Confucius Institute

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Basic logo of the Confucius Institutes

The Confucius Institute ( Chinese  孔子 学院 , Pinyin Kǒngzǐ Xuéyuàn , Jyutping Hung 2 zi 2 Hok 6 jyun 2 ) is a state-owned Chinese educational organization affiliated with the Ministry of Education . Its official aim is to promote the Chinese language and culture, to support local Chinese teaching internationally and to facilitate cultural exchange .

The Confucius Institute's program began in 2004 and is directed by Hanban (the People's Republic of China's Foreign Cultural Cultural Organization ). The institutes work with local partner colleges and universities around the world. The financing is split between Hanban and the host institutes. The associated Confucius classroom program works with local secondary schools or school districts to provide teachers and classroom materials.

The Confucius Institute has been criticized for being a propaganda instrument of the Chinese Communist Party and for endangering academic freedom through political influence . It is also suspected of being involved in state espionage .

Confucius Institute in Rennes in Brittany , France
A Confucius Institute in Canada

The institutes

history

The first Confucius Institute opened on November 21, 2004 in Seoul , South Korea , after a pilot institute was established in Tashkent , Uzbekistan in June 2004 . Hundreds more have since opened in several countries around the world, with the highest concentration of institutes in the United States , Japan and South Korea. In April 2007, the first research-based Confucius Institute opened at Waseda University in Japan. In partnership with Beijing University , the program promotes research activities by doctoral students studying Chinese. By 2014 there were over 480 Confucius Institutes in dozen countries on six continents. The Ministry of Education estimated that 100 million people could learn Chinese overseas by 2010, and the program expanded rapidly to keep up. Hanban plans to set up 1,000 Confucius Institutes by 2020.

Surname

The Confucius Institute is named after the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC). Throughout the 20th century, the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) criticized and condemned Confucius as the personification of the "feudal" traditions of China, with anti-Confucianism ranging from the New Cultural Movement in 1912 to the Campaign Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius in 1973, during the Cultural Revolution . In recent decades, however, interest in premodern Chinese culture has grown in the country, and Confucius in particular has become more popular again. Outside of China, Confucius is a universally recognizable symbol of Chinese culture , far removed from the negative associations of other prominent Chinese figures like Mao Zedong .

“Confucius Institute” is a trademark . According to a spokesman for the organization, "those who enjoy more brand names will enjoy more popularity , popularity , reputation , and greater social influence , and thus gain more support from local communities." A crackdown in 2011 protected the Confucius Institute facing a pre-registration violation in Costa Rica .

An article in The China Post newspaper reported in 2014 that “China would certainly have made little progress if it had named these Mao Institutes or even Deng Xiaoping Institutes. But by referring to the name Confucius, a brand was created that was immediately recognized as a symbol of Chinese culture and differed considerably from the image of the Communist Party. "

Kerry Brown , professor of Chinese politics at Sydney University , noted the irony that the Chinese Communist Party, now idolized by Confucius, had disparaged him just four decades earlier for his association with patriarchal, hierarchical, and conservative values.

organization

Hanban is a non-profit government organization, although it is affiliated with the Ministry of Education and has close ties to a number of senior Communist Party officials. The headquarters of the Confucius Institute in Beijing sets the guidelines that the individual Confucius Institutes worldwide follow. Headquarters is directed by a council of fifteen members, ten of whom are directors of foreign institutes. The institutes themselves are managed individually under the direction of their own board of directors, which should also include members of the host institutions. The current chairman of the Confucius Institute Headquarters is Liu Yandong , a Chinese vice-premier and a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China , who formerly headed the United Labor Front Central Division of the Communist Party of China Central Committee . Other council leaders also come from the Communist Party and central government agencies, such as the Treasury Department , the Ministry of Education, and the Council of State Information Office (also known as the Overseas Propaganda Office). The Council sets the agenda for the Confucius Institutes and makes amendments to the Articles of Association, while other duties and the day-to-day management of the Confucius Institute's headquarters are carried out by the professional executive management under the direction of the Director General.

