“In the Name of Confucius” Korea Premiere revealing the reality of the Confucius Institute—The Epoch Times (South Korea)

(This article is translated from Korea to English by google translate.)
Source: The Epoch Times by Yoon-jeong Lee (yunjeong.lee@epochtimes.nyc),  May 22, 2021

The first screening of the documentary film “In the Name of Confucius” was held in Canada, which revealed the reality of the Confucius Institute through the process of its expulsion from Canada.

This event, which was held at the Seoul Theater in Jongno-gu, Seoul from 2 pm on the 21st, was hosted by the civic group ‘Citizens for Unveiling Confucius Institute (CUCI)’. Director Doris Liu, who produced the documentary, attended the screening and had a conversation with the audience.

This film, which exposes the reality of the Confucius Institute, a propaganda agency of the Communist Party of China, is based on the true story of Sonya Zhao, a Chinese-Canadian who served as a teacher at the Confucius Institute. The Confucius Institute became an issue in the community when Sonya escaped the CCP’s surveillance and filed a lawsuit.

Canada’s McMaster University closed the world’s first Confucius Institute in July 2013. The film follows the process of closing the Confucius Institute through a hearing by the Toronto Board of Education, Canada.

The film, completed in 2016 after three years of production by Chinese-Canadian director Doris, has been screened more than 100 times in 16 countries and 40 universities, including parliaments in the UK, Australia and Denmark, since March 2017.

Director Doris: “I hope that the movement to deport Confucius Institutes will spread in Korea too.”

Director Doris explained why she came to Korea, saying, “Korea established the world’s first Confucius Institute in Seoul in 2004 and has the largest number of Confucius Institutes in Asia. I hope that it will raise awareness about the impact it has on Korean society.”
She also revealed her motivation for making the film, saying, “Meeting Sonia (the main character of the documentary), I got to know the reality of Confucius Institute in detail, and I was impressed by her courage and decided to make it.

Director Doris said, “I hope that the movement to deport Confucius Institutes will spread in Korea as well.” She ordered that “continue to appeal to the education community, politicians and the media to expel the Confucius Institute.

In 2004, Seoul Confucius Academy, the world’s first Confucius Institute, was established in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Since then, Confucius Institutes have been established in 23 universities (one is an academy), and Confucius Institutes are being operated in four high schools and one private academy. It is the largest number among Asian countries.

People’s Strength Rep. Jeong Kyung-hee, who attended the event, gave a congratulatory speech, saying, “I am grateful to Director Doris for exposing the shocking facts about the Confucius Institute and China’s insidious intentions behind it to free and democratic citizens around the world through documentary production.” said.

After watching the movie, Rep. Jeong said, “Because of the name of Confucius, Confucius Institutes are positively accepted in Korea, where Confucianism is strong, and there is no objection. They are brainwashing students, but they are unaware of the dangers.” She emphasized, “We need to find a path to legal expulsion, not just a civic movement.”

The Confucius Institute is run by the State Hanban, a branch of the Central United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China. The United Front Operations Department, a higher-level institution in the Korean Peninsula, is in charge of the tactics of the “United Front”. The ‘United Front’ means to unite the front by joining hands with weak enemies to deal with the strong enemy, and it has also developed into a tactic to divide the opponent and create a sympathetic force inside.

As of April 2020, 545 Confucius Institutes and 1170 Confucius Institutes were established in 162 countries.
Financial factors contributed to the spread of Confucius Institutes around the world, including Korea. Chinese government Confucius
The scale invested in the original project is truly enormous.
In 2016 alone, $314 million (about KRW 380 billion) was spent on Confucius Institute programs, and a total of more than $2 billion (about KRW 2.4 trillion) was invested over the past 13 years. In addition, China is providing at least $100,000 in cash each year to each Confucius Institute and classroom in addition to instructors and textbooks.

Global movement to expel Confucius Institutes … Urgent need for public debate in Korea

It rained this morning, but about 80 spectators visited the theater. I saw a movie at a screening and got to know the reality of the Confucius Institute.
Citizens agreed that “public debate is urgent”.
After watching the movie, Lee Bak School TV CEO Son Hyo-suk said, “The Confucius Institute is abusing the respect and friendly attitude of the world towards Confucius, China’s leading thinker. “First of all, parents should be informed a lot about the fact that they are trying to destroy human rights and rule the world.”

Han Geun-hyung, head of the Republican Party’s public relations and media division, said, “The problem of the Confucius Institute is serious, but many people still do not know about it, and young people, in particular, are not interested in it.

Samuel Yoon, president of Gethsemane Theological Seminary, said, “The movie was better than I expected. He added, “I heard that each university had academies and programs to promote China, but I did not know that the Confucius Institute was a program that taught Mao Zedong ideology and promoted communism.” He added, “I will recommend this film to many people.”

China describes Confucius Institute as “an institution established for the purpose of teaching Chinese and disseminating traditional Chinese culture.” However, contrary to the purpose of its establishment, the fact that it was a propaganda agency of the Chinese Communist Party is gradually revealed, and the movement to withdraw is accelerating around the world.

The US government is convinced that the Confucius Institute is the CCP’s infiltrating agency in the US education sector and that Confucius Institutes are conducting espionage activities. “The Confucius Institute is being used as a base to monitor Chinese students in the United States as well as Chinese Americans related to China’s pro-democracy movement or human rights activities,” said FBI Director Christopher Ray during a hearing in the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2018. has reported that

To date, at least 92 universities, two government agencies and three education committees from around the world have cut ties with the Confucius Institute.

CUCI CEO Han Min-ho said, “As part of the movement to expel the Confucius Institute, we are planning a movie screening with the director.

The screening will continue until the 30th in Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Boeun, and Jeju.

Reporter Yoon-jeong Lee yunjeong.lee@epochtimes.nyc
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