A Congressional hearing has scrutinized the relationship between the Chinese government and U.S. universities to investigate whether the union is a threat to academic freedom.

In particular, the panel was looking into the influence of so-called "Confucius institutes" at 97 colleges and universities. Confucius institutes are non-profit public institutions affiliated with China's Ministry of Education.

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The institutes, which were launched in 2004, are similar to language and culture promotion organizations such as Britain's British Council, France's Alliance Française and Germany's Goethe-Institut.

However, the main difference between these organizations and Confucius institutes is that the Chinese version operates within universities, colleges, and secondary schools and proves them with funding. The funding provided by the Chinese government has raised concerns over the influence it could have on course curriculum.

New York's Binghamton University has received nearly $600,000 from the Chinese government since 2009, including more than $110,353 this year alone,  for its Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) chairs the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, which held hearings on the controversial relationship on Thursday.

Smith said before the panel that he will ask the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) to launch a study of agreements between U.S. universities and China that allow China to promote its culture and language through education programs it supervises and finances.

Smith said Congress could decide to withhold money for the Education Department or for State Department exchange programs if it finds that China's influence is hampering academic freedom in the U.S.

"I think we can all agree that U.S. colleges and universities should not be outsourcing academic control, faculty and student oversight or curriculum to a foreign government," said Smith..

There are more than 350 Confucius classrooms in secondary and elementary schools in the U.S., in addition to nearly 100 Confucius institutes at U.S. universities.

TagsCongress Probes Chinese Threat to U.S. Academic Freedom, Confucius institutes, House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, Rep. Chris Smith, education