To the Editor:
As someone involved with the University of Oklahoma Confucius Institute (OUCI) since its founding in 2006, I was disappointed by the one-sided hatchet job on Confucius Institutes (“China’s Pernicious Presence on American Campuses,” February 26) by Peter Wood. If you believe that cooperation between the United States and China is a desirable goal and, moreover, that it is beneficial for Americans to learn Mandarin Chinese and develop a rudimentary understanding of Chinese culture, then you understand why many American universities and K-12 schools have welcomed the opportunity to engage with China through CIs.
Rather than being a pernicious influence, CIs are a true partnership between American educational institutions and Chinese universities. The American host institution hires its own local staff. The Chinese partner provides an associate director and several teachers, who benefit from having the opportunity to teach in an American educational environment. American students get to learn Chinese from native speakers. The content of the curriculum is fully under the control of the American school at which classes are taught, not the Chinese government.
OUCI follows the principles of academic freedom and open inquiry. It is a red herring to suggest that our teachers are trying to indoctrinate Americans to support China. Because they are teaching classes in Mandarin and Chinese culture, our teachers rarely get asked about political issues, but if they are asked, they are free to say what they think. Not surprisingly, teachers from China tend to support the positions of their own government, which is consistent with American values of free speech and open discussion of ideas. However, OUCI strives to be politically neutral. Although we do not try to suppress anyone’s personal opinions, we do not promote any particular political position. We are focused on teaching Mandarin and introducing people to China’s 5,000-year-old culture.
In my 12-years’ experience, Confucius Institutes have a vehicle for positive cooperation between Chinese and American universities and K-12 schools. CIs promote the teaching of Mandarin at a level that would not be possible without the willingness of the Chinese government to send so many teachers to the US. Moreover, CIs create a platform for two-way academic and cultural cooperation that enhances the mutual understanding between people in both countries. Without CIs, most American communities would not have access to Mandarin instruction, and the ability of Americans and Chinese to get to know one another better would be greatly degraded. The alternative is mutual ignorance, which might serve political interests that prefer to promote enmity for their own domestic political purposes, but it is mutual understanding that is more likely to lead to peace and the well-being of ordinary Chinese and Americans.
Paul B. Bell, Jr.
Dean Emeritus
College of Arts and Sciences and Regents’ Professor
Executive Chair
OU Confucius Institute Board of Directors
The University of Oklahoma
