The Pentagon has classed Confucius Institutes, China-backed cultural centres based at American universities, as a danger to US national security. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the decision on Friday in a video shared on social media.
Hegseth said the Pentagon had added the organisations to its list of institutions that threaten national security.
Washington’s campaign against Confucius Institutes
Washington has long accused the centres of acting as Chinese propaganda tools, and it has moved to curb their activities.
Hegseth said the institutes kept operating in disguise after Congress restricted them, calling them “sleeper organisations”. He alleged that 80 new propaganda cells had emerged at 30 universities under different names and charters, with the aim of stealing intellectual property and influencing American students.
Pentagon says the groups are being dismantled
In the video, Hegseth said Chinese government-backed cultural programmes had infiltrated universities and reappeared under new guises despite congressional limits. He added that over the past two months the Pentagon had systematically dismantled every one of these organisations.
The Chinese embassy in Washington had not responded to a request for comment.
