China - Trojan Horses

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is bearing Trojan Horse gifts to the world in order
to influence and garner support for the CCP’s rule and mode of governance. And we all
know how the Trojans ended up after accepting the Greek horse gift.
Confucius Institutes (CIs), founded in 2004 by the CCP, are Trojan Horses. Confucius
Institutes preach the good news about China and suppress negative news. No
discussions of Tibet, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan, or Falun Gong are allowed. CIs are
a “key stratagem in China’s soft war against America. Rachelle Peterson of the National
Association of Scholars (NAS) summarizes this strategy as “to teach political lessons
that unduly favor China.”
The CIs are Trojan Horses inserted into foreign countries for the overt purpose of
educating foreigners on Chinese culture and language. Their covert purpose is to
manipulate, indoctrinate, and influence foreign audiences into following CCP policies.
By 2021, over 550 CIs operated worldwide. And the tie that binds is money. The great
cartoon philosopher “Wizard of Id” in 1964 had a cartoon panel that had the diminutive
tyrannical king stating, “The “Golden Rule - Whoever Has the Gold Makes the Rules.”
According to a U.S. Senate investigative report, China spent over $158 million on CIs in
the United States between 2006 and 2019. Just as money and, sometimes sex, has
captured American “elite” into whitewashing China’s crimes against humanity, CCP
money captured American universities and schools into hosting Confucius Institutes.
Also, the tacit endorsement by President Obama in 2009, promoting the “100,000
Strong Initiative” for American students to study Chinese, added to enrollments.
Over nine million students in 160 countries have enrolled in CIs. By 2017, more than
100 CIs had opened in U.S. universities, including Columbia and Stanford. The CIs
were mostly staffed and funded by the Chinese government’s Ministry of Education or
Hanban. The CCP controlled all CI personnel who were selected on the basis of their
CCP party loyalty and love of the homeland.
By April 2022, the number of CIs had fallen to 18, due to the Defense Department and
other federal education funding sources threatening to withhold monies due to CCP
control and influence. Other factors in the closures were lack of academic freedom, lack
of transparency, intellectual property theft, and intimidation of those who opposed the
CCP.

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With the closure of many Confucius Institutes at American universities, the CCP
rebranded and renamed them as non-governmental charitable organizations.
The CCP pivoted from gifting Confucius Institutes to U.S. universities to gifting cash to
universities via CCP-controlled social organizations and anonymous individuals. The Ivy
League University of Pennsylvania is an example of how Chinese money flows to
capture the American elite. U Penn has received over $54 million from Chinese
sources (many anonymous) since 2014. Most of the donations came after the University
in February 2017 announced that it would create the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy
and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C., with Joe Biden leading the center. Biden
was paid nearly $1 million by Penn for being a professor, but never taught a class. The
current Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, served briefly as the Center’s managing
director. Other senior Biden officials had tours at the Penn Biden Center. Classified
documents linked to Biden have recently been discovered in a closet at the Penn Biden
Center. Hunter Biden’s laptop reveals a link between CEFC China Energy and the Penn
Biden Center. Hunter Biden shared an office with a CEFC emissary in Washington, D.C.
“The Penn Biden Center is a dark-money, revolving-door nightmare where foreign
competitors like China donated millions of dollars to the university so that they could
have access to future high-ranking officials,” said Tom Anderson, director of the
Government Integrity Project at the Virginia-based National Legal and Policy Center.
Other Ivy League universities receiving Chinese money include Harvard ($75 million)
and Yale ($43.5). These are reported donations. Who knows how many unreported and
opaque monies have been funneled?
The CCP’s “whole-of-society” strategy of influence and espionage exploits and
weaponizes every element of human society to suit CCP's needs. Confucius Institutes
are just one element. Another important element is the more than 300,000 Chinese
students attending American universities. They are an important source of income for
universities (remember the Wizard of Id) and take slots that should be going to
American students. Many of these Chinese students already have advanced degrees.
They are People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers sent to take home the latest in
scientific research and spy on fellow students and teachers. There are about 150
chapters of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in America. Their purpose
is to support CCP policies and to oppose anyone or anything against the CCP, such as
the Dali Lama or the Tiananmen Square killings.
The Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is another CCP Trojan Horse. It offers predatory loans
to poor countries to finance the construction of roads, ports, railways, and other

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infrastructure projects conducted by Chinese companies and Chinese workers. Many
loans are hidden from public view and linked to kickback schemes benefitting political
leaders and elites. The loans are often built on risky foundations for repayment, often
leading to loan default and Chinese seizure of assets. The Sri Lankan port of
Hambantota was seized due to loan default, as the port did not generate enough
revenue to pay the loan.
Summary:
BEWARE of the CCP bearing gifts - they mask a hidden agenda of destruction.
NEVER trust a communist.
Peace Through Strength!
Laurence F. Sanford
Senior Analyst
American Security Council Foundation
www.ascf.us