Foreign students studying Chinese share their stories at the headquarters of Confucius Institute in Beijing on Saturday. [Photo by Xu Pingting/chinadaily.com.cn]

A notice on the official website of Stockholm University said, the Confucius Institute branch in the university will be shut down on June 30, with its vice-chancellor saying that it is dubious, or questionable, to establish institutes within a university that are financed by another government. Comments:

The matter should arouse our attention and the Confucius Institute needs to rethink its mode of operations. Currently the institute is purely run by the government; why not invite more social organizations to participate? They mainly teach Chinese language and traditional Chinese culture; what about combining some modern elements? It is time to improve.

Cui Hongjian, researcher in European studies at the China Institute of International Studies, Jan 11

The Confucius Institute is not the only cultural institute funded by a foreign nation in Sweden. Northern European countries also have similar institutes in China that promote mutual cultural interaction through activities, training courses and scholarly visits. The fact is that these institutes are also partly funded by their governments.

Global Times (Chinese Edition), Jan 12