The Taipei Representative Office in the UK has raised concerns to “relevant institutions” after teaching materials used in the country’s Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP) reportedly depicted Taiwan as part of China.
University College London, which administers the MEP, said the program has no singular curriculum and that materials in the Mandarin Resources for Schools database, which allegedly made the claim, are optional.
However, British newspaper the Daily Telegraph said that some teaching materials depicting Taiwan as part of China were produced by the university’s Institute of Education (IOE).
Photo: Screen grab from University College London’s Web site via CNA
The MEP receives funding from the British Department for Education, which supports more than 8,000 students learning Chinese, the department said.
A spokesperson for the department on Tuesday said that teaching materials must be accurate, age-appropriate and balanced when political issues are involved.
None of the official MEP materials depict Taiwan as part of China and participating schools are responsible for choosing their own teaching materials, they said.
The IOE operates a Confucius Institute in partnership with Peking University and provides Mandarin-teaching support to British schools, including Chinese teachers.
The MEP Web site is hosted under the IOE Confucius Institute, and an introductory video states that the database was developed as a unified platform for Mandarin teaching resources.
After being added to a list of Chinese Communist Party-linked organizations by the Mainland Affairs Council last year, Taiwanese citizens have been banned from working at Confucius Institutes under the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
The institutes are designated as being involved in matters relating to national identity or basic loyalty, Chinese “united front” influence operations, or those which might threaten national security or interests.
Various governments, including those of the US and the UK, as well as academics and non-governmental organizations, have also voiced concerns in the past few years about Confucius Institutes being a potential conduit for Chinese propaganda.
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