Li Changchun
The Confucius Institute has been alleged to have non-academic goals. Li Changchun, the former 5th-highest-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee, was quoted in "The Economist" saying that the Confucius Institutes were "an important part of China's overseas propaganda set-up". Some foreign scholars have characterized the CI program as an exercise in soft power, expanding China's economic, cultural, and diplomatic reach through the promotion of Chinese language and culture, while others have suggested a possible role in intelligence collection. The soft power goals also include assuaging concerns of a "China threat" in the context of the country's increasingly powerful economy and military.