Less than 24 hours after the video of the high-level Chinese and American military theaters hung up, the United States Congress opened the "China Week" and made a killing move against China, but the narrow actions of the US side could not affect China at all.
United States Congress voting results
A few days ago, theater leaders between the Chinese and US militaries held a video call. Chinese Commander Wu Yanan and US Commander Paparo communicated on issues of common concern. Now that the situation in the South China Sea is tense, the fact that China and the United States can reach communication at the military level is actually a sign of "breaking the ice". The call also means that the relevant communication and dialogue mechanisms mentioned during the San Francisco meeting last year have all been resumed.
But as soon as the high-level phone call between the Chinese and American militaries ended, the United States Congress launched "China Week" and passed relevant bills targeting Confucius Institutes. The bill prohibits the United States Department of Homeland Security from funding Confucius Institutes in China and all related institutions of higher education.
The bill stipulates that 12 months after the law is enacted, it will be formally included in the overall scope, and it must ensure that any Chinese entity higher education institutions related to Confucius Institutes that have raised concerns will not receive any funding for the time thereafter. This includes educational institutions in the United States that have a relationship with Confucius Institutes.
Students in United States study Chinese painting
In 2023, the US media reported that Confucius Institutes were closed on a large scale due to opposition from United States state governments and Congress. However, civil society organizations in United States believe that Confucius Institutes "exist in name only."
Judging from the data, in 2023, 104 of the 118 Confucius Institutes in United States will be closed, which does seem to be a depression. However, the US media pointed out that there are still relevant organizations in some colleges and universities, and Confucius classrooms in primary and secondary schools still exist.
Moreover, although many institutions closed Confucius Institutes under pressure from the United States government, they have since established links with other institutions in China and are highly similar to Confucius Institutes.
This makes the US believe that relevant institutions are still exporting Chinese culture in a different way, believing that the spread of Chinese culture will pose a threat to United States's national security. Therefore, in today's bill, the US side "one-size-fits-all" blacklists all institutions related to Chinese universities.
Today, United States' "talk about China's color change" has reached an outrageous level. Only exchanges between different cultures can promote development, but the United States narrowly believes that Chinese culture is the biggest threat to it. The US has no cultural self-confidence and believes that the development of Chinese culture is not universally recognized by society.
Confucius Institute
But in fact, over the years, the United States has carried out cultural aggression against other countries through various means, constantly instilling the concept of cultural implantation in other countries, belittling other civilizations, and exalting "American culture". However, the dissemination of Chinese culture, including the Confucius Institute, has always been based on equal exchanges, and there has never been a behavior of "stepping on one and holding the other".
The Chinese side has stressed more than once that the background color of China-US relations is not competition, but United States is clearly mired in the nihilism of "competing for world hegemony" and trying to cut off all Sino-US ties.
Could it be that if you "cover your ears and steal the bell", the bell will not ring? The US approach will not hinder the development of Chinese culture, and the continuous growth of Chinese culture cannot be prohibited by the US side, and the US side can only adjust its mentality at an early date to face China's further development in the future.