The discovery of classified documents handled by President Joe Biden at various locations has added new dimensions to the old allegation that Biden and his son Hunter Biden may have helped Chinese entities and businessmen in potentially illicit ways. Tell-tale evidence from the infamous laptops of Hunter had shed light into his extensive business dealings in China and how he might have used his father's political office for furthering his business interests.
The report that classified US government documents were found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania has also brought to light more information on the China connection. Here are some important facts:
1. Donations Before and After Biden Center Launch
After Bide established the Penn-Biden think tank under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania, the university received an influx of donations from China. The University got about $77 million in gifts and contracts from China between 2014 and 2020, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian. The University received the largest sum of foreign donations from China, at $77,457,323, followed by England, at $57,410,522, the report says.
2. Chinese Donations Triple
2. After Biden launched the Penn-Biden center, the university's grants from China more than tripled. U-Penn received about $21,187,333 from China in the 37 months prior to Penn announcing the formation of the Penn Biden Center in 2018 and $72,274,675 from China in the 39 months following its launch. The Washington Free Beacon also assessed that the Chinese donations to U-Penn tripled after the launch of the Biden think tank.
3. Suspect Funds
Among the grants from China was also an unexplained fund transfer of $3 million from a Hong Kong shell company in 2019. The company was linked to Chinese businessman Xu Xeuqing but the University had submitted that it came from a Chinese national Xin Zhou. However, Free Beacons's investigation could not establish a link between Xin and the Nice Famous Corporation Limited, which sent the money.
4. Gifts From China
After Biden assumed the presidency, the university got at least $12.8 million 'in gifts from China', according to Fox News. This money came between March 2020 and June 2022, the outlet reported citing the Department of Education's foreign gift reporting database. U-Penn also got at least $2.8 million from China contracts in 2020 and 2022.
5. U-Penn Denies Claims
On its part, U-Penn said the Biden Center never solicited money or gifts from China. "The Penn Biden Center has never solicited or received any gifts from any Chinese or other foreign entity. In fact, the University has never solicited any gifts for the Center," the university's vice president of communications Stephen MacCarthy told Fox News Digital.
6. The Planning Behind the Think Tank
Hunter Biden's emails show that the Bidens had started planning the launch of the Penn-Biden Center long before the Bide's term as Vice-President to Barack Obama ended. An email sent to Hunter in early 2016 shows his business associate proposing the setting up of the Center. The person who sent the mail says 'The Biden Institute of Foreign Relations at the University of Pennsylvania' can be set up and that it should 'focus on foreign policy'. "In addition to the institute at U of Penn, the school has an existing office in DC that will be expanded to house a DC office for VP Biden ..." he says. Hunter replies in the affirmative, seeking extreme confidentiality.
7. Hunter's Links With U-Penn President
Days before this email exchange took place Hunter and Biden were scheduled to have a meeting with U-Penn's then President Amy Gutmann at the White House, according to Fox News Digital. A year earlier, Hunter had hosted a private dinner for Gutmann at Washington.
8. Biden's Lavish Pay
Four weeks after Biden left the vice presidency, he was appointed as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Records show he was given a whopping $776,527 in 2017 and 2018. According to the Philadelphia magazine, the salary was nearly double what full-time Penn professors made during the same time.
9. Biden Makes U-Penn President US Ambassador
After Biden became the President, he appointed Gutmann as the US Ambassador to Germany. Biden also appointed David Cohen, who was the former chairman of the University of Pennsylvania's board of trustees, as the US Ambassador to Canada.
10. Deep Ties between Think Tank and White House
Fox reported that the linkages between the Penn-Biden Center and the Biden White House are deep and complex. At least 10 senior Biden administration officials had stints at the Penn Biden Center. They include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl and White House counselor Steven Richetti.
