Colleges and universities all over the United States of America have been closing the doors of their Confucius Institutes over the past few years amid growing criticism of the centres’ funding links to the Chinese Communist government, but at the same time as these closures are happening, new institutes are also opening, just under a different name – which are also being funded by the Chinese Communist Party. We have a Confucius Institute in Slovenia as well, and it is part of the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana, whose dean is a supporter of the Social Democrats party (SD). Coincidence?
The Chinese Communist Party’s mindset is returning to the university campuses in America – the Communist-backed Confucius Institutes are renewing the efforts to mould American minds, report Fox. But not just American minds. In fact, we also have one of these institutes in Ljubljana – it operates within the Faculty of Economics. And given that the dean of the said faculty, Metka Tekavčič, is also a former chair of the Ljubljana Committee of the Social Democrats party, it is not surprising that the efforts to shape young minds have also reached the Ljubljana students.
The Confucius Institutes in the USA are usually located on university campuses, with a few exceptions that operate within school districts. Their aim, according to their website, is to promote the Chinese language and culture among students, as tensions between the Chinese government and the United States have been reaching uncomfortable levels, while the US intelligence warns that teaching students about the Chinese language and culture is just a cover that the Communist Party is trying to promote inside American classrooms. According to a published intelligence report, a university which is sponsored by the Chinese government is obliged to provide a specific curriculum and choice of textbooks. It is also supposed to be responsible for the supervision and coordination of all teachers and staff.
Confucius Institutes spread the propaganda of the Chinese government
Concerns about these institutes were already expressed by the Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, in 2019, who considered them to be only part of China’s “soft power strategy.” The institutes are allegedly used to spread propaganda by the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party to promote censorship to restrict academic freedom. As a result of the criticism, several US universities decided to close their doors to the Confucius Institutes, reducing the number of said institutes from 118 to just 18. However, since at least 100 colleges and universities have closed their Confucius Institutes, thus effectively breaking their agreements with the Chinese Communist Party entities, many educational institutions have since entered into new agreements with the Chinese government, Fox reports, and have since reopened the institutes under a different name, but once again, they are being funded by China.
We also have one in Ljubljana
The Confucius Institute also operates in Ljubljana and describes itself on its website as a “non-profit organisation established for the purpose of promoting and teaching Chinese language and culture. It operates under the supervision of Chinese International Education Fundation, based in Beijing.” It operates within the Faculty of Economics, which is headed by the supporter of the Social Democrats party, Metka Tekavčič, who is also on the board of the said institute.
According to the organisation, more than 400 Confucius Institutes and 1000 Confucius classrooms have been set up in 154 countries so far, “the main purpose of which is to promote Chinese language and culture around the world and connect world cultures with China. To achieve their purpose, they also organise Chinese language and culture courses, business seminars and workshops on doing business with China, and cultural events to celebrate traditional Chinese festivals.” They also offer special programmes for children and young people.
It is a fact that China has a very clear communist mentality, but at the same time, it is very technologically capable. The US is trying hard to break the bonds of dependence on Chinese technology. Members of Congress in the US are about to vote on one of the most important pieces of national security legislation in recent history: the “CHIPS” bill, aimed at increasing domestic semiconductor production in the US, because the country is currently heavily dependent on China, which means that US workers and soldiers have to rely on Chinese technology for their protection. But despite all of the avoidance of Chinese technology, it has found a way to get at the data and young minds. Both through the Confucius Institutes and through mobile applications used by young people.
Tanja Brkić
