. watch book tv this weekend come and be sure to watch in-depth in may, with new york times columnist and author on c-span2. announcer: middl and high school students participated in c-span studentcam competition, telling us what issues the president and congress should address this year. all month, we are featuring the winners. our first prize middle school winner is carson collins, an eight grader who is homeschooled in austin, texas, where c-span is available through spectrum. the winning entry is titled, "confucius institutes: education or espionage?" >> then there are confucius institutes and colleges and universities. more disturbing, confucius classrooms at the k-12 levels. >> we eliminate confucius

institutes. these are extensively nonpolitical cultural and language units. >> the chinese communist party is a threat to the united states. it sensors journalists imprisons , minors and dissidents the . chinese communist already does not share american values. >> for a time, beijing inched toward greater liberty and respect for human rights. but in recent years china has , taken a sharp u-turn towards control and oppression of its own people. the chinese communist party is rewarding or coercing american businesses, will, universities, think tanks, scholars, journalists, and local and

federal government. knowing the chinese government >> is directly infiltrating american institutions, governments, corporations and our education system, the new president and congress should systematically evaluate our ties to the chinese government. one place to start is with confucius institute. these are chinese cultural and learning organizations run by the chinese government, operating in foreign universities. in 2020, congress tried but failed to adequately address these programs. proponents of confucius institutes see them as purely educational organizations that breeds chinese culture and language. >> a confucius institute is a partnership between two universities, one in china and one in a foreign country. the purpose is to promote chinese culture and language. and so two universities partner together to do that. >> critics, on the other hand

argue that these confucius , institutes are more nefarious goals and are trying to sway the world's perception of the chinese communist party. >> a confucius institute is a campus center on a college campus funded and largely staffed by the chinese government. the chinese government is sending over money for college and sending over teachers it has screened and selected and is paying and is sending over textbooks that are printed and chosen by the chinese government , conveniently edited according to the chinese government preferences. >> a professor of the university of manitoba expands on these criticisms and with a multitude of concerns including suppression of information, espionage, and it spying on students. he argues that through confucius institutes, the chinese comet's -- communist party is trying to sway students who will eventually become highly influential. >> i think the chinese

government is very clever in deciding that they wanted to look at their chinese institutes in universities to get closer and more direct access to students going someplace in society so if you can get a hold of those people at a time when they are open to new ideas, chances are in the future those people would be more friendly to the chinese government. >> these concerns are more than just theoretical. rachel peterson of the national association of scholars catalogs a plethora of incidents in which confucius institutes either violated the privacy of students, censured information or like what happened at british columbia university or what happened at tel aviv university where a student art display was shut down for practicing fallon

gong. confucius institute policy prevents other events that reflect negatively on china. such as the starvation of millions during the cultural revolution, the massacre of protesters at tiananmen square in the current internment of the uighur muslim population. despite these concerns, proponents argue there are a lot of benefits to confucius institutes and they do a lot of good in their communities. they argue that not all confucius institutes are the same. >> every ci runs differently. our ci has always taken control of our curriculum. we have spent enormous amount to make sure all the schools have a set of text books they can use. i think it's important for any organization to have strict controls and transparency over their curriculum. >> even though confucius institutes may have some benefits, the chinese government is a threat.

therefore, the president and congress should examine the way the ccp is infiltrating the united states, including through confucius institutes. the president and new congress needs to decide, are confucius institutes harmless centers of language and learning or something more nefarious? education or espionage? ♪ announcer: all winning entries are available online at studentcam.org. ♪ >> today, on the communicators, brendan carr. >> mobile wireless competing with cable for in-home high-speed. cable is now entering the mobile wireless games. have all of this convergence and you have entities that are competing but doing so with very

lopsided regulatory structure so that is the challenge of the sec. net neutrality is an example of that, which is how to take this internet infrastructure and regulate it under the 1930's copper line telephone structure. that is a bad fit and a mistake and part of the reason why congress should step up to the plate on that one. watch the communicate -- >> watch the communicators today on c-span. >> sunday on q&a, a conversation with the author of a book on the triumph of nancy reagan and the strength and tenacity of the former first lady lady who helped shape the reagan presidency. >> she had one goal, ronald reagan's well-being and success. she had better instincts about people than he did and sort of a better nose for trouble than he did.

so the people in the administration who understood all this, who recognized her power, people like secretary of state george schulz or white house chief of staff or treasury secretary james baker, really understood that she was a very important, crucial ally to have if you were trying to get ronald reagan on board. >> her biography sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. you can also listen as a podcast where you get your podcasts. journal" continues. host: we are back with jessica lautz, the vice president of behavioral insights for the national association of realtors. she is with us to discuss their 2021 home buyers and sellers generational trends report. good morning. guest: good morning. ks