F O U N D A T I O N F O R D E F E N S E O F D E M O C R A C I E SThe Middle Kingdom Meets Higher Education How U.S. Universities Support China’s Military-Industrial ComplexBy Craig SingletonDecember 2021
A division of theFOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIESWashington, DCFDD PRESSCraig SingletonDecember 2021The Middle Kingdom Meets Higher Education How U.S. Universities Support China’s Military-Industrial Complex
The Middle Kingdom Meets Higher Education AcknowledgmentsThis report’s publication was made possible by FDD’s Barish Center for Media Integrity.I wish to thank a number of people who contributed to the publication of this report. I am thankful for the guidance, expertise, and direction provided by the FDD team, including David Adesnik, John Hardie, Allie Shisgal, Jonathan Schanzer, and FDD China Program Chairman Matthew Pottinger. Thank you to Erin Blumenthal and Daniel Ackerman for the production and design of this report. Many thanks to collaborators and external reviewers John Van Oudenaren, Daniel Currell, Aaron MacLean, Major Lauren Harrison, and Dr. Zongyuan Zoe Liu. A special note of thanks to Rachelle Peterson and Alex Joske for their groundbreaking research on Confucius Institutes and China’s malign influence, without which this report could not have been written. And, finally, a special thanks to my family and friends, for whom I am very grateful. Please note the report’s content does not necessarily reflect the views of its reviewers or the Department of Defense. Any errors within the report are mine alone.Cover Illustration by Daniel Ackerman/FDD
Page 5The Middle Kingdom Meets Higher Education Table of ContentsIntroduction ...........................................................................................................................................................6The Case of Bo Mao and Xiamen University ..........................................................................................................10Re-examining Chinese Soft Power: How CIs Operate ............................................................................................13Assessing Confucius Institute Closures Between 2018 and 2021 ............................................................................16Confucius Institute Closures Do Not Tell the Whole Story ....................................................................................20The 34 Confucius Institute Holdouts .....................................................................................................................26Policy Recommendations .......................................................................................................................................32Appendix I: U.S. Universities With Active Confucius Institutes Tied to China’s Defense Establishment .................35Appendix II: R1 and R2 Research Institutions That Currently Host a Confucius Institute or Hosted One Between 2018 and 2021 ................................
