The Biden administration quietly withdrew a rule proposed by the Trump administration that would have required American schools and universities to disclose their partnerships with Confucius Institutes, which some U.S. officials allege are front groups for Chinese Communist Party propaganda.
The Trump administration submitted a proposed rule to the Department of Homeland Security on Dec. 31, 2020, entitled “Establishing Requirement for Student and Exchange Visitor Program Certified Schools to Disclose Agreements with Confucius Institutes and Classrooms.”
Around 500 K-12 schools and 65 colleges in the U.S. have partnerships with the Confucius Institute U.S. Center, a U.S.-based affiliate of the Beijing-based Confucius Institute Headquarters. The institute, also known as Hanban, is affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education.
Many of Hanban’s directors are members of the Chinese Communist Party or have close ties to the organization, The Daily Caller has previously reported.
The Trump-era proposal was withdrawn from consideration on Jan. 26, according to information at RegInfo.gov, the website for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which operates under the Office of Management and Budget and the White House.
The OIRA website does not provide any other information about the proposal, or why it was tabled. The website does say that at any point in the review process for a proposed rule, “an agency may withdraw its rule from review and choose not to move forward with it or to resubmit it after further consideration.”
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of DHS, confirmed that the rule was withdrawn on Jan. 26.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
