THE TRUTH OF THE
Confucius Institute (CI)
A Trojan Horse from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
100% controlled by the CCP regime Undermining democratic values Engaging in spy activities for CCP regime Promoting communist propaganda in textbooks and cultural events Discrimination in recruiting policies
Confucius Institutes
Confucius Classroom
Who is Confucius? The most famous and prominent Educator and Philosopher in Chinese history (551–479 BC)
Education is for all without discrimination.”
When the great way prevails, the world community is equally shared by all.” -Confucius
What are Confucius Institutes (CIs)? Confucius Institutes (CIs) are Chinese government funded programmes that claim to promote Chinese language education and culture in universities and schools across the world. However, they have long been accused of censorship and propaganda regarding topics such as Tibet, Taiwan and religious movements such as Falun Gong etc. There are also reports claiming CIs work as the Chinese Communist Party’s agencies in the host countries. 2 CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE - A CCP'S TROJAN HORSE
Front cover image by depositphotos.com
“Down with Confucius”
Chinese Communist Party Destroyed Confucian Values • During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) , the Chinese Communist Party’s mandate was to destroy all belief in traditional culture and to have society look to the communist party for their salvation. • Confucius was top on their list. Thousands of statues were destroyed, millions of Confucius books were burned and hundreds of thousands of believers were killed. • Chinese people were forced to part with the teaching of Confucius, and the values associated with it.
“Confucius is the No. 1 Bastard”
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WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images
CI Overseen by Top Leaders of Chinese regime Member of the Central Politburo of CCP (CI Headquarters Council Chair: Yandong Liu)
Vice Chairs + Standing Council members: Deputy Ministers/Department Head of the P.R.China/CCP + State media + General Director of Hanban
Confucius Institute Headquarters / Hanban
Chinese Partners (Chinese Universities)
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Foreign Host Institutions
Canadian Security Intelligence Services In a report, the Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS) listed the risks Confucius Institutes have posed to Canada. (See Chapter 18 http://tsas.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2013/09/CHINA_ENG.pdf)
Michel Juneau-Katsuya, Former Chief of Asia-Pacific of CSIS, provided evidence that China’s Intelligence Services are behind CIs.
“China has several spy organisations responsible to advance China’s policy and strategic positioning including: the United Front Work Department (UFWD) and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO). Their primary function is to identify and to establish a network of “agents” and “agent organisations” operating in foreign countries but under the control and influence of China.”
Hanban oversees all CIs. Hanban is directly linked to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the United Front Work Dept.
“The Chinese government does not plan in years, they plan in generations. Do not let yourself be fooled. Today, China is recognised by all counter-intelligence agencies as the greatest threat in the domain of espionage and Confucius Institutes have been at the forefront of that intelligence war.”
When challenged by some that they have not had any issues with their CIs Juneau-Katsuya stated:
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CI in Chinese Regime’s Own Words Confucius Institutes are an important part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up” — Li Changchun, former Head of Central Propaganda Department of CCP
“…we should also cultivate and prepare a group (or army) of people to make sure the CCP will be in power in the future in China, and make sure we will increase our CCP influence around the world… To that end, Confucius Institute is our focus. Establishing and spreading the various Chinese language institutes such as Confucius Institutes around the world is to increase our Party (the CCP) influence worldwide. We will discover and cultivate people from all races who sympathise and support the CCP. These people are very useful for us to keep in power… This is our army for future cadets and it is our most important soft power..” — Hu Jintao, former president of China, 2010
Confucius Institutes… are an important part of (China’s) soft power, because we want to expand our influences..” — Xu Lin, Director-General of Hanban and Chief Executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters, 2010
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Millions have been spent by China funding Confucius Institutes on Western campuses. Why? Confucius Institutes are a concealed way for the CCP to influence host nations from within. CIs are used as a front to hide the true nature of a CCP government branch aiming to influence a democratic state. They have been part of the CCP’s ambitious plan of exerting “soft power” on the West, helping to create a beautiful image of the CCP’s rule and have the world believe it.
