I reported on the Confucius Institutes some time ago but, given their potential, and most-likely planned, influence and propaganda directives from the Chinese Communist Party, it is time to point out their dangers again. This thought was prompted by a report that six Australian universities have quietly closed Chinese government-linked Confucius Institutes (CI) on their campuses.
The Australian government has ramped up scrutiny on these education centres in recent years over concerns that Beijing is using them to spread propaganda, and to spy on Chinese international students. China, of course, says its Confucius Institutes, which offer Chinese language and cultural classes overseas, are a “bridge reinforcing friendship” with the world.
There have been growing global concerns about the Chinese government’s reach overseas through such education centres, with universities in America and Europe also choosing to close some of their branches. In Australia, these closures mean nearly half of all the Confucius institutes have been shuttered. Seven others remain open.
Confucius Institutes have now been removed from the campuses of the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland (UQ), the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Several universities cited disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic as the reason for not renewing their CI contracts. A spokesperson for UNSW said the university was developing its own programme in Chinese studies and is committed to “encouraging open dialogue in the China-Australia bilateral relationship”.
In recent years, Australia’s federal government had indicated it would not allow more of the centres to open in the country. It also required universities to provide more transparency about the institutes’ teachings and, in some cases, registering them on the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme.
The universities are a little reluctant to give up the “very-generous” funding for these institutes, provided by the Chinese government, so their reactions to the “encouraged” closing has been somewhat muted. A UQ spokesperson said its Confucius Institute closed when the contract expired in December 2024, and it had “not been given any direction by the government”.
(I am reminded of a comment I received from a British Government official many years ago. He said, “Never believe anything until it is officially denied”.)
The University of Melbourne closed their CI in August 2024; it was established through a partnership with Nanjing University in 2007. The University already offers a variety of Chinese language and Asia programmes and had “no additional need to renew” the agreement, a spokesperson said.
A University of Adelaide spokesperson did not confirm their CI had been shuttered, but said it continues to foster “connections with other countries, including China” through partnerships and education collaboration.
Human Rights Watch said in a 2019 report that Confucius Institutes were “extensions of the Chinese government” that censored discussions of politically sensitive issues to Beijing. A report in 2009 stated that applicants for volunteer teaching positions at the institutes were required to demonstrate political loyalty to the Chinese government. Dr. Jeffrey Gill from Flinders University, who studies Confucius Institutes, said he “wasn’t surprised” by the latest closures and that concerns around foreign interference were “likely to be one factor”. However, Dr Gill said he was not convinced that CIs were promoting “Chinese government propaganda” and had “very little influence on perceptions of China in Australia and the Western world more broadly”. (If you will excuse my language…BULLSHIT! – they only exist for one purpose and that is not benign.)
