China Rejects U.S. Security-Threat Label on Confucius Institutes: New Development Is Beijing's October 26 Response, Following the Pentagon's October 23 Designation Already Reported by GSM
BEIJING — China has criticised the United States for designating Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes operating on American university campuses as national security threats, describing the decision as an attempt to discredit educational and cultural exchanges.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun expressed Beijing's opposition on Monday, maintaining that the institutions were established to promote Chinese language education, cultural understanding and cooperation between countries. Guo rejected what he described as the stigmatisation of Confucius Institutes, arguing that educational exchanges between China and the United States benefit citizens of both nations. He urged Washington to avoid measures that could undermine academic cooperation and people-to-people relations.
The criticism follows an announcement by U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday, October 23, that the Pentagon had designated Confucius Institutes and related Chinese-backed organisations as threats to American national security. Hegseth alleged that some institutions had continued operating under different names despite restrictions imposed by the United States. According to him, 80 organisations had emerged under different names and charters across 30 American universities. He accused the organisations of attempting to influence students and obtain intellectual property, alleging that the Pentagon had dismantled the operations over the preceding two months.
However, independent evidence establishing the alleged activities of all 80 organisations was not presented in the reports reviewed. Washington has long expressed concerns that Confucius Institutes could serve as instruments of Chinese government influence within American educational institutions.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国阿拉巴马州特洛伊大学校园内的孔子学院大楼（资料图）。照片：Kreeder13，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / The Confucius Institute building on the Troy University campus in Alabama, United States (file photo). Photo: Kreeder13, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-10-26China Rejects U.S. Security-Threat Label on Confucius Institutes: New Development Is Beijing's October 26 Response, Following the Pentagon's October 23 Designation Already Reported by GSMThis story
