The State of Florida has sent out an advisory to its school district to avoid using Tutor.com, a service which has been linked to China.
One school moved quickly upon receipt of the memo from the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) to dissociate itself from Tutor.com. The memo in question warns that the service is owned by Primavera Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm whose founder and CEO, Fred Hu, according to the Daily Caller, is closely tied to several operational and influence units within the Chinese Communist Party. Because of this link, the memo urges that schools abandon using or recommending the services offered.
Manny Diaz Jr., Florida’s Commissioner of Education, urged that charter schools, state colleges, and school districts should assiduously avoid contracting with companies that have ties to foreign countries. These companies could compromise student privacy and data, posing long-term threats to national security. Institutions should take any and all steps necessary to protect their students from nefarious actors, including the CCP.
Hu has belonged to several organizations which the US government previously identified as pieces of a CCP network called the “United Front.” This network serves as a foreign intelligence and influence unit under the direction of the “United Front Work Department,” itself a piece of the Beijing’s broader global intelligence operations.
In 2022, Hu was a delegate for the CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) in Hunan. According to the USCC, delegates attend high-level annual meetings where they receive direction directly from the CCP, and are required to serve as CCP proxies and mouthpieces for the party when they interact with foreign businesses, governments, and academic institutions. According to the CPCC charter, other requirements placed upon delegates include include assisting in implementing the State’s foreign policy objectives, keeping trade secrets, and upholding the leadership of the CCP.
Florida can no longer endorse its entities and members doing business with Hu, a delegate of the CPCC.