Threats posed by the CI
(The Economist describes the Hanban’s spending on CIs as “considerable, and growing rapidly”. In 2013 it was $278m. —Criticism of Confucius Institutes/wikipedia)
Violation of human rights • All volunteer teachers need to sign a hiring contract which requires “no record of participation in Falun Gong”. • CI/CC instructors must be assessed by their “political thoughts”, meaning those who have different political views won’t be hired.
Academic freedom and integrity are at stake • Censorship and self-censorship on “sensitive topics”, such as Tibet, Taiwan, Tiananmen Square Massacre, Falun Gong, Uyghur, etc. • Hanban has the final say on CI operations.
Chinese Communist Party propaganda • CCP ideology sneaks into CI textbooks and activities. • Chinese instructors are trained to tout the CCP party lines.
National security infringements • Some CI Chinese instructors are CCP informants/spies. • CIs/CCs help the CCP cultivate useful foreigners. CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE - A CCP'S TROJAN HORSE
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Supporting Evidence Internal Memo In an internal memo to the Department of Education in all provinces, Hanban instructed: All CI teachers abroad are under the direct control of local Chinese embassies or consulates.
A Discussion on the China Military Forum about the Confucius Institute being a propaganda weapon in the West.
Title: Confucius Institute, A spark can start a prairie fire!!!!!! Content: “You may wonder why our country is setting up CI around the world. This is like how our Communist Party left some people behind in different regions in China to work on propaganda when they were on the Long March*! By the time you understand, “the spark will have started a prairie fire already”. You will understand the importance of Confucius Institutes!! “Long March” was an important part of communist history where Mao rallied every troop to unite together to finally bring down the Kuomintang. The saying by Mao Zedong “A spark can start a prairie fire” is well known in China. It means that communism started with devoted members here and there across the country like sparks spreading Mao’s propaganda, which then caught on like prairie fire leading to the defeat of the Kuomintang.
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Differences between Confucius Institute and Goethe-Institut, Alliance Francaise The CI looks like Goethe Institut, Alliance francaise and British Council, but they are fundamentally different. The other organisations are independent from their own governments, but the CI is 100% funded and controlled by the Chinese Communist regime. • Martin Davidson, chief executive of the British Council, criticised comparisons between his institution and CIs. “We are a stand-alone organisation operating out of our own premises. They are being embedded in university campuses. The real question has to be one of independence.” Davidson said while the Chinese are very clear about wanting to combat negative propaganda with positive propaganda, “The danger is more of self-censorship — which is a very subtle thing.” • Author and social scientist, Steven Mosher notes: “Unlike Alliance Francaise, the Confucius Institutes are not independent from their government; unlike the Goethe-Institut establishments, they do not occupy their own premises. Instead, participating universities agree to provide office space in exchange for funding, and to cede academic control to the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party.” • Jocelyn Chey, a former diplomat and expert in Australia-China relations, stated the Confucius Institutes are more closely managed by its government compared with its French counterpart. She states CI is “a propaganda vehicle for the Chinese Communist Party, and not a counterpart to the Goethe-Institute or Alliance Française”, and speculates the close links between the institutes and the Chinese Communist Party “could lead at best to a ‘dumbing down’ of research and at worst could produce propaganda.” On the other hand, The Sydney Morning Herald cites a Queensland University of Technology student that “It would be best to understand [Confucius Institutes] not as ‘propaganda tools’ but as ‘one instrument of China’s cultural diplomacy to wield and bolster Chinese soft power globally’”.
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Introducing Communist Values in Chinese Language Learning “Chinese” is a children’s textbook recommended by Hanban as part of its special textbook project, according to the book’s publisher, China’s Jinan University. The lyrics of a song in the book titled “I love Beijing Tiananmen” read: “I love Beijing Tiananmen, Tiananmen is where the sun rises, Our mighty leader Chairman Mao, Leads all of us to march forward.”
Mao Zedong, the founding chair of the PRC and the first General Secretary of the CCP, was responsible for unnatural deaths of about 80 million Chinese people.
