EMU president reaffirms commitment to ‘protecting U.S. national security’
Eastern Michigan University is cutting ties with two Chinese universities following national security concerns from Republican lawmakers.
The school is ending its engineering teaching partnerships with Guangxi University and with Beibu Gulf University, according to a Wednesday news release from EMU.
The decision came in response to a February letter from Michigan Representatives John Moolenaar and Tim Walberg, urging EMU, along with Oakland University and the University of Detroit Mercy, to end their partnerships with Chinese universities.
EMU President James Smith sent a letter to the congressmen May 28 announcing the decision and reaffirming the school’s commitment to “protecting U.S. national security.”
“We are proud of our longstanding designation by the U.S. National Security Agency as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance and Cyber Defense education. EMU fully complies with U.S. foreign disclosure requirements,” Smith stated.
“EMU’s teaching partnership with GU does not currently enroll any students and we are working with our partner to dissolve the program. After careful review, we have also elected to terminate our teaching partnership with BGU,” he stated.
Smith also stated the school is “working with BGU to ensure that the students who are currently enrolled in the program are able to complete their academic studies in an orderly manner.”
The president clarified that both partnerships were solely dedicated to educational instruction, with no involvement in cybersecurity training or research and technology transfer.
The letter from Moolenaar and Walberg stated that the universities partnerships with the People’s Republic of China threaten the credibility of U.S. research, expose sensitive technologies to exploitation, and jeopardize taxpayer funds aimed at bolstering America’s technological and defense strengths.
Earlier this year, Oakland University and the University of Detroit Mercy agreed to cut ties with Chinese universities in response to the letter, Higher Ed Dive reported.
Moolenaar and Walberg recently voiced similar concerns in a letter to the University of California System and the State University of New York about the influence of the communist country on these public institutions, The College Fix reported.
The letter “urged the university systems to work to ensure that innovation developed by American small businesses stays out of the hands of our foreign adversaries.”
In a related move in January, the University of Michigan terminated its two-decade partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, citing a “recent report” led by Rep. Moolenaar, The Fix reported.
Five former UMich students who came through the Shanghai Jiao Tong University partnership had been accused of lying to federal authorities about hanging out near a military base in Michigan.
MORE: Chinese UMich student who illegally voted has fled the country
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: EMU building; Eastern Michigan University/Youtube
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