China-US relations: White House denies backtracking on Confucius Institutes

  • A Trump-era rule would have required many K-12 schools and colleges in the US to disclose their financial ties to the Chinese cultural organisation
  • China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi listed shutting Confucius Institutes as among the stumbling blocks to people-to-people exchanges between the countries

A US State Department spokesman said: “When it comes to the Confucius Institutes, we have ongoing concerns about activities of the CCP, including through these institutes.”

The United States has denied withdrawing a Trump administration proposal that would have required American schools and universities to disclose their partnerships with China’s Confucius Institutes.

But it said it was still looking at the best way to counter China’s efforts to “undermine and interfere in democracies.

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