China-funded centers were seen by US colleges as a way to improve ties, but the Trump administration fears they harbor spies
WASHINGTON - Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Maryland's Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the past 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from China's central government.
But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they weren't looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept confidential since it started in 2004.
American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings, one that could also bring warmer ties with China and an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition.
But U.S. officials, particularly under President Donald Trump, are taking aim at Confucius and other Chinese government-supported programs, warning that universities have unwittingly exposed themselves to undue influence or even spies from America's major political and economic rival.
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