CCP’s Little Red Classrooms Across America, Does Anyone Care?

Reposting in full from FNC:

Parents Defending Education (PDE), a grassroots organization dedicated to fighting indoctrination in the classroom, says it has uncovered disturbing evidence linking Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-sponsored financial entities to American K-12 schools.

The findings are detailed in a new report dubbed “Little Red Classrooms,” which was sent to 34 governors, key lawmakers and committee chairs on Wednesday.

“The alarming evidence uncovered by our investigation should concern parents, educators, and policymakers alike. Families deserve to know who is influencing the American education system so that they can make informed choices about what their children are learning behind closed doors,” PDE president Nicole Neily told Fox News Digital.

“The Trump administration took steps to rein in Confucius Institutes at colleges and universities. It is frightening, however, that no such transparency mandate exists at the K-12 level,” Neily continued. “Accordingly, it is imperative that elected officials at both the federal and state levels take immediate action to gauge the extent of these programs in order to ensure that American schoolchildren receive a high-quality education free from undue foreign interference.”

REP JIM BANKS DEMANDS ANSWERS ON ‘INADEQUATE’ DOD CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE WAIVER GUIDANCE: ‘AGENTS’ OF THE CCP

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Parents Defending Education, a grassroots organization dedicated to fighting indoctrination in the classroom, says it has uncovered disturbing evidence linking Chinese Communist Party-sponsored financial entities to American K-12 schools. (Getty)

Parents Defending Education bills itself as “a national grassroots organization working to reclaim our schools from activists imposing harmful agendas. PDE’s sister organization, PDE Action, sent the “alarming” results of its lengthy “Little Red Classrooms” investigation to House Education & Workforce Committee Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.; House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.; and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas.

According to the letters, which have been obtained by Fox News Digital, the investigation exposed how millions of dollars of China-linked funding has flowed into America’s K-12 classrooms. PDE believes American students are subject to CCP propaganda under the guise of Chinese language and culture programming.

“The fact the Chinese government had so much access to American classrooms, students, and curriculums should worry families,” PDE senior adviser Michele P. Exner wrote to McCaul.

The committee chairs were informed that through “records requests and publicly available information, it was discovered that 143 school districts across the United States have engaged in contracts to establish Confucius Institutes and Classrooms,” including in three of the nation’s top science and technology high schools, and several that are near 20 U.S. military bases.

“Considering China’s adversarial relationship with the United States, this poses significant security risks that warrant immediate attention from your committee,” Exner wrote to Foxx.

“The Chinese government has long touted their Confucius programming as a way to advance their strategic goals around the world. In 2009, former Chinese Communist Party Senior Chairman Li Changchun admitted that Confucius Institutes were an ‘important part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up’ and in 2017 Chinese government officials lauded the programs as a way to push China’s Belt and Road initiative,” the Foxx letter continued. “Security concerns with these China-led courses in America’s schools are well documented.”

BILL LIMITING CHINA-BACKED CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES PASSED UNANIMOUSLY BY SENATE

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) arrives to a caucus meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, was notified of Parents Defending Education’s findings. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

PDE also listed “examples of the alarming relationships China’s government has established with American K-12 classrooms,” such as the Simpson County Board of Education in Kentucky entering into an agreement with the North China Electric Power University to develop the Confucius Institute of Western Kentucky.

“The North China Electric Power University works directly with the Chinese government’s energy sector to push China’s global energy initiatives. The Chinese International Education Foundation (CIEF) tasked the university with selecting more than 34 Chinese teachers to send to Simpson County Public Schools for the 2020-2021 school year,” Exner wrote.

PDE also pointed to a pair of Chinese nationals who taught Mandarin at Appoquinimink School District in Delaware during the 2012-2013 school year. “According to a district webpage, these teachers underwent a ‘rigorous selection process’ in China. This includes interviews with Chinese government officials ‘at the national level,’” according to Exner, who also serves as PDE Action’s director of federal affairs.

The letter to McCaul noted that “34 states and the District of Columbia have had schools that have engaged in financial exchanges with the Chinese government or affiliated entities ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than a million dollars per contract,” according to PDE findings.

“Since 2009, the Chinese government has used Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms to push their agenda in schools around the globe. Chinese Communist Party officials have openly stated how they are using these educational partnerships established under the guise of ‘cultural and language immersion programs’ to expand China’s overseas propaganda campaign,” Exner wrote.

