The United States Department of Defense has designated Confucius Institutes, Chinese-funded cultural centres on university campuses, as a threat to US national security. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the move on Friday in a video posted on social media, saying the Pentagon added the organisations to its list of institutions that threaten national security. Washington has long accused the centres of serving as Chinese propaganda tools and has taken steps to crack down on them.
Hegseth said Confucius Institutes had operated in disguise after being restricted by Congress, calling them “sleeper organisations”. In the video, Hegseth said that Chinese government-backed cultural programmes had infiltrated universities and reappeared in new guises despite congressional restrictions. Over the past two months, the Pentagon has “systematically dismantled every single one of these organisations”, he said.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to ’ request for comment.
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