This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament

Rejected petition Close Confucius Institutes & stop Chinese Communist Party's propaganda in the UK

Confucius Institutes (CIs) are Trojan propaganda organs funded by the Chinese Communist government and hosted by educational institutions outside of China in the name of language teaching & cultural exchanges. The UK hosts 30 CIs in universities and over 100 Confucius ‘Classrooms’ (CCs) in schools.

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Serious concerns about Confucius Institutes (CIs) and their threat to freedom has led to the closure of 53 CIs worldwide:
•CI is a propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
•CI promotes communist propaganda in textbooks & cultural events
•CI discriminates against teachers in their hiring practices
•CI plays the role of a spy agency for the CCP
Protect our values of democracy and freedom of thought and belief for the next generation: Permanently close Confucius Institutes in the UK.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.

Universities are autonomous institutions and can choose who they cooperate with, including whether to partner with Chinese Higher Education Institutions or Confucius Institutes. These partnerships are therefore a matter for individual universities, not the Government or House of Commons.

We could accept a petition calling on the Government to regulate international partnerships of higher education institutions, with a view to ensuring these do enable undue foreign influence.

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