NAS policy director Rachelle Peterson was invited to submit written testimony to the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, which is investigating Confucius Institutes. The Commission advises the UK’s Conservative Party on foreign policy, and has opened an inquiry to assess “the benefits or risks of Confucius Institutes, identify possible solutions to address any such risks and seek ideas on alternatives for providing Chinese language and cultural education.”
Last year NAS published Outsourced to China: Confucius Institutes and Soft Power in American Higher Education, which included case studies of twelve Confucius Institutes. Since then, we have worked in the U.S. with members of Congress and several government agencies to draw attention to the way the Chinese government uses Confucius Institutes to infiltrate colleges and universities. We are pleased to present our research to policymakers in the United Kingdom as well.
Download Rachelle Peterson’s testimony >
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