“In a Chinese state media article from 2016, the Chinese Communist Party ‘lauded’ Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms for promoting its Belt and Road Initiative. Security concerns with these China-linked programs became so problematic that the State Department declared them a ‘foreign mission’ during the summer of 2020,” Exner continued. “These programs have created significant security vulnerabilities for the United States and gave the CCP unfettered access to curriculums and America’s classrooms. PDE uncovered at least two connections between U.S. and China schools tied to the Chinese military and energy operations.”

UNIVERSITY TO CUT TIES WITH CHINESE CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE AFTER GOP SCRUTINY ON $17M DOD GRANT

PDE also accused the CCP of openly using deceptive tactics to influence the next generation of Americans to advance their own self-serving agenda.

“We cannot allow this to happen. We urge the committee to take immediate action to investigate, expose, and hold hearings on the Chinese government’s involvement in America’s schools. PDE looks forward to working with you in protecting our students from the threats of the CCP,” Exner wrote to McCaul.

PDE informed Rogers that Confucius Institutes and Classrooms were operating in schools in the vicinity of the following U.S. military bases including U.S. Naval Academy, Buckley Air Force Base and Space Force, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Dover Air Force Base, Fort Bliss, Fort Liberty, Fort Knox, Naval Station Great Lakes, Hanscom Air Force Base, Hill Air Force Base, Lackland Air Force Base, Langley Air Force Base, Los Angeles Air Force Base, MacDill Air Force Base, McGuire Air Force Base, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Nellis Air Force Base, Naval Station Norfolk, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Naval Base San Diego.

“Allowing China to have unfettered access to America’s schools poses significant security risks to students and their families. It becomes even more dangerous when this is happening near sensitive locations containing information critical to our national security,” Exner wrote.

Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs

PDE sent a letter to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs urging an investigation between Arizona’s public schools and Chinese government sponsored programs. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

WHAT CHINA IS DOING IN CUBA IS A BIG THREAT TO ALL OF US

PDE Action also wrote to several other influential lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. The House China Select Committee, the Senate HELP Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are expected to be notified of “Little Red Classrooms” findings, too.

PDE Action political director Alex Nester also sent a letter, which has been obtained by Fox News Digital, to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs.

“Documents uncovered via online searches and public records requests show that three schools in Arizona — Catalina Foothills School District and Tucson Unified School District, as well as the International School of Tucson — forged ties with Chinese government backed programs over the course of a decade,” Nester wrote.

“PDE Action respectfully requests the Office of the Governor of Arizona to investigate ties between Arizona’s public schools and Chinese government sponsored programs, such as Confucius Classrooms,” Nester continued. “While it’s vital for American students to have opportunities to learn world languages and cultures, public school districts should not give the Chinese government unfettered access to K-12 classrooms. This has the potential of posing significant security risks to students, families, and our national interests.”

A similar letter was sent to 33 additional governors on Wednesday morning, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

PDE’s “Little Red Classrooms” report details more examples that the group finds deeply concerning, breaking down the $17,967,565 spent across 143 school districts in 34 states plus the District of Columbia.

Hat Tip to MasterCard

It is a fact that the United States has a drug/narcotics epidemic. The problem is so bad that it can no longer be estimated how many people across the country abuse the various types of drugs even at work or while driving cars. Furthermore, it is so bad state governments and the Federal government is actually admitting failure and funding programs that encourage drug use…imagine that.

Dispensaries have popped up all over the country and in fact, China is behind many of them.

The Pennsylvania Cannabis Movement, by the Numbers

How about Oklahoma for example?

At least $500 million of black market marijuana was seized during a multi-agency operation led by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics this week, after a yearlong investigation of nine Oklahoma farms.

“It’s much like we see with groups that are trafficking methamphetamine, cartels moving heroin; it is simply people involved in the criminal movement of marijuana on a commercial scale to the illicit market around the United States, and moving money — millions of dollars of money — worldwide,” said Woodward. Read more here.

At least Mastercard appears to take a stand…

PM: Mastercard has told financial institutions to stop allowing the purchase of marijuana with their debit cards.

The move to ban card purchases of the drug comes because of legal ramifications under federal law. Marijuana is illegal nationwide despite having been legalized on the state level in places like Colorado and Oregon.A spokesman for Mastercard said, “The federal government considers cannabis sales illegal, so these purchases are not allowed on our systems.”

“As we were made aware of this matter, we quickly investigated it. In accordance with our policies, we instructed the financial institutions that offer payment services to cannabis merchants and connects them to Mastercard to terminate the activity,” the spokesman said on Wednesday.

Bradey Cobb, the CEO of Sunburn Cannabis, said in a statement about the ban, “this move is another blow to the state-legal cannabis industry and patients/consumers who want to access this budding category.”

