Palgrave Macmillan has not too long ago revealed Memoirs of a Confucius Institute Director, Volume 1: Challenges, Controversies, and Realities, the primary insider memoir from a Confucius Institute director throughout a time of rising world controversy, by Michael Jinghan ZENG, Professor, Department of Public and International Affairs, City University of Hong Kong.
Prior to becoming a member of City University of Hong Kong, Professor Zeng established his educational profession within the UK. At 31, he was appointed Professor of China and International Studies at Lancaster University (a top 7 UK University at the time), changing into one of the youngest full professors in Britain.
Simultaneously, he served as Director of its Confucius Institute, main a workforce of almost 30 workers within the college. Under his steering, the Institute flourished into an award-winning establishment, receiving the distinguished Confucius Institute of the Year award from the Confucius Institute Headquarters, in addition to Lancaster University’s Outstanding Contribution Award.
During this time, the Institute additionally overcame unprecedented challenges, together with the worldwide pandemic, the sudden dissolution of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, and a political marketing campaign by the then-ruling UK authorities to shut Confucius Institutes. These outstanding experiences are chronicled in his forthcoming three-volume memoir, Memoirs of a Confucius Institute Director, with the first volume released in August 2025.
I’m joyful to share a 2,000-word excerpt from the book, as approved by Palgrave Macmillan and Professor Zeng.
As you’ll think about, I selected essentially the most horny half the place Zeng addresses essentially the most critical allegations towards Confucius Institutes: Espionage and Intelligence Gathering?
Due to the phrase restrict, I’ve to omit some paragraphs. But it is best to undoubtedly get a copy – from Palgrave Macmillan or Amazon!
One closing warning: British readers ought to brace for affect.
Among the various accusations leveled towards Confucius Institutes, one of essentially the most excessive is the claim that they function instruments for espionage. This narrative has been largely formed by issues raised by Western intelligence companies, sure policymakers, lecturers, and media experiences (ABC 2019; Vanttinen 2022; Francis 2023; Jakhar 2019; Peterson 2020). The then US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, for instance, accused Confucius Institutes of recruiting “spies and collaborators” at American universities (Reuters 2020). Viewing Confucius Institutes as espionage hubs on American campuses, the then Senator Marco Rubio even launched the so-called “No Federal Funding for CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Spying and Persuasion in Education Settings (SPIES) Act” in 2023 to push for his or her closure within the US (Rubio 2023). However, there is no such thing as a definitive public proof to substantiate these claims, and plenty of accusations stay speculative—if not outright misinformation or disinformation.
As these narratives proceed to unfold and are repeated throughout coverage discussions, media protection, and public discourse, they’ve contributed to a notion that espionage by Confucius Institutes is a longtime truth quite than mere hypothesis. This has considerably contributed to the demonization of Confucius Institutes and their workers in Europe and the US, regardless of the shortage of credible proof. In the UK, hypothesis and accusations have intensified alongside rising warnings from British safety companies in regards to the menace of Chinese espionage. In actuality, nevertheless, such accusations are completely disconnected from the precise operations and features of these establishments.
When assessing accusations of Confucius Institute espionage within the UK, it’s important to start with the broader geopolitical context. The actuality is that, in as we speak’s strategic panorama, the UK holds restricted intelligence worth for China. Once the empire on which the solar by no means set, Britain has lengthy misplaced its former political, financial, and navy dominance. Its world relevance has diminished, whereas China’s rise has positioned it as a main world energy. In this context, the intelligence dynamics between China and the UK are asymmetrical. China holds considerably higher intelligence worth to the UK than vice versa throughout almost all ranges. Given this actuality, it’s clear that the UK just isn’t a major goal of China’s espionage efforts.
