Defense Department Designates Confucius Institutes a National Security Threat, Says 80 Rebranded Groups Dismantled in Two Months
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Defense announced on October 23 that it has designated Confucius Institutes as a threat to U.S. national security. In a video posted by the Department of War's official account the same day, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the Chinese government-backed cultural and language institutes had returned to American university campuses under new names after Congress restricted them, and that the department has systematically dismantled the organizations over the past two months.
"It turns out that 80 new propaganda cells across 30 universities had popped up using different names and different charters, but with the same mission: to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students," Hegseth said in the video. He said the Department of War had, within the last two months, "systematically dismantled every single one of these organizations using the leverage that we have here at the War Department," and had added the rebranded organizations to its list of institutions that threaten U.S. national security.
Confucius Institutes are funded by the Chinese government and offer Mandarin classes and cultural workshops at U.S. universities. They have long drawn scrutiny in Washington over academic independence, foreign influence and national security. According to the Washington Examiner, after Congress in 2018 restricted federal funding for schools hosting the programs, almost all Confucius Institutes closed, citing the Government Accountability Office; Hegseth said similar programs later emerged under different names, prompting the department's action.
Hegseth also addressed the universities directly, urging vigilance. "Let this be a lesson to any country trying to steal our hard-earned inventions or turn our young people against their own country," he said. "We're done with that. No more, never again."
According to Reuters, the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department did not publish a list of the 80 organizations in the video announcement.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：国防部长 Pete Hegseth 在战争部官方视频中宣布将孔子学院列为国家安全威胁（10月23日）。照片：美国战争部官方视频画面，公共领域。 / Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announcing the designation in an official Department of War video on October 23. Image: U.S. Department of War official video frame, public domain.
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