The United States military department has officially designated Chinese-funded cultural centres operating on university campuses as a direct threat to the nation's security. This controversial move highlights the deepening geopolitical friction surrounding educational and cultural exchanges.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the decision in a video posted on social media on Friday, stating that the Pentagon had added the organisations to its restrictive blacklist. Hegseth claimed that Confucius Institutes had allegedly operated in disguise after facing previous congressional limitations.

Referring to the centres as "sleeper organisations," Hegseth alleged that numerous new propaganda cells had surfaced across dozens of universities under different names and charters. He asserted that their underlying mission supposedly remained focused on infiltrating academic minds and acquiring intellectual property.

The defense chief further boasted that over the preceding two months, the Pentagon had systematically dismantled every single one of these networks. Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Washington has reportedly refrained from responding to inquiries regarding these sweeping allegations.

Source: www.aljazeera.com