From: National Association of Scholars
By: Ian Oxnevad
Date: May 18, 2026
China's Hidden Role in California's Energy Mandates and University Partnerships
Executive Summary
In 2019, California formalized a partnership between the University of California and China’s Tsinghua University to collaborate on research devoted to climate change policy. Called the California-China Climate Institute (CCCI), this partnership brokered closer ties between China and California and enriched Chinese companies as a result of Sacramento’s climate change policy. The CCCI played a role in brokering conferences and business meetings between policymakers and business leaders. The CCCI also helped integrate Chinese experts into California’s regulatory agencies.
Concerns over China’s influence on American higher education have grown over the past decade. Revelations about Confucius Institutes, Confucius Classrooms, economic espionage, dissident intimidation, and foreign funding of campus protests have shifted perceptions about Beijing’s role in higher education. Organizations such as the National Association of Scholars (NAS) and legislative investigations such as those done by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party have unveiled the depth and scope of Beijing’s influence across US colleges and universities. Despite these revelations, few have examined China’s involvement in using Western universities to advance climate change policy. This report seeks to address this gap. This report examines the development, research, and work of the CCCI and how it has fostered policies that have led to greater reliance on Chinese technologies and products to the detriment of American economic security. (continue reading)