A Chinese education corporation bought a preparatory academy in Florida (Representative)
Washington:
The Washington Free Beacon reports that US lawmakers have warned the Pentagon about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) acquisition of military training academies in the United States.
This is considered alarming as prospective military cadets trained at these CCP-influenced military schools may be soft on China’s strategies and goals, The Washington Free Beacon reported. believe.
The report claims that in 2015, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory board for the CCP, purchased the New York Military Academy for $16 million after a bidding war with a consortium. Other China.
In 2017, a Chinese education corporation purchased Florida Preparatory Academy to create a global educational alliance system. Both of these military academies are the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and military officer training for the United States military.
A member of the House Armed Services Committee and also part of the US military Michael Waltz was quoted by Chuck Ross in his report to the Washington Free Beacon as saying that “Chinese ownership of This could pose a threat to national security.
“To the extent those private schools have JROTC programs that are forming the backbone of our military’s future leaders, this is what I hope and expect the U.S. Department of Defense to work with. me to better understand,” Waltz told Washington Beacon Free.
Waltz also wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, calling on the Pentagon to survey JROTC programs at private schools around the country to see if they are foreign-owned.
In the letter, he mentioned that “With the ongoing military recruitment crisis, I am concerned that any students we recruit to the conscription from these CCP-influenced schools will have a sense of China’s political and strategic goals”.
The Ross report also claims that the US acquisition of military academies has raised concerns about the CCP’s motives, as it has increased its efforts to infiltrate universities, research institutes and universities. other spheres of influence of the United States.
According to the federal spending database, the Department of Defense has awarded more than $475,000 in contracts for various cadet programs to the New York Military Academy since the New York Military Academy took over China. .
A company called Fang Holdings has a majority stake in the New York Military Academy owned by Mo Fang, which has ties to the CCP. In 2018, Mo said he was “very honored” to be a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which he claimed operates “under the leadership of the Communist Party of China”. At the New York Military Academy, Mo has placed many of his Chinese business partners on the historic school’s board.
China’s Newopen Group has owned Florida Preparatory Academy since 2017. One year before this acquisition, the group signed a strategic partnership with Chongqing Environmental Investment Group, a foundation city authorities affiliated with the CCP. This is to build a network across China, North America, Europe and Australia, the report claims.
The same report from Ross also mentions that neither of these CCP-purchased schools have yet responded to requests for feedback on the matter.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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