Harvard University is under renewed scrutiny after a group of senior Republican lawmakers accused it of collaborating with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), training members of sanctioned paramilitary groups, and conducting research with potential military applications in partnership with Chinese and Iranian scientists.
As reported by The Times UK, the allegations were made in a detailed letter addressed to Harvard and signed by Representatives John Moolenaar, Tim Walberg, and Elise Stefanik. The letter highlights longstanding concerns over U.S. universities’ ties with Chinese institutions, including those under the control of China’s Ministry of Defense and linked to the alleged repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
“Harvard trained members of a sanctioned Chinese paramilitary group responsible for genocide,” said Rep. Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. “These are not isolated incidents — they represent a disturbing pattern that puts U.S. national security at risk.”
The lawmakers pointed specifically to Harvard’s past engagements with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a paramilitary organization sanctioned by the U.S. in 2020 for its role in the mass internment of Uyghur Muslims. According to the report, members of the XPCC attended Harvard conferences and training as recently as last year, although mentions of the group were later removed from press materials — an act the Republicans say suggests Harvard was aware of the reputational risk.
In addition to its ties with the XPCC, Harvard was also accused of partnering with Chinese military universities — part of the so-called “Seven Sons of National Defence” — on research funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Some of the research, the lawmakers allege, involved “dual-use” technologies that could be repurposed for military or surveillance use.
The report also claimed that Harvard had collaborated with scientists who were simultaneously receiving funding from the Iranian regime, and had engaged in joint research on organ transplant technology — a sensitive topic given ongoing accusations that China has harvested organs from executed prisoners, including ethnic and religious minorities.
“Assisting known, sanctioned paramilitary human rights abusers in developing policy and advancing their foreign military capabilities may undermine Harvard’s non-profit mission,” said Rep. Walberg, chairman of the House Education Committee. He also suggested the university’s tax-exempt status could be at risk.
The accusations come amid an already hostile political climate for Harvard, which has faced intense criticism from the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers for allegedly “fostering antisemitism” on campus due to student-led pro-Palestinian activism. The university has denied those claims but now finds itself facing an escalating confrontation over its international partnerships.
Harvard declined to comment publicly on the new allegations but acknowledged to its student newspaper The Crimson that it had received the lawmakers’ letter.
The claims reflect growing bipartisan anxiety in Washington over academic ties with China, particularly in sensitive scientific fields. As noted by The Times UK, concerns about Western universities inadvertently enabling the CCP’s strategic goals have been echoed in the United Kingdom and other allied nations, where Chinese military-affiliated researchers have also taken part in collaborative projects.
With Harvard already under pressure over its finances and public image, the latest controversy raises difficult questions about how American universities should manage international partnerships in an era of rising geopolitical rivalry.
