Pentagon designates Confucius Institutes national security threat in US
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the measure in a video and accused organizations associated with these programs of attempting to influence American students and obtain intellectual property.
The Department of War designated the Confucius Institutes, Chinese language teaching centers linked to the government of China, as a threat to national security. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the measure in a video and accused organizations associated with these programs of attempting to influence American students and obtain intellectual property.
Confucius Institutes are educational centers that offer Mandarin classes, cultural activities and programs related to China at universities in various countries. In 2018, Congress restricted certain federal funds for educational institutions hosting these centers due to concerns about the Chinese government's influence in academia, potential risks to academic freedom and the protection of university research. Since then, their presence has declined significantly.
In 2023, a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that the number of Confucius Institutes at U.S. universities had dropped from approximately 100 in 2019 to fewer than five.
‘Let this be a lesson to any country trying to steal our hard earned inventions’
Hegseth stated that some of these organizations had reemerged under new names and structures. According to the Secretary of War, 80 organizations continued to maintain ties with 30 U.S. universities. Hegseth then explained that these entities were added to a list of institutions posing a threat to national security.
"We added these sleeper organizations to our list of institutions that threaten our national security. (...) So at the Department of War, within the last two months, we have systematically dismantled every single one of these organizations using the leverage that we have here at the war department," said the Secretary of War.
"Let this be a lesson to any country trying to steal our hard-earned inventions or turn our young people against their own country. We're done with that. No more and never again. To these universities, I say, just like the Department of War, stay vigilant. Don't allow these influences to come back in," he added.
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