AB 947

This bill requires the University of Wisconsin System to do all of the following:

1. Ensure that no designated foreign mission of China is established at or

recognized by a UW institution after the bill's effective date. A “designated foreign

mission of China” is defined as an entity or operation designated by the federal Office

of Foreign Missions as a foreign mission of the People's Republic of China within the

United States, including the Confucius Institute U.S. Center, the Asia Society

Chinese Language Partner Network, and the Center for Language Exchange and

Cooperation. If a designated foreign mission of China has already been established

at or recognized by a UW institution on the bill's effective date, the UW System must

develop and implement a plan to ensure that the designated foreign mission of China

does not remain established at or recognized by the institution after approximately

one year from the bill's effective date.

2. Annually identify the amount and source of funding received from a

designated foreign mission of China. This information must be included in an

annual report that current law requires to be submitted to the governor and the

legislature. With respect to UW-Madison, the report must be submitted by the

UW-Madison rather than the UW System.

3. Identify, end, and provide a report regarding any “cultural exchange”

programs the UW System has that are consistent with those identified by the U.S.

State Department as Chinese Communist Party propaganda tools.

The bill also prohibits UW System employees and students from participating

in Communist Chinese recruitment programs. The bill defines “Communist Chinese

recruitment program” as a program established by the government of China,

including the Thousand Talents Program, the Overseas High-Level Talent

Recruitment Program, and the National High-End Foreign Experts Recruitment

Plan, to recruit or partner with scientists, scholars, and other experts by offering

them benefits or privileges, such as concurrent or short-term appointments at

Chinese institutions or Chinese research laboratories. Under the bill, participation

means entering into a written agreement with a Chinese institution, Chinese

research laboratory, or the government of China that confers upon a person benefits

or privileges associated with, or membership in, a Communist Chinese recruitment

program. The definition of “government of China” includes an instrumentality of the

People's Republic of China or of the Communist Party of China. The bill creates

certain disclosure requirements and requires any UW System employee or student

who is participating in a Communist Chinese recruitment program on the effective

date of the bill to terminate his or her participation within six months after the bill's

effective date, subject to an extension of no more than six additional months if certain

requirements are met.