Confucius Institute bridge of understanding, friendship between China and USP in Vanuatu Feedback: jyotip@fijisun.com.fj

Port Vila: The Confucius Institute is a bridge of understanding and friendship linking China and the world, including the South Pacific island countries, a Vanuatu university official told Xinhua.

In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, Ruben Markward, director of Emalus campus of the University of the South Pacific (USP), Vanuatu, praised the Confucius Institute at USP for the important role it has played over the past years.

“The Confucius Institute is, in fact, a very useful platform for us to learn from each other, and a bridge of understanding and friendship between China and the world, including the South Pacific island countries like Vanuatu. It has really helped increase the cultural exchanges between us and promote the mutual understanding between our two peoples and the friendship between our two countries,” he said.

“We can not be what we are today without the Confucius Classroom here. Actually, it is also a win-win outcome of the friendly cooperation between our two countries,” Mr Markward said.

“I am happy for the progress the Confucius Classroom has made over the past years and I want to thank China and the Confucius Classroom here for what they have done to our university.”

Located in Vanuatu’s beautiful capital city of Port Vila, the garden-like USP Emalus campus hosts more than 1000 students per semester from the Pacific region. Emalus is a Melanesian word which means “the place

We can not be what we are today without the Confucius Classroom here. Actually, it is also a winwin outcome of the friendly co-operation between our two countries Ruben Markward Director of Emalus campus of the University of the South Pacific in Vanuatu

where it always rains.”

The Confucius Classroom at the campus was officially inaugurated in 2015 and it has since then had four Chinese teachers and one volunteer. The classroom has around 1156 registered students and has organised around 50 cultural events over the past years. From Mr Markward’s point of view, the Confucius Classroom here is a big, unique and different one which has done a great job to help more and more students from the Pacific region learn Chinese language and culture.

“The Confucius Classroom here is very interesting, unique and the students like it very much because learning Chinese language can help them discover a different culture and new horizon.”