Confucius Institutes at Australian universities could be the next casualty of strained Beijing-Canberra ties
When the University of Adelaide launched its Confucius Institute in partnership with Shandong University in 2007, Australia's foreign minister Alexander Downer oversaw the opening ceremony.
The Chinese cultural centre was not only uncontroversial, it was welcomed across the board, former director Mobo Gao recalled.
"Politicians on both sides, the business community, the education sector and culture sector all collaborated with us and they all liked our programmes," said Gao, who ran the institute until 2017, helping organise study tours in China and talks by Chinese intellectuals on topics encompassing Tibet and democracy.
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In 2021, the institute and those at 12 other Australian universities face an uncertain future as Canberra considers whether the centres are compatible with a foreign policy increasingly wary of Beijing.
The universities have until June 10 to submit their contracts to host the institutes, as part of a system that enables Canberra to review agreements between foreign governments and subnational bodies such as state governments, councils and universities.
Under legislation passed last year, foreign minister Marise Payne could block the universities' agreements to host the institutes if they are judged to undermine the federal government's policy towards China.
The institutes, which organise cultural exchanges and provide language and cultural education in partnership with Chinese universities, are overseen by the Beijing-affiliated Centre for Language Education and Cooperation, previously known as Hanban.
A number of universities - including the Universities of Sydney (USYD), Queensland (UQ) and Western Australia (UWA) - have already submitted their agreements for review. Others are poised to follow suit in coming weeks. Melbourne's RMIT has announced it will close its institute this year, citing financial difficulties caused by Covid-19.
Payne last month vetoed a non-binding deal for the state of Victoria to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing's signature cross-continental infrastructure plan. Although Payne has not explicitly addressed the future of the institutes, she also said last month that there would be "further decisions" as part of the review system.
A decision to close the institutes would further damage relations between Canberra and Beijing, already strained by disputes spanning trade, the Covid-19 pandemic, alleged espionage and human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Australian foreign minister Marise Payne could block the universities' agreements to host the Confucius Institutes. Photo: dpa alt=Australian foreign minister Marise Payne could block the universities' agreements to host the Confucius Institutes. Photo: dpa
Confucius Institutes have been a source of international controversy in recent years, with critics claiming the institutes are vehicles for Chinese Communist Party propaganda that avoid discussing topics deemed sensitive by Beijing while interfering with academic freedom.
In August, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo designated the body that oversees the institutes in the US as part of Beijing's "global propaganda and malign influence campaign", requiring it to register as a foreign mission. Pompeo later expressed hope the institutes would be shut down, accusing them of recruiting "spies and collaborators" at US universities, without offering evidence for his claims.
Dozens of universities in US states including Texas, Florida and North Carolina have closed their institutes since 2014 amid growing political pressure and concerns about academic freedom.
Mike Pompeo, former US secretary of state, pressed for Confucius Institutes to be closed. Photo: AFP alt=Mike Pompeo, former US secretary of state, pressed for Confucius Institutes to be closed. Photo: AFP
In January, Sweden's last remaining institute at the Lulea University of Technology closed against a backdrop of growing concern regarding China's actions, including its abduction and jailing of Hong Kong bookseller and Swedish citizen Gui Minhai.
Earlier this month, Japanese Minister of Education Koichi Hagiuda called on universities to provide greater transparency about the organisational structures and activities of the institutes hosted on their campuses.
Salvatore Babones, an associate professor at the University of Sydney and adjunct scholar at the Centre for Independent Studies, said Confucius Institutes were more controversial for their links to Beijing than any specific activities.
"They educate very few students and they seem to make very little money," said Babones, whose research includes China's academic links with Australia. "This suggests that they are essentially political operations, not educational ones. Absent any credible explanation from the universities, the public is left to wonder what quid pro quo may be involved in motivating universities to host Confucius Institutes."
Babones said the best solution would be for universities to voluntarily close their Confucius Institutes as they were "out of line" with the educational missions of public universities.
"If the foreign minister simply voids the contracts, that would let the universities off the moral hook," he said.
Britain's Prince Andrew with Chinese President Xi Jinping, opening the 1,000th Confucius Classroom in London in 2015. Photo: Xinhua alt=Britain's Prince Andrew with Chinese President Xi Jinping, opening the 1,000th Confucius Classroom in London in 2015. Photo: Xinhua
Jocelyn Chey, a former Australian consul general in Hong Kong, does not believe the institutes have a future, given the atmosphere of suspicion affecting ties between Canberra and Beijing.
"The Confucius Institutes should have been set up as independent bodies outside universities, along the same lines as the Japan Foundation, the Goethe-Institut, etc," Chey said.
"Universities were persuaded to host them by suggestions from education counsellors in various consulates that they would get more students from China if they did so. Hanban also got a good deal because universities accepted some of the administration costs and because they had the added prestige of being 'attached' to reputable tertiary institutions."
Australian universities have in recent years faced increasing pressure to prevent alleged foreign interference and the untoward use of sensitive research and technology by foreign governments such as Beijing.
In November, the Australian parliament's intelligence and security committee launched an inquiry into foreign interference at universities, after Canberra the previous year announced guidelines for tertiary institutions to avoid national security risks.
Veteran national security journalist Brian Toohey this week wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald that the University of Sydney requires research candidates to fill out a declaration of interests with more intrusive questions than "an Asio security clearance at the height of the Cold War".
Jeffrey Gil, a senior lecturer in languages and applied linguistics at Flinders University in Adelaide, said it was difficult to generalise about the influence of the institutes, which differed between universities.
"Not all Confucius Institutes use the materials supplied by Hanban," Gil said. "My view is that the Confucius Institutes emphasise the positive aspects of China while ignoring the negative and controversial aspects. In this sense, they are selective rather than propagandistic."
Gil said Beijing's treatment of the Uygurs in Xinjiang and its response to anti-government protests in Hong Kong had caused opposition to the institutes to harden.
"These have made any cooperation with China less desirable and less acceptable to foreign governments and publics," he said.
Several universities defended their arrangements and highlighted the positive contribution of the institutes to Sino-Australian relations and the community generally.
A USYD spokeswoman said the university believed Australia would benefit from more Mandarin speakers and greater cultural understanding, "and the non-award [non-degree] courses provided by the Confucius Institute supports this aim".
A spokeswoman for UWA said its Confucius Institute was one of "many ways that the university fosters global partnerships to build strong academic collaboration and valuable community connections, and to recognise the value of multiculturalism and cultural exchange in our endeavours".
UQ said its institute was established to foster the university's internationalisation and community engagement and continued to "build greater understanding and collaboration with a key strategic and economic regional partner of Australia and the university".
The Centre for Language Education and Cooperation did not respond to a request for comment.
Gao, the former director of the University of Adelaide's institute, said the centres had benefited Australia and its citizens.
"We never shied away from what were the so-called sensitive topics," Gao said. "For instance, the inaugural annual lecture was on human rights in China.
"I would be sad to see the Confucius Institute closed because it can, if managed well, do so much for the Australia and China relationship."
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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