Scottish universities hope to make an emergency discussion with British security officials and try to prevent the closure of the Confucius Institute's plan.
According to Voice of the United States, the British Security Secretary of State Dong Qinda Tuesday (2nd) spoke on Tuesday (2nd) to reiterate the promise of British Prime Minister Suonak during the July campaign in July this year.He pointed out that Sunak believes that the Confucius Institute threatens the freedom of many universities in the UK and will study closing them.
There are 31 Confucius Institutes in Britain, including five in Scotland.Five Scotland universities received funds from 13 million pounds ($ 21.02 million) from relevant Chinese agencies in the past 15 years to allow the Confucius Institute to operate.
Universities Scotland, a representative agency of 19 Scottish colleges, introduced that it is conducting review to ensure that the Confucius Institute meets the independent requirements of academic freedom and institutions.The spokesman said that he would cooperate closely and urgently with the Scottish and British governments to ensure the operation of the college and understand the intention and reason of Dong Qinda's speeches.
Peter Mathieson, the president of Edinburgh University, said last month that the Confucius Institute was not a security threat. They were mainly small colleges, handling cultural affairs and no impact on university policies.
He also said that the British government has not had much jurisdiction over the Confucius Institute in Scotland because they belong to the Scottish government's power jurisdiction.He questioned whether British Prime Minister could impose his opinion on the Scottish government.
However, there are also voices against the Confucius Institute within the Scottish government.In the discussion of Congress on Tuesday, Stewart McDonald, a State Policy spokesman for the Scottish National Party, strictly criticized that Scotland could not rely on Chinese funds.
