Confucius institutes

Wednesday

Cockburn

Democrats bring a CCP-tied witness to education hearing

A hearing about the Chinese Communist Party’s funding of American K-12 education took a surprising turn when the Democrats’ witness — and several members of the House Education and Workforce Committee — took pains to conflate opposing foreign investments in public schools with Asian-American hatred. Gisela Perez Kusakawa, the executive director of the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), kicked off her remarks by linking concern over the Chinese Communist Party’s investments in public schools to America’s incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War Two. Warning the Asian-American youth could end up as “collateral damage,” Kusakawa repeatedly conflated opposing the CCP with anti-Asian-American racism.

ccp Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech during a ceremony at Tsinghua University ceremony (KENZABURO FUKUHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Monday

Peter Wood

The China influence puzzle

A “Chinese puzzle” in its classic version is a game where you must fit a variety of ill-assorted boxes inside other boxes. The term came to mean any intricate problem, especially one in which what looks like the way forward leads only to new obstacles.   These days, in which we are warned not to use ethnonyms for fear of giving offense, it might be safer to say something like “brainteaser.” But the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to manipulate American society genuinely deserve the old term. The news this past week adds a few curious details to those efforts. Details first; explanations to follow.

china ccp

Monday

Cindy Yu

Should Confucius Institutes be shut down?

From our UK edition

30 min listen

Should Confucius Institutes be shut down? There are hundreds of these centres across six continents, funded by the Ministry of Education, with the stated goal of public education on and cultural promotion of China. They offer classes on language, history and culture of China, and some would say they help to plug a crucial shortage of Chinese language skills in host countries, especially across the West.  And yet, these have become deeply controversial. Criticism of the institutes range from their CCP-sanctioned curriculum which do not include sensitive topics, to allegations of espionage and erosion of academic independence with Confucius Institutes as the core.

Monday

Steerpike

British universities took £24 million from China

From our UK edition

China is back on the agenda in Westminster. Whether it's Boris's trip to India or a Beijing-based take-over of Newport Wafer Fab, it's hard to escape the flutter of the five-starred red flag. And there’s few signs of that abating any time soon, with leading US Senator Marco Rubio launching an attack this month on American universities that entered into financial arrangements with China-based entities, including those directly governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). According to Rubio, such educational investment is 'all part of Beijing’s plan to overtake the United States as the world’s most powerful nation.' Naturally, Steerpike wanted to find out just how much the CCP has invested at centres of higher learning here in the UK.

Tuesday

Mike Pompeo

Pompeo to governors: China is watching you

This is an edited transcript of Mike Pompeo's speech to state governors at the National Governors Association 2020 Winter Meeting: Thank you Gov. Hogan, Gov. Cuomo, and all of you for being here today. It is hard to follow the President's State of the Union the other day. I am not passing out copies of my speech, so you cannot tear them up at the end. I have got to know some of you as I traveled throughout the states. I have probably traveled more throughout the country than other secretaries of state. I think it is important that the American people know what our diplomats are doing around the world and why we are doing it. Last year I received an invitation to an event that promised to be 'an occasion for exclusive dealmaking’.

pompeo