One of Beijing’s most notorious influence operations in Western academia came cloaked under the guise of traditional culture and under the name of Chinese sage Confucius.
Those entities—state-sponsored Chinese language programs called Confucius Institutes operating on American campuses—have since been exposed as a Trojan horse for Beijing’s propaganda, and most have shut down across the United States.
But another lesser-known cradle of influence in the Western academic world remains in place, hiding in plain sight under an innocuous acronym: CSSA.
CSSAs, or Chinese Students and Scholars Associations, are found across American campuses and act as a ready lever for Beijing to virtually hold Chinese students hostage, say activists, former club leaders, and experts….
Behind the Group That Controls Chinese Students in America
