“Warm Hospitality”: The university president has repeatedly hosted senior CCP officials

FIRST ON FOX: A senior diplomat of the Chinese Communist Partywho recently replaced a controversial official with deep ties to top New York Democrats, recently touted his relationship with an American university president and former higher education official in New Jersey.

Chen Li, who assumed the role of Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in new york last month, took to social media last week to praise the “warm hospitality” he received from Kean University President Lamont Repollet.

“Absolutely overwhelmed by President Repollet’s warm hospitality. I truly felt at home on this campus.” He wrote to X. “A commitment to bilateral educational exchange and people-to-people connections is key to the success of Wenzhou-Kean University, a joint Chinese-American institution.”

Repollet, who served as New Jersey’s education commissioner under Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy for more than two years, was seen smiling in two of the photos Li posted. According to Repollet’s Kean University biography, he was responsible for “overseeing the shift to distance education amid the COVID-19 pandemic and playing a key role in planning for the 2020-2021 school year.”

DEM GOVERNOR REVEALS BOOK-FUNDED PCC OFFICIAL WITH HIS OFFICE ‘NO LONGER’ ON PAPER Amid Former Aide’s Arrest

While Biden and Trump administration officials warned about CCP influence, Repollet has developed deep ties to China over several years, a Fox News Digital review found. He recently visited Beijing in October this year to deliver a keynote address at the Triennial Conference of the International Association of University Presidents, which was held in Beijing.

Press releases from the conference he emphasized how passionate Repollet was on equity in education and that his keynote address highlighted how “AI is a revolutionary tool that can foster equity and transform the way we engage with students and support their success.”

“AI has the power to help close achievement gaps and ensure that all students, regardless of their challenges, have access to high-quality educational resources,” he continued. “By delivering personalized learning experiences, AI empowers historically marginalized students with the tools they need to succeed.”

Months earlier, Chinese state media expanded on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s letter to Repollet, which was in response to a letter he sent to Xi, according to state media.

CHINESE OFFICIAL WHO PRAISED CCP MAKES ANOTHER APPEARANCE AT IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL: ‘HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS’

“Recently, President Xi Jinping responded to a letter from Lamont Repollet, president of Kean University in the United States, encouraging Chinese and American universities to strengthen exchanges and cooperation and contribute to the friendship between China and the United States United,” the Chinese government said in a press release

“Recalling that he witnessed the signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement between China and the United States to jointly establish Wenzhou-Kean University in 2006 at Kean University, Xi Jinping said that he was pleased to see that with the joint efforts of both sides, Wenzhou-Kean University has achieved results and become a benchmark project in China-US educational cooperation.”

“Xi expressed appreciation for what Repollet said in his letter about deepening cooperation with Wenzhou-Kean University and encouraging American students to come to China for exchange and study, and asked the universities of the two countries intensifying exchanges and cooperation through various modes to cultivate young envoys who know the two countries well and build more bridges to promote China-US friendship,” he continued the statement

In addition, a press release from Wenzhou-Kean University announced Repollet’s “momentous” visit to China in April 2023.

“Kean University President Lamont O. Repollet and his delegation embarked on a momentous visit to Wenzhou, marking the first visit in three years,” the press release said. “This visit presented a unique opportunity to strengthen interactions between the two universities, foster people-to-people exchanges between Zhejiang Province and New Jersey in the United States, and enhance the long-standing friendship between the two countries.”

The press release said that Repollet arrived in China on March 20, 2023 and “wasted no time” in meeting with Wenzhou Party Secretary Shuji Liu Xiaotao.

“Mr. Liu Xiaotao expressed his hope that the two sides will continue to build a model of Sino-US cooperation in education and foster a bridge of friendly exchanges, with a bright future for the university,” the statement said of press “President Repollet extended his sincere thanks to the Wenzhou government for its unwavering support for the construction and development of WKU.”

Xiaotao has been a member of the Chinese Communist Party since 1991 and has served there various roles during the last decades.

Additionally, a Chinese state media company held an event in New York City in September of this year that listed Repollet as a speaker where, according to a press release“emphasized the importance of cultural exchange and people-to-people diplomacy in fostering mutual understanding between nations.”

The list of speakers included several Chinese officials, including Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the US, and Shen Haixiong, the vice minister of the publicity department of the CPC Central Committee. Haixiong also serves as the head of China Media Group, which is a crucial media conglomerate that plays an important role in the country’s state media apparatus.

While Repollet’s ties to China have strengthened since becoming Kean University’s president, his Facebook profile shows he made several visits to China before becoming its top administrator by Kean.

For example, a Facebook post from 2016 is shown Repollet attended the opening of Wenzhou-Kean University in China as a member of the university’s board of trustees. He also attended the 2017 kick-off in China, according to another Facebook post.

Before Chen Li took the top post at China’s New York consulate, that post was held by Huang Ping, who has a long story of promoting CCP propaganda and calling the CCP a “big party,” denying the alleged Uyghur genocide, and meeting with officials from across the United States at universities, media companies, and in elected office.

Repollet has also had ties to Ping since 2021, according to a statement from the Chinese consulate in New York. Ping and Repollet met virtually in December 2021, where Ping congratulated him on his appointment at Kean University and praised “the university for setting a good example for educational cooperation between China and the United States for its 10-year successful campus in Wenzhou, China.”

“(Repollet) strongly agrees that educational cooperation plays a unique role in people-to-people exchange and enhancing understanding and friendship between the Chinese and American people,” the statement said press office of the consulate. “(Repollet) confirms that the university highly values ​​globalization and diversity, and strongly supports cooperation with China.”

Months before, Cabbage recorded a video on behalf of the Chinese Consulate in New York celebrating “the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.” In the video, he highlighted his university’s “strong ties” with China and said he was “immensely grateful to our Chinese partners and the people at Kean USA who continue to work together to help this university and especially our students thrive “.

“I look forward to continuing to collaborate with our partners in China to further develop this great institution and to celebrate events like National Day in China together (and) in the future,” Repollet continued.

In 2023 facebook post it also shows Repollet participating in an event marking the last day of Chinese New Year, which featured Ping.

Michael Sobolik, the author of “Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance,” sounded the alarm about this close relationship between Repollet and China, telling Fox News Digital that this relationship is a “history precautionary”.

“The university hosts a Human Rights Institute, but makes no mention of the ongoing genocide of the Uighurs in Beijing, its cultural genocide in Tibet, its political repression in Hong Kong, or its broader oppression of the Chinese people at home and abroad. foreign,” Sobolik continued. . “This is what happens when American universities partner with the Chinese Communist Party: Money and market access incentivize Americans to ignore the party’s atrocities and remain silent.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

China’s New York consulate, which has previously aligned itself with the CCP narrative while responding to multiple inquiries from Fox News Digital, dismissed Sobolik’s analysis as a “so-called ‘expert'” that he “lacks a basic understanding of China.”

“The statements about Xinjiang, Xizang, Hong Kong and human rights are factually incorrect and represent typical misinformation. We strongly oppose such slander and slander,” the consulate continued. “Educational exchange and cooperation between China and the US are in line with the laws and common interests of both sides and are transparent and beyond reproach.”

“Kean University is known for promoting educational equity and inclusion, and its cooperation with China will provide more learning and development opportunities for students of all ethnicities in the United States,” the consulate added. “We urge some people in the United States to take off their ‘colored glasses’, look at cooperation objectively and positively.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Kean University for comment, but did not hear back.