The subject of legalizing cannabis has been recently fought over in the federal legislature. Earlier in July, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a letter calling for “bipartisan bills” that could be passed in the July work period.

These included “safeguard[ing] cannabis banking.”

 

 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) reacted to Schumer’s desire to pass a marijuana bill during the July summer months by calling it part of a “wish list.”

In addition, Cornyn added, “it is only wishful thinking to believe that in the U.S. Senate you are going to be able to get all of these necessary items addressed in the next ten working days.”

Skepticism about the legalization and use of cannabis has been raised since some data has recently shown that an increase in overdoses “may be correlated” to its legalization with the rise in such illicit drugs as fentanyl.

The DOJ Charges Whistleblower Dr. Gal Luft

Oversight Chairman, James Comer has used the quality and validated information provided by Gal Luft in the investigation into the Biden crime family….so the Biden Justice Department knows full well why Merrick Garland has charged Luft with several crimes. Frankly, the Department of justice has charged Luft with one of the exact violations/crimes that Hunter Biden himself should be charged for and that is not registering as a foreign agent representing China and perhaps other countries.

But there is more…

The 60 page indictment against Luft who is actually a dual citizen and on the run alleges violations of sanctions, arms trafficking to Iran, Libya, and Qatar and illicit oil sales. Luft was arrested in Cyprus but fled after posting bail and there is an extradition movement.

Luft worked for a think tank which was founded by the former Director of the CIA, James Woolsey. Luft was working for the same company and getting paid as Hunter Biden going back to 2015 and shared office space with Hunter Biden. Gal Luft presented the FBI with details on all things Hunter and the Biden crime family but later the DOJ decided to charge him with a handful of crimes. The DOJ clearly states in the indictment that CEFC, which Hunter worked for was a Chinese oil and gas conglomerate. Luft has and is providing Oversight Chairman Comer with details explaining the extent of Hunter’s and or Joe Biden himself work at CEFC.

VOA makes reference to additional details that include in part:

A recent Washington Post investigation found that Biden’s son Hunter Biden, and the president’s brother James Biden, signed an agreement with CEFC officials in 2017, and that entities controlled by them received $4.8 million over the course of 14 months, though the energy projects discussed with CEFC did not pan out.

The two men have faced allegations of corruption for pursuing business deals that capitalize on their family name. They have denied any wrongdoing.

In the video shared with the New York Post, Luft denied the criminal charges against him and said he was forced to skip bail in Cyprus because he did not believe he would receive “a fair trial in a New York court.”

Luft claimed he had been arrested to prevent him from testifying before a House of Representatives panel about his allegations that members of the president’s family received payments from CEFC China Energy and individuals with alleged ties to Chinese military intelligence.

In the video, Luft said he provided evidence of the Biden family’s alleged corruption to the FBI and the Justice Department during a meeting in Brussels in March 2019.

In addition to acting as an unregistered agent of China, Luft is accused of brokering illicit Chinese arms deals.

Luft allegedly worked to broker a deal for Chinese companies to sell certain weapons to Libya, including anti-tank launchers, grenade launchers and mortar rounds. Luft and his associates allegedly referred to the weapons as “toys,” prosecutors say.

In addition, Luft allegedly worked to facilitate arms sales by Chinese companies to Kenya and the United Arab Emirates.

Luft is also accused of conspiring with others to broker Iranian oil deals, allegedly directing an associate to refer to the oil as Brazilian in origin to avert U.S. sanctions, according to court documents.

While in hiding, Luft has taken to social media to decry the charges against him as politically motivated.

Conservative lawmakers pushing for an investigation of the Biden family have rallied around Luft in recent days, calling him a “whistleblower” and the “missing witness” from the probe.

Luft could not be reached for comment.

In a statement to VOA, the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security voiced support for Luft.

“Dr. Gal Luft is a world renowned expert on energy security, economics and geopolitics and has written five books,” the statement said. “Gal is a man of total integrity and honesty. We are confident in his innocence.”

Gal Luft | The Times of Israel source

The Washington Free Beacon reported in March that Luft worked closely with CEFC China Energy, which gave his think tank $350,000 in grants. CEFC paid Hunter Biden at least $6 million in 2017 and 2018. The firm, which has suspected ties to Chinese military intelligence, gave Hunter Biden at least $5 million for business consulting, and another $1 million to provide legal services to Patrick Ho, a CEFC executive who was indicted for trying to bribe two African officials for oil rights.

Both Hunter Biden and Luft worked closely with Ho, who was convicted on bribery charges. Hunter Biden referred to Ho as the “fucking spy master of China” in audio recordings in 2018. Luft submitted a letter of support for Ho at his federal trial. A former employee of Ho’s told the Free Beacon that he was frequently accompanied by Luft at CEFC’s offices in New York.