At the upper training degree, espionage narratives primarily concentrate on science and expertise, the place issues about technological intelligence gathering and mental property theft are ceaselessly raised as beforehand mentioned. Many have expressed fears that China might acquire entry to cutting-edge analysis via educational partnerships with British universities, probably repurposing these developments for navy or strategic benefit (Devlin 2024; Devlin and Sample 2019; Devlin 2023; Parliament 2023). However, these issues have largely targeted on analysis partnerships between British and Chinese universities in science and expertise, whereas Confucius Institutes have little to no involvement in such collaborations.
When addressing these issues, it’s important to think about the broader context of UK-China science and expertise collaboration. At a macro degree, China’s technological rise has positioned it as a world chief, far surpassing the UK in lots of key areas—if the UK was ever a true competitor within the first place. In the upper training sector, Chinese universities have overtaken their British counterparts in technological capabilities. While British universities stay sturdy in foundational science, expertise, engineering, and arithmetic (STEM) analysis and theoretical developments, many of these developments take a long time to translate into relevant applied sciences with tangible financial, social, or navy impacts.
Meanwhile, China has leapfrogged forward in technological utility and innovation, integrating developments at a tempo unmatched by the UK. Thus, whereas sure British improvements might maintain some strategic worth to China, it’s essential to maintain this larger image in thoughts and keep away from exaggerating the intelligence significance of the UK in science and expertise collaboration. Overstating British universities’ technological worth dangers distorting coverage choices and fueling pointless alarmism.
Needless to say, scientists of Chinese origin now discover it more and more troublesome to pursue their work with out dealing with undue suspicion. A rising media and political narrative portrays them as potential spies or brokers of Chinese pursuits, resulting in heightened scrutiny and restrictions (Devlin 2023; Dathan 2021; Owen and Ryan 2021). Ironically, in the course of the UK–China “Golden Era,” science and expertise cooperation was actively inspired by the identical Conservative authorities that later adopted a hardline stance on such collaboration. As half of this engagement underneath the then Conservative authorities, the China-UK Joint Strategy for Science, Technology, and Innovation Cooperation was signed in 2017. This settlement established a framework for collaboration in three strategic areas: primary analysis, innovation, and world partnerships—marking China’s first joint technique in expertise and innovation with one other nation (UK 2017).
At the time, scientists’ Chinese origins or analysis ties with China had been as soon as thought to be an asset by many British universities, facilitating deeper collaboration with Chinese establishments. However, in as we speak’s geopolitical local weather, what was as soon as a bonus has more and more change into a legal responsibility and even one thing to hide. The rising political tensions have led to elevated scrutiny of Chinese scientists in British universities, with tighter restrictions on analysis collaborations, funding, and visa approvals underneath the banner of nationwide safety.
More importantly, and instantly related to the main target of this ebook, language and tradition facilities like Confucius Institutes—staffed primarily by language academics—have change into harmless victims of the broader geopolitical tensions surrounding UK-China science and expertise partnerships within the college sector. Science and expertise are extremely specialised fields that require in depth information, experience, and expertise, as does technological espionage. It is absurd to affiliate Confucius Institute academics—who’re usually highschool or major faculty language instructors, or often humanities and social science students in Lancaster’s case—with any kind of scientific analysis, not to mention tech espionage. Their function is completely unrelated to superior analysis in AI, biotechnology, or different delicate fields, making the accusations towards them each misguided and misplaced. This mischaracterization displays a broader local weather of suspicion, the place geopolitical anxieties have led to indiscriminate allegations towards harmless lecturers, educators, and cultural establishments that haven’t any connection to the precise areas of concern.
At Lancaster University, the closest hyperlink between the Confucius Institute and a international intelligence company is, maybe, the abbreviation of its monetary account: “CIA”—which, regrettably, stands not for the Central Intelligence Agency, however for Confucius Institute Account. Internal venture codes equivalent to CIA1006, CIA1014, and CIA6001 consult with particular educational initiatives, not covert brokers imagined by misinformation and conspiracy theories.
