Despite recent criticism that the Chinese government might be promoting propaganda through university centers known as Confucius Institutes, officials and students at MSU disagree.
MSU’s Confucius Institute, one of about 70 across the country, is partially funded by the Chinese government and focuses on research and developing Chinese culture and language. The institute was created in 2006 and allows undergraduate and graduate students and professors to collect research and expand Chinese education programs and tools in K-12 schools, head of operations for MSU’s Confucius Institute Ken Dirkin said.
Li Changchun, China’s propaganda chief, was quoted in USA Today referring to Confucius Institutes as “an important part of China’s overseas propaganda setup.”
However, MSU’s center has not felt pressure from the Chinese government to promote any political or social agenda, Dirkin said. Funding for the institute’s research is provided in part by the Chinese government through grants, Dirkin said.
“We do the research and work we feel is necessary,” he said. “There are no strings attached in that.”
Dirkin said the center receives $200,000 annually — between a third and a half of its total budget — through a CI-MSU grant, a collaboration between MSU, the Office of Chinese Language Council International and Open University of China. MSU funding comprises the rest of the budget.
Doctoral student Wenxia Wang said she sees value in students learning about Chinese culture drawing their own conclusions about the country.
Wang works through the center to train students in the College of Education and international students from China to teach Chinese to grades K-12. She also said she has not felt any pressure to promote certain opinions of the Chinese government.
“I encourage students to do their own research and come up with their own ideas about China,” said Wang, who currently is researching the learning process of teachers.
Wang’s research, along with other research from the institute, is used to develop teaching methods and technology that will help students learn to speak Chinese and understand Chinese culture, assistant director of the Confucius Institute Nancy Romig said. The research and emphasis on Chinese education is important because it helps students become more global, she said.
“Language has not previously been a focus and with a global society, (U.S.) students are needing more than just the basics,” Romig said. “They need to develop global citizenship.”
Interior design senior Carolyn Fava said she does not see any problem with the research funds the Chinese government provides to the Confucius Institute at MSU.
“I feel like it is really more globalism taking effect in our modern world and showing that countries are working together to make one modern world,” Fava said
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