Pentagon designates Confucius Institute in US as national security threat

Washington — Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Mandarin article.

The Department of War has designated Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes on American university campuses as a national security threat.

China's Foreign Ministry responded Monday, saying it opposed what it called “smears and stigmatization” targeting the institutes.

Why did the US act?

In a video address Friday, Secretary of War Hegseth described Confucius Institutes as “Chinese government-backed propaganda cultural programs” that had infiltrated universities in nearly every U.S. state. He said Congress had banned the institutes several years ago, but they had returned in new forms under different names.

“It turns out that 80 new propaganda cells across 30 universities had popped up using different names and different charters, but with the same mission: to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students,” he said.

He said the Pentagon had added those organizations to its list of institutions threatening national security and had “systematically dismantled every single one of these organizations” over the past two months.

Hegseth did not identify a specific instance of intellectual property theft involving a Confucius Institute in his remarks.

What does China say?

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a news conference Monday that China opposed what he described as “smears and stigmatization targeting Confucius Institutes.”
“Educational exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States help deepen mutual understanding between the peoples of both countries. They are two-way, mutually and win-win, and should not be disrupted or undermined,” he said.

Audits at 30 universities

Days before Hegseth’s remarks, the Department of War announced October 19 that it had successfully completed initial research security audits at 30 universities across the United States.

The Pentagon said all 30 universities covered by its initial audits had addressed identified relationships with foreign entities on the National Defense Authorization Act’s Section 1286 list of entities of concern.

According to the Department of War, the audits resulted in more than 80 “termination-related actions.” Those included ending relationships with listed entities, as well as precautionary terminations involving entities not specifically on the list