US Secretary of State Rubio seeking sanctions investigation of Harvard: report

Published June 11, 2025
People enter and exit the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2025. — AFP
People enter and exit the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2025. — AFP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is pushing to investigate whether Harvard University violated federal sanctions, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by the newspaper.

Rubio is pushing to investigate if Harvard violated sanctions by collaborating on a health insurance conference in China that may have included officials blacklisted by the United States, the paper said.

The university has been conducting an internal review into the involvement of the Chinese state-run group Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps at the conference, the paper added.

Rubio signed off on a recommendation to the Treasury Department last month to open an investigation, the report said.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

A treasury department spokesman said the agency takes “any allegations of sanctions violations extremely seriously” but declined to comment on possible or pending investigations. A State Department spokesperson also declined to comment.

A Harvard spokesman declined to comment to The New York Times.

Harvard University did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Trump administration has launched a multi-pronged attack on the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, freezing billions of dollars in grants and other funding and proposing to end its tax-exempt status, prompting a series of legal challenges.

Opinion

Editorial

Token austerity
Updated 11 Mar, 2026

Token austerity

The ‘austerity’ measures are a ritualistic response to public anger rather than a sincere attempt to reform state spending.
Lebanon on fire
11 Mar, 2026

Lebanon on fire

WHILE the entire Gulf region has become an active warzone, repercussions of this conflict have spread to the...
Canine crisis
11 Mar, 2026

Canine crisis

KARACHI’S stray dog crisis requires urgent attention. Feral canines can cause serious and lasting physical and...
Iran’s new leader
Updated 10 Mar, 2026

Iran’s new leader

The position is the most powerful in Iran, bringing together clerical authority and political and ideological leadership.
National priorities
10 Mar, 2026

National priorities

EVEN as the country faces heightened risks of attacks from actual terrorists, an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi...
Silenced march
10 Mar, 2026

Silenced march

ON the eve of International Women’s Day, Islamabad Police detained dozens of Aurat March activists who had ...