NAS Policy Director Rachelle Peterson sat down with Ben Weingarten to discuss Confucius Institutes in a new thirty-minute podcast, “Confucius Institutes: Centers of Chinese Cultural Exchange, or Trojan Horses for Propaganda and Penetration of U.S. College Campuses?”
Ben Weingarten, the host of “Big Ideas with Ben Weingarten,” asked Rachelle why the Chinese government takes an interest in American colleges and universities, who chooses teachers at Confucius Institutes, and why American colleges have welcomed funding with troubling strings attached by the Chinese government.
NAS has tracked how the Chinese government uses Confucius Institutes to ensnare colleges and universities in financial relationships that leave them dependent on China. Last year our report, Outsourced to China: Confucius Institutes and Soft Power in American Higher Education, found that Confucius Institutes compromise academic freedom, teach highly selective versions of Chinese history and culture, and serve as vehicles of the Chinese government’s overseas influence campaign. We are actively working with members of Congress and Executive agencies to draw attention to Confucius Institutes and counter their nefarious purposes in American higher education.
Photo: My Podcast Set I by Patrick Breitenbach // CC BY
