Confucius Institutes weather US clampdown

(Ecns.cn)--Disputes over visas and accreditation for Confucius Institutes have been resolved following a policy U-turn by the U.S. Department of State, Xu Lin, chief executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters (commonly known as Hanban), tells Oriental Outlook magazine.

On May 22, the U.S. authority began backpedalling from its directive that academics under the J-1 exchange program who teach elementary or secondary school are in violation of visa regulations, and must return to China by the end of June.

The directive, issued on May 17, also called on Confucius Institutes to obtain proper accreditation in order to accept foreign scholars and professors as teachers, reports China Daily.

Soon after, in a report by The Chronicle of Higher Education, a Washington-based news service, an unnamed U.S. State Department official was quoted as saying that the section of the policy directive on accreditation was "confusing," and would be redrafted to clarify that Confucius Institutes that have partnerships with accredited colleges are in compliance with visa regulations.

"This is not about the Confucius Institutes or about the Chinese model. This is just simply a regulatory matter," said the official.

Xu Lin points out that the disputes were settled in only three days due to joint efforts by American universities, governments and the mass media of both countries.

Xu herself had sent emails to 81 partner colleges in the U.S. to state China's position and the negative effects the directive might exert on both sides.

The College of William & Mary in Virginia, which opened its own Confucius Institute in April, said the policy directive may "inadvertently interfere with the very positive contributions made by Confucius Institutes to higher education in the U.S., as well as to U.S.-China relations more broadly."

"While we do appreciate the importance of visa regulations, we hope that the State Department can work with our Chinese partners in a spirit of mutual cooperation to find ways to support the efforts of Hanban, to provide increased opportunities to learn about the language and culture of China," college president Taylor Reveley wrote in a letter to the U.S. State Department.

China's state-run broadcaster CCTV, as well as the news agencies Xinhua and China News Service, reported the move as another example of unequal treatment given to Confucius Institutes in the U.S. and European countries.

"This absurd measure reflects illogical thinking and an immature mentality. Finding scapegoats, witch hunting and shifting focuses are not the right ways to do things," Fox News cited an editorial by People's Daily, which said the restrictions were anti-Chinese and meant to distract Americans from a bleak economic picture in a presidential election year.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told Fox News on May 28 that the agency was working on ways for the teachers to update their visas while remaining in the U.S., and that the original directive had been "sloppy and not complete."

According to Xu Lin, the incident was not an isolated case but rather the latest on the back of similar ones in the U.S. and Europe in the past.

Xu notes that as early as 2010 the U.S. had started investigating Confucius Institutes, such as checking financial reports and emails, out of fear that the institutes are propaganda machines aimed at implanting communism in American children.

"This reflected that the peaceful rise of China and the improvement of the country's soft power have caused certain concerns among European countries and the U.S.," Xu explains, adding that the institutions are actually similar to cultural centers such as France's Alliance Francaise, Germany's Goethe-Institut and the British Council.

Many U.S. universities who host Confucius Institutes told Fox News that there has been no interference from the Chinese government, and that the programs have instead added diversity and much-needed language resources to local communities.

"The fear that these teachers would import unacceptable content or pedagogy has proven unfounded," Susan Carvalho, associate provost for international programs at the University of Kentucky, was quoted as saying.

"The incident also proved that the current model of running Confucius Institutes abroad cooperatively with foreign partners is quite appropriate for China," says Xu Lin.

But related domestic laws should be adopted in case similar problems occur in the future, she suggests.