BEIJING — China is criticizing a decision by the government of Australia’s New South Wales state to close more than a dozen Chinese-sponsored language programs in more than a dozen public schools over political concerns.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Friday said the decision was made without consulting with the Chinese authorities and showed disrespect to local people and students. Geng said the state government had politicized a “normal exchange program.”
The language programs, known as Confucius Institutes, are run by a Chinese government department known as Hanban and its teachers and curriculum are chosen by the Communist state. They are normally housed in universities, and New South Wales was the only government body in the world to host them within its own education department starting in 2012.
The Associated Press
