CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE TO THE SOUTH SEAS: THE CASE OF LOCALISATION AND SOFT POWER IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

As the “flagship” of China’s globalisation and soft power strategy in the 21st century, the Confucius Institutes (CIs) has attracted more attention from academics, politicians, and journalists. Accompanying the CI project’s rapid global expansion is a growing chorus of criticisms over its underlying intentions and influences. Meanwhile, some scholars argue that these criticisms and suspicions over CIs lack substantial evidence. In turn, the diversity of views on the actual influence and capability of CIs leads to a new problematisation of CIs and directs more attention to the localisation process of these China-funded and -backed education institutions. The majority of the anglophone literature on CIs and localisation point to the flexibility of Chinese teachers in adapting teaching models and curriculum to local needs. Meanwhile, scholars have also found that China’s foreign stakeholders and partners tend to play a more active and dominant role in the day-to-day administration of CIs than commonly thought. Nevertheless, the current scholarship remains West-centric and lack case studies of Southeast Asian CIs. Moreover, academic discussion on the impact of localisation on CI’s soft power capabilities remains underdeveloped. This thesis endeavours to address the above gaps by utilising primary data gathered from interviews and relevant documents to investigate the extent and degree of localisation at the Confucius Institute of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore across four major areas: 1) teaching and learning system, 2) organisational structure, 3) financial management, and 4) personnel arrangement. Based on this research study’s findings, this thesis argues that while localisation is significant at CI-NTU and has helped it optimise performance and stay credible, it exerts little direct influence on the Institute’s soft power projection. Furthermore, this thesis points to the disaggregation of soft power projection and cultural identity reconstruction to highlight the agency and importance of local actors in the CI programme.