In 2010, the South Carolina Department of Education struck a deal with a Chinese cultural and business organization that is linked to Beijing’s Communist Party to send 20 high school students from the state of South Carolina to Beijing for a two-week summer camp. The governor of South Carolina at the time, Nikki Haley, supported the program as it was seen as an opportunity to further strengthen her state’s economic and cultural ties with China. The program was part of a larger initiative to engage students in Chinese language learning that included the opening of the Confucius Institute at the University of South Carolina.
Gov. Haley’s South Carolina partnered with CCP-linked group to send 20 students to Beijing summer camp
