Garden Grove, CA – The Michelle Steel for Congress campaign today released a video highlighting Jay Chen’s long standing and continued support of Chinese Communist Party-backed Confucius Institutes.
The video comes as questions mount about Chen’s curious position and judgment for refusing to denounce a program the United States Department of State, President Biden’s CIA Director, and a bipartisan range of U.S. Senators have all condemned as being part of Communist China’s propaganda machine used to infiltrate American schools and misrepresent Xi Jinping’s China.
BACKGROUND
The United States Government has unilaterally condemned Confucius Institutes as a “foreign mission” of Communist China to infiltrate the U.S. education system and do not belong in American classrooms.
Below is a list of U.S. Government officials and institutions that have condemned Confucius Institutes:
- President Biden’s CIA Director: Confucius Institutes “promote a narrative of Xi Jinping’s China”.
- The United States Department of State identified Confucius Institutes as part of “Beijing’s multifaceted propaganda efforts”.
- A Bipartisan group of Senators including Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Tom Carper (D-DE) jointly said, “Confucius Institutes should not continue in the United States.”
- Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) referred to Confucius Institutes as one of China’s “tentacles of influence”, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) expressed concern about the Chinese government’s aggressive attempts to use Confucius Institutes to influence critical analysis of “China’s past history and present policies.”
Confucius Institutes teach a version of Chinese communist culture that ignores its long history of human rights abuses and political aggression towards Taiwan and Tibet.
According to Liu Yunshan, the former Chinese Communist Party Minister of Propaganda:
- Confucius Institutes have “made an important contribution toward improving our [Chinese] soft power.”
- Confucius Institutes ‘do well in carrying out’ “international propaganda battles against issuers such as Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, human rights and Falun Gong.”
According to Li Changchun, a senior Chinese Communist Party Official:
- Confucius Institutes have “made an important contribution toward improving our soft power.”
“Confucius Institutes teach a very particular, Beijing-approved version of Chinese culture and history: one that ignores concerns over human rights, for example, and teaches that Taiwan and Tibet indisputably belong to Mainland China.” (Politico, 1/16/18)