US Defense Department designates China's Confucius Institutes a national security threat, Hegseth says

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that the Defense Department has designated China's Confucius Institutes as a threat to US national security. Reuters and The Guardian both reported the announcement.

According to The Guardian, Hegseth made the announcement in a video posted on social media. The Guardian reported that, according to Hegseth, the Pentagon added Confucius Institutes to its list of institutions that threaten US national security. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not name that list. They also do not explain what legal or practical consequences the designation carries.

Confucius Institutes are Chinese-funded cultural centers on university campuses, according to The Guardian. The newspaper said Washington has long accused them of being Chinese propaganda tools and has taken steps to crack down on them.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Guardian.

What each side says

According to The Guardian, Hegseth said Confucius Institutes were operating under disguise at US universities. The Guardian quoted him as saying: "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."

Hegseth also said that over the past two months the Defense Department had "systematically dismantled every single one of these organizations", according to The Guardian.

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not include any response from the Chinese government, the institutes, the affected universities or students.

What the reports do not include

• The names of the 30 universities or the 80 entities Hegseth referred to, or the names those entities allegedly used.
• Evidence supporting the allegations of intellectual property theft or of entities operating under disguise.
• How the Defense Department dismantled the organizations, under what authority, or over what precise timeline.
• A link to or full transcript of Hegseth's video. The Reuters report available to Vocemundi consists only of a summary.

Both reports rest on a single primary statement by Hegseth. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not include independent verification of his substantive allegations.

Analysis

The announcement adds a Defense Department designation to a long-standing US government position on Confucius Institutes. Its practical weight is unclear, because the reports do not name the list involved or describe its legal effect. Much depends on details not yet included in the reports: which universities and entities were involved, what evidence underpins the allegations, and what authority was used to dismantle the organizations. If those details emerge, they could allow independent assessment of the claims. A response from Beijing, the universities or the institutes could also shape how the designation is received. At present, the account rests on one official's statement.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.