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China says its Confucius Institutes around the world are
established by universities voluntarily, and that such centers
promote Chinese-language learning and academic and cultural
exchange.
But the institutes have raised concerns that they threaten
academic freedom, conduct surveillance of Chinese students
abroad and promote the political aims of China's ruling
Communist Party.
On Thursday, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a
hearing on whether academic freedom is threatened by China's
influence on U.S. universities, with the Confucius Institute
receiving particular attention.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that all
Confucius Institutes in the United States had been voluntarily
applied for by U.S. universities.
"All class and cultural activities are open and transparent. The
Chinese side has provided teachers and teaching materials
assistance according to requests of the U.S. side. It has never
interfered with academic freedom," she told a daily news
briefing.
"We hope everybody can make joint efforts to reject prejudice
and work together to better build these bridges of friendship
and make them stronger."
At the Washington hearing, Congressman Chris Smith said he would
ask the Government Accountability Office to review agreements of
both satellite campuses for U.S. universities in China and of
Confucius Institutes in the United States.
"I would like to know if those agreements are public, whether
they compromise academic or other freedoms of faculty, students,
and workers and whether Chinese teachers are allowed the freedom
to worship as they please and teach about Tiananmen, Tibet, and
Taiwan," Smith said.
In September, the University of Chicago said it would suspend
negotiations to renew the Confucius Institute on the school's
campus, citing comments in the media that were "incompatible
with a continued equal partnership".
Despite tight government control over curriculum, many foreign
universities have rushed to establish partnerships with China in
an effort to improve access to the country's huge educational
market. That has created unease about whether schools would be
forced to sacrifice academic freedoms.
Xia Yeliang, a prominent Chinese professor and dissident who was
fired from the elite Beijing University last year, has warned
that academic exchanges with China carry hidden risks, such as
visiting scholars who may be sent as spies.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina; Editing by Nick
Macfie)
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