WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is seeking an investigation into whether Harvard University violated federal sanctions by participating in a health insurance conference in China, according to a New York Times report published on Wednesday (Jun 11).
Citing sources familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by the newspaper, the report said the conference may have included officials from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a Chinese state-run group that has been blacklisted by the United States.
The New York Times reported that Harvard has launched an internal review of its role in the event. Rubio signed off on a recommendation to the Treasury Department last month to open an investigation, according to the report.
Reuters has not independently verified the report.
A spokesperson for the Treasury Department said it takes “any allegations of sanctions violations extremely seriously” but declined to comment on possible or pending investigations. A State Department spokesperson also declined to comment.
Harvard declined to respond to a Reuters request for comment and did not comment to the New York Times.
The Trump administration has increased scrutiny of the university in recent months, freezing billions of dollars in grants and proposing to revoke its tax-exempt status. These measures have triggered a series of legal challenges.
