US politicians must realize institutes aren't political tools

There seem be two types of Confucius Institutes in the United States: those that are hailed on more than 100 campuses as a bridge to learning the Chinese language and culture, and those that are labeled by some newspapers and websites as a "political tool" of China.

The US media's "flawed assumption" has contributed to such confusion, according to a senior China expert in Washington. There have been many such reports in recent weeks following two US lawmakers' letters urging a handful of schools to sever ties with the Confucius Institute. The lawmakers and media outlets have accused the programs of being a tool to expand the "political influence of China" and distort academic discourse in the US.

"There's a lot of assumptions and innuendo I find in the reporting," said David Shambaugh, director of China Policy Program at George Washington University. "One assumption is that a Confucius Institute somehow affects the curriculum of Chinese studies the way China is taught on campus. Absolutely wrong," the professor of political science said.