Acclaimed documentary critical of China’s Confucius Institute premieres in Australia
DHARAMSALA, Dec 27: Amidst greater scrutiny over China’s controversial Confucius Institute(CI) across the world, an award-winning documentary that is highly critical of the institutes has premiered in Western Australia.
The award-winning documentary, ‘In The Name of Confucius’ written and directed by Chinese-born Canadian filmmaker Doris Liu was reportedly screened in Western Australia in the state library in early December, reports the Epoch Times. The 52-minute film features prominent campaigner for human rights and actress Miss World Canada 2015 Anastasia (Yefan) Lin as its lead actress playing a Chinese teacher who leaves China to take up a post with a Confucius Institute in Canada.
The documentary exposes the blatant Communist propaganda that CI uses in schools and universities in western democracies where topics such as Tibet, Uyghur, the Tiananmen Square, or Falun Gong are off the table while it works to spread the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda and silences any dissenting voices. While ‘In The Name of Confucius’ focuses on Canada, but the problem is worldwide. There are more than 500 Confucius Institutes around the world.
“While the CCP is attempting to export its propaganda to the West, it has at the same time, banned the discussion of western ideologies and democracy in Chinese classrooms. This is not only in universities but in elementary and high schools as well,” the Epoch Times quotes Lin as saying.
CI which are funded by Beijing has come under increasing international scrutiny off late. It was accused of promoting China’s worldview and trying to spread its political influence and Communist Party propaganda abroad.
With a string of closure of CI’s across the world and the governments alike openly attempting to masquerade Confucius Institute as a subvert threat, the real intention of the CI is obvious.
According to the report, Joseph Poprzeczny, a Political and education reporter and columnist who was among the audience has stated that “CI’s are a part of a sinister ploy … used by Beijing against the Australian people and also against the Chinese people, actually denigrating their own tradition.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi who visited India to attend the first meeting of the High-Level Mechanism on People-to-People Exchanges over Dec 21-24 has proposed at the beginning of his visit to set up CI in India as part of what he called “brand projects”.
