If passed by the House and signed into law by President Biden, the measure would cut federal funding from universities that host Confucius Institutes unless they regulate all teaching staff hired for the cultural centers and oversee the curriculum. to require public program agreements between universities and China that clearly set boundaries on China's ability to censor political debate and quash academic freedom.
"Beijing will look for any opportunity to gain a foothold in American communities and push propaganda," Blackburn said in a statement."Confucius Institutes allow Communist China to have leverage over students at American colleges and universities. We cannot allow students to be brainwashed by revisionist history."The U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative started in 2020 by the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
"The U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative is an exemplary program, for it seeks to increase opportunities for American students to learn Mandarin, while abiding by the U.S. and Taiwan’s shared commitment to academic freedom," the lawmakers wrote to Cardona."We assess that DOE could expand the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative to provide a censorship-free alternative to Confucius Institutes.