RUSSIA’S RYSSKIY MIR AND CHINA’S CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE

Abstract

Today, many countries are making frantic efforts to see that their languages and culture are saved, protected, and spread beyond their territories. These prompted countries like Russia to create the Russkiy Mir (Russian World), and China, the Confucius Institute, France, Alliance Française, Britain, British Council, Germany, Goethe Institute, and Italy, Società Dante Alighieri, to mention just a few. These institutes usually exist within and outside their countries of origin and are run in and financed in different ways. Presently, some of these institutes are having issues with their host countries, especially on how they are run. Most common among these institutes is the Confucius Institute. Criticisms of the Institute include administrative concerns about finance, academic viability, legal issues, industrial and military espionage and undermining Taiwanese influence and many more. Based on these, there have been organized opposition to the establishment of the Institute in many universities like the Confucius Institute at the University of Melbourne, Manitoba, Stockholm, and Chicago and many others. On the other hand, the Russkiy Mir has not been opposed or criticized in the countries they exist. Based on these oppositions as well as support from some host countries, this paper critically examines the modus operandi of these two Institutes with a view to ascertaining the authenticity or otherwise, of the criticisms of especially, the Confucius Institute.