 

Cuba Agrees to Host Chinese Spy Base

First there was a full-throated denial by Adm. Kirby from the White House Press Room that the story the Wall Street Journal reported was true. Then a couple of days later, Adm. Kirby walked it back and attempted in national security platitudes to explain why he initially denied the story. Then the White House decided to blame the Trump administration stating that China has had a base in Cuba since 2019. If that was true, then why would the Biden administration lift some sanctions on Cuba?

Well….no , under the Trump administration, that is not accurate either. Perhaps China only has had radar surveillance installation since 2018. but you can bet that since Russia has had a spy base in Cuba known as the Lourdes signals intelligence facility, they are not only collaborating but perhaps co-locating especially since Beijing and Moscow have nurtured a a friendly business relationship without limitations. However, no one is putting China and Cambodia in the conversation…that is right, China has a secret base there too, called the Ream Base. .Satellite imagery of Ream Naval Base from 5 February 2023, annotated to show the shape of the pier extension. Original image courtesy of BlackSky

 

Lourdes

Russia 'to reopen Lourdes spy base in Cuba' - BBC News 2014 source

Beyond the Wall Street Journal doing great work, then comes the Miami Herald with more.

The CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment. The Cuban government also pushed back against the initial WSJ report calling it “totally false and unfounded information” in a statement made by the Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío.

Regardless of Cuba’s sovereign rights in defense matters, the official said, Cuba rejects “any foreign military presence in Latin America and the Caribbean, including that of numerous United States military bases and troops, especially the military base that illegally occupies a portion of the national territory in the province of Guantánamo.” While China might be already collecting intelligence on the U.S. from its commercial facilities in the region, having a signals-intelligence facility “adds to China’s capabilities, especially in times of war,” said Evan Ellis, professor at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, which monitors China’s relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean. “I think it telegraphs Chinese willingness in the current difficult environment between our two countries to take some of these bolder steps and their sense, with their growing military power and economic power and the perception of the U.S. democratic disarray, that they can take these steps that maybe a decade ago, they would not have risked,” Ellis said. “It’s not that big of a threshold that they’ve crossed, but it is significant,” he added.

The news follows intense speculation that Russia, not China, was planning to reopen its Soviet-era espionage base in Lourdes, a town near Havana, which it shut down in 2002. High-ranking Russian national security officials and diplomats have been traveling to the island recently and the two governments appear as close as ever, with Cuban leaders offering public support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But when publicly asked about reopening the Lourdes base during his trip to Havana in April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did not directly address the question. And despite several economic agreements recently announced by Russian and Cuban authorities, including land-lease deals, the news about a Chinese spy base speaks to the realities on the ground: The island is desperate for cash as its economy continues sinking. Russia had limited resources even before embarking on a war against Ukraine — and China can pay. On May 20, Cuba’s Interior Minister, Gen. Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, met with China’s Minister of Public Security, Wang Xiaohong. “China stands ready to work with Cuba to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, especially in law enforcement and security,” a Chinese government statement said.

The news about the spy base comes as the Biden administration has been taking steps to improve its strained relationship with China, which is considered the United States’ primary military and economic rival. At the same time, State Department officials and members of Congress have been raising concerns about China’s increased influence in Latin America and the Caribbean. China has become South America’s largest trading partner and has exploited the Biden administration’s reluctance to new trade deals and has inked a free trade agreement with Ecuador, while Uruguay and Panama are in line, U.S. Rep Maria Elvira Salazar, a Miami Republican, said during a congressional hearing she chaired on Wednesday. “That is very troublesome,” Salazar said, blaming the Biden administration for ignoring the pleas of allies in the region with conservative governments “to the benefit of our enemies.”

When asked by representative Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, why the United States has seemed to become “more passive” and allowed China to increase its influence in the Western Hemisphere, the State Department’s top diplomat for the region acknowledged the administration needs to act with a sense of urgency. “This is the most challenging moment I have seen in 30 years in our hemisphere, and we have to do everything that we can to help our neighbors and our partners around the region to succeed and resist these strategic competitors from outside,” Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs Brian Nichols said. The China deal also complicates U.S. policy towards Cuba.

