The Confucius Institute will now be housed in a non-RUG building
The University of Groningen wants to adopt a more ‘independent’ attitude towards the Confucius Institute, which promotes Chinese (Mandarin) language and culture, and is controlled by the Chinese government’s department of education.
In a completely symbolic move, the RUG has decided that it no longer wants to house the institute in an official university building on the Oude Boteringestraat. The University of Groningen has decided to house the institute in a building elsewhere: it is unknown if more organisations ‘loyal to the RUG’ will be moved into the Confucius Institute’s old building.
The decision has to do with statements by outgoing Dutch Education Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven. She would think it a good idea if the RUG were to separate itself from the Confucius Institute, in order to allay concerns about possible harm to academic freedom, reports OOGTV.
The university still considers Chinese languages and culture to be important academic subjects and so it is also investigating how the RUG itself can meet the high demand for knowledge about modern China and its various languages.
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