In Notes on Nationalism, Orwell wrote, “Within the intelligentsia, a derisive and mildly hostile attitude towards Britain is more or less compulsory, but it is an unfaked emotion in many cases”. Today, the (overwhelmingly leftist) intelligentsia’s not just “mildly hostile” but dementedly loathing attitude has been widened to the West as a whole, and America especially.
Even though the West, and America, have gone further than any other society in history in bestowing freedom on women and minorities, the left reserve their affections solely for brutally intolerant ideologies. Orwell argued that the intelligentsia were merely happy to see Britain’s nose bloodied: they “did not, of course, actually want the Germans or Japanese to win the war”. One suspects that today’s so-called “intellectuals” would, in fact, be very happy to see America fail.
The passing of the 30th anniversary of the bloodshed in Tiananmen, for instance, has done nothing to dim American leftists’ enthusiasm for the brutal Chinese communists over their own country.
In the midst of U.S. controversies with China, another battle is raging with the communist power- this one on college campuses.
As it does in Australia, Beijing uses every arm at its disposal to undermine and infiltrate Western institutions. One of their key points of attack are campuses full of useful idiots.
In recent years, Confucius Institute ‘cultural exchange’ centers, funded by the Chinese government, have come under fire after the CIA released a report deeming them national security threats.
Among other things, the institutes can serve as “spying centers” for the Chinese Communist Party, and according to CIA Director Christopher Wray “exploit the very open research and development environment that we have.”
While the Chinese government maintains that the 91 Confucius Institutes still present on campuses around the country are focused solely on teaching Mandarin and spreading Chinese culture, the Trump administration, as well as Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) maintain that the centers are propaganda centers for the Chinese Communist Party.]
There are credible accusations that these centres in Australian universities are being used to spy on Chinese nationals studying in Australia, as well as influence academics. Lecturers teaching Chinese history, for instance, have had their lectures interrupted by “protesters” if they teach anything against the official Chinese communist party propaganda.
What would students think? Would they trust the Chinese government, or the Trump administration and the U.S. intelligence community?
I went to the University of Maryland, home to one of the remaining 91 Confucius Institutes, to ask students for their thoughts.
It soon became clear that students were quick to trust the Chinese government’s explanation over the concerns of the Trump administration and U.S. intelligence agencies.
“I side with the Chinese, I don’t think it’s propaganda,” one student said, while another added, “I don’t know anything about the Chinese government to know if they have a reputation for honesty or dishonesty, but I know enough about Trump to know he has a reputation for dishonesty.”
Some students found the push to remove the centers from campus “racist” […]
What would students say when I asked how they could trust a government that imprisons its own people by the millions and denies basic human rights?
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But, at least one of those students was right about one thing: they really don’t know anything. Discussing the history of communism with a university graduate, a devout Marxist, they looked at me blankly and asked, “Who’s Mao?”