UPenn Can’t Explain Mystery Donation From Chinese Company
Public records suggest that the Nice Famous Corporation, which funneled $3 million to the Ivy League school, is closely tied to the Chinese government
The University of Pennsylvania pocketed a $3 million donation last year from a mysterious Hong Kong shell company that is owned by a Shanghai businessman with deep ties to Chinese government officials.
The donation from Xu Xeuqing, who has no apparent connection to the University of Pennsylvania and was previously embroiled in a Shanghai public corruption scandal, raises questions about the true source of the money. Documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show Xeuqing has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
China has poured money into American universities in recent years, in part to buy influence on campuses, experts say. The donation comes as federal prosecutors have increased scrutiny on the Chinese government’s influence-buying and espionage operations at American universities.
"Unequivocally they’re using the money they’re providing the universities to garner influence there," said Ben Freeman, the director of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Policy. "It’s not the sole motive, but it’s one of a variety of motives."
Foreign money has poured into the school over the past few years with a significant portion coming from China. The Ivy League school received $61 million in gifts and contracts from China between March 2017 and the end of 2019; over the previous four year period, it took in just $19 million from Chinese donors.
The University of Pennsylvania received the $3 million in question from a Hong Kong-based company called "Nice Famous Corporation Limited," according to financial disclosures. And while a spokesman for the university, Stephen McCarthy, initially told the Washington Free Beacon that the money came from a Chinese national named Xin Zhou whose firm is "a large client" of the university's business school, a review of Chinese public records by the Free Beacon could not establish a connection between Zhou and the Nice Famous Corporation.
McCarthy did not respond to a request for further comment about why the university attributed the donation to Zhou.
In fact, corporate records indicate that the Nice Famous Corporation Limited is wholly owned by another Chinese national, Xu Xeuqing, a real estate developer well-connected in Chinese political circles.
The company does not appear to operate from its registered address in Hong Kong, according to an agent of the Free Beacon who visited the office. In fact, another company—Double Rich Development Ltd., which specializes in the import and export of ore and minerals—sits there.
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