If not for a warning from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the University of Texas was on its way to accept funding from an arm of the Chinese Communist Party for its new China Policy Center, according to WHIO 7.

The China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) was all set to fund UT’s China Policy Center which opened last August. The policy center is a part of the LBJ School of Public Affairs. As the report states, Sen. Cruz sent a warning to UT “that accepting money from the China-United States Exchange Foundation could facilitate China’s propaganda efforts and impair the university’s credibility.” UT President Gregory L. Fenves launched an internal review and made the decision to refuse the money. He also sent a letter to LBJ School Dean Angela Evans and to China Policy Center executive director David Firestein. It is noted that the funding refusal was a bit of a “rebuke” against them.

From WHIO 7:

In the letter, Fenves said he began reviewing concerns after the center and the LBJ School approached him about potential funding from CUSEF. Several university professors and leaders had raised concerns about ties among Hong Kong-based CUSEF, its leader Tung Chee Hwa and the Communist Party.

The UT president told Cruz that he spoke not only with faculty experts on U.S.-China relations but also with U.S. intelligence officials. Those officials included some at the Central Intelligence Agency and the FBI.

Fenves said he had already decided that UT would not accept “programmatic funding” from CUSEF and was now also ruling out “any funds for travel, student exchanges or other initiatives from the organization.”

Both Firestein and Evans have declined comment.  Fenves is now seeking funding for the China Policy Center from other, non-communist sources.