CCP Program Rebranded to Circumvent U.S.

The Chinese government-backed Confucius Institute program has rebranded in order to circumvent U.S. policy, according to a report from the National Association of Scholars on Tuesday. Confucius Institutes allegedly serve “Beijing’s multifaceted propaganda efforts,” the Department of State announced in 2020. After the Department of State designated the Confucius Institute as a “foreign mission” in 2020 many universities allegedly formed “sister university” relationships with Chinese schools, Rachelle Peterson, senior research fellow at the National Association of Scholars, told reporters during a Tuesday press conference. A Chinese influence operation targeting U.S. schools has reportedly rebranded in order to sidestep U.S. policy, the National Association of Scholars (NAS) announced during a Tuesday press conference.After the Confucius Institute (CI), a Chinese government-backed organization, was designated a “foreign mission” by the Department of State in August 2020, dozens of universities reportedly dissolved their long-standing relationships with the purported Chinese language and culture centers. However, after the U.S. schools formally dissolved their CI programs, many reportedly rekindled the relationship under a “sister university” arrangement managed by CI’s parent, Hanban, who also rebranded as the Ministry of Education Center for Language Exchange and Cooperation (CLEC) and the C …