Grassley to Schools: Confucius Institutes are Fronts for Chinese Propaganda; just ask FBI

In warning to 74 colleges & school districts, Grassley details threats posed by Chinese influence

 

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“U.S. Government agencies, including within the Intelligence Community, assert that the Communist Chinese Government uses Confucius Institutes embedded in our academic institutions as a propaganda tool within the United States. Despite these concerns, your institution’s website indicates that a Confucius Institute is active on your campus,” Grassley wrote in a letter to leaders of each institution.

 

“To that end, meeting with federal law enforcement experts and receiving additional information from the FBI is imperative for a full understanding of the risks to both your institution and our national security.”

 

Confucius Institutes are billed as education centers for Chinese language and culture. However, federal authorities have warned that the institutes are designed to influence U.S. policy and public opinion. The institutes are reportedly funded by the division of the Chinese government responsible for foreign influence operations, and the Chinese government has admitted that they are a part of China’s overall propaganda apparatus.

 

At a 2018 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on China’s non-traditional espionage against the United States, FBI and Justice Department officials testified about threats posed to research labs and universities by researchers with “undisclosed ties to Chinese institutions and conflicted loyalties.” They also cautioned that China encourages theft of intellectual property from U.S. institutions. A 2019 Finance Committee hearing focused specifically on the threats China poses to taxpayer-funded research. A FY2019 Defense Department funding bill prohibited federal funding from being used to support Confucius Institutes.

 

Grassley also raised concerns about the Justice Department’s apparent failure to require Confucius Institutes to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

 

Text of Grassley’s letters to 74 colleges, universities and school districts is available below. Recipients of the letter include:

Alabama A&M

Alfred University

Baruch University

Binghamton University

Broward County Public Schools

Bryant University

Central Connecticut State University

Chicago Public Schools

China Institute

Cleveland State University

College of William and Mary

Colorado State University

Columbia University

Community College of Denver

Davis School District

East Central Ohio Educational Service Center

Emory University

George Mason University

George Washington University

Georgia State University

Houston Independent School District

Kansas State University

Kennesaw State University

Medgar Evers College

Miami University (Ohio)

Michigan State University

Middle Tennessee State University

New Jersey City University

Northwest Nazarene University

Old Dominion University

Portland State University

Presbyterian College

Rutgers University

Savannah State University

Simpson County Schools

Southern Utah University

St. Cloud State University

Stanford University

State College of Optometry, State University of New York

State University of New York at Buffalo

Stony Brook University

Temple University

Texas Southern University

The State University of New York

The University of Akron

The University of California, Davis

The University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Santa Barbara

The University of Idaho

The University of Memphis

The University of Oklahoma

The University of South Carolina

The University of Southern Maine

The University of Texas at Dallas

The University of Toledo

The University of Utah

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville

Troy University

Tufts University

University at Albany, State University of New York

University of Alaska Anchorage

University of Central Arkansas

University of Kentucky

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

University of New Hampshire

University of North Carolina Charlotte

University of Pittsburgh

Valparaiso University

Wayne State University

Webster University

Wesleyan College

West Virginia University

Western Michigan University

Xavier University of Louisiana

 

Letter text:

March 10, 2020

 

VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

 

Dear [Recipient],

 

I write to you today to express my concern about Confucius Institutes within our academic system, including colleges and universities. ^[1]  U.S. Government agencies, including within the Intelligence Community, assert that the Communist Chinese Government uses Confucius Institutes embedded in our academic institutions as a propaganda tool within the United States. ^[2]   Despite these concerns, your institution’s website indicates that a Confucius Institute is active on your campus.  I am writing to encourage you and key members of your staff to request and schedule a briefing with your local Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field office and become proactively involved in better understanding the national security threats posed by Confucius Institutes and the Chinese Government to our Nation’s academic and research institutions. 

 

My staff have received classified and unclassified briefings outlining the threats posed by the Chinese Government generally, and Confucius Institutes specifically.  Based upon information gathered from unclassified briefings, we know that Confucius Institutes are an arm of the Chinese Government and are overseen by the Office of Chinese Language International (Hanban), which is part of the Chinese Ministry of Education.  The Hanban is composed of members from twelve state ministries including its propaganda outlets. ^[3]  Confucius Institutes are also reportedly funded by the United Front Work Department, a Chinese Government agency that coordinates foreign influence operations. ^[4]  The activities of Confucius Institutes are inherently political in nature and intended to influence U.S. policy and public opinion.  

