Washington, August 14, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Harvard University prioritised financially lucrative ties with China over US national security and maintained research relationships with Chinese institutions linked to the country’s military and alleged human rights abuses, according to a Republican-led congressional investigation released on Thursday.
The 53-page report, titled “Compromised Independence: CCP Influence at Harvard University”, was jointly released by the House Select Committee on China and the House Education and Workforce Committee.
The committees said their investigation involved a review of thousands of pages of documents from Harvard and the Chinese government, interviews with university personnel and testimony from multiple witnesses.
“The American people expect our nation’s leading universities to protect American research and innovation, and never advance the interests of our nation’s adversaries. Right now, Harvard is failing to deliver on that expectation,” House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar said.
Moolenaar also alleged that Harvard had allowed violence against protesters opposed to China and collaborated with organisations linked to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
According to the report, Harvard-affiliated researchers collaborated with academics at Chinese universities connected to the country’s defence research and industrial base. Some of the research was in fields with both civilian and military applications, including robotics.
The investigation also examined a programme organised by Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The report said the executive education programme may have been attended by members of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a Chinese paramilitary organisation sanctioned by the US Treasury Department.
However, the committees acknowledged that evidence confirming such attendance was unclear. The Harvard professor who organised the programme testified that she had not been informed of any requirement to vet participants.
The report further scrutinised Harvard Global, a university-affiliated nonprofit. Congressional investigators alleged that the entity was structured to route funding in situations where Harvard itself could not accept a sponsor’s conditions because of legal or financial restrictions.
The committees said Harvard removed that description from the Harvard Global website after receiving a draft of the report.
“That’s unacceptable, especially given Harvard’s history of failing to comply with these requirements,” House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg said, alleging that Harvard had created the entity to circumvent federal foreign-funding disclosure requirements.
The material released by the committees did not contain a new public response from Harvard to the final report.
The congressional report recommended that Harvard centralise its research-security operations, strengthen its vetting procedures and appoint officials with expertise in national security and export controls. It also called for the university to prohibit collaborations with entities appearing on US restricted or sanctions lists.
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