Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 20 Sep 2022, 12:26 pm Print
Taiwanese Teacher Representational image from Pixabay
London: A group of British MPs is in talks with Taiwan to provide Mandarin teachers to the UK as the government seeks to phase out Chinese state-linked Confucius Institutes, a top British newspaper reported.
There are currently 30 branches of the Confucius Institute operating across the UK.
Although controversies have existed for many years, they have continued to teach Britons Chinese language, culture, and business etiquette, reports The Guardian.
These schools are effectively joint ventures between a host university in Britain, a partner university in China, and the Chinese International Education Foundation (CIEF), a Beijing-based organisation, the British media reported.
Until recently, the Beijing-backed programme was viewed positively by the Conservative government.
As education minister in 2014, Liz Truss praised the network of Confucius classrooms, saying they “will put in place a strong infrastructure for Mandarin” in the UK.
But Truss has since taken an increasingly hawkish stance on Beijing, the newspaper reported.
- Middle East conflict: Tehran official says 71 died in Israeli strike on Evin Prison
- 'Israel violated ceasefire too, I'm not happy with them': Donald Trump dials Benjamin Netanyahu
- Russian strikes leave seven dead in Kyiv
- Iran targets Israel, Tel Aviv strikes Tehran as Middle East conflict escalates
- Sri Lanka: 85 convicted Chinese nationals deported for involvement in cyber, other crimes
