The group wants to stop the planned opening of a classroom in the House of Languages of the University of Oviedo
S.D.M.
Writing 02/03/2018
(File original article)
«They sing about a new life, / They sing about the great Communist Party, / ¡Oh, President is! ¡Oh, The game! / You feed the people on this land». This is a stanza of one of the songs that Chinese students learn that come to classes from the Confucius Institute. The confucio Institute Stop Platform tries to stop the opening of a confucio classroom in the House of Languages of the University of Oviedo. The coordinator of this group, Fernando Romeo, ensures that it is an institution that tries to wash the Chinese government, on which it depends, and that secretly indoctrinates students of the Chinese language. Beijing head office, called Hanban, It is the one that outlines your entire implementation strategy. Send teachers to Spain, who in many cases are postdoctoral students, those who exist to be related to the regime. It also sends all the teaching materials and books used in class.. Each page, points out the platform, has an intention. «In Oviedo we still have time», Romeo assures.
The platform tried to stop the opening of a Confucius Classroom in Zaragoza without success. Your efforts arrived late, when the decision had already been adopted by the Governing Council of his university. In the case of Oviedo, The academic institution has announced its intention but there is still no agreement. For that reason, The coordinator accompanied by Asturian activists has worked all week in the Principality. He has met with a large group of representatives of the University Governing Council, with teachers, political parties and media. Their objective is to offer all the information they have to try to make the authorities and society understand the danger posed by the opening of this type of institutions.. «They want to pass themselves off as a Cervantes Institute or a French Alliance but they are something very different. They are the tool of a dictatorship. This is what they have said many times», reveals.
Your concern has an international reflection. Confucius Institutes are already closing in other parts of the world. The most recent, just a few weeks ago, at a University of Florida. The one with the greatest media and social impact in Canada, at McMaster University, In the year 2013. The controversy arose over a teacher who was forced to renounce her beliefs to continue teaching. He publicly denounced the type of contract they were made to sign in China, threats to his family and he deserted. It was not the first time that in that country their misgivings against this institution disguised as an educational institution were publicly expressed.. The official Michel Juneau.Katsuya, in the documentary The Dragon with a Thousand Heads, screened by TVE, pointed out that there were already reports of 2007 of Intelligence in which it was warned that this institute was an espionage instrument of the Chinese regime.
How is it going to be implemented?
In each country in which it intends to establish itself, Confucius Institute opens headquarters. The closest to the Principality is in León. The Classroom of the University of Oviedo will depend on it.. The strategy is the following, The institute opens its doors under the protection of a university like León. The Spanish academic institution has to sign two different agreements, one with Hanban and the other with a Chinese university, a kind of counterpart in the country. This is the one in charge, among other things, to hire teachers. Romeo points out that, In fact, It is a smokescreen so that it is not directly linked to the dictatorship. Hanban sends all the material prepared for language classes. Once opened, can create small delegations, What are classrooms?. The one from León, For example, They already have one working at the University of Valladolid. The usual thing is that the teachers are students from China and reside and continue training in León. For that reason, The institutions that open the Classrooms have to pay for their travel to give classes and their expenses.. This is how it appears in the agreements signed so far. It is advertised as free but, In fact, has a cost.
This is all the official part. Romeo denounces that there is much more underlying. Personnel selection does not respect any principle of equality, merit and ability, which is what the regulations require of any university in a democratic country. As if this were not enough, They have found on the Internet the bases of the job offer that a Chinese university took out to hire personnel for classes in Zaragoza. That offer literally asked - as confirmed by an official translation endorsed by a notary- «a letter of recommendation indicating your political ideas».
The coordinator of the platform explains that in the teaching material they have found a rewriting of the 20th century history of the Asian country, with topics as delicate as Tibet or the Korean War. Does not exist, not even close, Tiananmen. She further , There are those innocent folk songs or stories, which are actually praises to the founders of the regime and the party. It's more, There are even somewhat outdated texts in which the need for the one-child policy is still defended.. «They hide, of course, the deaths, the pressures and abortions that all this entailed», explains Fernando Romeo. The last ones 15 minutes of class we end up talking about China. That is a crucial time to spread the message, they explain on the platform. Romeo insists that it is a long-term landing. They are not in a hurry. The first courses are the safest. As knowledge of the language progresses, political messages intensify..
Stop the Classroom in Oviedo
Stop Instituto Confucio has contacted the Rectorate itself to send you all the documentation and has made itself available to expand and clarify all those points that you consider necessary. But he fears that the decision has already been made. In fact, The intention to open the classroom has already been publicly announced. They have also spoken with teachers who have requested information because they have serious doubts about the ethics of this possible agreement.. In the same way, has met with a political party that has also agreed to investigate what is happening. His priority is that the Government Council does not approve the agreement. It would be the first autonomous community in which they arrive on time since they were legally established.. There is also a signature collection underway.. Closing the classroom once it is underway is more complicated. Few universities in the world have done so until now., just a dozen. So timing is crucial.
