The closure of a Confucius Classroom in Sweden last week marks the shuttering of the last remaining Chinese government-funded Confucius Institute and its affiliated programs in the country. Political analysts say that the closure is symptomatic of rapidly deteriorating relations between the two nations. According to a report in the British newspaper the Times, Sweden is the first European nation to close all of its Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms.
The last of Sweden’s four Confucius Institutes located in the city of Lulea, closed its doors in December last year. However, an affiliated Confucius Classroom, located in Falkenberg in the south of the country, stayed open until last week and its closure marks the end of Confucius Institutes within Sweden’s borders. In the US and Canada, several universities have already closed their Confucius Institutes, while in the Australian state of New South Wales, all Confucius Institutes have shut.
In 2005, China opened Europe’s first Confucius Institute at Stockholm University. Sino-Swedish relations remained close up until the Hong Kong Causeway Bay Bookstore incident, when Chinese security officials arrested book publisher Gui Minhai, a Swedish national. Since then the bilateral relationship has turned frosty and the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated disagreements between the two nations.
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
The Swedish government has adopted a “herd immunity” strategy to deal with the virus: shielding the elderly and other high-risk groups, while placing limited restrictions on social activities. The strategy allows infected individuals to spread the virus to a limited degree, so as to increase immunity within the population. Chinese state-controlled media outlets have issued multiple attacks on Sweden’s government for having “surrendered” to the virus and have claimed that Sweden poses a threat to the health security of other countries. Meanwhile, the two nations have also terminated a number of trade and cultural exchanges.
Swedish epidemiologists have hit back, arguing that their epidemic strategy is already proving to be effective and the nation’s capital is projected to achieve herd immunity within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Swedish media has published reports exposing the Chinese government’s attempts to shirk its responsibilities after infecting the world with the virus. According to Bjorn Jerden, head of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs Asia Programme, the closure of the institutes and affiliated programs represents a hardening of Sweden’s stance toward China.
Confucius Institutes are managed through the Office of Chinese Language Council International in Beijing, which is affiliated to China’s Ministry of Education. All Confucius Institutes outside of China are managed through regional branch offices. Funding and teaching materials are provided by China’s central government. The institutes teach Chinese language and culture, but they have been criticized for pretending to promote Chinese culture while in fact functioning as a propaganda arm of the Chinese state. There are currently a total of 525 Confucius Institutes in operation around the world and 1,100 Confucius Classrooms.
Photo: Reuters 照片：路透
(Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
在上週關閉最後一所孔子課堂（Confucius Classroom）後，瑞典境內所有中國政府資助的孔子學院（Confucius Classroom）相關機構，已經全部關閉。分析家指出，這顯示瑞典與中國曾經的友好關係正迅速崩解。英國泰晤士報報導，據信瑞典是歐洲第一個關閉境內所有孔子學院和孔子課堂的國家。
瑞典各大學共計四所孔子學院，最後一間是北部城市盧勒去年十二月關閉的孔子學院。上週，設於南部法肯伯鎮的孔子課堂，成為瑞典境內最後一間關閉的孔子課堂。美國和加拿大境內的幾所大學已關閉孔子學院，澳洲新南威爾斯省去年也關閉所有孔子課堂。
二○○五年，中國在斯德哥爾摩大學成立歐洲第一所孔子學院，瑞中關係也始終密切，直到因香港銅鑼灣書店事件，中國逮捕瑞典籍書商桂民海，雙方開始交惡，最近更因武漢肺炎疫情而屢生齟齬。瑞典採取「群體免疫」方式，即在保護老年人等高危險人群的同時，對社會活動儘可能減少限制，同時允許病毒在一定程度上散播，以增強全民免疫力。中國官方媒體多次抨擊瑞典處理疫情的作法為「投降」，對其他國家構成威脅，兩國也中斷許多商業和文化交流。
瑞典流行病學家則反駁，他們的抗疫策略正在奏效，數週內將可在首都斯德哥爾摩實現「群體免疫」，瑞典媒體更大篇幅披露中國政府試圖推卸其對病毒在全球氾濫所應承擔的責任。瑞典國際事務研究所亞洲計畫主持人葉必揚指出，孔子學院相關計畫終結，是瑞典對中國態度更普遍強硬的一環。
孔子學院是由中國教育部所屬的「國家漢語國際推廣領導小組辦公室」（漢辦）管理，總部位於北京，中國境外的孔子學院均屬分支機構。孔子學院透過北京當局提供的教科書和經費，在海外教授漢語和中國文化，但被批評是假借推廣文化，充當中國政府的宣傳工具。全球各地有五二五所孔子學院和一千一百座孔子課堂。
(自由時報)
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