A senior member of the US Congress on Thursday called for an investigation into deals that US universities are striking with China, amid fears that such tie-ups are compromising academic freedom.
Christopher Smith, who sits on the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, voiced concern that Beijing-backed “Confucius Institutes” are muting criticism of China’s communist authorities.
“Is American higher education for sale?” asked Smith, who also co-chairs the Congressional-Executive Committee on China.
“And if so, are US colleges and universities undermining the principle of academic freedom — and in the process their credibility — in exchange for China’s education dollars?” he asked.
Since 2004, nearly 100 Confucius Institutes have opened on US campuses to promote Chinese language, society and culture. Most are situated at publicly funded state universities that have otherwise been wrestling with budget cutbacks.
Smith told a hearing on the issue that he will be asking the Government Accountability Office, the independent research unit of the US Congress, to look into the matter.
“We need to look at whether these issues can be handled by the universities, their faculties and trustees themselves or if there is something the US Congress must do to ensure academic freedom is protected,” he said.
Perry Link of the University of California in Riverside, who is one of the US’ best-known sinologists, said Beijing uses Confucius Institutes as an “anodyne approach” to gain a foothold in the US’ higher education.
The teachers that China sends to staff such programs are hand-picked to present the official version of Chinese history and society, he said.
US college administrators who accept Chinese funding implicitly understand that discussions of sensitive issues — such as Taiwan, Tibet and the Tiananmen Square Massacre — are to be avoided, he said.
“Money-induced self-censorship prevents even the suggestion of such topics. American students are presented a roseate cameo of China and told that this is the whole,” he said in written testimony to the foreign affairs committee.
Thomas Cushman of Wellesley College in Massachusetts said China’s quest for formal ties with US colleges was part of a “soft-power” strategy to attain more influence in the West.
He said US colleges have “a moral imperative” to ensure that the benefits of relations with Chinese counterparts do not sideline freedom of expression.
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
INDUSTRIAL CLUSTER: In Germany, the sector would be developed around Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s plant, and extend to Poland and the Czech Republic The Executive Yuan’s economic diplomacy task force has approved programs aimed at bolstering the nation’s chip diplomacy with Japan and European nations. The task force in its first meeting had its operational mechanism and organizational structure confirmed, with Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) the convener, and Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Minister Without Portfolio Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) the deputy conveners. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) would be the convener of the task force’s strategy group in charge of policy planning for economic diplomacy. The meeting was attended by the heads of the National Development Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the
RSS