The Chinese government shares the burden of funding the Confucius Institutes with the host universities and is deliberate in managing the institutions. The institutes operate independently within the guidelines set by Hanban and the headquarters of the Confucius Institute. Each institute is responsible for drawing up and managing its own budget, which must be approved by headquarters. The headquarters of the Confucius Institute imposes various restrictions on the use of its funds, including the intended purpose. Institutes in the United States are typically supplied with $ 100,000 annually from Hanban, with the local university having to adjust funding.

In addition to the local partner university, the Confucius Institutes work in cooperation with a Chinese partner university. Many institutes are run by a board of directors made up of several members from the Chinese partner school and the other members of the local partner university. At most institutes, the director is appointed by the local partner university.

Curriculum and assignment

The curriculum of the Confucius Institutes revolves around the Institute's role as a language center . Confucius Institutes teach Chinese simplified abbreviations used in mainland China are common, and not the traditional Chinese characters used in Taiwan and Hong Kong are used. The institute organizes language courses for beginners, advanced learners, children and seniors. There are also seminars , lectures and workshops on Chinese culture, literature , philosophy , calligraphy , medicine and Chinese cuisine .

Confucius Institutes promote and teach Chinese culture and language around the world. They develop Chinese language courses, train teachers, hold the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi exam (Chinese proficiency test) and provide information about China today. The program's director, Xu Lin , stated that Confucius Institutes were started to accommodate the sudden surge in interest in the Chinese language around the world. They also provide Chinese language teachers from mainland China. As of 2011, there were 200 such teachers working in the United States.

Hiring Policy

The Hanban website states that Chinese language teachers “should be between 22 and 60 years old and physically and mentally healthy; should not have records of participation in Falun Gong and other illegal organizations and should not have a criminal record . ”In many universities, the actual employer is the Chinese government, not the university itself.

Human rights lawyer Clive Ansley argued that the part of the hiring policy that discriminates against Falun Gong believers violates anti-discrimination laws and human rights codes. Bryan Edelman, a study advisor and analyst on China's treatment of Falun Gong commented, "I'm not sure how the US courts would have jurisdiction over the hiring practices of a Chinese institution on Chinese soil that does not hire US citizens." Marci Hamilton However, Paul R. Verkuil, Chair of Public Law at Yeshiva University , called these policies "unethical and illegal in the free world."

In 2013, McMaster University in Canada closed its Confucius Institute due to recruitment problems related to Falun Gong.

financing

The institutes are financed half by the host country and half by China ; in the third world countries they are completely adopted by the People's Republic of China .

Institutes in German-speaking countries

Institutes in Germany

In Germany there are nineteen Confucius Institute. The first institutes were opened in Berlin and Nuremberg on the premises of the Free University of Berlin and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in April and May 2006, respectively. The Confucius Institute at Heinrich Heine University , Düsseldorf , started its work on December 6, 2006 and the contract with the university expired in April 2020. In April 2007 the Confucius Institute in Hanover was founded as a cooperation project between Tongji University in Shanghai and the Chinese Center, Hanover eV. So far, it remains the only institute in Germany that does not function on the basis of existing university cooperation and is therefore not limited to the university sector. In September 2007 the Confucius Institute Frankfurt started a diverse program. The Frankfurt Institute has geared its course program in particular to managers and business representatives. The institute at the University of Hamburg was opened on September 20, 2007 On November 5, 2007 the Confucius Class, the Chinese language and culture institute in Munich, opened its doors. There are also Confucius Institutes at the Chinese Center in Hanover (since April 24, 2007), at the University of Leipzig (since April 9, 2008) and the University of Trier (since October 29, 2008). On November 6, 2009, the Confucius Institute Metropole Ruhr was opened in Duisburg , which is located at the University of Duisburg-Essen . On April 20, the new Confucius Institute was opened at Heidelberg University , making it the tenth institute in Germany. The Confucius Institute at the University of Freiburg is a registered non-profit association that was founded in 2009 in cooperation with the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. On November 7, 2011, the Confucius Institute was opened at the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences, which at the time was the first institute to be founded in cooperation with a university of applied sciences. In July 2014 the University of Göttingen opened a Confucius Institute. Efforts to open a Confucius Institute in Stuttgart in spring 2015 failed. The Confucius Institute Paderborn was opened on June 16, 2015 . The Stralsund Confucius Institute was opened on August 30, 2016 . On April 27, 2017 Confucius Institute was as an affiliated institute of the University of Bonn opened. On May 23, 2017, the Audi Confucius Institute Ingolstadt (AKII) was opened at the Technical University of Ingolstadt (THI). In 2016, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf decided not to extend the five-year cooperation agreement that ran until April 2020 because of suspicion of propaganda. In July 2020, the University of Hamburg decided to discontinue its collaboration with the Confucius Institute with effect from December 31, 2020 due to the changed Chinese science policy.

