致美国各高等教育机构及分部主席的联名信
关于中华人民共和国
美国国务院
发言人办公室
华盛顿哥伦比亚特区（Washington, D.C.）
2020年 10月14 日
国务卿迈克尔·蓬佩奥（MICHAEL R. POMPEO）
教育部长贝琪·德沃斯（Betsy DeVos）
尊敬的美国各高等教育机构及分部主席：
在美国国务院和美国教育部（U.S. Department of Education），我们共同承担促进美国价值观的使命，其中包括重要的学术自由原则。美国各高等教育机构都是这项使命无可估量的重要伙伴。我们秉持这项共同使命的精神给诸位写这封信，涉及的是一个切实和日益增长的威胁：中华人民共和国专制政府在我国校园的恶意影响。
近几个星期以来，这方面的威胁以及美国学术界对此事严重性的认识已有目共睹。鉴于自由世界的学生显然无法在不担心违反新的香港国家安全法（Hong Kong National Security Law）的情况下学习和讨论现代中国的问题，某些美国教授主动隐藏自己学生的身份或允许他们“退出”涉及中国的课程和课堂讨论。他们担心中华人民共和国会因为他们的学生在美国课堂上发表的言论对他们进行迫害。
这类因受中华人民共和国的钳制在美国校园对言论自由产生的恐惧完全可以理解。至少已有一名美国人因在美国发表的言论在香港被起诉。另外至少有一名来自中华人民共和国的学生因在美国逗留期间发表的言论在中国被监禁。这类迫害并不是新现象。多年来，来自中华人民共和国的学生因在美国学习期间的行动遭到迫害，在某些案例中他们的家人在中国受到骚扰。
实际上，从中国来访的学生、中国少数语言和族裔的成员，以及与中国有其他联系的人员，如发出对中华人民共和国的专制行动表示异议的声音，在中华人民共和国日益咄咄逼人的态势下都处于最危险的境地。
在我们的校园里存在这种专制制度的影响引发了前所未有的关注，其重大的后果也前所未见。中华人民共和国在香港压制人权和自由；在西藏、内蒙古所谓的“自治区”和其他地区对少数民族和少数民族语言加强了长期的打压；据信在新疆“自治区”建立了自第二次世界大战以来全世界最大规模的宗教少数派拘押营。随信附上美国国务院最近致美国各高等教育机构董事会的信件，其中罗列了对保障学术自由、尊重人权、保护大学捐赠基金和保护知识产权等问题产生的广泛影响。中华人民共和国不仅试图控制在任何地方对其各项政策发表的任何批评意见，而且有大量证据表明中华人民共和国在美国招募中国国民盗窃知识产权，并监视其他中国学生和学者的行动和活动，确保他们继续默认其专制主义原则。
这只能说明教育部根据高等教育法（Higher Education Act）117款履行报告制度和有关公众透明度的工作具有重要意义。初步的报告为这些受到关注的问题提供了进一步支持。
中华人民共和国试图管控校园对话的行为有时由以孔子学院为形式的在校园的一种有形存在为支持。今天，在大约60所美国学院和大学的校园中或校园附近都有孔子学院。孔子学院以中国语言和文化学习中心为名，但有越来越多的证据证实，它们也是在美国校园中的中华人民共和国的恶意影响以及散布中国共产党的宣传的工具。孔子学院的存在，以及随之而来的来自北京的资金，能为一所院校提供避免批评中华人民共和国的政策的金融及其他奖励手段，而且可能对院校教学人员施加自我审查的压力。美国大学教授协会（American Association of University Professors）在2014年的一份报告中指出，“孔子学院作为中国的一个国家分支发挥作用，而且被允许无视学术自由”。
很多教育工作者惊讶地得知，有些美国学院和大学使用由一个专制政府编制并由同一个政府审查、提供并承担费用的教师所教授的教学材料。美国国务院教育和文化事务局（Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs）的一次审核认定，在招聘与孔子学院有关的教职时，一般都必须有中华人民共和国教育部所属的一个机构的批准。中华人民共和国的这种做法，不一定符合我们的价值观，或支持我们所有人都力争保持的安全、公平、积极的学习环境。
8月13日，国务院认定设在华盛顿哥伦比亚特区的孔子学院美国中心（Confucius Institute U.S. Center）为来自中华人民共和国的一个外国使团。虽然对孔子学院美国中心的定性不直接影响到全美各地校园中的孔子学院，但这将通过要求孔子学院美国中心向国务院提供有关其运作的信息来提供迫切需要的透明度，其中包括它与在美国的各孔子学院的关系。因此，美国的利益相关方，包括大学和学院，将能做出有关中华人民共和国政府在其社区施加的影响力的更加知情的选择。
尽管国务院对孔子学院美国中心的定性并不迫使你们院校采取任何行动，但我们请求你们的董事会和教职员认真审核同你们的校园有关的中华人民共和国政权的所有相关活动，并考虑一下学生的人身安全、学术自由、院校自治以及适当的管治和透明度是否得到维护。我们敦促你们评估中华人民共和国资助的项目接受开放的知识探究的能力，密切观察他们面对在校园中就与中华人民共和国的专制行为相关的问题发表谈话的独立思考人士、学者以及公民社会活动人士的所作所为。
如果你们发现中华人民共和国的存在，在意在为你们的学生提供一个中国语言和文化机会的同时，还试图约束有关中华人民共和国的行为的学术对话，我们敦促你们采取适当的措施。我们可以共同确保中华人民共和国政府不遏制学生们接触参与多样化的观点并公开探究所有课题的能力，其中包括获得中国语言技能或文化认知。我们的大学和学院必须继续成为所有学生、研究人员和学者的一个安全的、受到热情接纳的环境。
虽然美国人可能在很多问题上看法不同，但对于我们的自由的威胁将我们所有人团结起来。我们期待着共同努力在我们国家的校园中以及全世界各地增进学术自由。
诚挚的，
贝琪·德沃斯（Betsy DeVos）
教育部长（Secretary of Education）
迈克尔·蓬佩奥（Michael R. Pompeo）
国务卿（Secretary of State）

Joint Letter to Presidents of American Institutions of Higher Education and Affiliates 
Regarding the People’s Republic of China
OTHER RELEASE
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE
BETSY DEVOS, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
OCTOBER 9, 2020
Dear Presidents of American Institutions of Higher Education and Affiliates,
At the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, we share a mission to advocate for American values, including the important principle of academic freedom. U.S. institutions of higher education are an invaluable partner in that mission.  It is in the spirit of this shared mission that we write to you about a real and growing threat: the malign influence of the authoritarian government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on our nation’s campuses.
