China cries foul as govt reviews presence of Confucius Institutes

NEW DELHI: Following reports that the education ministry was reviewing the presence of China’s Confucius Institutes in the country, China on Tuesday urged India to treat cooperation in higher education in a fair and objective manner and also to not politicise “normal cooperation”. The Chinese embassy here also called upon India to maintain “healthy and stable” development of China-India people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
China’s statement, according to the spokesperson, was in response to reports that India has decided to review Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms jointly established by China’s Confucius Institute and seven Indian universities and colleges, and also 54 MoUs for inter-school cooperation signed between Indian and Chinese higher education institutions.
“Over the years, Confucius Institutes have played an important role in promoting Chinese language teaching in India and China-India people-to-people and cultural exchanges. This has been generally recognised by the Indian education community,” spokesperson Ji Rong said, adding that with increasingly close economic, trade and cultural exchanges between China and India, the demand for Chinese language teaching in India was growing.
India has never really been enthusiastic about Confucius Institutes in the past too despite Beijing calling upon India to, as Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said during his visit to India in 2018, develop these institutes. The UGC last year had officially asked Indian universities to seek approval from the central government, including the home and foreign ministries, before entering into any agreement for setting up a Confucius Institute.
These institutes have been accused by many western countries of spreading Chinese propaganda. Sweden, for one, was reported to have shut all Confucius Institutes operating in the country earlier this year.
The official said China-India cooperation on Confucius Institute project had been carried out for more than 10 years.