Confucius Institutes in the United States: Selected Issues

Confucius Institutes in the United States: Selected Issues

Updated May 2, 2023
Confucius Institutes in the United States: Selected Issues
The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s or China’s)
enrolled students for academic credit, or teach credit
Confucius Institutes offer instruction in Chinese language
courses in academic departments. The Institutes often work
in universities around the world. The Institutes have been
with university departments to cosponsor Chinese cultural
the subject of controversy since appearing on U.S.
events, academic seminars, and conferences focused on
university campuses in 2005, particularly for their
doing business in China. They also sponsor programs for
perceived effects on academic freedom and for their lack of
U.S. students and scholars to study Chinese language in the
transparency. They have attracted further attention during
PRC, and serve as platforms for academic collaboration
the past several years as the broader U.S.-China relationship
between U.S. and Chinese universities.
has deteriorated. Some Members of Congress and others
have alleged that they may play a role in China’s efforts to
Selected Reports and Information Sources
influence public opinion abroad, recruit “influence agents”
•
on U.S. campuses, and engage in cyber espionage and
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,
“Confucius Institutes at U.S. Institutions of Higher
intellectual property theft. PRC officials have denied such
Education,” 2023.
charges, and suggested that the Institutes have become
victims of a U.S. “Cold War mentality.” Supporters of the
• National Association of Scholars, “Outsourced to China:
Institutes have emphasized that they provide Chinese
Confucius Institutes and Soft Power in American Higher
language and cultural programs that benefit students,
Education,” April 2017.
universities, and surrounding communities, and that such
• U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations,
offerings may not otherwise be available. Many U.S.
“China’s Impact on the U.S. Education System,” February
universities have terminated their contracts with Confucius
2019.
Institutes in the past five years.
• Government Accountability Office, “Agreements
U.S. Policy
Establishing Confucius Institutes at U.S. Universities Are
Similar, but Institute Operations Vary,” GAO-19-278,
In August 2020, the Trump Administration designated the
released February 27, 2019.
Confucius Institute U.S. Center (CIUS), which oversees
•
Confucius Institutes in the United States, as a “foreign
Human Rights Watch, “Resisting Chinese Government
mission” of the PRC. The designation requires CIUS to
Efforts to Undermine Academic Freedom Abroad: A Code
regularly file information about its operations with the
of Conduct for Col eges, Universities, and Academic
Department of State. CIUS is a PRC-funded, 501(c)(3)
Institutions Worldwide,” March 2019.
nonprofit entity based in Washington, DC. The National
In 2020, the PRC government reportedly renamed the
Defense Authorization Act for FY2021 (P.L. 116-283,
parent organization of the Confucius Institutes, the Chinese
Section 1062) restricts Department of Defense (DOD)
Language Council International (commonly referred to as
funding to institutions of higher education that host a
Hanban), as the Center for Language Education and
Confucius Institute.
Cooperation (CLEC). CLEC is affiliated with China’s
Ministry of Education. As part of the change, the PRC
History and Mission
government also formed the Chinese International
The first Confucius Institute opened in 2004 in Seoul, South
Education Foundation, a Ministry of Education-sponsored,
Korea, followed by one at the University of Maryland
nongovernmental charitable organization, to provide
(which closed in 2020). The PRC government created the
funding to the Institutes.
Confucius Institutes, which have operated in over 160
countries, in part to help improve China’s international
Confucius Institutes in the United States
image or reduce what PRC officials view as misconceptions
The number of Confucius Institutes in the United States
about China. The Institutes are patterned after other
peaked in 2017, at around 118, according to some reports.
national language and cultural programs, such as France’s
China spent over $158 million on Confucius Institutes in
Alliance Francaise, Germany’s Goethe Institute, the U.K.’s
the United States between 2006 and 2019, according to a
British Council, and Spain’s Instituto Cervantes. Confucius
U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Institutes exercise less autonomy from their home
report (see text box, above). In addition, the Institutes
government than their European counterparts, however, and
sponsor Confucius Classrooms in U.S. primary and
mostly are situated within foreign educational institutions,
secondary schools. The Classrooms typically are affiliated
while their foreign counterparts are not.
with Institutes at nearby colleges, and their total may have
fallen with the closure of many Institutes since 2017.
Nearly all Confucius Institutes focus on Chinese language
instruction at the introductory level. U.S. Confucius
The number of Confucius Institutes in the United States
Institutes generally offer noncredit courses to the public for
was approximately seven as of December 2022, according
a fee. In some cases, Institute instructors offer classes to
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Confucius Institutes in the United States: Selected Issues
to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
These contributions generally consist of classroom, office,
Medicine (NASEM), a private, nonprofit organization. U.S.
and library space; furnishings, computers; and program
universities have cited various reasons for ending their
staff. The Institutes maintain reading rooms containing PRC
