Dharamshala — The Chinese Confucius Institutes, which have been banned and shut down in Europe, the United States, and Australia. These countries crticised that Confucius Institutes undermine academic freedom at the universities that host them, engage in industrial and military espionage, monitor Chinese students abroad, and attempt to promote the Chinese government’s political line on controversial issues such as Taiwan, human rights in China, and Tibet.
The Confucius Institute (CI) program, which began establishing Chinese language teaching centers in 2004. However, people gradually came to realize that this institute was directly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and that it sought to indoctrinate young Westerners, impose Chinese culture and the ideologies of Chinese leaders, and undermine academic freedom at the universities that hosted it. That is why universities, one after another, have banned the CI, whether in the United States, Europe, or Australia.
Under the pretext of “preserving and promoting Chinese culture and strengthening ethnic unity,” the Chinese Communist Party authorities have established Confucius Institutes in 110 schools and kindergartens in Namling County, Shigatse, Tibet. Through this, the Chinese Communist Party seeks to prevent Tibetan children from inheriting their traditional culture and to eradicate Tibetan mother-tongue culture, thereby implementing a policy of ethnic assimilation. "We strongly condemn and prohibit the Confucian culture—which is rejected by the entire world," a Tibetan said.
Tibetan NGOs, particular students for a Free Tibet, launched its first ‘Say No to Confucius Institute’ campaign in 2014 to combat China’s growing soft power initiatives on college campuses around the world.
International Campaign for Tibet said, "Over the years, China has been trying to influence American educational institutes, both through direct threats and financial incentives, to toe the Beijing line on issues like Tibet. One example of this is the establishment of the Confucius Institutes. Although the stated aim of the Confucius Institutes is to promote learning of the Chinese language and understanding of Chinese culture, we have evidence that the CIs are being used for the dissemination of Chinese propaganda on issues like Tibet."
Tibetan organisations, in coalition with human rights and pro-democracy groups, have frequently protested against Confucius Institutes, citing them as tools of Chinese Communist Party propaganda. They argue these institutes censor discussions on sensitive issues like Tibet, Taiwan, and human rights, and threaten academic freedom.
The Activists argue that the institutes are used to sanitize China’s human rights record and enforce a strict policy of making topics like Tibet "taboo" on university campuses. Organizations view the institutes as an attempt by Beijing to control the global narrative and improve the image of the Chinese government's authoritarian system. The activists also have raised concerns that the institutes are used to monitor Chinese students abroad and restrict freedom of expression.
Tibetans in the free countries protested against the Chinese confucius institute and campaigned to closure the institute, In 2020, over 23 Confucius Institute closures across the United States. after the campaigning and protests, CI also shutdown in Sweden, Canada, Australia, Germany and other countries. Unfortunately, when the Chinese government started CI in the schools in Tibet, Tibetans inside Tibet can not protest, even though they don't the CI, if they protested, campaigned, then they will face detain, protest, torture and imprisonment.
