US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon has added organisations it describes as backed by the Chinese government and operating on American university campuses to its list of institutions considered threats to national security, the South China Morning Post reports.
In a video on his official social media account on Friday, Hegseth said 80 such groups had appeared at 30 universities under new names and charters after earlier Confucius Institutes closed, and claimed they aimed to take intellectual property and influence students. He said the Pentagon had "systematically dismantled" them.
Confucius Institutes, which offer Chinese language and culture programmes, have long been regarded by US critics as a vehicle for Beijing's influence abroad.
Source: South China Morning Post
