Confucius Institutes continue to incite controversy in America. Since 2006, China’s government has given more than $158 million to dozens of U.S. universities to host the institutes, which offer Chinese language classes and hold events. To critics, the institutes threaten academic freedom on U.S. campuses, but many supporters view them as an innocuous means of funding Chinese language learning.
ChinaFile hosted an extensive discussion of the program in 2014. In February a bipartisan U.S. Senate report warned that “the Chinese government controls nearly every aspect of Confucius Institutes at U.S. schools.” Without “full transparency” about how Confucius Institutes operate, and “full reciprocity” for American programs in China, the report argued, “Confucius Institutes should not continue in the United States.”
ChinaFile hosted an extensive discussion of the program in 2014. In February a bipartisan U.S. Senate report warned that “the Chinese government controls nearly every aspect of Confucius Institutes at U.S. schools.” Without “full transparency” about how Confucius Institutes operate, and “full reciprocity” for American programs in China, the report argued, “Confucius Institutes should not continue in the United States.”
