An Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission (OCAC) official said yesterday that China has established more than 200 "Confucius Institutes" in a bid to disseminate propaganda.
While these Confucius Institutes claim to promote Chinese language and culture, they are controlled by the Chinese government and aim to use education and culture to gain international influence and promote the viewpoints of the Beijing government, said an OCAC official, who declined to be identified.
The official said that China had planned to establish 100 Confucius Institutes, but had exceeded its target.
The official said that the threat posed by the institutes should not be taken lightly and that many countries, including Japan and India, were suspicious of the motivation behind the institutes.
China began making preparations for the institutions in 2002, the official said.
Other countries also have institutions to promote their language and culture, such as France's Alliance Francaise, established in 1883, and Germany's Goethe-Institut, established in 1951. But the character of these institutions is very different from that of China's Confucius Institutes, the official said.
The official said the Confucius Institute headquarters is in Beijing, but individual institutes are often managed by local universities. As a result, they don't attract the attention of the government of their host country, the official said.
Foreigners have reported that China demands any partner organization interested in opening a Confucius Institute recognize Beijing's claim to Taiwan. This influences the academic world's stance on the issue, the official said.
The only thing Taiwan can do to counter this development is to call on the international community to be watchful, the official said.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit