Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, and House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg have sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In the letter, they request that the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) be designated as a foreign mission of China’s government.
This designation would require CSSA chapters to notify the State Department in advance of meetings with local governments and universities. It would also mean that prior approval from the department is needed for public events in the United States.
“We are writing to express our grave concerns that the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) is advancing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) interests on U.S. campuses, raising serious foreign policy and national security risks—particularly given that it remains insufficiently regulated and has not been designated as a foreign mission of the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” the lawmakers state in their letter.
They continue: “The Foreign Missions Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1982 was designed not only to ensure reciprocity in treatment for U.S. diplomatic and consular missions abroad, but to also regulate the activities of foreign missions operating in the homeland and protect the U.S. public from abuses of privileges and immunities by members of those missions and ensure transparency. The challenges presented by the increased presence of missions of foreign adversary countries have grown in recent decades. None more so than from the CCP, which utilizes a wide variety of front organizations that it owns or controls to do its bidding through its United Front strategy.”
The lawmakers provide examples such as the Southwest Chinese Students and Scholars Association (SWCSSA), which covers 42 American universities. According to their letter: “For example, the constitution of the Southwest Chinese Students and Scholars Association (SWCSSA), a registered 501(c)(3) that covers 42 American universities, expressly indicates that it operates under the oversight of the Chinese consulate.Article 4 of the SWCSSA’s constitution expressly states that it ‘accepts the guidance of the People’s Republic of China Consulate-General in Los Angeles.’ Multiple CSSA branches on campuses advertise on their social media accounts that they are the only official association of Chinese students on their respective campuses recognized by their respective local consulates. This includes CSSA chapters at University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Washington, University of California Santa Barbara, among others. Additionally, the Chinese Embassy in United States controls activities of CSSA branches through approval of some leadership candidates. Also, requirement for membership in some CSSA branches includes what amount to loyalty pledges to Chinese government and its policy objectives,” according to their statement.
Copies of this letter were also sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party examines economic and security issues related to China while developing policy recommendations for Congress. The committee also proposes legislation aimed at improving U.S. competitiveness against China’s ruling party. As noted on its official website, it operates as a bipartisan body within the U.S. House.
