According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) email confirmation, the Biden administration rescinded a Trump (Trump) administration policy on Confucius Institutes that no longer required U.S. schools to disclose their cooperation with Confucius Institutes, and it was quietly rescinded on January 26.
Why was there such a rush to reverse the policy restricting Confucius Institutes when most members of the Biden team had not yet taken office on January 26 and many matters needed to be addressed? Is there a pro-communist on Biden’s team or not?
The Dubious Reversal of Policy
Seth Cropsey, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for U.S. Maritime Power, is concerned that the Biden Administration is trying to “appease China. Biden has just called the Chinese Communist Party “the most serious competitor,” but this actual action does not match his remarks. U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also expressed similar concerns.
Rubio’s tweet is perhaps more thought-provoking, writing that “the FBI warned that the Chinese Communist Party was using Confucius Institutes to infiltrate U.S. schools,” but “now Biden has quietly rescinded the Trump Administration‘s proposed rule that would have required schools and universities to disclose their partnerships with these agents of Chinese government influence.
The Biden team’s anxiety to rescind this policy is inconsistent with both the positioning of the Communist Party as “the most serious competitor” and the so-called strategic patience of departments that, according to Biden, are still evaluating various policies. Therefore, the quiet cancellation of this policy should not simply appease the CCP, and the top brass of the CCP will probably not appreciate it. It is more logical to assume that someone or some people on Biden’s team did not want U.S. schools to disclose their cooperation with the Confucius Institute, perhaps fearing that certain people or events would be exposed.
It is even more worrying that there are real pro-communists in Biden’s team who, for fear of a scandal being exposed, could not wait to suggest that Biden cancel this policy. It is suspicious that Biden would take the trouble to deal with such a matter when he has just taken office and has so many important issues to decide.
Who might be boxed in by the Confucius Institute?
To most Chinese, there is nothing unusual about the operation of the Confucius Institutes, except that the Chinese Communist Party provides a lot of money to the partner schools and, of course, makes special demands. The Confucius Institute itself would require independent operation, with no interference from the partner schools in the hiring of staff or the content of the lectures, but the Confucius Institute would use the name of the partner schools to carry out major foreign propaganda at will, as well as private secret service infiltration activities.
When Confucius Institutes pay money, they also ask their partner schools not to discuss topics forbidden by the CCP. Many schools, for the sake of money, not only sell out the reputation of their schools, but also set their own limits and try to avoid discussions forbidden by the CCP, or even cater to the CCP’s rhetoric. In line with the CCP’s usual practice, beyond the onstage money transactions, there are often private money operations. Where all this money goes and who ultimately benefits should be what is most feared to be exposed.
The latest example is Biden’s nominee to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who spoke on “China-U.S.-Africa Relations” at the fifth anniversary lecture of the Confucius Institute at Savannah State University on October 25, 2019, affirming Chinese Communist Party strategy in Africa. I see no reason why China should not share these values; in fact, given its strong footprint on the continent, China is in a unique position to spread these ideals,” she said at the Time. and excused the CCP’s debt-trap diplomacy in Africa.
The media seemed to focus more on the $1,500 honorarium she publicly received for her speech, which she admitted was a “huge mistake” during the Senate hearing, defending that she “didn’t know” it was at the Confucius Institute. She then also said that “China (the Chinese Communist Party) is a strategic adversary, their actions threaten our security, they threaten our way of Life,” and “they are a global threat.”
It would certainly be a good thing if she did make the shift; after all, many politicians were not really clear about the nature of the Chinese Communist Party until Trump took office. Now that most Americans are waking up and public opinion is focused on the CCP’s ambitions and threats, more and more politicians should be shifting as well, but the out-of-character pro-communist words and actions of certain individuals in the past could still come to light.
Pro-communists try to cover up scandals
Are some people in the United States pro-communist because they have received some private payoffs from the CCP, or have even been included in a united front by the CCP? If such facts are revealed, I fear that a mere verbal turn now will not help. Such facts will inevitably come to light if U.S. schools continue to be required to disclose their cooperation with the Confucius Institute. I fear that there are such pro-communists on Biden’s team, or close to them, who need to cover up so much that they are rushing to call off this policy.
If that is the case, these people are in the hands of the CCP and could be threatened at any time. Although Biden has positioned the CCP as his “most serious competitor,” the biggest concern is that some members of Biden’s team may not be able to stand firm in the event of a real confrontation, or even a threat to national security.
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