Iowa high schoolers thank 'Grandpa Xi' for 'fully funding' field trips to China: Emails expose how Beijing is infiltrating American public classrooms

The Chinese Communist Party paid for multiple trips to China for small-town Iowa high schoolers who exchanged letters with President Xi Jinping and praised the country and its leader.

Shocking correspondence exclusively reviewed by DailyMail.com reveals lengthy emails between public school officials in Muscatine, Iowa, and Chinese government officials to coordinate several field trips to the Asian country. 

One Chinese language teacher who helped organize a previously reported January 2024 trip to China informed the Muscatine Community School District officials that the journey for 24 students would be fully paid for by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 

'The trip is fully funded by the Chinese government, and our students are there as guests of China’s Minister of Education, Huai Jinpeng,' the school disclosed.

But that was not the only trip, according to documents obtained by the nonprofit Parents Defending Education.

Another batch of Muscatine High School students, this time 32 in total in addition to eight teachers, again visited China just last month.

On January 10, the China Daily reported that Xi extended a personal invitation the the students and staff from Muscatine High School to come visit China

Further, email correspondence between Muscatine administrators reviewed by DailyMail.com indicates that a third trip to China is tentatively scheduled for Muscatine students in October.

'In the past few days, the Chinese consulate has been in contact with me regarding the upcoming China trip,' the Chinese language teacher wrote to fellow administrators. 

'We have been invited by the Ministry of Education of China to visit at the end of January.'

'You're all invited and China will cover all of the costs,' the note continued. 

Days later, two dozen Muscatine High School students were flown to China for a eight day trip flush with visits to the Great Wall of China and the Chinese Ministry of Education. 

It is unclear whether the Chinese government paid for the April trip or if it will pay for Muscatine students to visit the country during an upcoming October trip. 

Administrators with Muscatine High School and Muscatine Community School District did not immediately return DailyMail.com's requests for comment.

In February, Chinese state-run TV outlet CCTV visited Muscatine High School to interview students about their trip. 

Students heaped praise on the country, with a group of them telling the outlet 'I love you, China.' 

The students also sang a song celebrating Chinese President Xi Jinping for helping them visit the country. 

'Thank you Grandpa Xi,' one student said in mandarin, before adding 'China is vast and beautiful.'

The official invitation came three days later on January 13, and by January 22, 24 students and four staff members were on a plane to China

Photos posted by the Muscatine Community School District show the group did activities such as visiting Fudan University and learned about ancient Chinese paper and writing

Muscatine High School in Muscatine, Iowa, boasts 1500 students, at least 50 of which have traveled to China this year

'The Chinese Communist Party wants the next generation of American leaders to be amenable to its political aims and willing to dismiss the plethora of atrocities it's committed, including genocide,' investigative fellow at Parents Defending Education Alex Nester told DailyMail.com. 

'American schools are playing right into the CCP's hands,' she continued. ''All expenses paid' does not mean 'free' when we're talking about the communist regime in China.' 

'The CCP has openly stated that infiltrating the American education system is a top priority,' Nester told DailyMail.com. 'Adults need to wake up and realize what's really happening under their watch.'

Democrat Rep. Raja Krisnamoorthi of Illinois also expressed skepticism over the CCP-funded field trip.

'I would just caution them about being used as props by Xi Jinping or anyone else,' he told DailyMail.com, adding Xi wants to use Americans as 'props.'

Though, he added, the U.S. is a 'free country' and citizens can decide on their own whether or not to visit the country. 

The quickly-planned January trip to China came after Sarah Lande, 85, of Muscatine, sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping taking him up on an offer he made to host American students in remarks during the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco.

The Chinese president said at the time he aims to bring 50,000 American students to Asian country in the next five years. 

Lande, who Xi refers to as an 'old friend,' wrote the president a letter asking him to include students from Muscatine in the 50,000 foreign exchange students he said he would like to host in the next five years.

The elderly Iowan has a longstanding relationship with the Chinese leader dating back to 1985 when she hosted him and other Chinese officials visiting the midwest. 

The unlikely pair met again in Muscatine in 2012 - when Jinping was vice president - to celebrate their friendship and his journey to the state decades before.  

Xi fell in love with Iowa during his 1985 visit as a 32-year-old leading the Hebei Shikiazhuang Prefecture Corn Processing delegation on a 12-day visit to rural Iowa.

They toured farms and manufacturing facilities during their research into American food production systems.

Chinese President Xi Jinping responded to Lande's January letter informing her that he would be happy to host students from Muscatine - and later that month the school made their first visit to the country. 

In this handout provided by the Iowa Governor's office, Vice President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China sits with Sarah and Roger Lande (R) February 15, 2012 in Muscatine, Iowa

In 1985, Lande helped coordinate a visit to Muscatine for a delegation headed by Xi, then an up-and-coming official in a hog-farming region of Hebei province

Xi fell in love with Iowa during his 1985 visit as a 32-year-old leading the Hebei Shikiazhuang Prefecture Corn Processing delegation on a 12 -day visit to rural Iowa

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November Xi expressed a desire to host American students in his country

While visiting in January, Muscatine students wrote a letter to Jinping, according to emails reviewed by DailyMail.com. 

Surprisingly, the Chinese president responded and thanked the students for their note.   

Previously, Parents Defending Education published a report indicating that the Chinese government was investing millions in public schools across the country.  

The report said that the close coordination between the CCP and U.S. schools to establish Confucius Classrooms has historically included 143 school districts in 34 states and Washington, D.C. 

In addition, at least seven contracts are still active in Texas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington.

The report called 'Little Red Classrooms' reveals that $17 million has been funneled from CCP-connected financial institutions into U.S. K-12 schools, through Confucius Institutes and other cultural and language programs.

It also states that the CCP has 'ties to school districts near 20 U.S. military bases' and three of the nation's top science and technology high schools have been infiltrated.