Why did a Chinese propaganda group get a Small Business Administration grant?
July 1, 2021
According to data from the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Confucius Institute, an academic group that has close ties to the communist Chinese party, applied for and received an SBA grant in June 2020, under the Covid relief plan.
The origination date is June 29, 2020, for four thousand dollars.
“In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, small business owners in all US states,” says the SBA about the program, “Washington, DC, and territories are eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance of up to $10,000.”
The money was separate from the loans made by the SBA for business continuation, and instead is considered disaster relief.
The Confucius Institute has a contentious relationship in the United States. Many have been shut down across university campuses in the United States after widespread criticism that they operate as a propaganda arm of the Chinese communist party.
Last month Colorado State University said that it would be closing down its Confucius Institute, under new restrictions imposed by the department of defense for research institutions that receive money from the federal government.
The news comes on the heels of the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th-anniversary celebration, which was widely criticized in the United States and worldwide. During the celebration Communist Party chairman Xi, use tough rhetoric on opponents of the party. “The people of China are not only good at destroying the old world, they have also created a new world,” said Xi. He then promised not to allow foreign critics to bully China.
“Anyone who dares try to do that will have their heads bashed bloody against the Great Wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people,” he said, sparking applause from an invited audience of 70,000 gathered in the massive square in central Beijing, according to the Associated Press.
The institute is funded by Hanban, an official part of China’s State Ministry of Education and was originally proposed as a method of supporting Chinese language proficiency and culture for non-native speakers.