Institutes in Switzerland

In Switzerland there is an institute in Geneva and one in Basel . In Zurich , the position of managing director was advertised in 2014, but the sponsoring association has been inactive since then, and plans were suspended in the face of a censorship incident in Portugal in August 2014. The federal intelligence service assessed the institutes with skepticism in its management report in May 2016.

Institutes in Austria

In Austria there is a Confucius Institute in Vienna and Graz (2010/2011). In 2006 a Confucius Institute was founded at the University of Vienna . During a visit in 2012 by the then head of state of the Communist Party of China, Hu Jintao , Rector Heinz W. Engl and the Chinese Ambassador Shi Mingde signed a contract extension for a further five years. Richard Trappl has headed the facility since it was founded. Vienna thus joined other European cities that took up a Confucius Institute at their university.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Graz was founded in 2010 and is a cross-faculty and independent institution. The director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Graz is Dr. Wan Jie Chen.

criticism

Critics caution that, unlike the language and culture promotion organizations of other governments , the Confizius Institutes operate directly in established universities, colleges and secondary schools around the world, providing funding, teachers and teaching materials. This has raised concerns about their impact on academic freedom, the possibility of industrial espionage, and fears that the institutes are taking a selective and politicized view of China as a means of promoting the country's soft power internationally.

Li Changchun , former Chinese minister of propaganda and fifth-highest-ranking member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Political Bureau , told The Economist that the Confucius Institutes are "an important part of China's overseas propaganda build-up". The statement was taken up by critics as evidence of a politicized mission. Many foreign scholars have characterized the program as a soft-power exercise aimed at reaching China's economic, cultural and diplomatic outreach by promoting the Chinese language and culture, while others suggest a possible role in intelligence gathering for espionage purposes . The soft-power goals also include allaying fears of a “threat to China” against the background of the country's ever-increasing economic and military power.

While the Chinese authorities have been careful not to allow the Confucius Institutes to act as direct promoters of the party's political positions, a few suggest that this is how the Confucius Institutes operate. Officials say an important goal of the institutes is to influence other countries' view of China. Peng Ming-min, a Taiwanese independence activist and politician , claims that colleges and universities that have established a Confucius Institute must sign a contract declaring their support for Beijing's one-China policy . This will both Taiwan and Tibet to taboos at the institutes. Michael Nylan, professor of Chinese history at the University of California, Berkeley, says, however, that the Confucius Institutes have now become somewhat “less ruthless” in their demands and have learned from “early mistakes”; such as insisting that universities have a policy that Taiwan is part of China . Nylan's survey of faculty and administrators at fifteen universities with Confucius institutes also revealed that the institutes had also exerted pressure to block guest speakers; the events went on anyway.

The Confucius Institutes' soft power goals are seen as an attempt by the People's Republic of China to break away from the Soviet-influenced propaganda of the Maoist era. Other initiatives include exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art , television programs, concerts by popular singers, translations of Chinese literature and the expansion of state news channels such as the Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television .

