In the News

The National Association of Scholars (NAS) has found that many once-defunct, controversial Confucius Institutes have reopened under new names.

The Chinese government had sponsored Confucius Institutes -- which are educational and cultural programs -- since 2004 on college and university campuses worldwide, the NAS said. The institutes provided teachers, textbooks and operating funds, but it was determined that they “undermine academic integrity and import censorship.”

Confucius Institutes began closing because of U.S. national security risks.

However, in a list updated on Sept. 19, 2022, the National Association of Scholars counted 15 Confucius Institutes in the U.S. That list included four that were set to close: “Southern Utah University (June 30, 2022) and Bryant University (date unclear). It also includes one, St. Cloud State University, that is ‘paused’ while the university conducts a review.”

“NAS counts a total of 106 Confucius Institutes that have closed or are in the process of closing, along with the stated reason for the closure,” the NAS said. “Of these, at least 28 have replaced their Confucius Institute with a similar program, and at least 58 have maintained close relationships with their former Confucius Institute partner.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell (R-MS) has concerns about Confucius Institutes.

“Confucius Institutes and similar organizations give our enemies the opportunity to spread propaganda to our young people under the guise of cultural enrichment,” Ezell said. “I’m proud to say that there are not any of these organizations operating in Mississippi.”

China considers a Confucius Institute to be "a bridge reinforcing friendship" between China and the rest of the world, according to a 2019 BBC report.

Critics have said that the institutes spread propaganda, even though they claim to be educational centers where language and cultural programs are taught.

Historian Lee Edwards said in an article for The Heritage Foundation that Confucius Institutes are China’s “Trojan Horse.”

“The Confucius Institutes pretend to be a Chinese version of cultural institutions like the Alliance Française or the Goethe Institute, but they are in reality a propaganda machine funded and directed by the Chinese government,” Edwards wrote for The Heritage Foundation.

Chinese teachers at the institutes are instructed to avoid certain topics, such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre and the Cultural Revolution.

Edwards noted that the head of propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party Li Changchun “boasted that the Institutes were ‘an important part of China’s overseas propaganda setup.’”