What are China's Confucius Institutes and how did the regime expand them to more than 100 countries in the last decade?

The Pentagon has declared China's Confucius Institutes a national security threat for the United States, renewing controversy over the extensive network that the Chinese regime has expanded to more than 100 countries over the past decade.

While officially presented as cultural and language centers, critics and security officials characterize the Institutes as a strategic network of propaganda deployed globally by Beijing, drawing increasing international scrutiny regarding their operations and influence.