US should shut down Confucius Institutes in wake of China spy bombshell: Cheney

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Rep. Swalwell under fire for connection with alleged Chinese spy, blames Trump for report

House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney weighs in on 'The Daily Briefing.'

The U.S. government should close down the dozens of Confucius Institute branches on American college campuses in the wake of a bombshell report detailing Rep. Eric Swalwell's ties to a suspected Chinese spy, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., told “The Daily Briefing” Wednesday.

A yearlong Axios investigation revealed links between Swalwell, D-Calif., and suspected Chinese spy Fang Fang, aka Christine Fang. The report indicated Fang targeted up-and-coming local politicians, including those who had the potential to become national figures.

"We know that this particular person, for example, began on a college campus," Cheney told host Dana Perino. "She got her start as one of the infiltrators, it seems, that the Chinese government has throughout academia.

"So I think [we need to do] things like shutting down the Confucius Institutes and making sure we understand this is going to be a challenge for the next generation," she added. "Certainly we have to defend ourselves."

FBI STEPPED IN AFTER SUSPECTED CHINESE SPY GOT CLOSE TO SWALWELL, OTHER POLITICIANS, REPORT FINDS

In August, the State Department formally designated the Confucius Institute's Washington D.C.-based U.S. Center as a foreign mission, saying the organizations "push out skewed Chinese language and cultural training for U.S. students as part of Beijing’s multifaceted propaganda efforts."

According to the State Department, there are 75 Confucius Institute branches operating in the United States, 65 of which are active on college campuses. In addition, the department said there are approximately 500 Confucius Classrooms based in K-12, schools, with [m]ost ... affiliated with one of the university-based Confucius Institutes."

In remarks earlier Wednesday at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on college administrators "to close Confucius Institutes and investigate what so-called 'student groups' backed by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] money are actually up to on their campus."

Cheney called the report about Swalwell's ties to Fang "alarming."

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“You have a situation where it looks like Rep. Swalwell was identified, cultivated and potentially funded by a Chinese communist spy and that this happened before he came to Congress," she said. 

“Once he got to Congress, there are real questions about whether or not Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi knew this when she put him on the House Intel Committee and I think, unfortunately and concerningly, this is part of a much larger pattern where we know that the Chinese Communist Party, the government is on the attack against the United States of America," she added.

On Wednesday, Pelosi’s spokesman said the House speaker has "full confidence" in Swalwell and his ability to serve on the Intelligence Committee. Pelosi appointed Swalwell to the secretive panel, which led the impeachment investigation into President Trump, in 2015. 

Meantime, Swalwell has been keeping quiet about his past relationship with Fang, whose relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors reportedly turned sexual. When asked about the nature of Swalwell's relationship with Fang, his office declined to comment.

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According to Axios, federal investigators gave Swalwell a defensive briefing in 2015 during which they alerted him to their concerns over Fang. An intelligence official told the news outlet that Swalwell cut ties with her soon after.

“I think that we are in a situation today where we know that the Chinese government is attempting to attack us through economic means, from a national security and military perspective, from an intelligence perspective,” Cheney said.

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“The leader [Kevin McCarthy] established a task force in the House of Representatives to focus on bipartisan legislation that we can bring forward to help protect the United States. Speaker Pelosi refused to name any Democrats to that,” she continued. “We just passed yesterday the National Defense Authorization Act with very important provisions in it to protect the United States against the threat from China.”

Cheney went on to say that “it's important for the Speaker to stop trying to divert attention, to focus on the challenges she faces internally with respect to ensuring that the Chinese espionage that we've seen does not get a larger foothold in the United States government and among her party.”

Fox News’ Marisa Schultz and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.