Filmmaker Doris Liu has investigated the Chinese cultural institution infiltrated in schools for three years, institutes and universities of 140 countries around the world
En su película 'En el nombre de Confucio', screened this Wednesday at the University of Seville, reveals that the cultural center poses a risk to human rights and national security
Señala que "en apariencia parece que solo se trata del idioma y la cultura china, but behind there is propaganda and brainwashing"
El colectivo 'Stop Instituto Confucio' demands the closure of the Confucius Classrooms in Andalusia, where they teach classes about 4.000 primary and secondary school students
Read the original: https://www.eldiario.es/andalucia/Instituto-Confucio-Caballo-Troya-Occidente_0_884712618.html
Alejandro Avila
04/04/2019
Fotograma de 'En el nombre de Confucio' (Doris Liu)
They are the Trojan Horse of the Chinese Government. Un arma de propaganda para ganarse "las mentes y los corazones" of young Westerners over 140 countries around the world, in a diplomatic operation in which the Asian giant invests billions a year. That's at least what Canada's secret services believe., United States and other European countries: that the Confucius Institute is a weapon of indoctrination and espionage of the government of the People's Republic of China.
También lo ven así la cineasta canadiense Doris Liu y el colectivo 'Stop Instituto Confucio', who have organized this Tuesday the screening of the documentary In the name of Confucius (Doris Liu) at the Faculty of Communication of the University of Seville.
"En apariencia parece que solo se trata del idioma y la cultura china, but behind there is propaganda and brainwashing. Estoy preocupada por esto y habría que llamar la atención sobre este 'programa de cultura e idioma chino', que puede tener consecuencias a largo plazo", said Liu.
The Confucius Institute is similar to the English British Council, the Spanish Cervantes Institute or the German Goethe… but only apparently. Implemented in 1.600 schools, institutes and universities of more than 140 countries around the world, It does not have independent dependencies, but is situated within other educational organizations, contributing, besides, financial aid.
"Las consecuencias se notarán a largo plazo, since it is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. According to the Canadian secret services, esta dependencia de la financiación china mina la capacidad del propio centro para gestionarse", highlights the film director, who has spent three years investigating, produce and make your documentary.
For that reason, The Confucius Institute is currently in the crosshairs of the FBI and other Western intelligence services: Not only do they end up censoring certain thorny topics for China in the universities where they operate, like the conflict with Tibet, Hong Kong, Tiananmen or human rights, but they try to influence their students and spy on the community.
Spies in the classrooms
According to Liu, "hay espías chinos que piden a los profesores que hagan determinadas tareas de espionaje: study the Chinese diaspora, help the regime find like-minded people and obtain or steal research that that university has. Although at the moment we have no proof, the secret services think so, por lo que no es algo seguro para los países extranjeros".
Some countries have already begun to take the risk posed by this type of center very seriously., for the freedom of its citizens and for the public safety of the country, due to the lack of transparency of these centers, tal y como denuncia el colectivo 'Stop Instituto Confucio".
The language, an excuse
Fernando Romeo, spokesperson for this platform, points out that, with the excuse of language and culture, The Chinese government is responsible for financing operating expenses, teachers and other staff or teaching materials. In the case of Andalusia, "hay un convenio con la Junta de Andalucía, signed by the previous government, so that 3.800 students study Chinese as an official curriculum. Being teachers chosen by China and who have not passed any type of opposition, es algo ilegal".
The objective of your organization is to open an investigation and close the centers for the next course. Beijing and San Telmo closed an agreement in 2015, which is automatically renewed every five years. Currently, nearly 4.000 alumnos andaluces estudian chino "en 24 associated public centers and 8 Confucius classrooms, con 9 Confucius Classroom teachers and 17 volunteers sent from China who teach Chinese to 2.884 students within the curriculum in 13 centers (There is a specific curriculum for primary education and it is being developed for secondary education.) already 931 extracurricular students in 11 centros ".
The Superior Court of Justice of Valencia has already issued a ruling in 2011 against the hiring of teachers at origin. According to the organization, "de no finalizarse, from the platform they would study legal actions, given that the volunteer teachers of the Confucius Classrooms are originally selected by the Chinese regime, sometimes with discriminatory practices towards certain ideologies or beliefs, like Falun Gong practitioners, práctica meditativa perseguida en China".
In Canada or the United States, as the documentary shows, They have already broken with the Chinese institution, while the universities of Lyon or Stockholm do the same in Europe. All Andalusian provinces have, for now, with Confucius Classrooms.
And it is that, as pointed out in Doris Liu's film quoting the Chinese philosopher Confucius: "Un gobierno opresor debe ser más temido que un tigre".
