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Overview

Southwest University of Political Science (Chongqing) provides RMB 6,152,750.8 in grant funding to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for their Cross Cultural Human Rights Centre

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$936,140
Commitment Year•2018Country of Activity•NetherlandsDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•NetherlandsSector•EducationFlow Type•Grant

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jan 1, 2018
End (actual)
Dec 31, 2020

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Funding agencies

Government Agencies

  • Southwest University of Political Science and Law (Chongqing)

Receiving agencies

Miscellaneous Agency Types

  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Free University of Amsterdam)

Loan description

Southwest University of Political Science (Chongqing) provides RMB 6,152,750.8 in grant funding to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for their Cross Cultural Human Rights Centre

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

Between 2018 and 2020, Southwest University of Political Science and Law in Chongqing provided RMB 6,152,750.8 in grant funding to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Free University of Amsterdam) (VU) for their "Cross Cultural Human Rights Centre" (CCHRC). The Chinese university was the sole provider of funds for the CCHRC. On January 19, 2022, the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (NOS) reported on the CCHRC's Chinese funding and influence. The article generated controversy as it revealed that CCHRC was expressing views similar to those of the Chinese government, including denial of the oppression of Uyghurs. That same day, authorities at VU said they would immediately suspend CCHRC operations, return some or all of the funding, and begin an investigation into the claims. On July 11, 2022, VU officials announced that the center was closing permanently after an external investigation.

Staff comments

1. The annual grant amounts were as follows: RMB 1,818,112 in 2018, RMB 2,134,638.8 in 2019, and RMB 2,200,000 in 2020. AidData has coded the transaction amount as the sum of these three amounts: RMB 6,152,750.8.