Protest Planned Against Tufts University's Confucius Institute

MEDFORD, MA — Members of the Hong Kong, Tibetan, Taiwanese and Uyghur communities plan to rally Thursday at Tufts University against the Confucius Institute. The program is a nonprofit educational collaboration between Tufts and Beijing Normal University (BNU) that promotes Chinese language and cultural programming, and facilitates "educational and cultural exchange and cooperation," according to the Tufts University website.

But rally organizers say Confucius Institutes, which are active on 75 college campuses, restrict academic freedom by "silencing debate on human rights and other sensitive issues" and sanitizing the Chinese government's human rights record. In its 2019 report, Human Rights Watch referred to Confucius Institutes as "extensions of the Chinese government."

"My parents and my grandparents escaped Tibet on foot when China illegally invaded Tibet in 1959," Olo Bayul, president of the Tibetan Association of Boston, said in a statement. "As a Somerville resident, a SHS graduate and a current Somerville Public Schools teacher, I am upset, embarrassed and frightened that the very regime that my family fled is operating today in my backyard."

Last year, Tufts adjusted its agreement with BNU and Hanban, a public Chinese institution in the Ministry of Education, to strengthen the university's governance over the Institute. University officials said at the time that their review of operations at the Institute found "no evidence of undue influence, suppression of academic freedom or censorship at Tufts."

Patrick Collins, a Tufts University spokesperson, told Patch the agreement will be re-examined for renewal when it expires next year. The university took "very seriously" the concerns surrounding the Institute's influence on the curriculum and potential pressure on Chinese students, Collins said.

"As a result, we included very strict measures in the agreement and in the management of the CITU to prevent any such efforts, and to enable us to limit or close the CITU if any of these concerns surface," Collins wrote in an email. "Meanwhile, we are working closely with our university partner in China, Beijing Normal University, to grow programs that provide additional opportunities for our students to study Chinese language and culture."

Thursday's rally will take place from 3-6 p.m., starting at the front gates of Tufts University. A smaller group of protesters will also be outside Ballou Hall.