Boise Councilor Jimmy Hallyburton is going to China. He shared on Facebook yesterday that he has been accepted into the Eisenhower Fellowships Zhi-Xing China Program, which will allow him to visit Shanghai next month. The purpose of the visit is to meet with “elected leaders, government officials, NGOs, industry leaders, and educational institutions that are driving China’s rapid return to one of the strongest bicycle communities and alternative transportation hubs in the world.”
Eisenhower Fellowships (EF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1953 and named in honor of then-President Dwight Eisenhower. According to its website:
The Zhi-Xing China Program sends a cohort of 10-12 outstanding mid-career American leaders to China for four weeks of intensive cultural immersion, group sessions with Chinese and U.S. experts and individual travel for tailored meetings in four to six Chinese cities.
EF is funded through private donations but also receives federal tax dollars. According to a 2010 State Department budget request:
The 1992 Department of State and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provided $5 million to establish a permanent endowment for the Program and authorized the payment of interest and earnings to Eisenhower Exchanges Fellowships, Inc. The 1995 Department of State and Related Agencies Appropriations Act made an additional payment of $2.5 million to the endowment.
That budget called for $500,000 to be appropriated to EF; presumably the “interest and earnings” from the original endowment.
Councilor Hallyburton is one of nine fellows selected for the Zhi-Xing China Program this year, joining CEOs, project managers, and social justice advocates from across the country.
While cultural exchanges can be beneficial, it’s worth noting that the Chinese Communist Party has long used programs like this to launder its authoritarian ideas into foreign institutions. In 2020, the Trump administration designated the Confucius Institutes as “foreign missions” after reporting by the National Pulse revealed how these programs had been embedded in American institutions, including K–12 public schools.
Earlier that same year, I wrote about the Thousand Talents Program for the National Pulse. This CCP-funded initiative supported scientists and engineers around the world, but a Senate report alleged the program was a cover for espionage and the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets.
China Daily, the English-language mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, has praised the Zhi-Xing China Program for years, for example in this 2016 article. In another article from 2015, China Daily described the program as “a funded four-week professional and leadership development program that takes ascendant American leaders to China.”
It’s clear China is intent on spreading its influence throughout the world. The real question is why so many American leaders seem eager to help them do it.
In his Facebook post, Councilor Hallyburton also mentioned his role as a board member of the League of American Bicyclists, a lobbying group that promotes bike-friendly policies at the state and federal levels. He was also the founder of the Boise Bicycle Project in 2007, “working with nonprofits, schools, community centers, refugee resettlement organizations, and the community at large to ensure everyone had access to bicycles, bicycle repair, and safe places to ride.”
For some reason, American progressives absolutely love bicycles. During this legislative session, in debate over a bill that would change how commissioners for the Ada County Highway District (ACHD) are elected, several Boise cyclists testified against the bill, fearing it would jeopardize their hopes of reshaping the city around bikes. One testifier even cited the city of Utrecht, Netherlands, as the ideal model for what Boise should strive to become.
This debate followed an ACHD decision last summer to reduce the number of automobile lanes on State Street—one of the busiest roads in the Treasure Valley—to make room for more bike lanes.
Bicycles are a perfectly fine mode of transportation for the young, single, urban professionals who make up the core of the Democratic Party, but they don’t scale well for families or those living in suburban or rural areas. Many conservatives have raised concerns about so-called “15-minute cities,” an urban planning model that aims to place all essential services within walking or biking distance in an attempt to eliminate the need for car travel. While the concept may sound efficient, it runs counter to the American ideal of freedom: the ability to get in your car and go wherever you please, regardless of public transit or biking distance.
So, to sum up: a Boise city council member is heading to China to learn how to re-engineer American cities to rely less on cars, continuing in the direction which Boise has already embarked. I’m sure you’ll join me in waiting with bated breath to hear what he learns this summer.
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About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and five children in Eagle.
