A public university in Missouri spent two decades training executives for China’s military using taxpayer dollars, according to a new watchdog report.
Research firm Strategy Risks says Missouri State University operated a graduate business pipeline for more than 1,500 managers for the Chinese government by 2018.
Many graduates later secured senior roles in China’s defense industry and surveillance-technology sector.
The university trained executives from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, a state-owned weapons maker sanctioned by the U.S. with ties to Chinese and Russian militaries.
The report says the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sponsored MSU applicants who aligned with it ideologically. The process allowed CCP-backed students to bypass standard admissions and avoid English proficiency tests.
A source in the report says the U.S. government covered a quarter of the tuition, amounting to roughly $27,000 per student. Strategy Risks estimates taxpayers may have doled up to $54 million to cover part of the program’s cost.
The university denied using taxpayer funds in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
“As the report further acknowledges, the students studied a ‘conventional business curriculum’ with no evidence of espionage, intellectual property theft, misconduct, false affiliations or complaints of harassment,” an MSU spokesman said. “Students admitted to the program were required to comply with all student visa regulations administered by the U.S. State Department.”
The university’s infrastructure for managing the program was still operational early last year, according to the report.
U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Missouri, whose district includes the university, weighed in on the controversy and called for transparency from the school’s current administration.
“These reports are deeply concerning. This is not an isolated issue. It’s happening at universities across the country. I have confidence in President Biff Williams’ leadership and know he will thoroughly review the facts, be transparent with the public, and take any action necessary to protect the integrity of Missouri State University,” Burlison said.
