Thank you for the question.
I think the Confucius Institute is funded by the Chinese government to promote Chinese languages and Chinese culture overseas. Its actual operation and its consequences on host countries vary from one locality to another.
Sometimes with Confucius Institutes within a certain university or education institution, people in charge may self-censor. They may not invite people to speak about Uighur issues, Taiwan issues, for the fear of offending people, people who actually fund them. I'm also aware of circumstances of Confucius Institutes actually teaching Chinese languages and cultures. Their operations differ a great deal.
When I said that the Chinese government hasn't been that successful in projecting soft power, it's because there has been so much push-back against it. We don't hear of successful cases of them educating people about Chinese language; we hear the push-back from the United States, Australia, the U.K., Africa. I think that in that sense, the negative news overwhelms the positive news.