MU’s Confucius Institute is a tool for communist propaganda, a “threat to academic freedom” and a “danger to our national defense,” and the university should cut ties with it, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said in a Wednesday letter to Chancellor Alexander Cartwright.
Hawley’s letter and comments came after a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday. The hearing focused on national security and economic espionage efforts by the Chinese government.
In response to questions from Hawley during the hearing, Wray testified that Confucius Institutes have exhibited “a fairly significant pattern of espionage” and called them “part of China’s soft power strategy and influence.”
In an earlier hearing in February 2018, Wray said the FBI was investigating Confucius Institutes for potential espionage activity.
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