Chinese Confucius Institutes in the U.S. Deemed a National Security Threat

The U.S. Department of Defense has officially designated Beijing-funded Confucius Institutes as institutional threats to the country’s national security, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said, stressing that these cultural and educational centers are used by the Chinese Communist Party as hubs for spreading propaganda, stealing intellectual property, and recruiting. Source: Globalnation

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, after the initial restrictions were imposed, China attempted to circumvent the bans by establishing around 80 dormant entities under new names and banners at 30 leading U.S. universities.

U.S. intelligence agencies determined that the disguised educational centers continued to collect sensitive data and promote CCP values among students. Over the past two months, the Pentagon has completely shut down all the rebranded cells it uncovered. At the same time, Britain announced that it was taking similarly tough measures: British authorities and counterintelligence agency MI5 urged the country’s universities to immediately end their cooperation with the Chinese research institute China General Technology, which had been used by Chinese intelligence to secretly fund more than 100 academics working in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and steganography.

The decisions by Washington and London are part of a global trend to counter China’s soft power and espionage. Similar measures to shut down Confucius Institutes and their associated educational programs had previously been taken by the authorities in Australia and several Asian countries.

Beijing categorically denies the allegations of espionage and undermining security, calling the West’s actions a political provocation. However, intelligence agencies of the Five Eyes alliance continue to document systematic attempts by the PRC to use academia and job listings on social media to obtain defense secrets.

Recall that the Pentagon named China Russia’s main accomplice in the war.