De har ett confuse... Konfuzius-institut i Stockholm...

Regarding Mirko Petricevic's May 4 article Confucius Institute Offers Language, Cultural Studies, I am left a bit perplexed.

I seriously have to question why Confucius has suddenly become Communist China's new poster boy. Apparently, by 2010 there will be 500 Communist party culture schools in the world. Besides the Waterloo institute, there has been one in Vancouver since February 2005 and one more will open soon in Toronto. They are being set up in 36 countries, even in Rwanda.

One may only wonder what the Beijing elite is really up to, knowing full well that they don't cherish the Confucius teachings of virtue and free speech. Consul general Taoying Zhu said the Confucius Institute will be a tool for building friendships between China and Canada. That really has me worried.

Another major concern is this stipulation on the Hanban's websites stating:
"Overseas Confucius Institutes must abide by the one-China policy."

Unfortunately, Zhu's remarks are short of reassuring. How will we know if the textbooks are to be filled with anti-democracy, anti-Falun Gong material glorifying the party, complete with slogans of "Peaceful development road" and "Harmonious society"?

I don't mean to sound xenophobic but we should be on guard.

The Chinese recently announced they are going ahead with the revision of their history textbooks to reflect a flawless China, discarding historical facts harmful to the nation's image. Isn't China's genuflecting to Confucius just another tool to wield soft power abroad and spread the Communist values that are completely opposite of ours? It sure appears to be so.

Marie Beaulieu

Victoria. B.C.

LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2007

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