US To Target Confucius Institutes, Says Report

The US State Department may announce as soon as Thursday a requirement for Chinese government-funded cultural centres at US universities to register as foreign missions, Bloomberg News reported, a development that would be signal further deterioration in ties with Beijing.

The move would amount to a conclusion that the so-named Confucius Institutes are “substantially owned or effectively controlled” by a foreign government and subject them to administrative requirements similar to those for embassies and consulates, the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The State Department and other US government agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. One Congressional source, who did not want to be identified, said he had heard such an announcement was coming.

Last year, the US State and Education Departments promised stricter monitoring of the institutes, which have been criticised in Congress and elsewhere as de facto propaganda arms of China's Communist government.

In June, the State Department announced it would start treating four major Chinese media outlets as foreign embassies, calling them mouthpieces for Beijing.

According to the US non-profit organisation, the National Association of Scholars, there were 75 Confucius Institutes in the United States as of June, including 66 at colleges and universities.

The NAS charges that they compromise academic freedom, defy Western norms of transparency, and are inappropriate on campuses. China rejects criticism of the institutes, calling it politicised and baseless. (Reuters)