linked groups. In May, she asked for information on collaborations between Harvard faculty and CCP-related organizations.
In a letter sent by Stefanik and Moolenaar, they wrote, “The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the Committee on Education and Workforce have identified new evidence related to Harvard University’s (“Harvard”) connections to the Chinese Communist Party and request additional information.”
They continued, “During our investigation, multiple whistleblowers told us that Harvard has maintained close, formal relationships directly with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities. Specifically, whistleblower information revealed ties between Harvard and the Central Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CCP (“CCP Organization Department”), as well as certain Chinese government entities. The CCP Organization Department is one of the most powerful bodies within the Communist Party; it is responsible for the regimented training program centered on “Xi Jinping Thought” provided to the Party elites and controls the placement of CCP members in key leadership positions. The whistleblowers also revealed that Harvard cultivates ties with elite CCP members.”
The lawmakers added details about a specific partnership: “For example, whistleblowers revealed that the Harvard Kennedy School hosts a formal partnership with the Chinese Executive Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP), which is controlled by the CCP Organization Department. Under that partnership, the rising CCP elite who are being prepared for senior Communist Party leadership positions participate in training at Harvard in the United States. Additional publicly available information indicates that some of these relationships have been in place for at least a decade. In 2016, a high-ranking member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences stated that Chinese “party and government cadres” participate in “education and training” run by the CCP Organization Department. The Chinese government “sends some cadres abroad” to “the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.””
Their letter further requests documentation: “We, therefore, request the following additional documents for the period from January 1, 2015, through the date of this letter by no later than August 7, 2025:
All documents related to any engagement, partnership, or other formal or informal collaboration between Harvard (all schools) and any entity(ies) subordinate to or controlled or directed by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) government or the CCP.
A list in native Microsoft Excel format of all monies and non-monetary benefits received from any entity(ies) subordinate to or controlled or directed by the PRC government or the CCP, including but not limited to any ministries, commissions, agencies, branches, subdivisions, state-owned enterprises, affiliated research institutions, universities, military or paramilitary bodies, regional or local government entities, subsidiaries, affiliates, instrumentalities, agents, intermediaries or representatives thereof.”
Elise Stefanik represents New York’s 21st district in Congress since 2015 after replacing Bill Owens (https://stefanik.house.gov/2025/7/stefanik-moolenaar-demand-harvard-s-full-disclosure-of-financial-institutional-ties-to-chinese-communist-party). She was born in Albany in 1984 and currently lives in Schuylerville. Stefanik graduated from Harvard University.
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