An article in the Diplomat (February 20) reacting to a report in The National Pulse entitled “Biden Quietly Revokes Trump’s Ban On Chinese Communist Propaganda In Schools”, said the Confucius Institutes are a creature of China’s United Front Work Department (UFWD). It said the Confucius Institute Headquarters, or Hanban, was founded in 2004 by former Chinese vice premier and Politburo member Liu Yandong, while she was the head of UFWD, to establish “non-profit public institutions which aim to promote Chinese language and culture in foreign countries.” There are 541 institutes and nearly 2,000 Confucius classrooms operating in 162 countries at the primary, secondary, and university levels. Hanban provides teachers, textbooks, and operating funds, but the institutes depend on matching resources from the host institutions. From 2008 to 2016, Hanban reported spending more than $2 billion on Confucius Institutes worldwide. Starting in 2017 Hanban no longer reports spending on the program.
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