For many Chinese college students, together with myself after I studied within the UK, the speedy picture of espionage is formed by 007—James Bond— together with his well-known introduction: “Bond, James Bond.” This cinematic portrayal paints an thrilling image of spies as charming, extremely expert operatives, typically seen driving luxurious vehicles, carrying tailor-made fits, utilizing high-tech devices, and accompanied by glamorous companions. It is a picture I’d by no means affiliate with our Confucius Institute academics—or myself. Though I have to admit, the thrilling world of espionage as depicted in films typically appears much more thrilling than my lectures on nice energy politics and the rise of China—at the very least to some of my college students and even my spouse and daughters.
Of course, this cinematic stereotype is much from the fact of intelligence work—however it’s exactly the model most Chinese folks, together with our Confucius Institute academics, keep in mind. As odd Chinese residents, their understanding of espionage is formed extra by British movies than by real-world intelligence operations. The notion that these odd language academics are literally extremely educated Chinese spies on secret missions within the UK is totally absurd.
It would even be extremely irrational for Chinese intelligence companies to make use of Confucius Institutes as a platform for espionage, given the extraordinary scrutiny these institutes face within the West. Even if these language academics had been on so-called secret missions, the extent of intelligence in most college and first faculty contexts is much too low and primary to be of any actual significance—except the UK now considers entry to info on Shakespearean literature a matter of espionage and a menace to British nationwide safety. This narrative of Confucius Institutes as espionage hubs isn’t just misguided—it’s laughable. It displays how geopolitical anxieties have created imaginary threats, turning harmless lecturers and academics into the villains of a real-life spy thriller that merely doesn’t exist.
In addition, the Confucius Institute at Lancaster University is positioned within the central campus, with its rooms built-in into the college’s central reserving system, which operates independently of the Confucius Institute’s management. This signifies that all college students—regardless of whether or not they research Chinese—freely enter and use the constructing. Any pupil or workers member can ebook a room, entry the social areas for finding out or rest, or just cross via— all with out requiring approval from the Confucius Institute. During commencement ceremonies, it even serves as the gathering level for educational robes, welcoming lots of of college students and their households. Its excessive visibility, open entry, and full lack of privateness make it the least appropriate place for a secret international intelligence operation.
Likewise, Lancaster itself is much from a really perfect hub for international intelligence pursuits. Unlike main world cities with cutting-edge expertise industries, Lancaster is a small metropolis with no important technological or strategic belongings that may appeal to espionage. While Lancaster University ranks among the many prime 150 establishments globally within the QS rankings, it’s a mid-sized college that isn’t significantly identified for large-scale technological innovation. Its latest developments in cybersecurity analysis—in collaboration with the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)—might have elevated its relevance, however these are latest developments that postdate the institution of the Confucius Institute and are completely unrelated to it. Furthermore, many Confucius Institutes within the UK, like Lancaster’s, are positioned in small cities or rural areas—locations which might be hardly similar to London, Cambridge, or Oxford, the place espionage issues might sound extra believable. The generalized accusation that Confucius Institutes perform as intelligence hubs lacks any native foundation and doesn’t maintain as much as scrutiny.
From a Chinese perspective, being falsely labeled as a spy just isn’t solely deeply offensive but in addition raises critical issues about why such disinformation has change into normalized and even acceptable in British society. In the broader context of UK-China scientific and technological collaboration in larger training, there are official nationwide safety issues, however the inclusion of Confucius Institutes on this narrative is usually based mostly solely on their Chinese affiliation quite than any substantive proof of wrongdoing.
It is much more troubling to listen to claims that China’s political system is so pervasive that every one Chinese nationals and organizations should, by default, be seen as extensions of the Chinese state and subsequently inherently suspect. Under this logic, Chinese scientists, academics, and college students are robotically thought to be potential threats to British nationwide safety—a sweeping generalization that’s each irrational and discriminatory.
This anti-Chinese narrative is, bluntly put, a kind of racism that too typically goes unchallenged. By the time the political local weather and anti-China narratives swept from the US to the UK, many researchers of Chinese origin had already been pushed to depart—an expertise that, frankly, influenced my very own determination as properly—making the UK more and more unappealing to Chinese workers and college students. Ultimately, this harms the very establishments that declare to champion educational freedom and worldwide collaboration. It typically makes me wonder if the US and UK I as soon as acknowledged—and selected to cross continents to review in—are nonetheless the identical as we speak.
