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WORLDThe Guardian

Pentagon designates China-backed campus cultural centers a threat to US national security

Photo: Nathan Howard/Reuters

The ⁠US defense department has designated Chinese-funded cultural centers on university campuses ⁠known as Confucius ⁠Institutes ​as a threat to US national security, defense secretary Pete ⁠Hegseth said on Friday.

Washington has long accused Confucius Institutes of being Chinese propaganda ⁠tools and has taken steps to ​crack down on them.

Hegseth, ‌in a ‌video posted on social media, alleged that Confucius ‌Institutes were operating under disguise at US universities and that the Pentagon had added them to its list of institutions that threaten US national security.

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