Yale Keeps Questionable Ties to Chinese Military Company

Chuck Ross of the Washington Free Beacon documents a disturbing link between an Ivy League school and Chinese funding sources.

The founder of Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent—which the Pentagon blacklisted this week over its links to the Chinese military—serves on a prestigious Yale University advisory board and has quietly donated millions of dollars to other Ivy League schools.

Ma Huateng, the second-richest person in China, has served since 2015 on the Yale Center Beijing advisory board, which the Connecticut-based university uses to “form new partnerships with organizations in China.” Ma and Tencent have donated millions of dollars to Yale, MIT, Cornell, Columbia, and Princeton, the Washington Free Beacon has reported.

Those relationships could face new scrutiny after the Pentagon designated Tencent one of several “Chinese military companies” operating in the United States. Tencent, which owns the popular social media app WeChat, has faced scrutiny for years for helping the Chinese Communist Party censor China’s internet and for its central involvement in China’s ambitious plan to dominate the AI industry by 2030.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, has accused Tencent of engaging in “espionage and censorship” for the Chinese Communist Party and noted that Ma is a member of the CCP. But the Pentagon blacklist is the first time the American government has formally rebuked Tencent—a black eye for the Chinese company that could set the stage for future economic penalties.

Tencent’s shares tumbled 8 percent following Monday’s news. The company has disputed the blacklist, saying it “is not a military company or suppler.”

The relationships with Ma and Tencent could pose challenges for the Ivy League universities, which have faced turmoil over the past year for their tepid responses to anti-Semitic activity on their campuses. And it’s an early test for Yale president Maurie McInnis, who took office in July 2024. Yale has recently faced scrutiny over its foreign funding sources.