[Global Network Reporter Li Dongyao] After an anonymous person familiar with the matter released the media in advance, on August 13, local time, US Secretary of State Pompeo announced that the Confucius Institute US Center was required to register as a "foreign mission." Reuters said this is the latest sign of the deterioration of relations between Washington and Beijing.

  According to Reuters, Pompeo claimed in a statement that the Confucius Institute America Center in Washington is "an entity that promotes Beijing's global propaganda and malicious influence activities on American campuses and primary and secondary schools."

  The Assistant Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific Affairs David Stilwell defended at a press conference that day that this policy does not directly target the various Confucius Institutes in the United States, but the Confucius Institute America Center that coordinates these institutions.

  According to a Bloomberg report, an unnamed source said earlier that the US State Department would announce on the 13th as early as the 13th that Confucius Institutes established in American universities must be registered as "foreign missions." The person said that this decision means that the Confucius Institute is recognized as an institution "actually owned or effectively controlled by a foreign government" and will be subject to similar administrative requirements as the Chinese embassy and consulate.

  This is not the first time that the United States has listed relevant Chinese institutions as "foreign missions." In February and June this year, the US State Department listed nine Chinese media as "foreign missions" in two batches. According to the U.S. "Foreign Mission Act", once registered as a "foreign mission", you must report to the US Department of State the list of all staff and properties.

  Regarding the unprovoked slander of Confucius Institutes by the United States, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated many times that all Confucius Institutes in the United States are voluntarily applied for by American universities. Chinese and American universities have cooperated on the principles of "mutual respect, friendly consultation, equality and mutual benefit". The daily operations and management of all these Confucius Institutes are legal and compliant, open and transparent, and have made important contributions to the promotion of cultural exchanges between China and the United States, and have been widely praised by all parties. Individuals and institutions in the United States have baselessly politicized the Confucius Institute, a normal Sino-US educational exchange project, showing a typical Cold War mentality.