Hanes Drafts Bill Banning Confucius Institutes from Public Universities

By Dylan Smith, Managing Editor • dylan@southerntorch.com

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. — State Rep. Tommy Hanes (R-Bryant) has drafted a bill that would bar Confucius Institutes from operating on publicly funded college campuses.

“Confucius Institutes operate as a propagandist arm of the Chinese Communist Party,” says Hanes. “The Chinese government is attempting to indoctrinate young Americans by infiltrating our very own universities. This must be put to a stop.”

The bill reads in part:

• “This bill would prohibit public institutions of higher education from providing support for, funding for, or use of its campus facilities for the operation of cultural institutes, such as Confucius Institutes, that are affiliated with funded by, or supported by the government of China.”

Hanes is teaming up with the College Republican Federation of Alabama, who earlier this year passed a resolution urging colleges to reconsider their relationships with Confucius Institutes. 

The CRFA provided evidence that the institutes, which operate under the guise of promoting Chinese culture and language, are supported and operated by the Communist government.

The CRFA says Li Changchun, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) boss, reportedly described Confucius Institutes as “an important part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up.”

The Institutes are also reportedly funded by the United Front Work Department, the Chinese Government agency that coordinates foreign influence operations. 

Hanes said leaders must do everything in their power to halt Chinese government infiltration in American academia. 

“College campuses are bastions of free speech and academic freedom, principles that communism explicitly seeks to destroy,” says Hanes.

Hanes concludes, “We must make clear that the Chinese government will have no safe harbor to promote the evils of communism in the State of Alabama.”