Sweden to close down the first Confucius Institute in Europe

A statue of Confucius at Stockholm University in Sweden. [Photo/Xinhua]

Stockholm University in Sweden is to end cooperation with the Confucius Institute and the latter will be closed on June 30, according to an announcement on the university's website.

University officials said that they had already conducted various academic exchanges with Chinese counterparts at all levels. It seemed that Confucius Institute was not a necessity in promoting Sino-Swedish cultural communications.

Some in the media maintain that the Confucius Institute was a significant platform to promote Chinese culture onto the world stage while others hold that this teaching center is nothing but a branch of the Chinese government.

In response to the claims that Confucius Institutes serve as a tool to promote Chinese ideology, Cui Hongjian, director of the China Institute of International Studies over European Affairs, said he believes that some western people still view modern China with prejudice. They always turn a blind eye to the remarkable achievements China has scored and misinterpret them in an exaggerated manner. He also said that more attention should be paid to this issue and whether there is room for improvement in running other Confucius Institutes should be found out.

The Confucius Institute at Stockholm University was founded in 2005 and was the first in Europe. It serves as a cultural bridge to connect China and the rest of the world and show the world the real China.