Senator Hawley tweeted the following statement in response to the University of Missouri’s decision to shut down its Confucius Institute:
Pleased Mizzou is shutting down the #China Communist Party funded “Confucius Institute.” As the State Department warned Mizzou in July 2019, and as I have repeatedly stated, this program presented security risks for students & university as a whole https://t.co/7wgKLvC5W4
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 15, 2020
Senator Hawley recently sent a letter to Mizzou leadership expressing concern about the university’s Chinese Communist Party-funded Confucius Institute after FBI Director Wray testified that Confucius Institutes at American universities are a “source of concern” for the FBI. Director Wray told Senator Hawley that Confucius Institutes allow the Chinese Government to disseminate communist propaganda, encourage censorship, and restrict academic freedom.