This threat, and the seriousness with which the U.S. academic community regards it, were on open display in the last several weeks. As it became clear that students in the free world could not study and discuss contemporary China without fear of violating the new Hong Kong National Security Law, some U.S. professors offered to  hide their own students’ identities  or allow them to “opt out” of China-related coursework and classroom discussions. They feared that the PRC could prosecute their students for statements made in a U.S. classroom.
Such fears about free speech on American campuses being suppressed by the PRC  are well justified.  At least one American  has been indicted in Hong Kong for statements made in the United States, and at least  one student  from the PRC has been jailed in China for statements made while in the United States.  This kind of repression is not new. For years, students from the PRC have been repressed, and in some cases have had their  family members harassed in China over their actions while studying in the United States.
In practice, students visiting from China, members of Chinese minority language and ethnic groups, and those with other connections to China who voice dissent from the PRC’s authoritarian actions  are the most endangered  by the PRC’s increasingly aggressive posture.
The presence of this authoritarian influence on our campuses has never been more concerning, nor more consequential.  The PRC has suppressed human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong; has intensified longstanding repression of ethnic and linguistic minorities in the so-called “autonomous regions” of Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and elsewhere; and is believed to be engaged in the world’s largest internment of a religious minority since the Second World War in the “autonomous region” of Xinjiang.  The broad implications for ensuring academic freedom, honoring human rights, protecting university endowments, and safeguarding intellectual property are outlined in the enclosed recent State Department letter to the governing boards of U.S. institutions of higher education.  Not only does the PRC seek to  control any criticism  of its policies  wherever they may occur, but there is extensive evidence that the PRC employs Chinese nationals in the U.S. to steal intellectual property and monitor the actions and activities of other Chinese students and scholars to ensure their continued acquiescence to its authoritarian principles. This only underscores the importance of work the Department of Education has undertaken to ensure compliance in reporting and transparency for the public under section 117 of the Higher Education Act. The initial reporting has given further support to these concerns.
The PRC’s efforts to control campus dialogue are sometimes supported by a physical campus presence in the form of a Confucius Institute.  Today there are Confucius Institutes located on or near the campuses of approximately 60 U.S. colleges and universities.  Confucius Institutes are branded as Chinese language and cultural learning centers, but there is increasing evidence that they are also tools of malign PRC influence and dissemination of CCP propaganda on U.S. campuses.  The presence of a Confucius Institute, with the Beijing-based funding that comes with it, can provide an institution with financial and other incentives to abstain from criticizing PRC policies, and may pressure the institution’s faculty to censor themselves.  The American Association of University Professors noted in a 2014 report that “Confucius Institutes function as an arm of the Chinese state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom.”
Many educators are surprised to learn that some U.S. colleges and universities make use of teaching materials developed by an authoritarian government and taught by teachers who are vetted, supplied, and paid by that same government.  A review by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs determined that approval from an institution affiliated with the PRC’s Ministry of Education has been generally required when filling teaching positions associated with Confucius Institutes. This practice, by the PRC, does not necessarily align with our values or support the safe, equitable, and positive learning environment we all strive to preserve.
On August 13, the State Department designated the Confucius Institute U.S. Center (CIUS) in Washington, DC, as a foreign mission of the PRC.  While the CIUS designation does not directly affect Confucius Institutes on campuses around the country, it will provide much-needed transparency by requiring CIUS to provide information about its operations to the State Department, including regarding its relationship with individual Confucius Institutes in the United States.  As a result, U.S. stakeholders, including universities and colleges, will be able to make more informed choices about PRC government influence exerted on their communities.
Although the State Department’s designation of CIUS does not compel any action on the part of your institution, we ask your board and staff to examine carefully all PRC regime-related activities associated with your campus and consider whether student physical safety, academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and appropriate governance and transparency are upheld.  We urge you to assess the capacity of PRC-funded programs to withstand open intellectual inquiry by closely examining their actions in the face of independent thinkers, academics, and civil society activists that speak on campus about issues relating to the PRC’s authoritarian actions.
If you find that the PRC’s presence, while meant to provide a Chinese language and culture opportunity for your students, also aims to constrain academic discourse about the PRC’s actions, we urge you to take appropriate action. Together we can ensure that the PRC government does not inhibit students’ ability to engage with diverse perspectives and to inquire openly on all subjects, including acquiring Chinese language skills or cultural awareness. Our universities and colleges must remain a safe and welcoming environment for all students, researchers, and scholars.
While Americans may differ on many issues, threats to our freedoms unite us all.  We look forward to working together to advance academic freedom on our Nation’s campuses and around the world.
Sincerely,
Betsy DeVosSecretary of Education
Michael R. PompeoSecretary of State