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1 [1] (May 2, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govelmq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congres ibnaI Re earch Serv ce inforrning the eg Inat'e debt sinc1 1914 Updated May 2, 2023 Confucius Institutes in the United States: Selected Issues The People's Republic of China's (PRC's or China's) Confucius Institutes offer instruction in Chinese language in universities around the world. The Institutes have been the subject of controversy since appearing on U.S. university campuses in 2005, particularly for their perceived effects on academic freedom and for their lack of transparency. They have attracted further attention during the past several years as the broader U.S.-China relationship has deteriorated. Some Members of Congress and others have alleged that they may play a role in China's efforts to influence public opinion abroad, recruit influence agents on U.S. campuses, and engage in cyber espionage and intellectual property theft. PRC officials have denied such charges, and suggested that the Institutes have become victims of a U.S. Cold War mentality. Supporters of the Institutes have emphasized that they provide Chinese language and cultural programs that benefit students, universities, and surrounding communities, and that such offerings may not otherwise be available. Many U.S. universities have terminated their contracts with Confucius Institutes in the past five years. US. Policy In August 2020, the Trump Administration designated the Confucius Institute U.S. Center (CIUS), which oversees Confucius Institutes in the United States, as a foreign mission of the PRC. The designation requires CIUS to regularly file information about its operations with the Department of State. CIUS is a PRC-funded, 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity based in Washington, DC. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021 (P.L. 116-283, Section 1062) restricts Department of Defense (DOD) funding to institutions of higher education that host a Confucius Institute. History and Mission The first Confucius Institute opened in 2004 in Seoul, South Korea, followed by one at the University of Maryland (which closed in 2020). The PRC government created the Confucius Institutes, which have operated in over 160 countries, in part to help improve China's international image or reduce what PRC officials view as misconceptions about China. The Institutes are patterned after other national language and cultural programs, such as France's Alliance Francaise, Germany's Goethe Institute, the U.K.'s British Council, and Spain's Instituto Cervantes. Confucius Institutes exercise less autonomy from their home government than their European counterparts, however, and mostly are situated within foreign educational institutions, while their foreign counterparts are not. Nearly all Confucius Institutes focus on Chinese language instruction at the introductory level. U.S. Confucius Institutes generally offer noncredit courses to the public for a fee. In some cases, Institute instructors offer classes to enrolled students for academic credit, or teach credit courses in academic departments. The Institutes often work with university departments to cosponsor Chinese cultural events, academic seminars, and conferences focused on doing business in China. They also sponsor programs for U.S. students and scholars to study Chinese language in the PRC, and serve as platforms for academic collaboration between U.S. and Chinese universities. in zu, tne 1KL government reporteay renamea the parent organization of the Confucius Institutes, the Chinese Language Council International (commonly referred to as Hanban), as the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC). CLEC is affiliated with China's Ministry of Education. As part of the change, the PRC government also formed the Chinese International Education Foundation, a Ministry of Education-sponsored, nongovernmental charitable organization, to provide funding to the Institutes. Confucius Institutes in the United States The number of Confucius Institutes in the United States peaked in 2017, at around 118, according to some reports. China spent over $158 million on Confucius Institutes in the United States between 2006 and 2019, according to a U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report (see text box, above). In addition, the Institutes sponsor Confucius Classrooms in U.S. primary and secondary schools. The Classrooms typically are affiliated with Institutes at nearby colleges, and their total may have fallen with the closure of many Institutes since 2017. The number of Confucius Institutes in the United States was approximately seven as of December 2022, according

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