Pentagon Labels China-Funded Confucius Institutes a National Security Threat

The US Department of Defense has classified China-funded Confucius cultural institutes as a national security threat, accusing them of operating under disguised names to steal intellectual property.

The department announced that it had dismantled what it described as 80 new propaganda cells operating at 30 universities. It linked those operations to the institutes.

According to the Pentagon’s account, the alleged cells used alternative names to conceal their identities. The department presented their activities as a security concern rather than cultural outreach.

The accusations place intellectual property at the center of the Pentagon’s case against the institutes. The information provided did not identify the universities involved or specify what intellectual property was allegedly stolen.

No details were provided on how the alleged cells were dismantled, and the summary included no response from China or the institutes to the accusations.