 

As a government entity, Confucius Institutes are controlled and managed by government officials and act as a mouthpiece for the Chinese Government.  In 2011, Li Changchun, a member of the Chinese Government, stated:

 

The Confucius Institute is an appealing brand for expanding our culture abroad.  It has made an important contribution toward improving our soft power.  The ‘Confucius’ brand has a natural attractiveness.  Using the excuse of teaching Chinese language, everything looks reasonable and logical. ^[5]

 

That same individual also said that Confucius Institutes are an “important part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up.” ^[6]  Not surprisingly, a member of China’s propaganda ministry reportedly said:

 

Coordinate the efforts overseas and domestic propaganda, further create a favorable international environment for us…[w]ith regard to key issues that influence our sovereignty and safety, we should actively carry out international propaganda battles against issues such as Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, Human Rights, and Falun Gong.  Our strategy is to proactively take our culture abroad…[w]e should do well in establishing and operating overseas cultural centers and Confucius Institutes. ^[7]

 

In light of these concerns, I wrote to DOJ in September 2018 asking why it had yet to require officials connected to Confucius Institutes to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). ^[8]  That law is critical to identifying agents operating within the United States on behalf of foreign principals, and I recently reintroduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen the law, the Foreign Agents Disclosure and Registration Enhancement Act (S.1762). ^[9]  In addition, in December 2018, I convened a hearing as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee regarding China’s non-traditional espionage against the United States. ^[10]  In that hearing, DOJ and FBI officials made clear that the threat to our universities and taxpayer-funded research from foreign governments is known and ongoing.  For example, the DOJ witness, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers, stated, “we need to adapt our enforcement strategy to reach non-traditional collectors, including researchers in labs, universities, and the defense industrial base, some of whom may have undisclosed ties to Chinese institutions and conflicted loyalties.” ^[11]  The FBI witness, then-Assistant Director for the Counterintelligence Division Bill Priestap, stated that China’s talent recruitment programs are effectively “brain gain programs” that “encourage theft of intellectual property from U.S. institutions.” ^[12] 

 

You may also be aware that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 included a provision that addresses Congress’ distrust of China’s role within Confucius Institutes on American campuses. ^[13]  Specifically, it prohibits federal funds from being spent for Chinese language instruction provided by a Confucius Institute. ^[14]

 

Concerns are echoed by academic associations and many institutions that have already discontinued their affiliation with Confucius Institutes.  Both the American Association of University Professors and the National Association of Scholars have independently detailed how Confucius Institutes restrict academic freedom and promote an agenda tailored by the Chinese Government for the benefit of the Chinese Communist party. ^[15]  In response to a variety of concerns over affronts to academic freedom, and the direct control of Confucius Institutes by the Chinese Government, over twenty Confucius Institutes within the United States have been expelled from institutions of higher education. ^[16] 

 

Moreover, the Chinese Government has taken serious steps toward stealing our intellectual property from taxpayer-funded research projects.  We must ensure that our universities and taxpayer-funded research projects remain at the forefront of the global market and free from malicious foreign influence. ^[17]  On June 5, 2019, I convened a Senate hearing titled, “Foreign Threats to Taxpayer-Funded Research: Oversight Opportunities and Policy Solutions.” ^[18]  This hearing laid out the importance of “properly balancing the robust development and exchange of ideas in the research field with reasonable and proportionate common-sense efforts to protect the integrity of [academic] research.” ^[19]  Such efforts must be a whole-of-government approach and every department and agency must take all necessary and reasonable steps to be proper stewards of the taxpayers’ money. That requires government to protect its research projects from any foreign interference or influence that could result in damage to or theft of American intellectual property.  The private sector has the same responsibility. 

 

Your institution’s relationship with Confucius Institutes should be based on a clear understanding of the risks.  To that end, meeting with federal law enforcement experts and receiving additional information from the FBI is imperative for a full understanding of the risks to both your institution and our national security.  Please inform me when your relevant officials have requested and received an FBI briefing on this critical national security matter.  If I have not heard from you by March 31, 2020, I will follow up with you. 

 

Should you have questions, please contact Joshua Flynn-Brown of my Committee staff at 202-224-4515. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Charles E. Grassley

Chairman

Senate Committee on Finance

 

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