In 2017, the first documentary In the Name of Confucius was released. The film shows the growing global controversy surrounding the Chinese government's multi-billion dollar Confucius Institute. This film is about the risks that Confucius Institutes could pose to our society. For example, academic integrity could be lost and human rights norms violated. The film received several international awards, including the Outstanding Achievement of Humanitarian Award at the IndieFEST Film Awards. Until August 2018 this film was shown in 12 countries on 5 continents. Including in the parliaments of the United Kingdom and Australia .

In July 2020, the University of Hamburg decided to discontinue its collaboration with the Confucius Institute with effect from December 31, 2020 due to the changed Chinese science policy.

Comparable institutes

For comparable institutions in other countries, see the list of national cultural institutes .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Worldwide Confucius Institute ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Confucius Institute Online, accessed February 8, 2018  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chinesecio.com
  2. ^ A b c d e Marshall Sahlins, China U , The Nation, October 30, 2013, accessed February 8, 2018
  3. ↑ Brierley Penn, China Business: A broader education , The New Zealand Herald, April 16, 2014, accessed February 8, 2018
  4. ↑ Peter Mattis, Reexamining the Confucian Institutes The Diplomat, August 2, 2012, accessed on February 8, 2018
  5. ↑ Introduction to the Confucius Institutes , Chinese College, August 29, 2009, accessed February 8, 2018
  6. ↑ Jianguo Chen; Chuang Wang; Jinfa Cai, Teaching and learning Chinese: issues and perspectives , Information Age Publications, p. Xix, 2010, ISBN 978-1-61735-064-1 , accessed February 8, 2018
  7. ↑ https://www.br.de/nachrichten/deutschland-welt/chinas-konfuzius-institute-unter-propagandaverdacht,RnlcnVw
  8. ↑ Simon SC Tay, Asia Alone: ​​The Dangerous Post – Crisis Divide from America , John Wiley and Sons (Asia) Ltd, p. 42, 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-82582-2 , accessed February 8, 2018
  9. ↑ Signing of Waseda University Confucius Institute Agreement Established as the first Research Confucius Institute in collaboration with Peking University , Waseda University, April 12, 2017, accessed on February 8, 2018
  10. ^ Confucius Institutes Worldwide , UCLA Confucious Institute. accessed on February 8, 2018
  11. ↑ List of Institutes, Confucius Institutes around the Globe , University of Nebraska-Lincoln, accessed February 8, 2018
  12. ↑ China to host second Confucius Institute Conference , Xinhua, chinaview.cn, December 6, 2007, accessed February 8, 2018
  13. ↑ Confucius Institute: promoting language, culture and friendliness , Xinhua, October 2, 2006, accessed February 8, 2018
  14. ^ Don Starr, Chinese Language Education in Europe: the Confucius Institutes , John Wiley & Sons, Online Library, p. 68, February 6, 2009, accessed March 15, 2018
  15. ^ Sheila Melvin, Yu Dan and China's Return to Confucius , The New York Times, August 29, 2007, accessed March 15, 2018
  16. ↑ a b China’s Confucius Institutes Rectification of statues , The Economist, January 20, 2011, accessed March 15, 2018
  17. ^ A b Kerry Brown, The case for eliminating Confucius from China's Confucius Institutes , South China Morning Post, June 2, 2014, accessed March 15, 2018
  18. ^ A b Don Starr, Chinese Language Education in Europe: the Confucius Institute s, European Journal of Education, Vol. 44, No. 1, Part I, 2009, accessed March 15, 2018
  19. ↑ a b Zhou Wenting, Trademark infringement continues despite crackdown , China Daily, July 29, 2011, accessed March 15, 2018
