The University of Michigan is terminating a partnership with a Shanghai university in response to national security concerns. The Associated Press has reported that the president of the U.S. university, Santa Ono, disclosed that his institution will sever ties over the next six months with Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
It came after five Chinese students at the University of Michigan were charged in connection with allegedly misleading investigators about visiting a remote military site in the state.
According to the Associated Press, Rep. John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, had earlier written to Ono requesting that he shut down the joint program. Over X, Moolenaar praised the university for “making the right decision”.
The results of these collaborations could one day be turned against our country, and we cannot allow that to happen. American universities should end these types of joint institutes and protect the security of our nation’s research.
— Rep. John Moolenaar (@RepMoolenaar) January 10, 2025
Ono is president emeritus of the University of British Columbia. His former Canadian academic institution retains links to the same university in China.
According to the UBC website, an exchange program enables Asian studies students and students interested in improving their Mandarin Chinese to go on an exchange program to Shanghai Jiao Tong University. They can enroll in Mandarin courses at the Shanghai university’s School of International Education.
In addition, UBC International MBA students at UBC’s Robert H. Lee Graduate Program can study part-time for 20 months at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In China, they enroll at the university’s Antai College of Economics and Management under a course-equivalency formula. This enables students to gain credits from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in the same manner that they would receive at UBC.
“Graduates will receive an International Master of Business Administration (IMBA) degree from UBC, and a China Ministry of Education (MOE) degree authentication for partnership programs,” the UBC website states.
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