Since 2003, the Chinese Communist government has been promoting the establishment of Chinese university campuses overseas under the policy of “expanding education and culture abroad. Currently, three universities, including Beijing Language and Culture University, have been designated by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) as institutions of study in Japan. The Confucius Institutes, which promote “universal Chinese language education,” are also part of this policy, so the Japanese branches of the universities are closely linked to the Confucius Institutes. In the name of education, the Chinese Communist regime’s infiltration of Japan is steadily advancing.
“After all, it is a foreign university.”
According to the MEXT website, the designated Japanese branches of Chinese universities include, Tianjin University of Chinese Medicine College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Japan (established in September 2006, located in Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture), Beijing Language and Culture University Tokyo College (established in April 2003, located in Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo), and Shanghai University Tokyo College (established in June 2007, located in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo).
According to the Ministry of Education, the Japanese branches of these universities are, after all, “foreign universities” and do not receive any government subsidies. Foreign universities are free to establish their own branches in Japan.
Currently, 11 Japanese campuses have been established by universities and graduate schools in the United States, Canada, China, and other countries. Unlike universities in other countries, Chinese universities are state-run and are government institutions operating for the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP has taken advantage of the open academic environment overseas to spread its communist ideology.
Close ties with Confucius Institutes
Of the three universities’ Japanese branches, the Japanese branch of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine’s School of Chinese Medicine established a Confucius Institute in 2006, with the assistance of Kobe Toyo Medical College. Two years later, the institute opened the “Kobe Toyo Medical College Confucius Classroom”. In addition to Chinese language, public lectures on “Chinese medicine” are also held.
Beijing Language and Culture University, a major university directly under the Ministry of Education, established its first Japanese branch in 2015 and now has a Confucius Institute in cooperation with Hokuriku University and Kansai University of Foreign Studies. Although the Tokyo campus does not have a Confucius Institute, it is deeply involved in the business of the university’s Confucius Institute.
In July 2016, ISI Global (Ikebukuro, Tokyo), the co-operator of the Tokyo campus, launched a Chinese language teacher training program for Japanese with Hokuriku University “in cooperation with the Confucius Institute headquarters and the National Office of the Chinese Language Promotion International Steering Group,” according to an article from the university’s Confucius Institute Business Department. Executives from Beijing Language and Culture University also came to Japan to study this training program.
According to the article, after the training, “Beijing Language and Culture University and the director of ISI Global exchanged views and reached a number of agreements. These include the integration of Chinese language education into the Japanese school system and the implementation of the Confucius New Chinese Studies Program to strengthen the study of Chinese studies.
ISI Global was established in 1977 and is mainly engaged in study abroad agency, Japanese language education, and vocational school. Since 1995, the company has had business ties with Beijing Foreign Studies University and Beijing Language and Culture University. Currently, in addition to being a language study abroad agent, the company also has a partnership with the Peking University School of Medicine to support medical students studying abroad.
Infiltration through expansion of soft power
In recent years, the Chinese Communist government has dedicated itself to infiltrating other societies through soft power in order to gain a voice in the international community. Confucius Institutes have become its symbolic presence.
In the name of popularizing Chinese language education, Confucius Institutes conduct “united front operations” and carry out political propaganda based on the CCP’s advocacy.
In 2010, Liu Yunshan, then head of the Propaganda Department, told People’s Daily that China’s overseas propaganda must be “comprehensive, multi-layered and wide-ranging. “We need to launch vigorous propaganda around major issues affecting national sovereignty and security, such as Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, human rights, and Falun Gong. Our strategy is to actively take our culture abroad and to successfully establish overseas cultural centers and Confucius Institutes.”
A Chinese lecturer sent to Kobe by a Confucius Institute published the following article on the BLCU website in December 2019 He conveyed to Japanese students who have a negative impression of China that “China is more advanced than Japan” and said he “has to play the role of a communist even abroad.
Confucius Institutes are being closed one after another
In recent years, Confucius Institutes in the West have been closed due to scrutiny of the purpose of their activities. Last August, the then Trump administration announced that the Confucius Institute USA Center in Washington, D.C., would be designated as a diplomatic mission similar to embassies and consulates, and the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019 requires the Department of Defense to stop financial support for universities that establish Confucius Institutes.
Confucius Institutes are a collaboration between universities in China and Japan and do not require a declaration of establishment or approval. There are currently 18 such institutions in Japan, but there is no sign that they are about to close.
In an interview with the Epoch Times, Japan’s Ministry of Education said that it will not review the activities of foreign universities after they establish branches in Japan.
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