US designates Confucius Institute as Chinese outlet

Confucius Institutes are funded by the PRC and part of the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence and propaganda apparatus, Pompeo alleged. “The goal of these actions is simple: to ensure that American educators and school administrators can make informed choices about whether these CCP-backed programs should be allowed to continue, and if so, in what fashion,” Pompeo said.

The US on Thursday designated Confucius Institute US Center as a Chinese foreign mission, alleging that it is advancing Beijing's global propaganda and malign influence campaign on US campuses schools. The designation, which is normally applied to foreign diplomatic outposts, requires the Confucius Institute US Center in Washington to declare its personnel and property in the US.

“Today, the Department of State designated the Confucius Institute US Center as a foreign mission of the PRC (People's Republic of China), recognising CIUS for what it is: an entity advancing Beijing's global propaganda and malign influence campaign on US campuses and K-12 classrooms,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. K–12 refers to kindergarten to 12th grade. Confucius Institutes are funded by the PRC and part of the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence and propaganda apparatus, Pompeo alleged.

“The goal of these actions is simple: to ensure that American educators and school administrators can make informed choices about whether these CCP-backed programs should be allowed to continue, and if so, in what fashion,” Pompeo said. Universities around the country and the world are examining the Confucius Institutes’ curriculum and the scope of Beijing’s influence in their education systems, he said. Pompeo said that the US wants to ensure that students on US campuses have access to Chinese language and cultural offerings free from the manipulation of the Chinese Communist Party and its proxies.

Noting that the Trump administration has made it a priority to seek fair and reciprocal treatment from the People’s Republic of China, Pompeo said that for more than four decades, Beijing has enjoyed free and open access to the US society, while denying that same access to Americans and other foreigners in China. “Furthermore, the PRC has taken advantage of America’s openness to undertake large scale and well-funded propaganda efforts and influence operations in this country,” he alleged. The Trump administration shut down the Chinese mission in Houston recently alleging that it was “a hub of spying and intellectual property theft". Tensions between both nations have escalated in recent months over the Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, China''s crackdown on its Uygur Muslims in Xinjiang and Beijing imposing a controversial national security law in Hong Kong.

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