“Learn Chinese with Me” is listed as the “outstanding international Chinese language teaching materials” by the 5th Confucius Institute Conference. The lyrics of a song in the book titled “Waves in Honghu Lake” read: “People all say heaven is beautiful, But how can it compare to Honghu*, my hometown?” *Honghu is known as the CCP’s military base in its early days. The lyrics continue:
“My debt of gratitude to the Chinese Communist Party is deeper than the East Sea.”
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Preaching Undemocratic Values The Communist Party uses “patriotic enthusiasm” to justify suppression of minority groups. It is shown in the below passage extracted from the textbook used by Confucius Institutes.
Feeding Communist Values at Every Opportunity In its textbook A Key to Chinese Speech and Writing, Communist Party propaganda is also found in the section of “Sentence Drills”. We have extracted some sentences below.
“Against Revolution is counter-revolutionary.” * “Confucianism used to be the rightful Chinese thinking.” * A politically charged sentence in Chinese society. Scholars, teachers, intellectuals and religious leaders were once called counter-revolutionary, with millions of them killed. CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE - A CCP'S TROJAN HORSE 11
Students Singing to Spread Communist Values A student is seen in the pictures (right) singing “There raises the sun that never sets on the prairie” at a concert held at the Confucius Institute at the University of Michigan on 16 March 2013. This song is written in Mongolian music style, praising Mao who was actually responsible for the suppression of the Mongolians. Lyrics state: They sing about their new life. They sing about the great Communist Party. Oh, Chairman Mao! Oh, the Party! You nurture the people on this land.
CI students in Canada unknowingly sing a “communist song” at a Chinese New Year celebration in 2008. The song was written for a movie which tells a story of a young boy who joined the Red Army of the CCP. It incites hatred toward land owners and instils violence in young children. In the movie the boy killed a landlord, the action of which was portrayed as righteous and courageous. Lyrics state: With the red stars illuminating above, I fight! With the Party’s teaching imprinted in my mind (repeat 3 times), We follow the Party, one after another. Smash the evil old world (repeat twice). 12 CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE - A CCP'S TROJAN HORSE
Students Giving Propaganda Performance CI students at the University of Minnesota seen (right) performing a Chinese ballet“The Red Detachment of Women” that was created by Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, It was one of the Eight Model Operas created during the “Cultural Revolution”. This was to brainwash the nation to swear allegiance to communism and destroy all previous traditional Chinese culture, including Confucianism. One of the main features of the Chinese communist red operas is the incitement to hatred for all class enemies, whoever Mao felt like targeting in society, and to foster love for the Communist Party. The opera portrayed peasants who rose up and killed their landlords as heroes. The poster of the opera in the 1970s with Mao’s image. A Canadian tenor introduced as a Confucius Institute student sang the song “Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy” at China Central TV’s Spring Festival gala held in Beijing in 2013. The song, which was written in Peking Opera style, is also one of the “Eight Model Operas” of the “Cultural Revolution”.
Lyrics state: The Party gives me wisdom, gives me courage… Raid the bandits’ lair, absolutely turn it upside down! Wish the red flags all over the world!
The tenor was later interviewed by an American media and told the reporter that he had no idea that the song was praising the CCP.
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Sonia Zhao, a Chinese teacher who practised Falun Gong, a Buddha-school spiritual movement, was employed by Hanban and sent to the Confucius Institute at McMaster University in Canada. Prior to going to Canada, she was given a three-month training course in Beijing. “We were told to tell the students that there is only one China, Taiwan is part of China, … Tibet is part of China … We were told not to talk about issues like Taiwan and
Tibet,” she says. “We also had to sign a contract. In the contract it says that ‘we can’t be Falun Gong practitioners’ … This contract takes effect in all Confucius Institutes in all countries. This contract shows discrimination against teachers’ personal beliefs and this is how they violated freedom of belief worldwide.”
