Rejected petition Close Confucius institutes in schools and universities

Confucius Institutes (CIs) are Trojan propaganda organs fully funded by the Chinese Communist government and hosted by higher educational institutions outside of China in the name of language teaching & cultural exchanges.

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Serious concerns about CIs and the threat they pose to academic and intellectual freedom has led to the closure of 53 closures of CIs/CCs around the world, including all CIs/CCs in Sweden in May 2020, after the following was revealed:
o CI is a propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party
o CI promotes communist propaganda in textbooks and cultural events
o Evidence that CI discriminates against teachers in their hiring practices
o CI plays the role of a spy agency for the Chinese Communist Party
Protect our values of democracy and freedom of thought, belief, and conscience for the next generation:
Permanently close CIs in Wales

Why was this petition rejected?

It’s about something that the Senedd or Welsh Government is not responsible for.

Petitions to the Senedd must call for a specific action that falls within the powers of the Senedd or Welsh Government.

Universities are largely autonomous and although they do receive some public funding they also derive income from sponsors, donors and project partners. This means that they enjoy a considerable degree of independence. As such, it is difficult to see what legal mechanism could be used by the Welsh Government to interfere in a bilateral commercial agreement between a Welsh University and any third party.

In November 2019 the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee published a report and recommended that the UK Government “provide up to date guidance to universities on the political, diplomatic and legal implications of accepting funding and pursuing collaboration with institutions based in non-democratic states.” The onus was placed on the Universities to decide (after considering the appropriate guidance) whether such partnerships are appropriate – there was no suggestion of direct government intervention.

For this reason it is not possible for the Senedd to take the action called for by your petition.

Further information about the powers and responsibilities of the Senedd can be found here: https://senedd.wales/en/abthome/role-of-assembly-how-it-works/Pages/Powers.aspx

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards

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Date submitted 11 August 2020
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