Mike Pompeo seeks closure of China-funded Confucius Institutes by year end

US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said that he was hopeful about the shut down of Chinese Confucius Institute cultural centres on US university campuses by the end of the year. Last month, the United States designated the Confucius Institute, a China-affiliated global education programme, as a foreign propaganda mission.

Speaking to Fox Business Network, the top US diplomat said that everyone has started seeing the risk associated with the programme, accusing the institutes of working to recruit “spies and collaborators” at colleges of the United States. Pompeo opined that the colleges are able to see the ulterior motive of the Chinese government-funded institutes and that they will be hopefully closed before the end of this year.

In August, the State Department released a “fact sheet‘ on Confucius Institutes, alleging that the organisation delivers “skewed” Chinese language and cultural training to US students as part of China’s “multifaceted propaganda efforts”. It added that the “opacity” of the organisation and its “state-directed nature” were the driving reasons behind the decision.

Read: US Designates Confucius Institute As Chinese 'foreign Mission' For Its 'opacity'

Read: Mike Pompeo Condoles Pranab Mukherjee's Death, Hails His 'visionary Leadership'

The designation alone doesn’t close the Washington-based Confucius Institute US Center (CIUS), de facto headquarters of the CI network, nor US colleges and universities will have to close individual CIs. The CIUS will have to regularly provide information to the State Department about their personnel, recruitment, funding, and operations in the United States, similar to the restrictions placed on diplomatic embassies.

“The United States wants to ensure that students on U.S. campuses have access to Chinese language and cultural offerings free from the manipulation of the Chinese Communist Party and its proxies,” Pompeo had stated.

Pompeo wants reciprocity

The State Secretary said that Beijing has enjoyed free and open access to US society for more than four decades while denying to same to US citizens and other foreigners in China. He added that Beijing has taken advantage of America’s openness but the Trump administration has now made it a priority to seek fair and reciprocal treatment from China.

Read: Mike Pompeo Thanks Shinzo Abe For Role In US-Japan Ties, Says 'will Miss His Sage Advice'

Read: US: Democrat-led House Launches Contempt Proceedings Against Mike Pompeo

(Image: AP)