The centre has notified that the educational institutes that intend to collaborate with China’s Confucius centres will need to have prior Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act clearances and the approval of the foreign ministry.
According to the reports, the Centre’s decision came after the control of Confucius centres shifted from the Chinese government to a non-profit institution.
In 2020, the Ministry of Education had called for a review of all collaborations between Confucius centres and Indian institutes after the standoff along the Line of Actual Control. Following that, in early April this year, the Ministry of Education had sent another confidential circular saying that the control and operation of CIs have changed from the erstwhile Hanban, a public institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education, to a ‘non-profit trust’, the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation.
In another letter, the All India Council for Technical Education and the University Grants Commission have asked institutes that any collaboration with any NGO/foundation needed FCRA clearances.
“Hence all universities/institutions having collaboration with Confucius institutes / Hanban / CLEC or planning to collaborate to set up Confucius institutes or any other joint venture in any other name will be required to seek prior clearance under FCRA,” the communication sent by AICTE and UGC reads.
As per the latest order, Confucius centres are regarded as foreign cultural centres and will also require the approval of the foreign ministry for the setting up of new centres and the continuation or renewal of existing ones. All higher education institutes were asked to take necessary clearances.
It is important to note that the Confucius Institutes (CIs) have come under scrutiny for allegedly infiltrating several institutions to further Chinese propaganda. There are allegations of spying against people associated with Confucius Institutes.
Several CIs have been shut down in the US and Europe over such concerns. Last year, the US-based Tufts University in the United States decided to shut down the contentious Confucius Institute from its campus.
In September last year, the State Department had written to the governing boards of US universities cautioning them about the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party. US State Secretary Mike Pompeo had said that he was hopeful that dozens of Chinese-government funded Confucius Institute cultural centres on US campuses would be shut down by year-end. The institutes are accused of working to recruit “spies and collaborators”.
The Confucius Institutes now exist in 29 British universities and 150 schools. While they claim to promote Chinese culture and language, the Mail reported that they curb free speech and peddle CCP propaganda. The Confucius International Education Group bought the Riddlesworth Hall Preparatory School, a school where Princess Diana studied, in 2015.