The administration has lifted some restrictions on flights and remittances, resumed the family reunification program for Cubans and reestablished migration and law enforcement talks with the Cuban government. But it stopped short of easing other embargo restrictions and removing Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, which the Cuban government had made a condition to improving relations. The cozying up to Russia and China indicates the Cuban government has chosen to seek further support from its longtime political and ideological allies rather than pursuing normalization of relations with the U.S. at a time Cuban authorities perceive their grip on power is at risk. Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in decades and serious political challenges from a population that has taken to the streets to protest and demand regime change. Ebrahim Raeisi, the president of Iran, another major U.S. adversary, is set to travel to the island after visiting Venezuela and Nicaragua next week. The strategy suggests something else: The Cuban military is calling the shots on the island, not the civilian team led by Cuba’s handpicked president, Miguel Díaz-Canel. If true, the deal with China shows “Cuba’s desperation. It’s the same thing with Russian investors. Cuba is looking for cash where it can get it,” Ellis said. “Cuba also understands the limits of the Biden administration.

With the Republicans in control of the House in Washington, with Biden being more conservative, with a sense of lessons learned that the Obama opening was seen as ‘we gave up too much and receive too little from Cuba,’ there’s an understanding in Cuba that they’re not going to get much more out of Washington.” Latin America’s sharp turn to the left and the consolidation of power by Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela also gives Cuba confidence to do bolder things, Ellis said, while noticing that island has not gone that far as to sign military agreements with Russia or receive Russian weapons. Florida Republicans in Congress quickly reacted to the report on the China espionage base deal to highlight what they said is an increasing national security threat coming from Cuba. “The threat to America from Cuba isn’t just real, it is far worse than this,” Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted. “But to date, not only does the Biden White House not care, they have people who actually want to appease the regime.” “The Cuban regime is auctioning off land to the Russians, hosting the Iranians, and letting the Chinese open a base to spy on the U.S.,” Salazar tweeted. “Just 90 miles from our coast, the dictatorship has opened the door to our greatest enemies!” Later on Thursday, Rubio, who is the Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence and the committee’s chairman, Mark R. Warner (D-VA), issued a statement urging the Biden administration “to take steps to prevent this serious threat to our national security and sovereignty.” “We must be clear that it would be unacceptable for China to establish an intelligence facility within 100 miles of Florida and the United States, in an area also populated with key military installations and extensive maritime traffic,” they said.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article276215936.html#storylink=cpy

 

The Mysterious Chinese Space Plane no One Talks About

Except for a congressman that sent me a text tied to this only this morning.China is paying Cuba to host a spy/eavesdropping facility in Cuba to monitor communications, phone calls and even satellite transmissions. How is that for a country that is just a competitor as Joe Biden tells us?

***

The second orbital mission of China’s robotic space plane has come to a close. It is called Known as Shenlong (“divine dragon”). It docked with or otherwise captured a separate object on multiple occasions, managed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The mysterious reusable vehicle touched down Monday (May 8) at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, wrapping up a 276-day mission to Earth orbit, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

“The success of the experiment marks an important breakthrough in China’s research on reusable spacecraft technologies, which will provide more convenient and affordable round-trip methods for the peaceful use of space in the future.”

The space plane launched from Jiuquan on Aug. 4, 2022, kicking off a mission short on details but long on intrigue.

On Oct. 31, for example, the vehicle ejected something into orbit. Some experts speculated that the object was a service module, possibly indicating that the space plane was getting ready to return to Earth.

Others posited that the new free flyer was a small satellite designed to monitor the Chinese space plane — perhaps the correct guess, given how much longer the robotic spacecraft stayed aloft.

 

***

Experts think the Chinese space plane is likely similar to the Boeing X-37B, a U.S. space plane that debuted in 2010. Kevin Pollpeter, a research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses, told Nature.com that the reveal of X-37B sparked concern within the Chinese government over the craft’s military potential. It’s possible that this spurred the country’s space program, which is closely tied to its military, to start developing its own version, Pollpeter said.

Like the X-37B space plane, the Chinese craft appears to be uncrewed and relatively small. It probably first flew in September 2020, making a short two-day stint into orbit before returning to the ground. Its most recent mission began in August 2022, when it took off on a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China, according to a report from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The  exact purpose of the mission remains unclear.

According to the CSIS report, the craft released an “object” into orbit sometime in October. The object apparently disappeared in January, only to suddenly reappear on satellite tracking radar in March. Experts believe this could indicate that the plane has some sort of satellite removal capability, such as a robotic arm.

“[The Chinese] have been working a lot with robot arms in other contexts, like the Chinese space station,” Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Nature.

If that’s the case, then the plane’s primary purpose might be to repair damaged satellites or remove orbital debris. However, this does not rule out military capabilities — either for the Chinese space plane or for the X-37B. Until more details come out, however, the best we can do is speculate. Source and more reading.

Image source