adminBEIJING. — The Belt and Road Initiative is about joint economic development and multipolar geopolitics. It is also about alternatives to the Western cultural monopoly, which the transatlantic establishment sees as crucial to remain in power.
On December 31, 2020, the University of Hamburg, one of the largest universities in Germany with over 40 000 students, cancelled its cooperation agreement with the Chinese Confucius Institute.
This decision was made even though, since its opening in 2007, the Confucius Institute in Hamburg has been a popular place to discover Chinese culture and learn the language.
Students especially use this opportunity. Some participate to have better chances in their future working life, others are interested in Chinese culture, and often-times both motivations go hand in hand.
The EU’s investment deal with Beijing punctures America’s dream of a “transatlantic alliance’ against China. The EU’s investment deal with Beijing punctures America’s dream of a ‘transatlantic alliance” against China.
The Confucius Institutes aim for cooperation with the host country and usually they are joint projects with universities.
The interest is there and grows, the further China’s economy advances. But the demand for such cultural alternatives also increases with the decline of culture in the West.
The Confucius Institutes are part of Chinese efforts to promote cultural cooperation with partner countries. On a strategic level, it’s about using the big financial potential of the Belt and Road Initiative to oppose Western monopoly also in the area of culture.
Although this cultural potential is barely realised, there is already political pressure. The University of Düsseldorf in Germany also cancelled its cooperation agreement with the local Confucius Institute in 2020. Internationally, nearly 10 percent of more than 500 locations were closed. In German politics, the Green Party has the most aggressive agitation against cooperation and cultural exchange with China.
What is the reason for such political pressure on cultural projects? Officially, it is once again about hollow words like “freedom” and “democracy.” China is being accused of restricting the freedom of science and teaching. In light of the increasing neoliberal conformity at German universities, the hypocrisy is apparent.
Here’s what the supposed culture of freedom of speech and democratic tolerance looks like:
A study that was published in October 2020 in the research journal ‘Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie’ found that about half of the students surveyed do not tolerate different opinions. — RT.
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