Oakland University to sever ties with Chinese universities

ROCHESTER HILLS — Oakland University recently announced it is severing ties with Chinese universities amid national security concerns by lawmakers.

Rep. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Rep. Tim Walberg, chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, recently sent letters to leaders of Oakland University — along with Eastern Michigan University and the University of Detroit Mercy — urging them to end the schools’ partnerships with several Chinese universities.

“The research at your university is funded by the American people and it must be protected,” Moolenaar and Walberg wrote in the letters sent to each university president.

The lawmakers argued that federally-funded researchers have helped China advance technologies in military and other applications, potentially posing a national security threat to the United States.

John Young, vice president of communications and marketing at Oakland University, confirmed the university received the Feb.18 letter from Moolenaar and Walberg.

“The University understands and appreciates the concerns expressed in the letter and will be discontinuing any collaborative programs the University has with the three Chinese institutions referenced in the letter,” Interim Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Kevin Corcoran said in a prepared statement.

Oakland University has partnerships with Changchun University of Science and Technology, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, and Beijing Information Science and Technology University.

Corcoran added that the university previously conducted its own review of the joint institute and began the process of terminating that program in late 2024.

“The University takes seriously its responsibility to protect U.S. research capabilities, its intellectual property and taxpayer investments from PRC or CCP exploitation,” he said in a statement.

Corcoran also added that, “Oakland’s presence has been educational and not research-focused.”

The move follows a similar request in January by the lawmakers to the University of Michigan, which also announced it would begin the process of ending a two-decade-long joint institute with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.