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University Closes Confucius Institute due to Discrimination In February 2013, during a Human Rights Tribunal case, McMaster University in Canada shut down its CI due to the Confucius Institute’s discriminatory hiring policy that still exists today. McMaster Statement: The decision to close the Institute was made after concerns were raised with the University regarding the screening process used in China for the selection of teaching assistants. The process excluded certain classes of applicants, which is not consistent with the University’s values of equality and inclusivity, nor with McMaster’s Anti-Discrimination policy. In particular, concerns were raised regarding the exclusion of practitioners of Falun Gong from the hiring process. Sonia Zhao, a former teaching assistant at McMaster’s Confucius Institute, brought a complaint against the University to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Her complaint, which alleged discrimination on the grounds of creed, proceeded to mediation and was resolved after discussions between Ms Zhao and the University. http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/worth-mentioning/update-confucius-institute/#sthash.1fKcr6rb.dpuf
A Discriminatory Recruiting Policy CI teachers are chosen from selected universities in China. Below is a recruitment notice posted on the Hunan City University website for teaching positions in Confucius Institutes in Canada. Current employers must provide references on the fitness of the candidate’s political ideology. CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE - A CCP'S TROJAN HORSE 15
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Opponents of the Confucius Institutes rally in front of the Toronto District School Board on Oct 1, 2014. (Zhou Xing/Epoch Times)
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Confucius Institutes rejected around the world As of 2020, there have been at least 50 universities, 2 governments and 1 school board around the world that have cut ties with CIs/CCs or have decided to do so. Country
Institution
Canada McMaster University Université de Sherbrooke Toronto District School Board New Brunswick provincial government Brock University America University of Chicago Pennsylvania State University Pfeiffer University Tulane University University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign University of West Florida Texas A&M University System Prairie View A&M University University of Iowa University of North Florida North Carolina State University University of Michigan University of Rhode Island University of South Florida University of Massachusetts Boston University of Minnesota Indiana University Western Kentucky University University of Oregon San Francisco State University University of Montana University of Hawaii at Mānoa
Year of cutting ties
Country
2013 2013 2014 2019 2020 2014 2014 2016 2017 2017 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018
Australia
2019
Germany
2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019
France
Sweden
Denmark Netherlands Belgium
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Institution San Diego State University Arizona State University Miami Dade College University of Delaware University of Kansas University of Maryland University of Missouri University of Arizona University of California, Davis (UC Davis) University of Oklahoma NSW government (Confucius Classroom) University of Lumière Lyon 2 University of Jean Moulin Lyon 3 Toulouse 1 University Capitole West Paris Nanterre La Defense University Stockholm University Karlstad University Blekinge Institute of Technology Luleå University of Technology Stuttgart Media University University of Hohenheim University of Dusseldorf University of Hamburg Copenhagen Business School Leiden University Free University of Brussels-VUB University of Hawaii at Mānoa
Year of cutting ties 2019 2019 2019 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2019 2013 2013 2017 2018 2014 2015 2015 2020 2015 2015 2020 2020 2017 2019 2019 2019
Other Criticisms of Confucius Institutes Designation of the Confucius Institute U.S. Center as a Foreign Mission of the PRC (Press Statement, Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State) China’s Confucius Institutes: An Inquiry by the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission (By UK Conservative Party Human Rights Commission) Confucius Institute: The hard side of China’s soft power (By BBC) US professors urge Western universities to end ties to China’s Confucius Institutes (By The Telegraph) The Price of Confucius Institutes (By Washington Post) China Says No Talking Tibet as Confucius Funds U.S. Universities (By Bloomberg) Follow The (Chinese) Money: The Tiananmen Anniversary and A Scandalous Silence on U.S. Campuses (By Forbes) Trojan Horses with Chinese Characteristics: Testimony Presented to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations House Committee on Foreign Affairs (By PRI） Beijing Renames Confucius Institutes Amid Global Closures (By Epoch Times) CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE - A CCP'S TROJAN HORSE 19
HOW CAN YOU HELP? Share what you’ve learnt about the CI with others – your family and friends, other parents, your Members of Parliament, university and school representatives. Share the e-version of this booklet：
https://issuu.com/closeci/docs/cis
Sign & share the following petitions：
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/467164 Close the Confucius Institutes in the UK to stop the CCP’s propaganda：
https://www.change.org/closeukcis
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