- USC, Penn also land gifts or contracts since the start of 2013
- More than 100 schools were recipients despite rising tensions
Trade tensions between Beijing and Washington have been building for years, leading the Trump administration to label the Asian nation “a threat to the world.” Yet the tally of gifts and contracts from China to U.S. universities since the start of 2013 is approaching $1 billion.
About 115 colleges got monetary gifts, contracts or both from sources in mainland China in the six and a half years through June, according to a Bloomberg analysis of U.S. government data. The leader was Harvard University, which pulled in $93.7 million, the majority as gifts. The University of Southern California and University of Pennsylvania were second and third.
China and its citizens are playing a greater role in U.S. campus life, even as President Donald Trump wages a trade war against the world’s second-largest economy. The Asian nation was the biggest contributor in the period after Qatar at $1.8 billion and the U.K. at $1.1 billion. The closer ties may be in jeopardy after the arrest of a Harvard chemistry professor accused of lying about his connections to China and concealing payments to him from a Chinese university.