How Fucking Stupid Can We Be? This Stupid:
The Defense Department in late March announced that it would grant waivers to allow schools to host chapters of the Confucius Institute, a Chinese Communist Party-backed program that Beijing uses to peddle influence and steal intellectual property from American universities. The department’s waiver program is a response to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which barred American colleges and universities from receiving federal dollars if they maintain Confucius Institute chapters.
The Defense Department is subverting federal law.
"The Chinese Communist Party is subverting U.S. institutions and Joe Biden is sabotaging legislation to stop them," Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), a member of the House Select Committee on China, told the Washington Free Beacon. Banks added that the Biden administration has essentially "greenlit China’s espionage and malign influence operations on college campuses."
The workaround comes amid warnings from the intelligence community that American colleges are a "soft target" for Chinese spies. China has opened at least 100 Confucius Institutes in the United States since 2008, with China pouring more than $158 million into them.
The FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies have repeatedly warned that these outposts are "ultimately beholden to the Chinese government" and pose an espionage risk.
Schools seeking a waiver only need to send the Pentagon a letter affirming that their Confucius Institute supports "academic freedom" and "openness."
Universities that have active partnerships with the Pentagon also must "demonstrate that it has adequate measures in place to secure information, including information generated by scientific research," according to the guidance. This includes cybersecurity firewalls and prohibitions on Confucius Institute staff gaining access to sensitive research projects.
This could prove difficult for a number of American schools that have been infiltrated by Chinese spies.