agreements, including (1) concerns about academic
publications.
freedom, (2) the potential for Chinese government influence
and risks to U.S. national security, (3) the desire to keep
Concerns
DOD Chinese Language Flagship program and other U.S.
According to some experts, the activities of Confucius
government funding that have been or may be restricted by
Institutes are narrow in scope, and they have an incentive to
law, (4) encouragement by some Members of Congress, and
avoid controversial activities, such as disseminating PRC
(5) difficulty operating during the Coronavirus Disease
propaganda, on the one hand, and broaching topics that are
2019 pandemic.
politically sensitive in China, on the other. Some academic
observers counter that Confucius Institutes exert influence
The National Association of Scholars (NAS), a nonprofit
in U.S. universities through PRC board members’
advocacy group, alleges that some universities where
interpersonal relations and the Institutes’ involvement in
Confucius Institutes closed have maintained relationships
China-related programs and connections to educational and
with their former PRC university partners, and/or have
research opportunities in China. Other issues include
continued to cooperate with them on Chinese language
questions about the teaching qualifications of instructors
instruction. NAS also has found examples of ways in which
from China, tensions between the Institutes and existing
some Confucius Classrooms have continued by transferring
Chinese language programs in academic departments, and
their affiliations to Confucius Institutes that remain open or
differing priorities between school administrators and
operating independently of the Institutes.
faculty regarding the Institutes. In 2014, the American
Association of University Professors issued a statement
Agreements, Management, and
calling on U.S. universities to end their partnerships with
Operation
Confucius Institutes unless their arrangements met
To establish a Confucius Institute, U.S. and PRC partner
conditions related to academic freedom, managerial control,
educational institutions sign an implementation agreement,
and transparency.
and each side also signs an agreement with CLEC. The
agreements and the Confucius Institute Constitution
Some studies provide examples of Confucius Institute
together govern Institute activities. They reportedly allow
Board members or PRC officials directly or indirectly
for some flexibility and variation regarding the operation of
pressuring faculty, administrators, or invited guests at U.S.
individual Institutes. Some agreements reportedly have
universities that host Confucius Institutes to avoid making
been accessible online while others have been available
public statements or holding events on topics that the PRC
upon request. Some have had confidentiality clauses and, in
government considers politically sensitive. Other examples
some cases, U.S. host schools reportedly have resisted
suggest that some PRC students at U.S. universities may be
disclosing their agreements.
fearful of attending or may be motivated to express
opposition to events on campus related to topics sensitive to
Confucius Institutes each are overseen by a Board of
China, due to the presence of a Confucius Institute. Some
Directors, usually made up of around eight people, with the
reports suggest that there have been few instances of
top positions filled by chancellors, deans, or scholars in
Confucius Institutes overtly attempting to interfere in
Asian or Chinese studies from the U.S. institution, along
academic or extra-curricular activities and speech at U.S.
with administrators and faculty from the Chinese partner
host universities. Some U.S. schools, particularly larger,
school. The Institutes are administered by either a U.S.
more prestigious ones, reportedly have successfully pushed
director or by U.S. and PRC co-directors. In many cases,
back against or prevented PRC interference in university
the U.S. director or co-director is a Chinese-speaking
events, such as speaking engagements by the Dalai Lama
school administrator or faculty member.
and other figures opposed by the PRC government. The
NASEM report’s authors were “not aware of any evidence
Some provisions of the Constitution and By-Laws of the
at the unclassified level that [Confucius Institutes] were
Confucius Institutes have raised controversy. Chapter 1,
ever associated with espionage or intellectual property
Article 6 states that Confucius Institutes shall abide by the
theft.”
laws of the countries in which they are located and respect
local educational traditions, but also that they shall not
Legislation
contravene PRC laws. Some Confucius Institute directors
Legislation introduced in the 117th Congress related to the
have responded that PRC law applies only to PRC Board
operation of Confucius Institutes in the United States
members and teachers, and in limited ways.
include the Confucius Act (S. 590 [passed in the Senate]
and H.R. 2622) and the Transparency for Confucius
The Chinese side typically provides start-up funding of
Institutes Act (S. 822 and H.R. 2057). In the 118th
$150,000 and operating costs of $100,000-$200,000 per
Congress, the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and
year for each U.S. Confucius Institute, although some
Chinese Entities of Concern Act has been introduced (S.
Institutes have had much larger budgets. These
1121 and H.R. 1516).
expenditures cover teachers’ salaries, books, computer
hardware and software, scholarships, and other related
Thomas Lum, Specialist in Asian Affairs
expenses. U.S. partners provide matching contributions,
Hannah Fischer, Senior Research Librarian
generally in-kind, including support from private sources.
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Confucius Institutes in the United States: Selected Issues

IF11180

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