In Josh Rogin‘s article about China’s Confucius Institutes, I have a short quote on how the institutes can be exploited to groom academics and administrators to give the party a voice on foreign university campuses. Many in the West have feared the Confucius Institutes, run by Hanban, were fronts for Beijing’s intelligence operations. Watching party leadership appearances, however, suggests the program is more closely aligned with the united front system. The united front system’s purpose, to paraphrase Mao Zedong, is to mobilize friends to strike at enemies.