Pentagon designates Confucius Institutes a national security threat

The Pentagon has designated Confucius Institutes, Chinese-funded cultural centres on university campuses, as a threat to US national security. The announcement was made on Friday by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a video posted on social media. He said the department had added the organisations to its list of institutions that threaten national security.

Hegseth said the Pentagon had dismantled 80 related "propaganda cells" operating under new names at 30 universities over the past two months. He described the centres as "sleeper organisations" that had continued to operate after being banned by Congress. In his remarks, he accused them of using different names and charters while keeping what he said was the same mission.

The defence secretary said the programmes had been used to "steal intellectual property" and "infiltrate the minds of American students". Washington has long accused the centres of acting as Chinese propaganda tools, and the latest move extends that long-running scrutiny into the defence sphere. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment, according to the report.

The decision adds a new layer to the wider US-China dispute over influence, technology and academic access. Confucius Institutes have been a point of contention in the United States for years because of concerns about foreign influence on campuses. The Pentagon's action suggests the issue is now being framed not only as an education or cultural matter, but as a direct national security concern.

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The announcement also highlights the continuing tension between US efforts to restrict Chinese-linked activity and the persistence of campus-based programmes that officials say have re-emerged in altered forms. Hegseth said the Pentagon had acted against organisations at 30 universities, but he did not provide further details on the institutions involved. The statement did not set out what legal or administrative steps would follow the designation.

It remains unclear which universities were affected, how the Pentagon defined the organisations it said it dismantled, and whether further action is planned. The Chinese side has not publicly responded in the material provided. What happens next will depend on whether the designation leads to additional federal measures or wider scrutiny of university partnerships linked to China.

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