  20. ^ Frank Ching, World should watch for Confucius , The China Post, October 1, 2014, accessed March 15, 2018
  21. ↑ Sun Shangwu; Zhao Huanxin; Tang Yue, Hanban offers a wider choice , China Daily, September 13, 2013, accessed March 15, 2018
  22. ↑ Steven Knapp Named to Council of the Confucius Institute Headquarters , GWToday, June 3, 2013, accessed March 15, 2018
  23. ↑ Constitution and By-Laws of the Confucius Institutes , Hanban, Confucius Institute, accessed March 15, 2018
  24. ↑ VP calls for development of Confucius Institute , Xinhua News Agency, China Daily, December 7, 2013, accessed March 15, 2018
  25. ↑ Bruce Acker, UBCI named Confucius Institute of the Year , University at Buffalo, December 22, 2016, accessed March 15, 2018
  26. ↑ COUNCIL MEMBERS OF THE CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE HEADQUARTERS IN 2011 , The 6th Confucius Institute Conference, Hanban, 12.-14. December 2011, accessed March 15, 2018
  27. ↑ About Us: Leadership , Hanban, Confucius Institute Headquarters, 2014, accessed March 15, 2018
  28. ↑ Confucius Institute Headquarters , Hanban, accessed March 15, 2018
  29. ↑ a b A message from Confucius: New ways of projecting soft power , The Economist, October 22, 2009, accessed March 15, 2018
  30. ^ Regulations for the Administration of Confucius Institute Headquarters Funds , Hanban-News, June 22, 2010, accessed March 15, 2018
  31. ↑ a b Peter Schmidt, At US Colleges, Chinese-Financed Centers Prompt Worries About Academic Freedom , The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 17, 2010, accessed March 15, 2018
  32. ^ Confucius Institute at Tallinn University , Tallinn University, accessed March 15, 2018
  33. ^ Board of Directors , University of Buffalo, College of Arts and Sciences, accessed March 15, 2018
  34. ↑ The 2016-2017 Advisory Boards , Confucius Institute, University of Minnesota, accessed March 15, 2018
  35. ↑ Our Board , Confucius Institute at the University of New South Whales, accessed March 15, 2018
  36. ↑ a b China’s Confucius Institutes: Rectification of statues , Asia Banyan, The Economist, January 20, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2018
  37. ↑ Konfuzius-Institut Nürnberg: Wir über uns online version, accessed on May 28, 2018
  38. ↑ About Us , Confucius Institute Online, 2009, accessed March 15, 2018
  39. ↑ Linda Tsung; Ken Cruickshank, Teaching and Learning Chinese in Global Contexts , Continuum International Publishing Group, p. 151, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4411-0039-9 , accessed March 15, 2018
  40. ↑ a b Hanban, Overseas Volunteer Chinese Teacher Program , accessed March 15, 2018
  41. ↑ Confucius Institutes break human rights rules, Profs working in Canada “must have no record of Falun Gong” , Maclean's, August 10, 2011, accessed March 15, 2018
  42. ^ A b Matthew Robertson, At US Universities, Confucius Institutes Import Discrimination , The Epoch Times, August 23, 2011, accessed March 15, 2018
  43. ↑ James Bradshaw, Colin Freeze, McMaster closing Confucius Institute over hiring issues , The Globe and Mail, February 7, 2013, accessed March 15, 2018
  44. ↑ a b Moritz Rosenkranz, Scientific Cooperation with China: Confucius Institute Comes to Bonn , General-Anzeiger, Bonn, April 23, 2017, accessed on June 1, 2018
  45. ↑ propaganda suspected: Discussion of Chinese education in NRW , ga.de , 15 January 2020
  46. ↑ Confucius Institute at the University of Hamburg eV , hamburg.de, accessed on June 1, 2018
  47. ↑ About us. Retrieved May 8, 2020 .
  48. ↑ Confucius Institute under suspicion , University of Göttingen, Frankfurter Allgemeine, July 3, 2014, accessed on June 1, 2018
  49. ↑ Miguel Krux, Chinese Language and Culture: A Confucius Institute for Stuttgart , Cooperation International, Federal Ministry of Education and Research, October 16, 2014, accessed on June 1, 2018
