Avoid politicising edu ties, says China
Confucius Centres under govt lens
An upset China on Tuesday asked India to “avoid politicising normal cooperation” in the education sector and to “treat Confucius Institutes and ChinaIndia higher education cooperation in an objective and fair manner”. The latest Chinese reaction was in response to media reports that the Indian Government is reviewing the activities undertaken by the Confucius Centre at various Indian universities. The Confucius Centres — named after ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius — were reportedly established across the world with Beijing’s assistance as centres to propagate Chinese culture and Mandarin (Chinese) language-learning.
The latest controversy is also being seen as yet more evidence of the current downturn in SinoIndian ties following the deadly clash between Indian and Chinese troops at the Galwan valley in the Ladakh sector in mid-June. The two sides are still in prolonged talks to ensure military de-escalation amid reports that Beijing is reluctant to pull back its troops from certain areas in the Ladakh sector.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy said, “We hope Indian relevant parties can treat Confucius Institutes and ChinaIndia higher education cooperation in an objective and fair manner, avoid politicizing normal cooperation, and maintain healthy and stable development of ChinaIndia people-to-people exchanges.” The Chinese Embassy added, “With increasingly close economic exchanges, the demand for Chinese language teaching in India is growing.”
ACCORDING TO recent media reports, there are only two functional Confucius Institutes in India, one at Mumbai University and the other at the Vellore Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu.