NEW DELHI: China’s military expansionism abroad and the communist party’s totalitarian iron hand at home has re-focussed attention on the state’s many arms and their intent globally. India is reviewing the presence of ‘Confucius’ Institutes(CI). Several american, european and australian universities have shut shop with the chinese government collaborations. Are CIs just Beijing’s benign attempt at expanding soft power, or is there a concerted, decades-old attempt at infiltrating and influencing academia worldwide? Are some academic institutions a hot-bed of Chinese propaganda, spying, blackmail and honey traps to cultivate relationships and to facilitate technology and intellectual property theft? Has free-flowing Chinese funding turned these organisations blind to their hidden purpose? And, how do countries develop and hone strategic insight into the communist party’s thinking and action if they don’t systematically study it?
In this episode of Talking Point, Ananth Krishnan, China Correspondent, The Hindu and Author of ‘India’s China Challenge’ and Salvatore Babones, Author and Adjunct Scholar, Centre for Independent Studies and Associate Professor, Sydney University discuss the importance of the issues involved with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi.
