BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon's latest move to label Confucius Institutes at U.S. universities as national security threats is an absurd overreach, exposing some U.S. politicians' warped threat perceptions and their dangerous political calculus of stoking anti-China sentiment ahead of the midterm elections.

By treating cultural and educational institutions as security risks, the Pentagon is stretching the concept of national security to the point of ridicule. In Washington's increasingly distorted security calculus, even teaching a language, introducing a civilization and promoting cultural exchange can be cast as threats.

More troubling still, this move appears to replace evidence-based assessments with political suspicion. Rather than demonstrating specific security risks posed by these institutes, Washington has once again resorted to insinuation and guilt by association.

The logic is both sweeping and dangerous: anything connected with China is treated as suspect, and even the peaceful sharing of language and culture must be viewed through the lens of geopolitical confrontation. This is not a serious approach to national security. It is an exercise in conjuring up threats.

The irony is hard to miss. During his visit to China in May, U.S. President Donald Trump praised the sculpture of Confucius on the facade of the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet institutions that introduce Chinese language and culture to American students are now portrayed as security threats.

Confucius may be welcome as a sculpture on an American landmark, but the living exchange of ideas rooted in his civilization is treated as a cause for alarm. This contradiction exposes the double standards shaping some U.S. politicians' approach to China.

In fact, the United States operates initiatives such as "American Spaces Programs" overseas to promote American culture. Hollywood blockbusters and brands like Coca-Cola have also carried American culture to the world for decades. By the Pentagon's logic, are all these also threats that should be banned?

Washington would also do well to reflect on its own record. For decades, the United States has waged wars abroad, carried out covert operations and intervened in other countries' domestic affairs, often with devastating consequences for peace and stability. Yet some American politicians seem more alarmed by cultural institutions than by the fallout from their own country's actions overseas.

National security should be based on credible evidence, not political prejudice. A country confident in its own institutions and values should have little to fear from people learning about another civilization. Turning cultural exchange into a security scare will not make the United States safer. It will only deepen mistrust, undermine mutual understanding and reinforce the divisions that threaten international peace.