Seth Bodnar, the independent running for U.S. Senate in Montana, championed a university partnership with a registered Chinese foreign agent while he led the school, and now faces questions about whether his campaign-trail tough talk on Beijing matches his record.
Bodnar, a former Green Beret who served as president of the University of Montana from January 2018 to January 2026, refused to respond to a December 2023 demand from the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party to terminate the school's study abroad partnership with the China-United States Exchange Foundation. Instead, he issued a public statement defending the arrangement, saying it was his "responsibility to expand learning experiences for our students so that America can compete and win around the globe."
That partnership, organized through the university's Baucus Institute, sent students on trips to Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai in 2024, 2025, and 2026, all funded by CUSEF, a Hong Kong-based organization that has registered as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The foundation's founder, Tung Chee-hwa, is a former chief executive of Hong Kong and a former vice chairman of China's National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Its senior advisers include He Yafei, a former top Chinese diplomat, and Yao Yunzhu, a former Chinese military general.
Bodnar's campaign did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Free Beacon, which first reported the details of his involvement.
In December 2023, Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, then the Republican chairman of the House China committee, sent Bodnar a letter demanding the university cut ties with CUSEF. Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Montana Republican, co-signed it. Bodnar never replied directly. He chose a public statement instead, framing the partnership as an educational opportunity.
Gallagher's warning was not new or novel. Five years earlier, in 2018, both the University of Texas at Austin and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace had already severed their own relationships with CUSEF. William Burns, who led Carnegie at the time, later explained why during his 2021 CIA director confirmation hearing. He told senators he was "increasingly worried about the expansion of Chinese influence operations." Then-Sen. Marco Rubio, who served as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, noted during the same hearing that CUSEF "showed a clear intent to influence policy toward China in the United States."
Bodnar had those data points available. He kept the partnership going anyway.
CUSEF paid for 15 students to travel to Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai in June 2024. Scholarships covered visas, flights, international health insurance, lodging, and meals. Former Sen. Max Baucus, who runs the Baucus Institute and served as President Obama's last ambassador to China, accompanied the students with his wife.
The itinerary was not limited to campus lectures. Students visited the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China's state-run Securities Regulatory Commission, and Tsinghua University. They toured the Shanghai headquarters of Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media giant that has established its own internal CCP committee, operates under strict Chinese censorship rules, and is preparing to go public with backing from a state-run investment bank. They also visited NIO, an electric vehicle maker that the Pentagon has identified as a Chinese military company.
And the students stopped at what was described as a "cultural center" tied to China's United Front Work Department, the arm of the Chinese government that oversees foreign influence campaigns.
Months after that first trip, CUSEF held a 15th anniversary forum. University of Montana students attended. Lu Kang, a vice minister of the CCP, delivered remarks. The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries cosponsored the event. The U.S. State Department has designated that organization as one "tasked with co-opting subnational governments" that acts to "directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote [China's] global agenda." A Beijing think tank overseen by the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also cosponsored it.
Hong Kong's chief executive, John Lee Ka-chiu, who was appointed by China's State Council in 2022 and sanctioned by the U.S. government for cracking down on pro-democracy protesters, also spoke at the event. So did Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the United States.
The second CUSEF trip came in May 2025. During that visit, University of Montana students met with Liu Jianchao, the head of the CCP's International Department. Liu has publicly remarked that the United States seeks to "oppress and contain China." After the meeting, the CCP's Central Committee touted the visit, issuing a statement declaring that "China's policy toward the US remains stable and continuous" and that "China always adheres to the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation to view and handle China-US relations."
A third trip followed in May 2026. During that visit, students met with Lu Kang, the CCP vice minister. The CCP's Central Committee promoted that trip as well.
CUSEF was not the only Chinese-linked funding flowing into the Baucus Institute. Tax filings show the Future Wanxiang Foundation gifted the institute $165,000 between 2021 and 2024. The foundation is led by Pin Ni, an auto executive identified in corporate disclosures as a CCP member. His company, Wanxiang America, is a subsidiary of the China-based Wanxiang Group, a billion-dollar green energy company that has boasted it "listens to the Party, follows the Party's lead, holds high the banner, and prioritizes Party building."
In July 2025, the Baucus Institute provided 20 students for a month-long program at Wanxiang Polytechnic University in Hangzhou, a vocational school operated by Wanxiang alongside the Chinese government.
Neither the Baucus Institute, the University of Montana, nor CUSEF responded to requests for comment.
On the campaign trail, Bodnar has positioned himself as clear-eyed on the China threat. He has warned that domestic mining projects are benefiting China and that the United States is "falling behind competitors like China" on energy production. He is running as an independent in a three-person race against Republican nominee Kurt Alme, who holds a strong lead in the polls, and Democratic nominee Alani Bankhead, who has resisted calls to drop out.
Leading Montana Democrats have rallied behind Bodnar. Former Sen. Jon Tester supports his bid. Baucus himself endorsed Bodnar in June, calling him "the kind of Independent leader who can pull us out of this mess and chart a new path for the state we love." Baucus is also raising money for the campaign.
But the CUSEF record undercuts the posture. Rep. Zinke told the Washington Free Beacon bluntly:
"The facts are clear that China has invaded our university system and is waging a long-term indoctrination war against the United States to turn U.S. citizens against their own people. Universities must acknowledge this obvious threat, stop taking the money, and do more to counter the Chinese influence."
Joseph Cella, a former U.S. ambassador who now leads the Secure Our States Coalition, a group founded to combat Chinese influence in America, was sharper. He told the Free Beacon that Bodnar's defense of CUSEF was "as ignorant as it is reckless."
Cella laid out the stakes in detail:
"While CUSEF promotes itself as benign and dedicated to dialogue and mutual understanding, by its nature a clear and present threat exists manifesting through elite capture and narrative shaping; camping out in academic institutions to thieve intellectual property; shaping foreign policy narratives; as well as monitoring diaspora communities and promote CCP-favorable views."
He added that Bodnar's record "should be a red flag for Montana voters as they consider his judgment and ability to engage the China threat."
CUSEF's reach extends well past the University of Montana. Its website lists partnerships with Columbia University, Harvard University, the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, and Georgetown University. In November 2025, Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, the current chairman of the House China committee, called on Columbia to sever its ties with CUSEF, warning that influence operations targeting universities remain "serious threats to America."
The pattern is consistent. A registered foreign agent of the Chinese government funds student travel. Students meet with CCP officials. The CCP's own propaganda apparatus promotes the visits. And the American institutions involved treat the arrangement as routine academic exchange.
Bodnar had every warning, from Congress, from the intelligence community, from the public record. He chose to keep the door open. Montana voters deciding whether to send him to the Senate now know what walked through it.
