By Nicole Gaudiano, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are investigating whether academic freedom is being threatened at universities that are building campuses in China and partnering with the Chinese on “Confucius institutes” in the U.S., including Rutgers University.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chairman of a House subcommittee focusing on human rights, said at a hearing before the panel Thursday that he will seek a Governmental Accountability Office study of agreements between U.S. universities and China that allow China to promote its culture and language here through education programs it supervises and finances.
Smith said Congress could decide to withhold money for the Education Department or for State Department exchange programs if it decides the Chinese-sponsored efforts are compromising academic freedoms in the U.S.
“I think we can all agree that U.S. colleges and universities should not be outsourcing academic control, faculty and student oversight or curriculum to a foreign government — in this case a dictatorship,” said Smith, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.
There are 357 “Confucius classrooms” in secondary and elementary schools in the U.S., and 97 “Confucius institutes” at universities, including Stanford and Columbia universities. The institutes are named for the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius who paradoxically was vilified during the 1949-1976 reign of Communist Chairman Mao Zedong.
They are subsidized and supervised by Hanban, a Chinese government agency that influences the institutes’ staff recruitment and curriculum.
A small number of American universities, including Kean University in Union, N.J., have satellite campuses in China.
The American Association of University Professors opposes Confucius institutes, writing in a June report that they “function as an arm of the Chinese state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom” and sacrifice the integrity of universities and academic staff. The association recommended that universities cease involvement with the institutes unless agreements are renegotiated to provide for transparency and control by U.S. universities over all academic matters.
Rutgers said its agreement with Hanban for a Confucius institute requires the Chinese to provide 3,000 books, audio-visual and multimedia materials, to send one or two Chinese instructors and to provide $100,000 as a start-up fund.
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