U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said she wants to minimize Chinese efforts to exert inappropriate influence on American university campuses through Confucius Institutes, which she said repress free speech and discourage transparency.
Blackburn introduced the Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act, which is designed to require program participation agreements between Confucius Institutes and American institutions that house them to address the ways China exerts undue influence.
Congressional efforts helped close many of these institutes, yet many remain.
“The Chinese government has no right to influence American education the way Confucius Institutes have for the past 16 years,” Blackburn said in a statement about the proposed measure last week.
“Those studying Chinese culture and language at schools like University of Memphis and Middle Tennessee State University ought to be alarmed that the Chinese government has made itself at home in their institutions. Confucius Institutes as they currently operate are an affront to academic freedom, and we should not bow to repressive Chinese propaganda systems. It is time to put some serious distance between Confucius Institutes and American Universities.”
If enacted into law, Blackburn’s legislation would:
• Clearly delineate between the Confucius Institutes’ programs and their own Chinese language programs.
• Locate an Institute apart from Chinese language, history, and cultural programs.
• Remove the Chinese assistant director position from institutes.
• Subject the staff and professors to appropriate background checks.
• Make the agreements publicly available online.
• Remove the confidentiality section of agreements.
• Include stronger language in the agreements to make it clearer that the U.S. school has executive decision-making authority.
According to the press release, Chinese officials have recently pressured faculty at U.S. universities that host Confucius Institutes to avoid speaking of or holding events on politically sensitive topics. Chinese teachers at these institutes sign contracts with the Government of China and pledge not to damage their national interests. Such limitations attempt to export China’s censorship of political debate and reduce academic freedom.
“Recent legislation, most notably the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, has resulted in the closure of some Confucius Institutes,” Blackburn’s press release said.
“The Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act would complement these efforts by targeting those institutes that choose to remain by establishing certain standards that would either negate the malign aspects of their influence or motivate them to close.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
[…] The Tennessee Star reported last week, Blackburn said she wants to minimize Chinese efforts to exert inappropriate influence on American […]
A good first step. Be careful though, the Chinese have unlimited funding and will destroy you or anyone else that gets in their way.
If the Chinese don’t like our policies then they can stay in China. In fact, i t would be goo d if that stayed there anyway. It is dangerous to invite our enemy to come here.
I apologize for my for my typos.
That’s the point, the Chinese don’t like our policies, they despise our freedom and want to own us. They’ll never stop and use whatever means they can to achieve their goals. Watch for a phony Chinese government collapse, to be replaced by a phony new friendly government. Mexico w8ll ten ask the new Chinese government to assist in dealing with the cartels. This places Chinese troops at our southern border. So yeah, let’s drop our borders and allow anyone and everyone across.
Thank you Marsha Blackburn! Keep up the good work. Its high time the Chinese silent invasion is being exposed and removed from our nation. Its been so hidden for years we haven’t seen it under our nose.
This article has nothing to do with Coronavirus