WASHINGTON DC (March 11, 2020) — Senator Charles "Chuck" Grassley today issued a warning to all 77 colleges, universities and school districts with known active Confucius Institutes on campus: Know who you’re dealing with. Sen Grassley is urging each school to request an FBI briefing to fully understand the academic research and national-security threats posed by the Chinese government-backed organizations operating on campus.
“US 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,” Sen 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 US 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 US institutions. A 2019 Finance Committee hearing focused specifically on the threats China poses to tax-payer-funded research. A FY2019 Defense Department funding bill prohibited federal funding from being used to support Confucius Institutes.
Sen 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 Sen Grassley’s letters to 77 colleges, universities and school districts is available below. Recipients of the letter include:
Alabama A&M
Alfred University
Auburn University at Montgomery
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
Pace University
Portland State University
Presbyterian College
Purdue University
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