US ends policy to monitor China’s sway on schools
WASHINGTON/HONG KONG/ TORONTO: The Biden administration has withdrawn from former US president Donald Trump’s policy of tracking possible Chinese influence in American schools and universities, according to a Daily Caller report.
Chuck Ross, writing for the publication, informed that the government under President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the proposed rule to the department of homeland security on December 31, 2020, entitled “Establishing Requirement for Student and Exchange Visitor Program Certified Schools to Disclose Agreements with Confucius Institutes and Classrooms”.
The rule requires American schools and universities to disclose their partnerships with Confucius Institutes, which are widely seen as front organisations for Chinese Communist Party propaganda, according to some US government officials.
As per Daily Caller, around 500 K-12 schools and 65 colleges have a partnership with Confucius
Institute US Center, a US-based affiliate of the Beijingbased Confucius Institute Headquarters. The institute, also known as Hanban, is affiliated with China’s education ministry.
Daily Caller had earlier reported that many of Hanban’s directors were members of the Chinese Communist Party.
As per information on RegInfo.gov, the website for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which operates under the office of management and budget and the White House, the Biden administration withdrew from the consideration on January 26. The OIRA website has not provided any detailed information about the move.
Also, a spokesperson for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of the DHS, confirmed the withdrawal of the rule. The spokesperson did not elaborate on the reason.
In August, the Trump administration had labelled the Confucius Institutes US Center a “foreign mission” of the Chinese Communist Party. Officials had said that the Chinese government used the Confucius Institutes as part of its propaganda and influence efforts in the US.
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