Construction BUSINESS

The brochure for UCD’s planned €7.4 million Confucius Institute could not be more enthusiastic. “A landmark modern building,” it reads. “Prominent lakeside setting. At the heart of the UCD campus. Inspired by traditional Chinese architecture.”
But many academics on campus are far from enamoured at the prospect of a major cultural centre part-funded and jointly operated by the Chinese government.
The development is also happening at a time when a number of universities worldwide are ridding themselves of Confucius Institutes. This summer, Stockholm University will become the latest to sever its ties with Hanban, a branch of the Chinese ministry of education which is responsible for a worldwide network of 450 Confucius Institutes.The Swedish university cited unease over the model of joint governance as a reason for the move. A small number of universities in the US and Canada have also closed down institutes in recent years amid concerns over academic freedom.
The institutes are designed to promote Chinese language and culture, and advocates liken them to the British Council or Germany’s Goethe-Institut. However, critics highlight China’s insistence on the institutes being located on universities, in what is seen as a bid to influence the academic life of host countries.
The UCD Confucius Institute was set up in 2006 and gives courses to about 550 undergraduates and 4,200 secondary students each year. Its planned three-storey headquarters, spanning 2,000sq m, is designed to accommodate a multiple of that.
Memorandums of agreement obtained by The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act show UCD is committed to funding the new building by €500,000 a year for the first decade. UCD also assumes “the sole responsibility for its profits or losses by charging language course fees and other programs”.
The deal, signed last October by vice-minister Xu Lin – who is director general of Confucius Institutes worldwide – and UCD president Andrew Deeks, includes a penalty clause for the university if it seeks to close the facility any time over the next 50 years.
Under this clause, the university must pay Hanban the balance of its €3 million contribution to the building at a rate of €60,000 a year based upon the remainder of the 50-year term.
The Government is matching the Chinese contribution for the project, with the remaining €1.4 million coming from UCD funds. The contract states UCD will provide “a set amount of annual fund, which should not be less than the amount provided b