Since their launch in 2004, the Beijing-backed Confucius Institutes have been no strangers to controversy. While their defenders liken them to the Chinese equivalents of the Goethe Institute, the Alliance Francaise and the British Council, their critics have christened them fonts of espionage and propaganda – charges which, though salacious, are still unsubstantiated

“While this trip was monumental in itself with the partnerships that were developed, this year marks another special moment in the history of the Confucius Institute at WKU,” Martin said. “This year marks the official first full year of the summer camps provided by the Confucius Institute at WKU.”

If the French came up with the Alliance Française to capture the attention of the Global community, China has now started the Confucius institutes as effective healthy rivals. The traditional Asian recluse now has centres that look at imparting to the world the niceties of their culture and allow foreign nationals an opportunity to learn and enjoy Chinese martial arts, language, calligraphy, food, music and dance.

The Beijing-backed Confucius Institutes, which promote Chinese culture internationally, have been no stranger to controversy since their launch in 2004. Critics have charged they are platforms for Chinese espionage and propaganda—a salacious if still unsubstantiated charge

"Promoting cultural communication is an interesting job," says Krause in fluent Chinese. "The Confucius Institute is more like my kid, a 5-year-old who has started kindergarten but doesn't need breastfeeding anymore," he adds.

Aggregate data are not available, but figures from local language centres across the continent suggest that the number of people in Europe enlisted in taking the official Chinese Proficiency Test - or HSK - over the last two years has grown by close to a factor five.

China’s ability to get what it wants through attraction and persuasion rests on a number of factors: its culture (witness the Confucius Institutes it promotes); its values (particularly a successful growth model); and its foreign policies (for example, the pledge not to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries).

China is pushing its soft power agenda with an aim to quash debate on the issue of Tibet, where self-immolation protests will continue until Beijing ends its policy of state-sanctioned discrimination in the region, a Tibetan advocacy group said Wednesday.