A $1 million donation from Chinese businessmen to UdeM suspended
The University of Montreal
Two Chinese-born businessmen have suspended the final installment of a promised million-dollar donation to the University of Montreal, after a vice-rector expressed discomfort with the participation of one of them to a fundraising activity with Justin Trudeau, learned Le Devoir. The university's former vice-rector for international affairs and Francophonie from 2014 to 2020, Guy Lefebvre, would have himself proposed the suspension of the donation process.
In December 2018, the University of Montreal had written to the donors, Zhang Bin and Jin Peng, to remind them that part of the pledged amount was still missing. The institution received a response a few days later indicating that negative opinions publicly expressed about the donation led to its suspension. A suspension which would have been claimed by Mr. Lefebvre, according to the donors. However, Mr. Lefebvre defends himself by saying that he never explicitly asked that the donation be canceled.
The former vice-rector maintains that he rather referred to the independence of universities political powers and foundations and that he only expressed unease about the participation of one of the donors in a controversial activity of the Prime Minister.
This is part of a series incidents involving China on Montreal territory. A month ago, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced that they had spotted two Chinese police stations, including one in Montreal, which would hold operations to “maintain order” against the Chinese diaspora in the province.< /p>
