At its peak, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had 548 Confucius Institutes and 1,193 Confucius Classrooms around the world — until they became regarded as platforms for Chinese espionage and propaganda.
Before then, the CCP’s United Front Work Department was using the institutes to monitor overseas Chinese students and expatriates, suppress freedom of speech, manipulate ideology abroad and facilitate intelligence gathering, as well as promote Chinese propaganda by censoring issues deemed sensitive to the Chinese government.
Beijing was also using the institutes to make opaque financial transactions between local academic institutions, civic groups and politicians, which led to Western countries closing them for the threat they posed to national security. Nonetheless, some institutes have reappeared as Chinese Language Learning Centers, and continue to serve as propaganda arms and recruiters for intelligence gathering.
As Confucius Institutes closed, a network of vocational programs called Luban Workshops started to open. Named after Lu Ban (魯班), a mythical Chinese figure revered as a patron of builders, the workshops were launched to train talent overseas. To expand China’s political space by forming stronger ties with developing countries, the program provides skills and knowledge in areas such as electronics, Chinese medicine, enterprises and cuisine for students in countries taking part in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The export model of the Luban Workshops has come to be known as “Confucius Institute 2.0.”
Some differences exist. One is that Confucius Institutes expanded sharply after their launch in 2004. By the end of January 2012, there were institutes and 500 Confucius Classrooms worldwide. In contrast, Luban Workshops have expanded more discreetly — only 25 have been founded since 2016.
Another difference is that their focus is not on exporting Chinese propaganda and culture, but to introduce Chinese medicine and Chinese manufacturing business models to developing countries, whereas Confucius Institutes have been concentrated in developed Western countries.
Also, when the Confucius Institutes were established, they were directed by the CCP, while the Luban Workshops are purportedly backed by Tianjin Light Industry Vocational Technical College, which is meant to alleviate concerns of CCP involvement.
However, during meetings with foreign guests, party leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) have mentioned Luban Workshops on several occasions, indicating that the program has been approved by the Beijing government.
Luban Workshops might be a result of the CCP learning its lesson after Western countries cracked down on its Confucius Institutes. Based on China’s record of using the institutes to infiltrate nations, Luban Workshops could become new hubs for spreading Chinese propaganda and gathering intelligence.
Western nations are trying to counter China’s influence with a large influx of resources and funds.
The “Chinese models” taught in the workshops could help fuel a totalitarian regime and undermine democracy.
As the global community is monitoring the influence of Confucius Institutes and Luban Workshops, now might be a crucial moment and a good opportunity for Taiwan to step forward to help fill this gap — not only in teaching Mandarin as a global language, but also in facilitating cultural exchanges.
It is up to the government to integrate various resources to fully realize the spirit of “Taiwan Can Help.”
Kung Hsien-tai is director of the ethics department at Taiwan Financial Holdings.
Translated by Rita Wang
They did it again. For the whole world to see: an image of a Taiwan flag crushed by an industrial press, and the horrifying warning that “it’s closer than you think.” All with the seal of authenticity that only a reputable international media outlet can give. The Economist turned what looks like a pastiche of a poster for a grim horror movie into a truth everyone can digest, accept, and use to support exactly the opinion China wants you to have: It is over and done, Taiwan is doomed. Four years after inaccurately naming Taiwan the most dangerous place on
Wherever one looks, the United States is ceding ground to China. From foreign aid to foreign trade, and from reorganizations to organizational guidance, the Trump administration has embarked on a stunning effort to hobble itself in grappling with what his own secretary of state calls “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” The problems start at the Department of State. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that “it’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power” and that the world has returned to multipolarity, with “multi-great powers in different parts of the
President William Lai (賴清德) recently attended an event in Taipei marking the end of World War II in Europe, emphasizing in his speech: “Using force to invade another country is an unjust act and will ultimately fail.” In just a few words, he captured the core values of the postwar international order and reminded us again: History is not just for reflection, but serves as a warning for the present. From a broad historical perspective, his statement carries weight. For centuries, international relations operated under the law of the jungle — where the strong dominated and the weak were constrained. That
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
RSS