Run
by the Chinese government, the Confucius Institutes offer
language and cultural programs at more than 100 U.S. colleges
and universities. They have been criticized as an attempt by
Beijing to influence U.S. higher education.
Senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton, and Representative Joe
Wilson introduced the "Foreign Influence Transparency Act,"
which would require the institutes to register under the Foreign
Agents Registration Act, or FARA.
The measure, which comes amid increasing concern from some U.S.
officials about Chinese influence in U.S. education, also would
require universities to disclose donations, contracts or in-kind
gifts valued at $50,000 or more from any foreign source.
Many U.S. politicians have been pushing for the United States to
take a harder line in its dealings with China, particularly
President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans, but also many
Democrats.
The Confucius Institute headquarters in Beijing did not respond
to a request for comment.
But Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said they
aimed to increase educational and cultural exchanges to help
mutual understanding and boost friendship.
The real issue for those making "noise" about China was about
how they viewed the world and China's development, she told
reporters.
"Hearing all this noise of late, sometimes makes me think of
what Confucius said: 'The gentleman is easy of mind, while the
small man is always full of anxiety,'" Hua said.
"We hope these people can abandon these outmoded ideas and get
their brains, along with their bodies, into the 21st century,
and objectively and rationally view the trends of the time in
global development and China's development progress."
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Ben
Blanchard and Christian Shepherd in BEIJING; Editing by David
Gregorio and Clarence Fernandez)
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