The totalitarian Chinese regime does everything it can to spread propaganda about itself and stifle criticism. Those efforts extend to higher education in the U.S.

In today’s Martin Center article, Harrington Shaw looks at the malign influence of Chinese front organizations, particularly Chinese Students and Scholars Associations (CCSAs).

He writes, “The Chinese government, through its embassies and consulates in the United States, has sought to suppress free speech among visiting Chinese students, fund political action surreptitiously, influence public perception of China, and gain access to ongoing research and protected intellectual property.”

The CCSA chapters have an innocuous official mission of helping Chinese students while they’re in the U.S., but in fact, they’re active in spreading official Chinese lines and suppressing those who say anything in opposition.

Shaw relates this disturbing instance:

CSSA-related political tension came to a head at Duke University in 2008 when Grace Wang, a Chinese student, attempted to facilitate open conversation between Chinese and Tibetan students at a campus protest. After being shouted down and escorted away by campus security, Wang checked the Duke CSSA website, where she saw organization officers “gloating” about the turmoil. After responding with a call for civil discussion, she found the website flooded with pictures of her labeled “traitor,” as well as her Chinese parents’ state ID numbers. She then learned that her parents were receiving death threats and being harassed at their home in China. Her diploma was subsequently revoked by her Chinese high school.

Shaw also notes that when he sought to find out more on the CCSA chapters at six UNC schools, he received no useful information.

He concludes, “Our leaders must become more aware of how our institutions are being influenced so that we can ensure the freedom and safety of our international students, foster an intellectually open environment on campus, and allow our higher-education institutions to serve their purpose as places of open inquiry and drivers of freedom and opportunity.”