Top US high school received over $1 million from Chinese government-linked organizations

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According to a bombshell report, one of the nation's most prestigious STEM school has taken over $1 million in funding from communist Chinese-affiliated organizations.

An investigation conducted by parents’ rights organization Parents Defending Education uncovered that Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax County, Virginia has received "over $1,000,000 worth of donations from Chinese interests since 2014."

The STEM-focused public school, which is consistently ranked as one of the top high schools in the nation, has taken money from three Chinese-affiliated groups over the last decade: Shirble HK, Tsinghua University (Beijing) and the Ameson Foundation through its "Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund" (TJPF).

STEFANIK PROPOSES LEGISLATION TO LIMIT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES WITH CHINESE PARTNERSHIPS

Teachers and students sing together to celebrate the founding day of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at Wenhua Road Primary School in Zaozhuang, East China's Shandong Province, June 22, 2022. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Parents Defending Education obtained the TJPF’s campaign donor list recently, which showed "all gifts and pledges to the Campaign for TJ as of June 30, 2015 and donations to other funding priorities since the Campaign’s launch in 2013."

As the report noted, the "Campaign for TJ" was "established to raise money for the TJ renovation project. TJPF is a 501c3, ‘charitable organization that raises funds to meet TJ’s unique needs as a premier public science and technology high school.’"

The list revealed that the three Chinese-linked groups each donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the campaign. Parents Defending Education detailed the ties each organization had to the Chinese interests.

PDE stated, "The Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation (Ameson) is a ‘non-profit, non-governmental organization headquartered in DC that is dedicated to promoting cultural exchange and educational cooperation between China and the rest of the world.’"

The report quoted Ameson representatives, who claimed that the high school "committed to assist Ameson as it embarks on launching its first STEM high school in China." As the document revealed, Ameson donated over $250,000 to TJ’s campaign.

According to Shirble Department Store Holding China LTD’s website, the "Company and its subsidiaries (collectively, the ‘Group’) are principally engaged in department store operations, property development and provision of property development consulting services in the People’s Republic of China (the ‘PRC’)."

"Shirble" has donated over $500,000 to the school within the last ten years. 

PDE described the relationship between Thomas Jefferson High School and Tsinghua University High School in Beijing, which ultimately linked it to China's Ministry of Education and the Chinese military.

The report provided a quote from a TJ newsletter claiming both schools "developed a partnership" during the 2013-2014 school year so that TJ could "share best practices to assist them as they (Tsinghua University High School) develop their own STEM models."

STEFANIK PROPOSES LEGISLATION TO LIMIT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES WITH CHINESE PARTNERSHIPS

Thomas Jefferson High School has taken money from several Chinese organizations, including a Chinese school with ties to the country's military, according to a report from Parents Defending Education. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

PDE wrote, "In 2015, Tsinghua University High School was established in Beijing, China, built upon the TJ model. The school is across from Tsinghua University, a STEM-focused Chinese university that is designated as a ‘Strong Base Plan’ school."

Additionally, the report noted that "Faculty representatives from the Beijing based high school and university visited TJ" for to learn about the school’s approach to teaching. 

"China’s Tsinghua University contributed $300,000 to the capital campaign," PDE’s report said. 

In its report, The Washington Examiner detailed "concerning links" between Tsinghua University High School and the Chinese state military. "The Pentagon assessed in 2020 there were ‘Military-Civil Fusion linkages’ with Tsinghua University, noting the school's ‘People's Liberation Army-affiliated labs," the Washington Examiner wrote. "A report prepared for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) in 2022 noted the PLA Air Force ‘established the "Dual-Enrollment Program" with Tsinghua University.’"

Tsinghua University High School has claimed to be "attached" to Tsinghua University and is "directly under the Ministry of Education," the Examiner noted. 

President and founder of PDE, Nicole Neily compared TJ’s relationship with Tsinghua University High School to American universities being infiltrated by "Confucius institutes," which Fox News Digital recently described as Chinese government-funded "educational partnership programs for students outside of China, including in the United States, to learn Chinese languages and culture."

In recent years, Confucious institutes have garnered attention for suspected propaganda agendas. 

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"The Trump Administration was able to rein in Confucius Institutes in America’s universities thanks to the Higher Education Act, which required reporting of foreign funding and contracts valued at $250,000 or more per year – yet no such corollary exists in the K-12 setting," Neily told Fox News Digital. 

"The scandal at Thomas Jefferson High School highlights the urgency of putting such controls in place in all levels of the American education system. Without doubt, similar problems are occurring in numerous other schools across the country, and it poses an acute threat to America’s national security," she added. 

Thomas Jefferson High School did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fairfax County Public Schools  ((AP Photo/Matthew Barakat))