Cambridge endowment charity linked to China government

A charity that gave £3.7 million (US$6.23 million) to Cambridge University to endow a professorship for Chinese development studies is run by members of the family of the country’s former prime minister Wen Jiabao, according to a well-placed source in Beijing, write Simon Montlake and Peter Foster for The Telegraph.

The donation from the Chong Hua Foundation in January 2012 raises serious questions over whether Beijing is buying influence at one of Britain’s most important universities, with one academic accusing it of allowing the Chinese government “to appoint a professor at Cambridge”.

Cambridge had previously denied that Chong Hua has links to the Chinese government, but new information recently received by The Telegraph indicates that the foundation is controlled by Wen Ruchun, daughter of China’s former prime minister. Wen is a senior member of one of China’s most powerful ‘Red Families’, which is estimated to have amassed US$2.3 billion (£1.6 billion) through its access to China’s economy and banking system.
Full report on The Telegraph site