China Funds U.S. Schools, Doesn’t Want Tibet Discussed

[marmar]

{Bloomberg) When a Beijing organization with close ties to China’s government offered Stanford University $4 million to host a Confucius Institute on Chinese language and culture and endow a professorship, it attached one caveat: The professor couldn’t discuss delicate issues like Tibet.

“They said they didn’t want to be embarrassed,” said Richard Saller, dean of Stanford’s school of humanities and sciences. Stanford refused, citing academic freedom, and Chinese officials backed down, Saller said. The university plans to use the money for a professorship in classical Chinese poetry, far removed from the Tibet dispute.

China is expanding its presence on U.S. campuses, seeking to promote its culture and history and meet a growing global demand to learn its language. Hanban, a government-affiliated group under the Chinese education ministry, has spent at least $500 million since 2004 establishing 350 Confucius Institutes worldwide and about 75 in the U.S., four times the number in any other country, according to its annual reports and website.

Once confined to teaching Mandarin and traditional arts such as calligraphy at state university campuses, China-funded Confucius Institutes are making inroads into elite higher education by contributing millions of dollars for research, sparking faculty concerns about muting criticism of China’s government. The Association for Asian Studies, a leading group of China scholars with 8,000 members worldwide, decided in March it wouldn’t seek or accept Hanban support, due to the lack of a firewall separating China’s government from funding decisions. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-01/china-says-no-talking-tibet-as-confucius-funds-u-s-universities.html

[rpannier]

1. China at Stanford, the Koch's at Florida State

They're doing everything they can to control thought

[JDPriestly]

2. We should place tariffs on Chinese imports.

Then we would not need Chinese charity. This is disgusting.

The gifts from the Chinese are at the expense of the people who work in their factories. Really. How can Stanford accept a gift from a country of impoverished slaves.

[ellisonz]

3. Free Tibet!

[JVS]

4. They seem new to this, so maybe a few guidelines might help them.

1. Nothing makes people talk about something like being told not to talk about it. Truth be told, a huge number of people don't give a shit about Tibet.

2. If widespread indifference isn't enough of a cover, feel free to donate your money to other fields of research. Medieval French poetry is an excellent area to invest in if you want to ensure that the professor never has reason to mention Tibet in lectures. Do this enough and you'll have a lot of people who know where their bread is buttered and will no longer be interested in hearing about Tibet.

3. The best defense is a good offense. Rule under the Lamas sucked ass. Let people know how much it sucked ass. Tell your side of the story,