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In 2018, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley entered into a partnership with the Confucius Institute (CCI), a non-profit, non-governmental organization affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education, to send 20 high-schoolers from the Palmetto State to a summer camp in Beijing, China. The two-week trip was funded, in part, by a grant from the CCI and subsidized by the governor’s office. Officials from both South Carolina and the CCI hoped that the experience would introduce the student’s to Chinese culture and strengthen their understanding of its language and customs.
At the time, some political observers raised concerns that the governor’s actions gave a platform to an organization considered to be a diplomatic arm of the Chinese government, especially because CCP-affiliated groups have frequently been accused of attempting to co-opt education abroad programs in order to spread Chinese propaganda.
The governor’s office responded to the accusations by noting that the students were from public schools and that their visit to China was closely monitored by a designated U.S. State Department official. The governor’s office also highlighted how the trip served educational purposes in that it offered students insight into a different culture and language and that the students had access to Chinese academics and experts.