THE University of Newcastle will register its contract with its Confucius Institute under the federal government's foreign veto scheme.
The Foreign Arrangements Scheme was introduced last December amid rising tensions between Australia and China and ensures "arrangements between state or territory governments (and their entities) and foreign entities do not adversely affect Australia's foreign relations and are not inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy".
The government has already cancelled Victoria's Belt and Road Agreement with China and two Victorian government education agreements with Iran and Syria.
Sydney media reported on Monday that of the 13 Confucius Institutes hosted by Australian universities, four had lodged their contracts for review, another was in discussions with the federal government about whether its institute was captured by the laws and others intended to submit their contracts by the June deadline.
RMIT University's Chinese Medicine Confucius Institute will close this year, reportedly due to COVID-19-related budget pressures.
The Newcastle Herald asked the University of Newcastle (UON) several questions about the Confucius Institute on its Callaghan campus and whether it had any concerns over the institute's relationship to the Chinese government.
"We will be registering our agreements under the DFAT Foreign Arrangements Scheme," a UON spokesperson said.
The Herald reported in March 2019 that UON had chosen not to register the Confucius Institute under the federal government's Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme, which seeks to provide "visibility of the nature, level and extent of foreign influence on Australia's government and political process".
"We have reviewed the activities of the Confucius Institute, which are to teach Chinese language and promote Chinese culture," a UON spokesperson said at the time.
"We do not believe that the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme is applicable to these activities."
UON's Confucius Institute website said it is supported by three "foundational partners", UON, Central China Normal University in Wuhan and the Chinese government's Office of Chinese Language Council International, or CI HQ.
It said the office was established "to promote mutual understanding and friendships between the Chinese people and other peoples of the world." It oversees over 400 Confucius Institutes worldwide.
It said more than one third of the world's top 200 universities had become home to Confucius Institutes.
UON's Confucius Institute offers language and tai chi classes at Callaghan and Ourimbah campuses, student and teacher workshops, free online resources and organises Newcastle China Week, an annual China Study Tour and a story competition.
Its website says that due to international travel restrictions, all its language teachers have been "unable to undertake their teaching in Australia".
It said courses for adults will be conducted online only and courses for children will be suspended from term one until further notice.
