I was reminded of the same article. My first thought was that this is blown a bit out of proportion. While the Confucius Institutes are definitely working for a foreign intelligence service, my impression was that their main function was to eliminate free speech by Chinese students abroad. I believe they also apply pressure to suppress criticism of the regime's policies by Americans. I suspect industrial espionage is a distant third. Surely the Chinese government is pursuing industrial espionage means that are both more effective and less obvious? I'm much more troubled by the suppression of dissent.