An undated photo of Congressman Moolenaar addressing an audience at an event. (Taken from his Facebook)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — May 19, 2025 — Prominent House lawmakers are demanding answers from Harvard University over its reported collaborations with Chinese military institutions and a U.S.-sanctioned paramilitary group tied to the mass detention of Uyghur Muslims.
The university is accused of training members of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC)—a key entity in China’s surveillance and internment system in Xinjiang—and partnering with Chinese military-linked universities on research funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.
“Harvard-trained members of a sanctioned Chinese paramilitary group involved in genocide, along with researchers partnering with Chinese military universities on Department of Defense-funded projects and those funded by the Iranian regime, represent a disturbing and ongoing threat,” said House Select Committee on the CCP Chairman John Moolenaarin a statement posted on X. “These activities put U.S. national security at risk, and our investigation will expose the truth and hold Harvard accountable to the American people.”
In a letter sent Monday by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the Education and Workforce Committee, and GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, lawmakers cited multiple troubling affiliations. These include research collaborations with institutions tied to the People’s Liberation Army, projects funded by the Iranian government, and controversial organ transplantation studies involving Chinese partners, amid mounting evidence of forced organ harvesting targeting prisoners of conscience.
“No American university or college should be assisting the CCP in expanding its influence, oppressing American citizens, or undermining U.S. national security,” said Chairman Tim Walberg. “Harvard helped train members of a group directly complicit in genocide. This is unacceptable, and President Garber must answer for it.”
“Harvard must be held accountable,” added Chairwoman Stefanik. “We must ensure that no U.S. institution aids the CCP’s military buildup or the Iranian regime’s ambitions—especially under the guise of academic collaboration.”
Lawmakers have requested internal documents and testimony from university officials, including Professor Winnie Yip or Ye Zhimin (叶志敏 in Chinese), and set a deadline of June 2 for compliance.
This scrutiny is underscored by the 2021 U.S. government recognition that the Chinese Communist Party’s actions against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang constitute genocide and crimes against humanity. With over one million Uyghurs reportedly detained and subjected to forced labor, sterilizations, and cultural erasure, any perceived complicity with such regimes carries serious implications.
The inquiry adds to Harvard’s mounting crises, including scrutiny over antisemitism on campus, donor backlash, and unstable leadership—now compounded by allegations of enabling foreign regimes accused of gross human rights violations.
