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Transcript/Script
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PLAYBOOK SLUG: SOUTH AFRICA CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE (TV)
HEADLINE: As West Shuts Confucius Institutes, More Open in Africa TEASER: The competition for global influence between China and the West continues with the opening of another Confucius Institute in Africa
PUBLISHED AT: 11/16/22, 2:34p BYLINE: Kate Bartlett WRITER: Kate Bartlett
VIDEOGRAPHER: Gianluigi Guercia
PRODUCER: Gianluigi Guercia
DATELINE: Cape Town, South Africa SCRIPT EDITORS: ELee, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original, Feeds PLATFORMS (mark with X): Radio_X_ TV_X _ Web
TRT: 3:06
APPROVED BY: Reifenrath EDITOR NOTES:
[[INTRO: For almost two decades the Chinese government has been exercising its soft power through “Confucius Institutes” at universities around the globe. While universities in the U.S. and other Western countries have been closing these institutes in recent years, the trend is reversed in African universities where more Confucius Institutes are opening their doors. Kate Bartlett reports from Cape Town, South Africa.]]
((NARRATOR))
Tai Chi – an ancient martial art is ushering in the newest Confucius Institute in Cape Town.
This institute, sponsored by the Chinese government, is the most recent to open in Africa where some 60 Confucius institutes are operating. Students can learn Mandarin and Chinese culture. This institute also offers classes on traditional Chinese medicine. The opportunity to travel abroad excites 20-year-old student Jaden Bitterbos, who studied Mandarin in high school.
((Jaden Bitterbos, University Student))
“If I really had the opportunity to study in China, I’d take it. “
((NARRATOR))
This Confucius Institute at the University of the Western Cape is the sixth to open in South Africa and is one of more than 500 worldwide.
While the number of these institutes are increasing in Africa, the reverse has been happening in the U.S. and other Western countries.
The U.S. and some academics say the institutes interfere with free speech, where some faculty may even self-censor on topics critical of China.
((Mandatory cg: “Zoom”))
Cobus van Staden, is with the China Global South Project in South Africa.
((Cobus van Staden, China Global South Project Analyst))
“If a university, for example, invites a Tibetan representative, then they might get pushback from the Chinese embassy, and now they might also get pushback from the Confucius Institute.”
((End Zoom))
((NARRATOR))In recent years, more than 100 of the centers have closed on U.S. campuses. Sweden and Finland have also shut the doors of their centers, and earlier this month, the British prime minister promised to close dozens of Confucius Institutes in the U.K.
Western governments see the Confucius Institutes as propaganda machines for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s ideology and the Communist Party that provide Beijing's' perspective on how its government works.
((Mandatory cg: “Zoom”))
((Cobus van Staden, China Global South Project Analyst))
“You know, how political systems work, how politics work between China and other places, and because we’re in the Xi Jinping era, those tend to be highly informed by Xi Jinping thought and by kind of official talking points within the Chinese government. To which extent one sees that as malign propaganda is very much up to the local context.”
((End Zoom))
[[FOR RADIO: Liren Zeng is co-director of the new Confucius Institute in Cape Town.]]
((Liren Zeng, Confucius Institute Co-director))
“My response is very simple: All the universities, almost all the universities are sponsored by the Chinese government, so if you don’t want to do anything with the Chinese government, then you can’t collaborate with the universities in China.”
((NARRATOR))
Beijing has gained increasing influence in South Africa over the years. China is the country’s largest trade partner.
The University of the Western Cape's director of international relations Umesh Bawa says he had been warned by some Western partners that Confucius Institutes could be “a Trojan horse,” but says he is not concerned.
((Umesh Bawa, University of the Western Cape))
“We’re very clear about what partnerships we make, and like everything else we’re cautious. We don’t do partnerships with people who do not share our values.”
((NARRATOR))
Zeng says this Confucius Institute’s curriculum is “heavily scrutinized” by local South African faculty.
((Kate Bartlett, for VOA News, Cape Town))
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateNovember 16, 2022 14:47 EST
BylineKate Bartlett
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
