A 2025 Harvard commencement speaker is denying nepotism got her into university after a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation revealed that her family’s connection to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked organization may have aided her application to the prestigious school.
Chinese Harvard graduate Jiang Yurong denied having been admitted to Harvard by virtue of her connections, despite having received a letter of recommendation written on her behalf by a CCP-tied executive for her former employer, the International Department of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation revealed Monday. Jiang’s father, Jiang Zhiming, donated approximately $140,000 to establish CBCGDF’s special fund in 2015, according to the group’s website.
Zhou Jinfeng, CBCGDF’s secretary-general, reportedly wrote Jiang the recommendation letter for Harvard. Jiang said she did not end up using the letter in her application, and that she delayed her admission by one year due to “financial difficulties,” Chinese state-run media organization China Daily reported Tuesday. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Harvard Commencement Speaker Worked For Org Tied To China’s Military)
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 27: Chairs are set up for graduation ceremonies in Harvard Yard on May 27, 2025 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Zhou has direct ties to the university, meeting with Harvard Fairbanks Director Michael Szonyi in 2018 to talk about promoting cultural exchanges, education and business ties between the U.S. and China, according to China Poly Group, which hosted the meeting in Beijing. The CBCGDF is effectively controlled by the CCP and has inked a cooperative agreement with an arm of the Chinese military, according to CBCGDF announcements reviewed by the DCNF.
“I hold only a Chinese passport, and I have no green card or overseas citizenship,” Jiang said in response to the nepotism allegations, according to China Daily. Harvard and the CBCGDF did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment, and Jiang could not be reached for comment.
The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student newspaper, characterized Jiang’s speech as a “full-throated defense of the importance of international diversity as the Trump administration threatens the fate of students from abroad at Harvard.”
Jiang was an intern at CBCGDF from at least 2018 to 2022, according to a DCNF translation of Chinese state media. Moreover, CBCGDF houses a branch of a Chinese influence and intelligence entity known as the United Front Work Department (UFWD); many of CBCGDF’s leaders — including Zhou, who wrote the letter for Jiang — belong to the UFWD, the DCNF found in its Monday investigation.
The UFWD is heavily involved in the U.S., often operating shadow courts for Chinese nationals in America. The group has created de facto bases of operations in several U.S. cities, serving as an arm for Chinese intelligence and influence operations abroad.
Zhou has attended at least three events hosted by the Chinese People’s Association For Friendship With Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), which the State Department classifies as a UFWD “affiliate.” His profile also indicates that he has repeatedly served as a Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) delegate, and Chinese government sources identify him as having maintained various leadership roles within UFWD organizations.
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