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An official with the headquarters of China's Confucius Institute onThursday said a U.S. government directive asking the institute'sChinese teachers on American campuses to leave may harm theSino-U.S. friendship. The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said theheadquarters regrets the U.S. directive, and all of its centersaround the world, including those on American campuses, werevoluntarily requested by foreign partners, approved by theheadquarters and jointly operated with Chinese colleges. The Chinese teachers dispatched by the headquarters to theinstitutes were carefully selected and trained by both sides in aneffort to help American elementary and secondary school studentslearn Mandarin and understand Chinese culture, the official said. The directive sent by the U.S. Department of State on May 17 touniversities which sponsor Confucius Institutes states that anyacademics at university-based institutes who are teaching at theelementary- and secondary-school levels are violating the terms oftheir visas and must leave at the end of the current school term inJune. It said that after a preliminary review, the State Department hasdetermined that the institutes must obtain American accreditationin order to continue to accept foreign scholars and professors asteachers. A report by the U.S. Chronicle of Higher Education said it isunclear what prompted the State Department to issue such a policystatement, as Confucius Institutes have been on American campusesfor nearly a decade. "If the teaching activities of the university-based ConfuciusInstitutes were to be curtailed, that could have implications forU.S.-China relations," the report said. Confucius Institutes around the world are non-profit publicinstitutions jointly established by the Confucius InstituteHeadquarters, or Hanban, and Chinese colleges and high schools withforeign educational institutions. The institution aims to teach theChinese language and promote cultural exchanges overseas. One of the institutes' most important missions is providing thosestudying Chinese in foreign countries and regions withstandardized, authoritative and modern Chinese textbooks andlearning opportunities, according to an introduction to theinstitutes. Confucius Institutes have been opened in more than 350 educationalinstitutions in 106 countries, and the amount of ConfuciusClassrooms in elementary and secondary schools have increased tomore than 500. The United States currently has the largest amount of ConfuciusInstitutes and Confucius Classrooms around the world, with 81institutes and 299 classrooms in 48 states. American universities such as Stanford University, ColumbiaUniversity and the University of Chicago have sponsored theinstitutes and classrooms on their campuses with nearly 160,000registered learners. After the U.S. State Department sent the directive, the College ofWilliam and Mary in Virginia replied with a letter, which said, "asthe home of the newest Confucius Institute in the country, formallyopened just a month ago, William and Mary has already witnessedfirsthand the dramatic and highly positive impact of this programon our teaching, research, and community outreach about Chineselanguage and culture." "Some aspects of the State Department directive, however, mightseverely restrict our efforts in these regards. Requiring theWilliam and Mary Confucius Institute to gain independentaccreditation, for example, would almost certainly force us toclose our Confucius Institute," said the letter. It added that the college hopes the State Department will worktogether with its Chinese partners to "support the efforts ofHanban, the agency that funds Confucius Institutes worldwide." Gaston Caperton, president of the U.S. College Board, said in Aprilin Washington that China has played an increasingly important rolein the international community and the American people, especiallythe young generation, need to know about China's economy, cultureand folk customs. Cultural exchanges are an important method of promoting mutualtrust, and learning Chinese language is a bridge for achievingthose objectives, Caperton said. "Those Chinese teachers went to the United States with friendlinesstoward the American people, but they might return feeling the hurt,which is a kind of harm to the friendship between the American andChinese people," said the Chinese official. I am an expert from bi-metal-thermostat.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Temperature Cutoff Switch , Bi-metal Thermostat, Temperature Controlled Switch,and more.
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