Almost All China-Funded Confucius Institutes in US Close Amid Intensifying Scrutiny and Funding Restrictions

Closure primarily driven by potential loss of federal funding; under five institutes remain from about 100 in 2019.

Nearly all China-funded Confucius Institutes, Chinese-language centers in the U.S., have closed due to increasing scrutiny. This follows an ongoing feud between Washington and Beijing over various issues including trade, human rights, and the arrest of pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.
Congress restricted federal funds to schools hosting Confucius Institutes, leading to the closure of almost all these institutes across the U.S. The State Department has also designated their de facto headquarters a foreign mission of the Chinese government.
The number of Confucius Institutes on American university campuses has dropped from about 100 in 2019 to less than five. 61% of the nearly 100 surveyed colleges and universities cited potential loss of federal funding as a primary reason for their decision to close the institutes.
Confucius Institutes were under suspicion for introducing Chinese Communist Party ideology into classrooms. They were jointly funded by the Chinese government and host schools, leading to Senator Marco Rubio introducing a bill to close a loophole in prior legislation restricting Department of Defense funding from schools still partnering with these language centers.
The Taiwan Education Initiative, jointly funded by Washington and Taipei, has been recognized as a firm alternative to the Confucius Institutes. The Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning (TCML), one of these programs, is expanding globally with its instructors not being beholden to China's authorities.