Untold Realities of Confucius Institutes: A Director’s Memoirs

This talk introduces the author’s latest book, based on six years leading a UK Confucius Institute during escalating global controversy and geopolitical strain. Under his directorship, the Institute became award-winning while confronting a series of existential challenges—from the disruptions of COVID-19 and the dissolution of the Confucius Institute Headquarters to a government campaign to ban Confucius Institutes in the UK. The book delivers a behind-the-scenes account of the leadership decisions that shaped this turbulent period and directly challenges claims that Confucius Institutes function as vehicles of propaganda, political influence, or espionage, undermining academic freedom and surveilling Chinese students abroad. About the speaker: Jinghan Zeng is a Professor at City University of Hong Kong. He is the author of Artificial Intelligence with Chinese Characteristics: National Strategy, Security and Authoritarian Governance (2022), Slogan Politics: Understanding Chinese Foreign Policy Concepts (2020), and The Chinese Communist Party’s Capacity to Rule: Ideology, Legitimacy and Party Cohesion (2015). He currently serves as the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Cambridge Forum on Technology and Global Affairs (Cambridge University Press). Prior to joining the University of Hong Kong, Professor Zeng spent 13 years in the UK, where he built his academic career. At 31, he was appointed Professor of China and International Studies at Lancaster University, becoming one of the youngest full professors in Britain. Simultaneously, he served as Director of its Confucius Institute.