U.s. state department clarifies directive on confucius institutes - Cold Rolled Steel Coils Manufac

universities which sponsor Confucius Institutes states thatany academics at university-based institutes who are teaching atthe primary and secondary-school levels (K-12) are violating theterms of their visas and expected to return China at the end of thecurrent academic school year in June to apply for appropriatevisas. Nuland said the problems referred in the directive is "not aboutthe Confucius Institutes themselves," but "simply about whether theright visa status was applied in these cases." Nuland explained that there are two categories of J-1 educationvisa, one kind for teachers in kindergarten through high schoolwhile another kind for professors and scholars at university level,where "some muddling and messing up" occurred in the processing. She said some folks who were participating and teaching in programsthat were K-12 level were given university-style J-1 visas. "Nobody's going to have to leave the country. It's all going to getcleared up," said her.

CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE NOT TARGETED Nuland denied that the directive is targeting Confucius Institutesin the United States, and reiterated the importance of thepeople-to-people understanding between the United State and China. "The U.S. greatly values its people-to-people exchange with China,"she stressed, "this was one of the centerpieces of the Secretary's(Hillary Clinton) participation in the Strategic and EconomicDialogue." But Nuland did not speak to why the mess-up occurred nor why theJ-1 visas related issues came up now, given that the firstConfucius Institute in the country was launched in the Universityof Maryland back to 2004. The State Department also said in the directive that it hasdetermined that the Confucius Institutes must obtain separateAmerican accreditation in order to continue to accept foreignscholars and professors as teachers.

But Nuland did not refer to this issue during her briefing. 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. The magazine reported on Wednesday that the State Department "appears to be backpedaling from its insistence in the memorandum"issued last week.

A department official, who spoke with the magazine on the conditionof not being named, called this section of the policy statement"confusing" and said it would be redrafted to clarify the issue,the magazine reported on Wednesday. CHINESE CULTURE PROGRAMS VALUED Taylor Reveley, President of the College of William and Mary inVirginia, wrote a letter to the State Department on Wednesday,expressing concern about the recent directive outlining guidelinesfor visa sponsorship of individuals associated with ConfuciusInstitutes in the United States. The College of William Mary launched its Confucius Institute inApril, the latest one in the country. Nevertheless, Reveley said inthe letter that the university has already "witnessed firsthand thedramatic and highly positive impact of this program on ourteaching, research and community outreach about Chinese languageand culture." However, he worried about some aspects of the department'sdirective that might "severely restrict" the university's plan tobegin greater outreach to primary and secondary schools in nextacademic school year.

Qing Gao, managing director of Confucius Institute at George MasonUniversity told Xinhua that Confucius Institutes have been wellwelcomed by U.S. schools and communities, amid a growing consensuson the importance of global education for the country's nextgeneration. Even the State Department acknowledged in its recent directive thatit "appreciates the significant work done by U.S. academicinstitutions and Confucius Institutes" which benefits theenhancement of cultural exchange.

Confucius Institutes around the world are nonprofit 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. 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 universitiessuch as Stanford University, Columbia University and the Universityof Chicago have sponsored the institutes and classrooms on theircampuses with nearly 160,000 registered learners.

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