Valparaiso University Closes Campus Confucius Institute as Attorney General Begins Investigation
“The school, however, has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that closure of the institute had more to do with the potential loss of federal funding than Rokita’s probe.”
That was fast. A cynical person might wonder if the school has something to hide.
The College Fix reports:
Valparaiso axes its Chinese-funded Confucius Institute after attorney general begins probe
Valparaiso University this week announced it would be closing the Chinese government-financed Confucius Institute it had housed on his campus for nearly a decade. The decision came after Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced a civil investigation into whether “the Chinese government has attempted to exert political influence and manipulate the attitudes and beliefs of Hoosiers.”
The school, however, has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that closure of the institute had more to do with the potential loss of federal funding than Rokita’s probe.
“A federal law, the National Defense Authorization Act, already prohibits the Defense Department (DOD) from funding research at any university with a Confucius Institute,” university president José Padilla wrote in an email to the campus community this week.
“DOD funding is not the only federal funding at risk, Department of Education (DOE) funding may also be,” wrote Padilla. “Just this past March, DOE funding and Confucius Institutes were intertwined in a bill, S.590, which the U.S. Senate passed by unanimous consent. This bill would impose tight restrictions on funding from DOE (other than student financial aid) to colleges hosting Confucius Institutes. A potential cut-off of DOE funding would be devastating to our financial position. This is not a risk we can take.”
According to Rokita, his investigation is aimed at identifying and “getting to the bottom of the true intent of any relationships between Valparaiso University’s programming and the Chinese Communist Party.”
After elected officials began putting pressure on schools, the number of Confucius Institutes has recently waned. Once numbering over 100, fewer than 26 now remain. Since 2006, the Chinese government has provided more than $158 million to U.S. schools for Confucius Institutes.
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“Tofu it — the cops!”