Beijing asks for ‘objectivity’
NEWDELHI: Against the backdrop of New Delhi’s reported plans to review the setting up of Confucius Institutes in the country, China on Tuesday said India should handle collaboration in education in an objective and fair manner and “avoid politicising normal cooperation”.
As reported by HT on Sunday, India’s education ministry plans to review the setting up of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in seven colleges and universities after security agencies alerted the government about growing Chinese influence in higher education.
The ministry also plans to review 54 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed between Chinese institutions and prestigious Indian institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, and Jawaharlal Nehru University. Reacting to these developments, Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Rong said, “We hope Indian relevant parties can treat Confucius Institutes and ChinaIndia higher education cooperation in an objective and fair manner, avoid politicising normal cooperation, and maintain healthy and stable development of China-India people-to-people and cultural exchanges.”
The Chinese side has responded in an increasingly assertive manner to India’s actions amid the months-long border standoff between the two sides, which currently shows little signs of abating.
After India imposed a fresh ban on 47 clones of prohibited Chinese apps last month, China had said it will take “necessary measures” to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
The Chinese embassy spokesperson said the two sides have cooperated on the Confucius Institute Project for more than 10 years, Ji added.
All the Confucius Institutes in India were established by universities from the two countries “after signing legally binding cooperation agreement in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, friendly consultation, equality, and mutual benefit, and on the premise that the Indian side applied voluntarily and met the conditions for running the Institute,” Ji said.