US Defense Department Classifies Chinese-Funded Campus Cultural Centers as National Security Threat

The U.S. Department of Defense has designated Chinese-funded cultural centers on university campuses, known as Confucius Institutes, as a threat to national security, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday.

Washington has long accused Confucius Institutes of serving as Chinese propaganda tools and has taken steps to crack down on their operations.

In a video released on social media, Hegseth claimed Confucius Institutes were operating covertly at U.S. universities and added them to the Pentagon’s list of institutions posing national security risks.

“It turns out that 80 new propaganda outlets across 30 universities had emerged, operating under various names and charters but with the same mission: to steal intellectual property and influence American students,” Hegseth stated.

The defense department reported it had “systematically dismantled every single one of these organizations” over the past two months.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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