MCLC: reexamining Confucius Institutes (1)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Terry Russell <Terry.Russell at ad.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: reexamining Confucius Institutes (1)
***********************************************************

When Li Changchun, head of Beijing's Propaganda Bureau and a member of the
committee that directs the Confucius Institutes, shows up for the opening
of the new CI at Carleton University in Ottawa, it makes it pretty clear
that the CIs are not just about helping greater numbers of people to learn
Chinese language and culture. It strikes me that the point that Mattis
ultimately makes is at the heart of the whole CI issue: if Beijing, via
the Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms, etc., is allowed to
make use of our educational systems to set the gold standard for the
meaning of Chinese history and culture, what are we all doing?

Terry