A student organization at Columbia University is promoting a student foreign exchange trip to China sponsored by a group allegedly linked to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence operation.
In a letter sent Tuesday to acting Columbia University President Claire Shipman, Republican Rep. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, called on the Ivy League school to cut ties with the program. The so-called “China Trek” is co-sponsored by the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), which Moolenaar said has been linked to the CCP’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), the regime’s vast influence and intelligence apparatus.
“As the Select Committee and U.S. intelligence officials have warned in the past, CUSEF is an instrument of the CCP’s approach to political warfare, including influence operations intended to shape Americans’ views toward the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government,” Moolenaar wrote. “In the interest of protecting students and the integrity of Columbia University’s programs, I urge you to immediately terminate any ties that the university or its student groups have with CUSEF and commit to a rigorous review of student groups’ foreign funding and partnerships going forward.”
The UFWD conducts a “blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations that the [CCP] uses to shape its political environment, including to influence other countries’ policy toward the PRC and to gain access to advanced foreign technology,” according to the House Select Committee on the CCP.
The application form for the “China Trek,” open exclusively to Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs students, notes that “CUSEF will cover transportation, board, and lodging expenses,” according to the letter.
The letter cited a 2021 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, during which CUSEF was identified as “a united front-linked organization that advances Chinese Communist Party interests.” Moolenaar also noted that CUSEF is guided by officials in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a United Front forum designed to advance CCP objectives both inside the PRC and abroad through a combination of overt and covert political activities.
The congressman also raised concerns about the school’s Greater China Initiative (GCI), an officially recognized student group organizing the exchange program.
“The fact that the exchange program with CUSEF was organized by a student group described as ‘active in generating programming’ for the school and ‘most closely affiliated with the Institute’ also raises serious questions about the university’s policies on student group recognition,” Moolenaar wrote.
“Columbia should not recognize or promote student groups that accept foreign funding or form partnerships with a foreign agent known to be engaging in malign influence operations.”
Columbia University declined to comment to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
This is not the first time the university has faced scrutiny over CCP-linked programs. In 2024, the All-China Youth Federation, another group affiliated with the UFWD, attempted to recruit students at the New York City university for a trip to China, the National Review reported.
Other Ivy League schools have also come under scrutiny for ties to the Chinese government.
The House Select Committee in May sent a letter to Harvard alleging it had “repeatedly hosted and trained members of a CCP paramilitary organization” implementing “the CCP’s genocide against the Uyghurs.”
Additionally, Harvard’s 2025 commencement speaker, “Luanna” Yurong Jiang, worked for a CCP entity with extensive ties to Beijing’s military and intelligence networks, a DCNF investigation discovered in June.
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