Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) universities on the future of Confucius Institutes.

The government takes seriously any concerns about overseas interference in the UK’s higher education (HE) sector, including through Confucius Institutes, and regularly assesses the risks facing academia. The department has taken action to remove any direct or indirect government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK, but currently judge that it would be disproportionate to ban them.

The department works closely with Cabinet colleagues and other government departments to support the HE sector. ​Most recently, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education met a group of Vice Chancellors on 25 April to discuss research security in universities.