MU dumping Confucius Institute because kids can’t be alone with Chinese nationals
First Kansas State University, then the University of Kansas and now the University of Missouri are dumping their Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes.
MU announced Wednesday that it is terminating its contract with the Confucius Institute, effective in August, because of “changes in guidance from the U.S. Department of State,” which has expressed concern over Chinese intelligence operatives. Dozens of the institutes were embedded within universities and public schools to offer U.S. students Mandarin language classes.
K-State closed its institute in June, and in December, KU announced that its would close its institute this month. KU and MU have said they intend to continue supporting Mandarin programs for K-12 students. A free Chinese language course offered at MU, but not for college credit, will be halted.
The feds, in a letter to the university in July, said MU’s Confucius Institute teaching interns, who are Chinese nationals, could not be left alone in a classroom with grade school children. Having a full-time teacher who speaks no Mandarin in the room, the letter said, was no help “because they cannot evaluate the substance or quality of information” being shared with the schoolchildren. So the institute will close.
For the university and Columbia Public Schools, hiring certified Mandarin interpreters is cost-prohibitive, said Christian Basi, an MU spokesman.
Until the end of the school year, MU’s 13 Chinese interns will continue teaching Mandarin classes in the Columbia school district. District officials said they want to keep a Chinese language program for students, and Basi said MU is working with them to see how it can help.
“We’ve appreciated our partnership with the Columbia Public School District and will do everything we can so that students can continue learning about this culture and language,” said Mary Stegmaier, MU interim vice provost for international programs.
The Confucius Institutes have long been controversial. For the most part they are staffed with visiting teachers from China and are funded in part by the Chinese government. Host schools provide matching dollars.
Confucius Institutes gained popularity on college campuses after the University of Maryland at College Park established the first one in 2004. At one point there were more than 100 on campuses in the U.S. and roughly 500 worldwide.
In 2014 the American Association of University Professors strongly suggested that colleges and universities close their Confucius Institutes, expressing concern about schools losing autonomy, importing Chinese state censorship and infringing on academic freedom.
More recently, concerns came out of the political arena, with some saying Chinese government-influenced activities on campuses could threaten national security. At one point FBI officials told legislators they too were concerned.
By last May, 15 institutes were shuttered. Colleges gave several reasons for the closures, including political concerns, enrollment decline in the language classes and the impact of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed in 2018. The legislation prohibits the U.S. Defense Department from funding Chinese language programs at schools that have a Confucius Institute unless the college has gotten a waiver.
