Confucius Institutes are propaganda centers 孔学院是中共洗脑中心

Confucius Institutes are propaganda centers

孔学院是中共洗脑中心

CJ Carnacchio

Opinion

April 14, 2010 -

"Passivity is fatal to us. Our goal is to make the enemy passive." – Mao Tse-Tung

I was reading an Oct. 22, 2009 article in The Economist entitled, "A message from Confucius: New ways of projecting soft power" and something caught my eye. Li Changchun, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) boss, was quoted as describing Confucius Institutes as "an important part of China's overseas propaganda set-up."

Excuse me?

This statement concerned me considering Oxford Schools has developed quite the cozy relationship with the Confucius Institute at Michigan State University as the district continues to push its classes in Chinese language and culture.

I then read a March 16, 2010 news analysis piece about Confucius Institutes

published in The Epoch Times. It also greatly disturbed me.

For those not familiar with The Epoch Times, it's a multi-language, international newspaper published since May 2000. It was founded by practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that's been banned and violently persecuted by the Chinese government. The paper is decidedly pro-human rights and anti-Communist.

The piece was written by Michael Young and entitled, "The Use and Abuse of Confucius by Today's China."

Allow me to quote from it.

"In 2004, the Chinese Communist leadership decided that they would make a coordinated effort to set up classrooms and institutes around the world to teach Chinese in the simplified form, along with the Party's version of Chinese culture, under the name of Confucius.

"In five years the project has expanded rapidly. As of October 2009 a total of 523 Confucius Institutes (CIs) and Confucius Classrooms had been established in 87 countries and regions around the world."

(Note: Oxford Schools applied in October 2009 to become a Confucius Classroom. The application can be viewed at www.oxfordschools.org).

Young went on to describe the true purpose of these Confucius Institutes, which are headquartered in Beijing. "Strength is what is behind the CCP's turn to Confucius. In the last 20 years, the CCP has been looking to expand its influence by developing so-called soft power, in addition to its economic and military build up. The CCP has been looking for every opportunity to implement its socalled 'da wei jiao' and 'da wei xun' – 'greater diplomacy' and 'greater international propaganda.'

"The essence of greater diplomacy is to unite everyone in the world in order to benefit the CCP's strategic goals. This tactic is also called establishing the most extensive 'tong yi zhan xian' – the united front – one of the three treasures that has brought and kept the CCP in power.

"The essence of the greater international propaganda is to influence public opinion and governments' judgments regarding relationships with the CCP. In particular, the greater international propaganda seeks to convince people that Communist China is a benign partner rather than a hidden threat.

"According to Li Changchun, one of the nine standing members of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and the propaganda chief, Confucius Institutes serve both purposes well.

"He is absolutely right. The Confucius Institutes have become a place where Chinese diplomats frequently interact with the students, faculty, and government officials of the host countries. The Institutes can send out qualified teachers to the host countries who advocate for the CCP while providing information and consultation on China to the host country.

"Of course, according to the regulations of the Confucius Institutes' headquarters, the institutes will only teach the CCP-approved version of Chinese language and culture. In addition, the institutes have to abide not only by the laws and regulations of the host country, but also by the laws and regulations of China. That means China is expanding its governance onto foreign soil. No wonder the CCP has pushed the institutes anywhere it can by means of money and connections."

I found this last part particularly troublesome, so I decided to check it out. According to the Constitution and By-Laws for all Confucius Institutes worldwide, they "shall abide by the laws and regulations of the countries in which they are located . . . and they shall not contravene concerning the laws and regulations of China."

The word "contravene" means "to go against; oppose; conflict with; violate; contradict."

Now, let's pop over to the Land Down Under. An Aug. 22, 2007 story in The Australian about a Confucius Institute coming to the University of Sydney had this to say:

"Jocelyn Chey, a visiting professor at Sydney and former diplomat, regards the Confucius institutes as a propaganda vehicle for the Chinese communist party."

Chey was quoted as saying, "If there were to be a presence on campus, with a Chinese official link, it would be more difficult for academics to maintain their freedom and independence."

Let's hear from our friends in Canada, eh? A May 2007 article from The Canadian Press had this to say:

"A newly declassified intelligence report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says Beijing is out to win the world's hearts and minds, not just its economic markets, as a means of cementing power.

"The secret CSIS brief . . . points to the creating of more than 100 Confucius Institutes around the world . . .

"The Confucius Institutes, the brainchild of Beijing's Ministry of Education, primarily promote Chinese language and culture. 'In other words, China wants the world to have positive feelings towards China and things Chinese,' the CSIS reports says. 'For China to achieve its goals, people must admire China to some degree.'"

Out in California, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune made its feelings very clear about the approval of a Confucius Classroom at a Hacienda Heights middle school.

To quote the paper's February 2010 editorial – "It's absurd to allow a program run by the People's Republic of China into our schools. Bringing teachers from a oneparty Communist dictatorship to teach 12- and 13-yearolds Chinese culture and Eastern philosophy as well as foreign language is alarming. If it's Chinese culture we want to teach, what's wrong with instructors from relatively free Taiwan? But this program is tantamount to asking Hugo Chavez to send his cadres to teach little American kids economics."

As Oxford Schools continues to implement its Fifth Core program, which is "committed to teaching Chinese language and culture to all students," we have to ask ourselves whose agenda is really being satisfied here – the

school district's desire to prepare students for a global economy or the Chinese government's lust for acceptance, power and dominance on the world stage.

Some of you may think it's cute to hear Oxford's kindergartners sing songs or count to 10 in Mandarin Chinese, but as for me, it sends a chill down my spine.

Despite it's happy face for the world, the Chinese government is still a ruthless, evil, totalitarian beast and the mortal enemy of freedom-loving people everywhere.

It's oppressive. It's murderous. It has zero respect for human rights. It's growing in power and influence. And now, it's in our classrooms via a multicultural Trojan Horse.

It's been said the Devil's greatest trick was convincing the world he didn't exist.

It appears China's greatest trick will be convincing the world it's not the Devil by brainwashing our kids.

CJ Carnacchio is editor for The Oxford Leader. He lives in the Village of Oxford with his wife Connie and daughter Larissa. When he's not busy working on the newspaper, he enjoys cigars/pipes, Martinis/Scotch, hunting and fishing.