China is using its "Root-Seeking" summer camps to expose thousands of ethnically Chinese children living in the U.S. to CCP propaganda and, in some instances, teach them to be like Red Army soldiers and "act like little overseas Chinese police," reports the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Some of the camps are run by officers from the People's Liberation Army and the Ministry of Public Security.
"The long arm of the CCP's malign influence extends into the United States and seeks to assert an illegitimate claim on all those of Chinese ancestry — regardless of their nationality," Michigan Republican Rep. John Moolenaar told the DCNF.
"We need to protect all those on American soil from the CCP's authoritarian agenda, particularly by educating the American public on the true nature of the party and its dystopian vision," Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, added.
The "root-seeking" program was launched in 1999 by the State Council's Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO) and its China Overseas Exchange Association.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the U.S., in an email to the DCNF defended the program.
"The legitimate rights for overseas Chinese to learn and inherit their own language and culture should be respected and protected. The Root-Seeking Summer Camp in China provides a platform to help overseas Chinese learn their native language, understand their culture, and go to their ancestral country, China, to seek their roots and to study and exchange in China," he said.
"The Root-Seeking Summer Camp has always been conducted in accordance with international laws and the laws and customs of the country where the overseas Chinese live," he added. "The Root-Seeking Summer Camp not only satisfies the needs of overseas Chinese to learn their own language and culture, but also effectively promotes exchanges and integration between different cultures around the world and provides convenience for the world to understand China and for China to understand the world."
Brandon Weichert, a national security analyst at the National Interest, told the news outlet that the "Little Overseas Chinese Police" camp may aim to threaten participants into operating as informants.
"We're always watching you," Weichert said, "why don't you help us keep tabs on mom and dad or grandma and grandpa or brother and sister?"
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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