Report calls for moratorium on new Confucius Institutes in UK

The UK government should launch an investigation into whether Confucius Institutes restrict academic freedom or are being used by China to monitor students and teachers in the UK, according to a report.

There should also be a suspension of further agreements between UK universities and Confucius Institutes until the investigation is completed, the report from the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission adds.

The institutes are promoted as centres for teaching Chinese language and culture. According to the report, however, they serve as an extension of the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda arm and to stifle its critics around the world.

The commission, which began its inquiry in April last year after the launch of a similar investigation by the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, said that it had found that “freedom of expression and academic freedom is limited, even suppressed, in Confucius Institutes”.

Controversy around the centres has prompted at least 27 universities worldwide to cut ties with Confucius Institutes, including Stockholm University, Copenhagen Business School, the University of Chicago and McMaster University.

Confucius programmes operate within UK universities including UCL, the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield, but they are funded and staffed by an agency of China’s Ministry of Education.

The report says that “without exception” every submission to the commission pointed to serious concerns about the presence of Confucius Institutes in universities in the UK and showed widespread evidence of a ban on the topics of Tibet, Taiwan and the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Isabel Hilton, the editor of the China Dialogue website, told the commission that all mentions of a particular Chinese dissident were removed from her contribution to a book sponsored by a Confucius Institute. Rachelle Peterson, policy director of the US National Association of Scholars, said that the Chinese director of a Confucius Institute had told her that if a student asked about Tiananmen Square, she should “show [the student] a picture and point out the beautiful architecture”.

The report also says that legislation is required to ensure that foreign institutions are “not able to hold undue influence” on curricula in UK institutions and to guarantee more transparency about the agreements made.

Fiona Bruce MP, chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, said that although the group welcomes and encourages language teaching and cultural exchange, “we believe a review is necessary to assess whether Confucius Institutes represent a threat to academic freedom, freedom of expression, other basic rights and indeed national security.

“We also believe it is right to have an assessment to ensure that the curriculum taught in Confucius Institutes is balanced, independent, holistic and comprehensive, and measures to require transparency and accountability in any future agreements between British institutions and Confucius Institutes.”

The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission aims to advise and develop the party’s foreign policy.

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com