(This article is translated from German to English by google translate.)
Source: Epoch Times by Christina Spirk, Nov. 14, 2019 updated Nov. 27, 2019
Confucius Institutes are subject to critical scrutiny worldwide – except in Germany. And not just for espionage. The film “In the Name of Confucius” aims to enlighten this “blind spot” with events in Berlin and nine other cities.
Universities in the US, Canada or Sweden (Stockholm) have closed their Confucius Institutes. Meanwhile, the nineteen Confucius Institutes in Germany are hardly critically questioned. Confucius Institutes have become known worldwide as institutions used by the Chinese Communist Party for espionage, party culture and ideology under the guise of traditional Chinese culture.
The documentary “In the Name of Confucius” now wants to use a series of events to clarify this “blind spot” in Germany. The “Society for Threatened Peoples”, the “Tibet Initiative Germany” and director Doris Liu bring the documentation to nine German and one Austrian cities. There are a total of eleven film screenings on the schedule.
Party culture, lies, deceptions – funded by “Hanban”
By the end of 2017, according to incomplete statistics, the Communist Party had already set up 525 Confucius Institutes (for colleges and universities) in 146 countries and opened 1,113 Confucius Classrooms (for elementary and middle schools). The funds for the Confucius Institutes come from “Hanban”, a foreign policy cultural organization that is connected to the central department of the CPC “United Front Work Department”. The use of the funds is monitored by staff from the Chinese embassies and consulates.
Confucius Institutes undermine important academic principles of autonomy and freedom of research. They aim to promote the CCP’s preferred way of presenting events, to distort China’s history, and to keep silent about the terrible human rights record of the CCP. Quotes from Mao Tse-tung are hung on the wall in some of the Confucius Institutes’ classrooms. At first glance, the Confucius Institutes claim to teach Chinese culture – in fact, they promote communist doctrine and impart the party culture desired by the Communist Party.
Die Konfuzius-Institute bieten Kultur- und Sprachkurse an und verzerren in diesen die Geschichte. Sie organisieren Proteste gegen Aktivitäten, von denen die Kommunistische Partei glaubt, dass sie ihre Herrschaft bedrohen. So wurden beispielsweise Redner in die Institute eingeladen, die die Lügen der KP Chinas über Tibet in ihren Vorträgen wiedergaben. Andere behaupteten, dass der Koreakrieg ausgelöst wurde, weil das US-Militär chinesische Dörfer bombardiert hätte und dass die Partei gezwungen war, Truppen zu schicken.
The U.S. defense budget for 2019, which was approved in 2018, sharply condemns the CCP’s attempts to influence US public opinion, particularly through “media, cultural institutions, corporations, and academic and political groups.” The Defense Budget Act 2019 explicitly prohibits the Ministry of Defense from allocating funds to Sinology departments at universities where there is a Confucius Institute.
Director Doris Liu is added
The documentary “In the Name of Confucius – In the Name of Confucius” was released in 2017. He shows the machinations and controversies surrounding the multi-billion dollar Confucius Institute program of the Chinese government.
As part of the closing of the Confucius Institute of McMaster University in Ontario (Canada) in 2013, the rapid expansion of the institutes was for the first time illuminated critically. There are currently nineteen in Germany and two in Confucius in Austria.
The nearly one-hour documentary shows, among other things, how the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party flows into the teaching of the Western universities and what contracts the institutes bring with them. Following the film screening, director Doris Liu is in question and in discussion with various guests themselves question and answer. The documentary is shown in original version with a German subtitle, admission is free.
All dates for the film screenings
27.11 .: Berlin: 19:00, Robert Havemann Hall, House of Democracy and Human Rights, Greifswalder Straße 4, 10405 Berlin
28.11 .: Berlin: 19:00, Filmrauschpalast Moabit, Lehrter Str. 35, 10557
29.11 .: Leipzig: 19:00, University
02.12 .: Munich: 19:00 clock, one-world house, Schwanthalerstraße 80, 80336 Munich
03.12 .: Freising: 19:30, Furtner Bräu, Obere Hauptstr. 42, 85354 Freising
04.12 .: Salzburg: 18:00, Georg Eisler-Hörsaal (E.003) Unipark Nonntal Erzabt-Klotz-Straße 1, 5020 Salzburg
05.12 .: Stuttgart: 19:00 clock, Macromedia University – University of Applied Sciences, MRK space, Naststraße 11, 70376 Stuttgart – with Dr. med. Franz Alt (journalist)
12.06.:. Düsseldorf: 18:30 clock, adult education center, Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz 1 b, 40227 Dusseldorf with Xu Pei (writer)
10.12 .: Hamburg: 19:30, Lichtmess cinema, Gaußstrasse 25, 22765 Hamburg
11.12 .: Göttingen: 19:00, Geiststraße 7, 37073 Göttingen – with Tienchi-Martin Liao (President of the Independent Chinese PEN)
12.12 .: Wiesbaden: 19:00 h, Hochschule RheinMain, lecture hall C101, Kurt-Schumacher-Ring 18, 65197 Wiesbaden – with Xu Pei (writer)
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This article is translated from German to English by google translate.
Original Title：Ab heute in Berlin: Wieviel Konfuzius ist überhaupt in den Konfuzius-Instituten?
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