America’s confidence in its soft power and technological supremacy appears to be waning. On October 24, according to a report by Lianhe Zaobao, U.S. Secretary of War Hegseth declared that Confucius Institutes established on American university campuses with Chinese funding would be designated as "national security threats." Hegseth asserted that these institutes are government-backed "so-called cultural centers" embedded in nearly every state’s academic institutions across the United States.
Both entities, he claimed, share a common mission: "stealing intellectual property and infiltrating the minds of American students." Over the past two months, the Department of War has reportedly "systematically dismantled" each such organization. Any nation attempting to steal innovations painstakingly developed by the United States, while simultaneously turning our youth against their own country—this must serve as a lesson. We have had enough. This will no longer be tolerated. From Hegseth’s rhetoric, it is clear that the rationale for labeling Confucius Institutes as "national security threats" rests on two grounds: ideological infiltration of American students and alleged theft of intellectual property.
It is worth questioning, however, how a country that long presents itself as the "beacon of civilization," aggressively promoting "democracy" globally, now exhibits such insecurity—fearing that American students might be "infiltrated" ideologically? To immediately label normal cultural exchange as a threat, does this imply a fear of cultural engagement? In reality, the core function of Confucius Institutes is to promote Chinese language education and organize cultural exchanges abroad. Is the U.S. Department of War genuinely afraid that American youth might gain deeper understanding of China and its culture?
In fact, numerous countries maintain similar institutions to promote their languages and cultures internationally—Germany has the Goethe Institute, Spain the Cervantes Institute, among others. At root, what America seeks is not dialogue or mutual understanding, but the suppression and containment of China’s soft power. Moreover, the claim of "theft" is entirely baseless. The real objective lies in using "national security" as a pretext to sever normal scientific and academic exchanges between the two nations, under the belief that such measures will preserve American competitive advantage. Today’s America increasingly resembles a closed society, exhibiting growing psychological imbalance and anxiety toward China.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1879894711719050/
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