American private schools owned by Chinese government-linked groups would not be allowed to operate junior military programs if a bill introduced Monday by Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) succeeds.
The proposal, obtained by the Washington Examiner, would bar private schools with ties to the Chinese Communist Party from starting or continuing Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or JROTC, programs.
Waltz told the Washington Examiner in an interview that the concern about Chinese-operated JROTC programs stems in part from the reality that the programs aim to provide the military with its next generation of leaders.
But he said the concerns about Chinese involvement in military schools and programs are broader than individual students who may go on to become officers.
“This is just even broader than education — anything that is owned or controlled by China, by law under the national security law that [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] has passed, has to essentially do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party, whether that is a student that may have access to a university supercomputer or whether that is a company that is told to act in a certain manner,” Waltz said. “It is against Chinese law for them not to respond” to what the CCP requests, he noted.
