Rep. Waltz Introducing Bill Barring JROTC Programs at Chinese-Owned Schools

A bill being introduced Monday by Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., would bar U.S. private schools owned by China to operate junior military programs, it is being reported.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Waltz said he's concerned not only that those schools' JROTC programs would be training leaders for the Chinese military, but that they'd "do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party."

"It is against Chinese law for them not to respond" to what the CCP requests, Waltz told the news outlet.

Florida Preparatory Academy, owned by a Chinese corporation since 2017, reportedly is one such school with a JROTC program.

The school's president has denied any foreign interference in the academy's JROTC program. But Waltz has questioned the involvement of the chairman of the academy's parent company, Zhou Dengguang, with the CCP.

The lawmaker asked the Pentagon in January to assess how many private schools with JROTC programs had foreign owners, The Washington Free Beacon reported.

What's driving some of China's interest in U.S. private schools is a desire to give children a better chance of acceptance at U.S. universities, the Washington Examiner noted.

But Waltz is concerned the interest goes beyond that.

"We know that they're seeking to influence the next generation of Americans, both in their views of the CCP and of democracy, capitalism — you know, basic tenets of our society," he told the news outlet.

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