  50. ^ Inge Jacobs, Cancellation for the Chinese Cultural Institute , Stuttgarter Zeitung, June 3, 2015, accessed on June 1, 2018
  51. ↑ Konfuzius-Institut Paderborn, Wir über Uns ( Memento from November 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), June 2015, accessed on June 1, 2018
  52. ↑ Report in NDR , Nordmagazin, August 30, 2016, accessed on June 1, 2018
  53. ^ Augsburger Allgemeine: Audi Confucius Institute opened . In: Augsburger Allgemeine . ( augsburger-allgemeine.de [accessed on November 12, 2018]).
  54. ^ General-Anzeiger Bonn: Propaganda suspicion - Discussion about Chinese lessons in North Rhine-Westphalia . In: General-Anzeiger Bonn . ( general-anzeiger-bonn.de [accessed on February 29, 2020]).
  55. ↑ a b University of Hamburg withdraws from the Confucius Institute , forschung-und-lehre.de , July 25, 2020
  56. ^ Adam Minter, China's Soft-Power Fail , Bloomberg View, October 8, 2014, accessed March 15, 2018
  57. ↑ Claudia Wirz, Confucius in Sleeping Beauty , Neue Zürcher Zeitung, August 8, 2016, accessed on May 19, 2018
  58. ↑ Mag. Veronika Schallhart, Meeting of the European Confucius Institutes at the University of Vienna , University of Vienna, media portal, September 7, 2012, accessed on May 19, 2018
  59. ↑ a b Fabrice De Pierrebourg, Michel Juneau-Katsuya, Nest of Spies: The Startling Truth About Foreign Agents at Work Within Canada's Borders , HarperCollins Canada, 2009, pp. 160 - 162, ISBN 1-55468-449-8 , 9781554684496, accessed on March 15, 2018
  60. ^ A b Hagar Cohen, Australian universities the latest battleground in Chinese soft power offensive , ABC News Australia, October 14, 2016, accessed March 15, 2018
  61. ↑ Has BCIT sold out to Chinese propaganda? , The Vancouver Sun, April 2, 2008, accessed March 15, 2018
  62. ↑ China's Confucius Institutes: Rectification of Statues , The Economist, January 20, 2011, accessed March 15, 2018
  63. ↑ Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, House Proposal Targets Confucius Institutes as Foreign Agents , FP News, March 14, 2018, accessed June 1, 2018
  64. ^ A message from Confucius; New ways of projecting soft power , The Economist, October 22, 2009, accessed March 15, 2018
  65. ↑ Jae Park, Cultural artifact, ideology export or soft power? Confucius Institute in Peru , International Studies in Sociology of Education, 23 (1), pp. 1–16, March 2013, accessed on March 15, 2018
  66. ↑ Janet Steffenhagen, Has BCIT sold out to Chinese propaganda? , The Vancouver Sun, April 2, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2018
  67. ↑ Howard W. French, Another Chinese Export is All the Rage: China's Languag e, The New York Times, January 11, 2006, accessed March 15, 2018
  68. ↑ Xiaolin Guo, Repackaging Confucius, PRC Public Diplomacy and the Rise of Soft Power , Asia Paper Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm, Sweden, 2008, ISBN 978-91-85937-10-3 , accessed March 15, 2018
  69. ↑ Peng Ming-min, China picks pockets of academics worldwide , Taipei Times, May 31, 2011, p. 8, accessed on March 15, 2018
  70. ^ Daniel Golden, China Says No Talking Tibet as Confucious Funds US Universities , Bloomberg, November 2, 2011, accessed March 15, 2018
  71. ^ Anne-Marie Brady, China's Thought Management , London & New York: Routledge, p. 81, 2012, ISBN 978-0-415-61673-7 . accessed on March 15, 2018
  72. ↑ James F. Paradise, China and International Harmony: The Role of Confucius Institutes in Bolstering Beijing's Soft Power , Asian Survey, Vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 647-669, University of California Press, July-August 2009, accessed March 15, 2018
  73. ↑ In the Name of Confucius Official Trailer , 2019, accessed June 13, 2019