Chinese language and culture Bonn gets a Confucius Institute
Bonn · The new facility in Bonn is meant to promote German-Chinese relations. Chinese General Consul came from Düsseldorf to take part in the opening ceremony held at the University of Bonn.
A new Confucius Institute was opened on Thursday in a ceremony at the University of Bonn. The purpose of the facility is to help spread the Chinese language and culture. Modeled after the German Goethe Institutes, the Confucius Institutes are not completely without controversy because of possible political orientation. They are currently being developed worldwide in cooperation with prestigious universities. The institute in Bonn is already the 20th in Germany, including facilities which have already been established in Berlin and Düsseldorf.
Professor Michael Hoch, Rector of the University of Bonn, held a welcoming speech at the ceremony. General Consul Feng Haiyang came from Düsseldorf to attend the opening and vice president of a Beijing partner university, Zhang Baojun also attended.
After unveiling a sign which would be placed in the foyer, Wolfgang Kubin, a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Confucius Institute in Düsseldorf, spoke to those gathered. He said this was a good occasion to help increase mutual understanding. Concerning criticism about possible political influence, he said the Chinese could also ask themselves whether the Goethe Institutes in Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong were trying to bring western values to the people there.
The new facility was set up by the University of Bonn together with the headquarters of the Confucius Institutes in Beijing and the long-standing Bonn partner university Beijing Language and Culture University. The aim of the institute is to strengthen cooperation between China and Germany in the fields of education, culture, economy and science.
Orig. text: Leif Kubik
