“We are trying to bring two cultures together,” said Bruce Mitchell, associate provost and chair of the institute’s board. “It’s not just language but art, cooking and crafts.” When it opened in May, 2007, the local Confucius Institute was the second institute in Canada. The institute is a partnership between Waterloo and Nanjing University in China.

The Confucius Institute has now been established for eight years, and there is a new global wave of interest in studying Putonghua. Nowadays, Chinese society realizes the cultural power of Confucianism, and Confucius' name constantly comes up in the context of Chinese culture.

Hosted at the Carter Center, this conference had as its main theme the exploration of the strategies, challenges, and opportunities facing Chinese companies expanding into the U.S. market...the conference attracted more than 150 participants from local Atlanta companies as well as several major Chinese businesses in the U.S..

“Language instruction always comes with values and with ideologies and messages...but in the Canadian context, where academic freedom and intellectual expression are highly prized . . . an institution that can provide high-quality language instruction should be embraced.”

The Confucius Institutes are in themselves a good thing, as an international cultural presence for China and an exercise in soft power. Canadian universities and colleges, however, should refrain from partnerships with them, as they are bound to include a propagandistic element inconsistent with liberal education.

Confucius Institutes (CIs) and Confucius Classrooms (CCs) have mushroomed in the US since the establishment of the first CI at the University of Maryland in 2004. Currently there are 81 CIs and more than 300 CCs in the US. Since its establishment, the CI-UHM has contributed greatly to the US, both educationally and economically, via academic activities and cultural exchanges.

The issue in question was the Chinese government-sponsored Confucius Institutes hosted by American universities. China has 70 such institution in the United States, more than any other country in the world. The U.S., meanwhile, has all of five America Centers in China.

China opened its first Confucius Institute in 2004. Many mushroomed since then. By the end of last year, China has set up 358 Confucius Institutes and 500 Confucius Classrooms in 105 countries and regions. In Europe, there are 129 and 104 Confucius Institutes and Classrooms respectively, scattered in 34 countries and regions.