By cancelling their Confucius Institute programs, the University of Chicago and Penn State have signaled resistance to the People’s Republic of China’s attempt to promote the image of a culturally benign China.
The Chinese communist government established the Confucius Institutes to educate foreign nations about China’s language and culture. The Confucius Institutes operate within foreign educational systems, such as universities, officially to promote Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture. From China’s perspective, Americans who are exposed to Chinese culture are less likely to perceive China as a threat. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech stated this goal:
China should be portrayed as a civilized country featuring a rich history, ethnic unity and cultural diversity, and as an oriental power with good government, developed economy, cultural prosperity, national unity and beautiful mountains and rivers.
However, in addition to promoting Chinese culture, China has also used the Confucius Institutes to promote Chinese authoritarian political values in U.S. colleges. University of Chicago faculty started a petition to remove the Confucius Institute because faculty members felt the Hanban system gave the Chinese government too much control over hiring practices, research, and school materials. University of Chicago Professor Bruce Lincoln stated that “teachers are trained to stop any conversations about Tibet or the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square if students raise the topics in class.”
The Confucius Institutes’ connection to the Chinese authoritarian government also likely played a role in their removal from Penn State, in which faculty commented that the institute did not match the university’s academic goals and were concerned about academic freedom.
The Confucius Institutes’ attempts to censor academic freedom extend beyond the University of Chicago and Penn State. Helle Dale, The Heritage Foundation’s Senior Fellow in Public Diplomacy, said this:
Wherever the People’s Republic of China establishes a presence, academic freedom is soon compromised. Concerns have been raised from the United States, to Britain, Sweden and Vietnam that inviting in Confucius Institutes also means inviting in Chinese soft power pressure.
For example, the conference co-organizer and the director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Minho removed program abstracts, including one referencing Taiwan’s independence, from the European Association for Chinese Studies Conference because the content was sensitive to the Chinese government.
Americans should absolutely understand China better. However, higher educational institutions, such as University of Chicago and Penn State, must also be completely free of coercion and able to pursue truth wherever it leads. That includes using their understanding of China to examine and criticize its current regime. If Confucius Institutes inhibit an open academic environment, their hosts should find other ways to encourage understanding of China.
William Snyder is currently a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please click here.
