According to AFP on December 5, the U.S. State Department said on the 4th that it was terminating five China-funded exchange projects with the United States.
These projects include Policymakers Education China Trip, U.S.-China Friendship Program , U.S.-China Leadership Exchange Program, U.S.-China Transpacific Exchange Program) and Hong Kong Education and Culture Program. These programs are conducted under Section 108A of the Education and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA), which allows U.S. government employees to travel with foreign government funds.
“While other projects funded under the auspices of the U.S. Education and Cultural Exchange Act are mutually beneficial, these five projects are funded and operated by the Chinese government as a ‘soft power advocacy tool’, and such one-way projects are not beneficial to both sides,” the State Department said in a statement.