From a managerial perspective, I really feel deeply sorry for our academics who’ve been misrepresented within the UK. They are certified Mandarin educators with a ardour for cultural alternate, desperate to expertise Western life—one of the principle causes they volunteer for these roles. Unlike Chinese ultranationalists who oppose engagement with the West or view it as a Western try to overthrow the Chinese authorities, these academics are people who respect the English language and literature, uphold British values, typically admire Shakespeare, and respect Western training. Indeed, many of them aspire to supply their kids with a British training and fluency in English. Their dedication, particularly in the course of the pandemic—after they labored tirelessly to help native kids in Blackpool, as mentioned in Chapter 2—makes the baseless accusations towards them much more shameful. Their efforts deserve recognition and respect, not discredit and suspicion. This is one of the important thing causes I really feel strongly about penning this ebook—to problem the disinformation surrounding them.
Leaders of British universities internet hosting Confucius Institutes ought to take a principled stand towards discriminatory narratives that racially profile not solely Confucius Institute academics but in addition Chinese college students and workers extra broadly. In an instructional surroundings that prides itself on variety, inclusion, and mental rigor, remaining silent within the face of such narratives isn’t just an abdication of accountability however a betrayal of the very values that universities declare to uphold.
True management in academia calls for greater than passive neutrality or quiet avoidance; it requires actively difficult misinformation, fostering an surroundings the place people are judged by their contributions quite than their ethnicity, and making certain that coverage choices are based mostly on proof quite than geopolitical anxieties. If college leaders genuinely uphold the ideas of educational integrity and equity, they have to not permit these narratives to form institutional perceptions and choices unchecked. Instead, they need to publicly reaffirm their dedication to variety, educational freedom, and worldwide collaboration, sending a clear message that universities ought to be areas of open inquiry, not arenas for politicized fear-mongering.
It is exactly the failure to problem the rise of anti-China racism within the UK, coupled with inadequate consideration to the experiences of Chinese college students, that has contributed to the monetary struggles of the British larger training sector. By permitting discriminatory narratives to go unchallenged and neglecting the well-being of one of if not the most important worldwide pupil group cohorts, universities have inadvertently undermined their very own monetary sustainability. A extra proactive and inclusive strategy—one which actively counters racism, reassures Chinese college students and students, and fosters a welcoming educational surroundings— wouldn’t solely align with the ideas of equity and integrity but in addition assist safeguard the sector’s long-term stability and world fame.
From an operational standpoint, managing the Confucius Institute isn’t any completely different from working some other educational or cultural group. One of essentially the most frequent discussions revolves round workload and vacation schedules. A typical grievance from new arrivals is the depth of work throughout Michaelmas Term and the Chinese New Year interval, when many occasions and educating tasks peak. Additionally, as a consequence of our engagement with native major colleges and weekend language packages, some academics are often required to work past core college hours or on weekends. It is, in spite of everything, a full-time job that retains everybody busy.
Given these realities, it’s laughable to think about how ‘spying’ might match into our job allocation system. How wouldn’t it even be managed from a sensible standpoint? Like any office, we monitor working hours to make sure equity and forestall overburdening workers—how would espionage duties be assigned with out triggering resistance from our workers? And if Confucius Institutes had been actually intelligence-gathering hubs, the place would administrators like me obtain coaching? Would there be a handbook on find out how to handle an espionage operation? If so, I clearly missed my induction session.
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Slogan Politics: Understanding Chinese Foreign Policy Concepts (Book excerpt)
Trust me after I say I’ve learn sufficient dialogue of “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), “New Type of Great Power Relations,” and “Community of Shared Future for Mankind” in each Chinese and English. So additionally belief me after I say the ebook Slogan Politics: Understanding Chinese Foreign Policy Concepts