Pentagon designates Confucius Institutes a national security threat五角大楼将孔子学院列为国家安全威胁
Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon dismantled 80 ‘propaganda cells’ operating under new names at 30 universities.
Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon dismantled 80 ‘propaganda cells’ operating under new names at 30 universities.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a roundtable event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC [File: Alex Brandon/AP]
The United States Department of Defense has designated Confucius Institutes, Chinese-funded cultural centres on university campuses, as a threat to US national security.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the move on Friday in a video posted on social media, saying the Pentagon added the organisations to its list of institutions that threaten national security.
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Washington has long accused the centres of serving as Chinese propaganda tools and has taken steps to crack down on them.
Hegseth said Confucius Institutes had operated in disguise after being restricted by Congress, calling them “sleeper organisations”.
“It turns out that 80 new propaganda cells across 30 universities had popped up using different names and different charters, but with the same mission: to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students,” he said.
In the video, Hegseth said that Chinese government-backed cultural programmes had infiltrated universities and reappeared in new guises despite congressional restrictions.
Over the past two months, the Pentagon has “systematically dismantled every single one of these organisations”, he said.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
皮特·赫格塞斯表示，五角大楼解散了在 30 所大学以新名称运作的 80 个“宣传小组”。
美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在华盛顿特区白宫东厅举行的圆桌会议上发表讲话。[图片：Alex Brandon/AP]
美国国防部已将孔子学院（中国资助的大学校园文化中心）列为对美国国家安全的威胁。
美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯周五在社交媒体上发布的一段视频中宣布了这一举措，称五角大楼已将这些组织列入威胁国家安全的机构名单。
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华盛顿长期以来一直指责这些中心充当中国的宣传工具，并已采取措施打击它们。
赫格塞斯表示，孔子学院在受到国会限制后一直秘密运作，称它们是“沉睡的组织”。
他说：“结果发现，在 30 所大学中出现了 80 个新的宣传小组，它们使用不同的名称和不同的章程，但目标相同：窃取知识产权并渗透美国学生的思想。”
在视频中，赫格塞斯表示，中国政府支持的文化项目已经渗透到大学中，并且尽管国会加以限制，这些项目还是以新的形式再次出现。
他说，在过去的两个月里，五角大楼“有条不紊地解散了所有这些组织”。
中国驻华盛顿大使馆没有回应路透社的置评请求。