(The Washington Post)
America’s universities have been slow in coming to terms with the problems posed by Chinese influence. They are now finally beginning to work with the national security community to respond to China’s attempts to infiltrate the United States’ higher-education system and abuse those relationships to advance Beijing’s strategic agenda. But that pushback is just beginning.
On Wednesday, two major universities independently took steps to disentangle their cooperation with Chinese entities. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced it would end all collaboration with Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE. Both firms stand accused by the U.S. government of sanctions-busting, and the U.S. intelligence community believes both are susceptible to Chinese government influence.
What hasn’t yet been reported is that Indiana University on Wednesday decided to immediately close the Confucius Institute at its Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus. “This decision ensures ongoing operations of some programs within IU impacted by federal changes surrounding Chinese language programs,” university spokesman Chuck Carney told me.
The Confucius Institutes are Chinese government-sponsored language and culture schools embedded inside U.S. educational institutions. They are wholly controlled by China’s education ministry and are part of the Chinese Communist Party’s “United Front” foreign influence operations. There are about 90 of the institutes on U.S. campuses. Read more
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