Doubts Raised About Partnerships With Chinese | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Harry Painter, who is a reporter for the John W. Pope Center and contributor to the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Governnment-funded Confucius Institute may stifle academic inquiry

    RALEIGH     What are the limits of the partnerships that a public institution of higher education may form? A growing number of critics, including university officials and faculty, argue that accepting funding and academic influence from the communist Chinese government crosses a line.

    At the core of this controversy is a project begun in 2004 by the Chinese government to fund on-campus centers promoting Chinese language and culture, and "deepening friendly relationships" with other countries. The centers, called Confucius Institutes, partner with existing departments, rather than functioning as separate academic departments.

    There are more than 400 Confucius Institutes in 120 countries, and 97 in the United States alone. There are also around 700 mini-Confucius Institutes known as Confucius Classrooms worldwide. The "classrooms" have the same mission as the institutes but rely on nearby institutes for funding and management.

    N.C. State University has hosted a Confucius Institute since 2007, and the institute operates Confucius Classrooms at Central Carolina Community College, Saint Augustine's University, Enloe High School, and, since October, Wake Technical Community College.

    While there's little controversy over colleges that offer programs studying Chinese language and culture, there are mounting objections to the Confucius Institutes' efforts to filter the flow of information. Penn State University and the University of Chicago recently abandoned their agreements to host Confucius Institutes.

    Critics accuse the Confucius Institute of being a propaganda arm of the Chinese government. In addition to fostering a better image of China, Confucius Institutes have pressured universities into keeping mum about Tibetan and Taiwanese freedom, as well as human rights abuses like Tiananmen Square, according to reports from numerous mainstream news outlets.

    Despite this concern, the hubs continue to expand.

    UNC's Center for International Understanding, which promotes international relations for all the UNC campuses, thinks the partnership helps students "hold a competitive advantage in an increasingly global world." It notes that one-third of the world now speaks Chinese and that China is an important trading partner with North Carolina. The UNC center runs 43 Confucius Classrooms at North Carolina elementary, middle, and high schools.

    N.C. State's experience illustrates the danger Confucius Institutes pose to academic freedom. In 2009, the university had invited the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, to speak on campus. N.C. State's Confucius Institute director Bailian Li reportedly interfered. According to a 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek article, Li warned Provost Warwick Arden that the speech would dampen "some of the strong relationships we were developing with China." The speech was canceled.

    Jeffery Braden, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at N.C. State, said in an interview with the Pope Center that he has not heard any direct complaints about the Confucius Institutes, although some professors have voiced concerns. The college has an informal working relationship with the campus Confucius Institute.

    Braden said that faculty concerns about the institute are similar to concerns about private companies and nonprofits that work with N.C. State, though he conceded that, unlike private donors that tend to be open about their goals and respectful of academic freedom, the Chinese government has shown open disdain for academic freedom and engaged in well-documented human rights abuses.

    He argued that the way to deal with the moral dilemma posed by associating with China's ruling party was not to shun it.

    "Do we deal with governments that don't share our values? There are two strategies — you can isolate or you can engage," Braden said. "Our country has benefited tremendously from informal engagement," he added.

    Currently, the UNC Board of Governors is reviewing 11 percent of state-funded centers and institutes for potential cuts, primarily for efficiency but also to stop excessive advocacy and politicization. The Chinese government-funded Confucius Institute is not under review, nor is UNC's Center for International Understanding.