Confucius Institute criticism 'groundless'

What Confucius Institutes do in the United States is visible through the work of those involved, and skeptics can visit the "open and transparent" branches for verification, said Gao Qing, head of the organization that supports 110 such institutes in the US.

Gao, executive director of the Confucius Institute US Center in Washington, spoke after what he said were attempts by some in the US capital to "politicize education matters", which he said will fail to derail operations of Confucius Institutes.

US Senator Marco Rubio warned in a Feb 5 letter of "the Chinese government's increasingly aggressive attempts to use Confucius Institutes and other means to influence foreign academic institutions and critical analysis of China's history and present policies".