WASHINGTON, October 25: The US Defense Department has designated China-funded Confucius Institutes a threat to national security, the latest step in a years-long campaign against the cultural centres on American campuses. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the move in a video posted on social media on October 23, saying “80 new propaganda cells across 30 universities had popped up using different names and different charters.”
Key highlights
- Hegseth said the Pentagon has added Confucius Institutes to its list of institutions that threaten US national security.
- He alleged that 80 rebranded entities had appeared at 30 universities after earlier closures.
- He said the department had “systematically dismantled every single one of these organizations” over the past two months.
- The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
- The move builds on a 2020 State Department designation and a 2018 law limiting Pentagon funding for universities that host the institutes.
What Hegseth said
In the video, Hegseth accused the institutes of operating in disguise at US universities after many were formally shut down. He said their mission was “to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students”, and that the department, which the administration also calls the Department of War, had moved against all 80 entities it identified in the past two months.
The announcement did not set out in detail what the designation changes in practice, such as which contracts, grants or research partnerships are affected. Universities that hold Defense Department research funding will be watching for that guidance.
How we got here
Confucius Institutes are Chinese-government-funded centres that teach Chinese language and culture in partnership with host universities. The first in the United States opened at the University of Maryland in 2004, and at their peak in the late 2010s there were about 100 on American campuses. Critics in Congress argued that they gave Beijing influence over teaching and campus debate; supporters said they were language programmes similar to those run by other countries.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| 2004 | The first US Confucius Institute opens at the University of Maryland. |
| August 2018 | The defence authorisation law for fiscal year 2019 restricts Pentagon funding for Chinese-language programmes at universities that host Confucius Institutes. |
| August 13, 2020 | The State Department designates the Confucius Institute US Center a foreign mission of China. |
| Early 2020s | Most US universities close their Confucius Institutes. |
| August 2026 | The Pentagon orders research-security audits at 30 US academic institutions. |
| October 23, 2026 | Hegseth announces that Confucius Institutes are designated a national security threat. |
Our calculation: 80 entities across 30 universities works out to an average of about 2.7 per campus — a sign, if the figures hold, that the department is counting successor programmes, centres and partnerships rather than only institutes that kept the Confucius name.
Why it matters for Asia
The designation comes weeks before China hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting in Shenzhen in November, and adds another irritant to US–China relations at a time when both sides are trying to manage trade and technology disputes.
Confucius Institutes still operate widely across Asia, including in Southeast Asia, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, where they are generally presented as language and scholarship programmes. In India, the Education Ministry in 2020 began reviewing the agreements under which Confucius Institutes and Chinese-language centres operated at several universities. Washington’s step is likely to sharpen debate in other countries about how to separate language teaching from state influence — and about whether rebranding a programme changes what it is.
What to watch
- Written Pentagon guidance on what the designation means for universities with defence research funding.
- A formal response from China’s Foreign Ministry or its embassy in Washington.
- Whether Congress moves to write the designation into law.
- Whether the issue is raised around APEC in Shenzhen.
File photo: Official portrait of Pete Hegseth, January 2025. Image: Chad McNeeley, US Department of Defense, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo source
Sources
- US Department of State: Designation of the Confucius Institute U.S. Center as a Foreign Mission of the PRC (August 13, 2020)
- Congress.gov: John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (H.R. 5515)
The International Desk covers world and Asian affairs, diplomacy and conflict, with a focus on what they mean for India. Stories are checked against at least two credible sources before publication.
