While the Cold War ended over 30 years ago and the world rejoiced, communism still lurks in plain sight. China is the last openly major communist country on the planet. While many Texans became very rich in business dealings with the communist Chinese, the country’s government doesn’t reciprocate our openness and kindness. Time and time again, China conducts espionage on our country, using the university system as a springboard for their illicit activities.

China uses its citizens living abroad to spy on the host nation. Chinese civil-military fusion doctrine compels Chinese citizens to turn over any research, information, and knowledge to their spy agencies or military. While their fusion doctrine’s set of policies and practices are complex, the point is to steal technology from American universities and businesses. Whatever the Chinese communist government wants, no matter the source, location, schools, or company, they will use their own accomplished citizens to steal from the host country.

Regardless of the immigration status of a communist citizen, even if they have obtained U.S. citizenship, the communist government influences those individuals, particularly if they have relatives or business back in China. Almost every idea, science, medicine, or anything significant originates from stealing from the West. They know well that with their massive population advantage and our greed and naivete, they will dominate and conquer the USA.

Furthermore, given current geopolitical issues, we need to ask as a country whether it’s a smart idea to train a potential rival’s best and brightest. Each student studying machine learning, biomedicine, or other cutting-edge fields that leave to go back to China is one slot taken away from an American who would build tomorrow here today. The business of Texas universities should be in making the best future for Texas and the United States, not China.

Many Chinese Communist Party members attend school at Texas universities. Texas has some of the best schools in the country with the most dynamic business community. The state of Texas is complicit in empowering the communist state by allowing and promoting Texas universities, graduate programs, and research institutes that Texas taxpayers subsidize to enroll and hire Chinese communist citizens.

A rough estimate of thousands of Chineses communists are working or enrolled in Texas colleges and universities. The governor and Legislature should immediately stop all state medical schools and universities from hiring Chinese communist citizens and expel all students from all graduate programs. Critics will point out that this is a very broad solution to the Chinese espionage problem. However, this is a severe problem. Billions of dollars of lost revenue, time, labor, and public trust erosion gravely injures America.

Texas has the hammer to encourage most Texas private universities to do the same. The Tuition Equalization Grant (TEG) provides money to private colleges. Simply stop all schools from receiving TEG funds or any state money unless they expel or fire all communist citizens. It is that simple. These universities recruit wealthy, politically connected elites from China because of the money. The greed for full tuition-paying students of these programs supersedes the public good. The shelter that private and public universities provide makes a bad situation worse.

Public officials need to see beyond the obvious, see beyond greed and vanity. We live in historic times of a rising Chinese superpower and great domestic turmoil. While no one wants war or a second cold war, Texans want fairness and free enterprise. Free enterprise can only happen when there’s mutual trust between the parties—whether that’s between two companies or two countries. Espionage erodes that trust, and the Communist Chinese Party has and always will abuse our goodwill. Texas must take the lead as the second-largest economy in America. Texas needs to put Texas first, see beyond the obvious, and stop subsidizing the communists.

This is a commentary published with the author’s permission. If you wish to submit a commentary to Texas Scorecard, please submit your article to submission@texasscorecard.com.

Don Huffines

Don Huffines is a conservative businessman and former state senator. He leads the Huffines Liberty Foundation with his wife, Mary Catherine.

RELATED POSTS