China INFILTRATES 94% American Schools – Warfare!

A political leader delivering a speech at a podium with national flags in the background

The Chinese Communist Party has quietly orchestrated a decades-long infiltration of American education, from elementary schools to universities, that lawmakers now describe as nothing short of warfare against our children’s minds.

Story Overview

Chinese entities have funneled over $3 billion to U.S. universities while operating influence networks in 94% of American elementary schools
Florida suspended four schools from state programs after discovering ties to CCP-linked operators attempting to spread communist ideology
Congress passed legislation targeting institutions with Chinese Communist connections, treating educational influence as a national security threat
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and other officials frame this educational infiltration as active warfare against American sovereignty

The Trojan Horse Strategy That Fooled America

For two decades, China deployed what appeared to be innocent cultural exchange programs to penetrate American education. Confucius Institutes sprouted on over 100 university campuses while Confucius Classrooms embedded themselves in K-12 schools nationwide. These programs promised language education and cultural understanding, but U.S. officials discovered something far more sinister underneath the academic veneer.

The programs systematically censored discussions of Tibet, Taiwan, Tiananmen Square, and Xinjiang while promoting Beijing’s propaganda. When universities tried to host the Dalai Lama or discuss human rights abuses, Chinese-funded organizations mobilized to shut down these conversations. The FBI eventually warned that Confucius Institutes served as fronts for Chinese intelligence operations on American soil.

From Universities to Your Child’s Classroom

While Congress focused on closing university-based Confucius Institutes, China shifted tactics toward younger targets. The acquisition of Epic! Creations by Chinese company TAL Education Group handed Beijing potential access to data and content control over digital libraries used in 94% of American elementary schools. Senators discovered this foreign company could now influence what millions of American children read daily.

Florida’s investigation into Spring Education Group revealed how deeply Chinese influence had penetrated private education. Governor Ron DeSantis suspended four schools from state scholarship programs after discovering ownership ties to Primavera, a CCP-linked operator. DeSantis declared Florida would not allow communist ideology to infiltrate schools funded by taxpayer dollars, but the damage was already spreading nationwide.

The Data Harvesting Operation Hidden in Plain Sight

China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires any Chinese organization to assist state intelligence work, transforming every Chinese-owned educational platform into a potential spy network. When TAL Education Group acquired Epic! Creations, Beijing gained theoretical access to reading habits, academic performance, and personal information from millions of American children.

Senators Jon Husted, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski demanded Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launch a national security review of this acquisition. They warned that allowing an adversarial government to harvest children’s data while controlling their educational content constitutes a direct threat to American educational sovereignty and national security.

The War Declaration That Changed Everything

Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn and other national security experts stopped treating Chinese educational influence as mere competition and began calling it what they believe it truly represents: warfare. This rhetorical shift reflects a growing recognition that Beijing views education as a battlefield for ideological conquest, not cultural exchange.

House leadership documented how the CCP systematically exploited American openness to “spread propaganda and conduct sophisticated espionage” through educational channels. The May 2025 passage of the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act marked Congress’s formal acknowledgment that foreign influence in education poses an existential threat requiring legislative intervention. The war for America’s educational system has begun, and the stakes could not be higher for future generations.