Many universities throughout America are still allowing what have been described as Chinese propaganda centers to operate on their campuses, despite warnings from intelligence officials that the communist state is using them to infiltrate US society and indoctrinate Americans.
Campus Reform reports that multiple Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes remain in operation, even as US lawmakers seek to hold China accountable for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
The report notes that “more than 75 Confucius Institutes are still in operation in the U.S., most of them on college campuses.”
From Maine to Florida to Kansas to California, these centers claim to educate American students about Chinese language and culture, and administrators who run the campuses on which they operate appear to believe the same country that claims to have fewer coronavirus deaths than the U.S, despite its population being more than three times the size of the U.S. population.
Based on data from the National Association of Scholars, along with records maintained by Campus Reform, the interactive map below shows the locations where Confucius Institutes still operate. Hover your cursor over each dot to reveal the name of each college or school that currently hosts one of these centers.
The stated aim of the Confucius Institutes is to promote Chinese language and culture, support local Chinese teaching internationally, and facilitate cultural exchanges. However, US intelligence agencies have previously labeled the organisations as a national security threat, and many universities have since trashed the programs.
In congressional testimony in 2018, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that “The level of naïveté on the part of the academic sector about this creates its own issues. They’re exploiting the very open research and development environment that we have, which we all revere. But they’re taking advantage of it.”
In January, the Department of Justice also arrested a professor at Harvard, as well as two Chinese nationals for reportedly acting as foreign agents.
Congressional Republicans have also expressed concerns that China is attempting to hinder US coronavirus research through such infiltration of US universities.
Ranking GOP members across seven House committees delivered a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos this week that warns Beijing is indoctrinating American students.
🚨🚨🚨 NEW: 7 top House committee Republicans announce probe into China's infiltration of U.S. colleges
“We cannot allow a dangerous communist regime to buy access to our institutions of higher education, plain and simple” – @Jim_Jordan
More➡️ https://t.co/GwgpkDFkhn pic.twitter.com/C3JQbJIGyJ
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) May 4, 2020
Last year President Donald Trump signed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act which proposed an ultimatum to universities receiving financial assistance from the Pentagon: close the Chinese propaganda center on campus or lose funding. Since that time, at least 49 schools have closed their Confucius Institute, according to Human Rights Watch.
The problem extends beyond the US, with European officials also expressing concerns that China is using the programs to infiltrate and spy on other countries. Some nations have outright banned the Chinese from setting up the institutes at their universities.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!