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US orders Confucius Institute teachers to leave the country

THE US State Department has ordered Chinese academics with a J-1 visa and teaching at the Confucius Institutes in the US to leave the country before June 30 and said their visas won't be extended, in a move that could disrupt the activities of these institutes.
In a policy directive issued on May 17, the State Department said it is reviewing the credentials of these Confucius Institutes which are university-based, Chinese-sponsored language and cultural centers, and said these institutes should get certification from the US government before carrying out teaching activities in American universities.
However, the directive did not mention where the Confucius Institutes can go to get the certification. Similar cultural establishments like Germany's Goethe Institute and France's Alliance Francaise don't have the certification either, People's Daily reported today.
Officials of the Confucius Institutes in the University of Maryland and George Mason University are bewildered by the decision and are communicating with authorities regarding the certification.
The Confucius Institute, named after the Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius (551-479 BC), is a non-profit institution aimed at promoting Chinese language and culture in foreign countries. There are more than 350 Confucius Institutes and 500 Confucius Classrooms around the world.



 

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