bkmk
GOP lawmakers: Why did Chinese donations to University of Pennsylvania triple to $72M after Biden Center formed?
NOQ Report ^ | 01/28/2021 | Scott Boyd
fr Posted on 1/28/2021, 11:33:26 PM by SeekAndFind
A week and a day into a Biden administration and there is already more evidence of Chinese influence being revealed than the entire body of “evidence” presented in the Russia probe against President Trump. The latest very questionable circumstance happened in 2017 when the University of Pennsylvania formed the Penn Biden Center.
In the 37 months prior to the center’s formation, the university received $21,187,333 from China. In the 39 months after the formation of the Penn Biden Center, donations from China more than tripled to $71,274,675. Republican Representatives James Comer, Jim Jordan, and Virginia Foxx sent a follow-up letter to the university yesterday after not receiving a reply to their initial inquiry.
Top Republicans @RepJamesComer, @Jim_Jordan, and @virginiafoxx are expressing concerns over UPenn’s close relationship with the Biden family and recent revelations that the university has received millions of dollars from China. The lawmakers are seeking answers👇 pic.twitter.com/bMpUk9VSFa
— Oversight Committee Republicans (@GOPoversight) January 28, 2021
At the heart of this mess is Hunter Biden, the son of the President, who’s alleged dealings with the Chinese Communist Party have drawn a federal investigation. Moreover, there are reasons to believe based on documents found on Hunter Biden’s laptop as well as eyewitness testimony that his father is vulnerable to coercion from Beijing.
The Republican members of Congress laid out the reason for their requests in a letter sent to the president of the university:
On August 3, 2020, we wrote to you regarding unreported and anonymous foreign donations to the University of Pennsylvania from foreign adversaries such as Russia, China, Qatar, and Iran. We have yet to receive a response. In light of your university’s close relationship with the Biden family and recent revelations regarding their potentially illicit ties to foreign adversaries including China, we request an immediate response to this inquiry.
On December 9, 2020, both Hunter Biden and the Biden-Harris Transition Team admitted that Hunter Biden was under federal investigation for his “tax affairs.” Reporting indicates the criminal investigation’s primary focus is whether Hunter Biden violated tax and money laundering laws in his foreign business dealings, particularly in China. Notwithstanding significant counterintelligence concerns, these facts raise serious questions regarding conflicts of interest and the integrity of the Biden family’s ties to China.
Understanding whether the University of Pennsylvania’s Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement (Biden Center) received funds from China or other adversarial nations at the behest of the Biden family or future Biden Administration officials will shed light on the depth and breadth of the potential improper influence these nations enjoy over the Biden family.
On February 1, 2017, University of Pennsylvania announced the formation of the Biden Center. In the 37 months of available reporting prior to the announcement of the Biden Center, the University received about $21,187,333 from China. In contrast, in the 39 months of available reporting since the announcement of the Biden Center, the University received $72,274,675 from China—an increase of $51,087,342 in a similar time frame.
For some time, we have been concerned about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to use its strategic investments to turn American college campuses into indoctrination platforms for American students. In fact, Liu Yunshan, the former Head of Central Propaganda Department of China, pointed to the proliferation of CCP infiltration of U.S. education as part of a plan to “coordinate the efforts of overseas and domestic propaganda, [and] further create a favorable international environment for [China].” At the very least, increased CCP influence in the U.S. allows a window into U.S. culture, infrastructure, and planning—providing a gathering ground for Chinese intelligence agencies.
The CCP’s actions calls into question whether U.S. institutes of higher education receiving federal taxpayer dollars should be allowed to accept funds from China, the CCP, or other affiliated organizations.
It’s bad enough that the current President of the United States is likely compromised by the Chinese Communist Party. It’s worse that nearly everything he has touched, including the Penn Biden Center, may be compromised as well.
Across Biden Charitable Organizations, A Refusal to Disclose Funding
Washington Free Beacon ^ | 5/21/20 | Alana Goodman
FR Posted on 5/21/2020, 6:12:22 PM by Artemis Webb
When Joe Biden announced he was opening a foreign policy center at the University of Pennsylvania, the goals for the project were ambitious.
At its founding in 2018, Biden described the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement as “a place where policymakers here and abroad will know they can be in touch with some of the best minds.”
The center is one of several organizations Biden founded since leaving the White House in 2017, including the domestic policy-focused Biden Institute at the University of Delaware and the Biden Cancer Initiative, all launched in 2017. All three entities have refused to reveal the sources of their funding, a potential landmine for the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee that raises questions about the influence of individual, corporate, and foreign donations on the presidential candidate.
The lack of transparency has drawn the attention of a watchdog group that is now demanding that the federal government investigate whether foreign money has flowed to the Biden Center in Philadelphia. (Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...