US: Hegseth announces Confucius Institutes national-security threat designation
The official post confirms the announced decision. References to 80 organizations and intellectual-property theft are attributed to the US defence secretary.
Pete Hegseth announced on 23 October 2026 that the US defence department had designated Confucius Institutes a threat to national security. The statement is confirmed by the secretary’s public post on X.
Washington’s allegations
ERT, citing ANA-MPA and AFP, reports that the secretary referred to 80 organizations at 30 universities, alleging that they continued earlier institutions’ activities under new names. He linked them to propaganda and intellectual-property theft. These are the secretary’s allegations; his post is not independent proof of them.
Scope of the available announcement
The written post announces the designation without naming institutions or setting a new compliance deadline. It does not, by itself, establish a new blanket operating ban or the closure of specific university programmes.
The institutes offer Chinese-language classes and cultural activities. ERT reports that Beijing rejects the propaganda allegations.
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