To the editor:

George Will’s recent columns from Hong Kong clearly explain the reasons why millions of Hong Kong residents are marching in the streets. They are doing what they can to defend their free and open society against the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to incorporate Hong Kong into “China’s deepening tyranny” as quickly as possible.

What a contrast to the attitudes toward the CCP displayed by the Kansas Board of Regents and University of Kansas administrators. At KU the CCP’s presence in the form of a Confucius Institute is welcomed and supported by KU staff and Kansas taxpayer dollars. In a truly Orwellian move, KU has even made its CCP-approved institute a unit within the School of Education.

Why has this happened? Why does KU continue to operate what the American Association of University Professors has called “an arm of the Chinese state” in partnership with the CCP? How sad that while the people of Hong Kong are struggling to keep the tentacles of the CCP from penetrating more deeply into their education system, judicial system and political system, KU administrators continue to place KU’s “good” name and money in service to CCP interests. When they see what is happening in Hong Kong they should bow their heads in shame.

Gary Bjorge,

Lawrence