(TheRedWire.com) – On Tuesday, a House committee hearing was focused on the concerns about the Chinese state potentially using education funding to influence many of the U.S.’s academic institutions.
Many GOP lawmakers and stakeholders have expressed concerns over the Confucius Institutes program used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), supposedly promoting Chinese culture and language. However, the program has also been accused of threatening national security and acting as an attempt to gain influence over schools in the United States.
In June, the National Association of Scholars (NAS) issued a report noting 10 Confucius Institutes in the United States. In 2020, it had been estimated that there were 120 Institutes. The report indicated that there were Utah, New York, Ohio, Washington, California, Kentucky, Missouri, and Minnesota institutes. Another Institute at St. Cloud State University was currently under review, and its operations had been paused.
The Trump administration had previously called the Confucius Institutes out for being entities that were promoting “Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign.” This resulted in the closure of many of the institutes.
NAS noted in the statement that many of the now-closed-down Confucius Institutes had been reopened using different names and that at least 28 academic institutions were using similar replacement programs. They further pointed out that 58 new programs continued their relationships with the Confucius Institute partner they had formerly collaborated with.
Confucius Institutes were usually connected to colleges or universities, but there were some cases where they were connected to school districts.
Copyright 2023, TheRedWire.com
