Revelation of UCD’s total spending in business-class flights in 2023, a third of which were spent on China, has further fuelled controversy over the nature of UCD-China relations - which can be tied back to the existence of the college’s Confucius Institute.
An article published in The Irish Times on January 15th has added a new layer to the relations between UCD and China. Ties between the University and Beijing have been widely scrutinised since the opening of UCD’s Confucius Institute in 2006. These ties appear stronger than ever, as it has been revealed that a large portion of UCD’s total spending on business class flights over a six-month period in 2023 connected Ireland’s biggest university to China.
According to figures obtained by The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, UCD spent a total of €405,806 on business class flights in the first half of 2023. Whilst flight destinations included Buenos Aires, New York, and Milan, roughly a third of the total was spent on flights to China. Indeed, an invoice breakdown reveals that business class tickets to China amounted to €137,200.
An invoice breakdown reveals that business class tickets to China amounted to €137,200.
The greater expenditure in connections to China might be related to UCD’s academic ties with the country: UCD runs three colleges in partnership with local universities - specifically, in Beijing, Chang’an, and Guangzhou - as well as a medical college in Malaysia alongside the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
While UCD confirmed that permission for these trips were previously granted under the University’s staff travel policy, the costs of flights to China raised questions on the existing relationship between UCD and the Beijing government beyond a mere academic perspective.
Since the opening of UCD’s Confucius Institute in 2006, ties between UCD and China have been highly scrutinised. This is mostly related to the reservations some academics have over the role of Confucius Institutes around the world. Specifically, while the aim of UCD’s Confucius Institute is to “develop strong educational, cultural and commercial links between Ireland and China”, an argument has been made that there is a more profound, political motive behind the proliferation of these Institutes globally.
Since the opening of UCD’s Confucius Institute in 2006, ties between UCD and China have been highly scrutinised. This is mostly related to the reservations some academics have over the role of Confucius Institutes around the world.
Over the years, several opinion pieces in major Irish newspapers, including The Irish Times, have brought forward the argument that Confucius Institutes serve to soften the image of China in the eyes of Western higher education institutions through their willingness to engage in academic partnerships. On this matter, Diarmaid Ferriter wrote in The Irish Times in 2022 that Confucius Institutes “facilitate valuable intercultural engagement and exchange, but to suggest that is their sole aim is naive, self-serving and selective.” Another opinion piece in The Irish Times published in 2021 chose to address how the direct link between Confucius Institutes and the Beijing government may influence academic freedom in their host countries - including Ireland.
Another opinion piece in The Irish Times published in 2021 chose to address how the direct link between Confucius Institutes and the Beijing government may influence academic freedom in their host countries - including Ireland.
The biggest controversy to date, however, relates to the apparent complicity of Confucius Institutes worldwide in the atrocities committed by the Chinese government on the Uighur population and other Muslim minorities in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. At an address in UCD in December 2023, Uighur activist Rushan Abbas called for the closure of the college’s Confucius Institute precisely due to its ties to the government. Members of UCD’s academic staff also oppose the presence of the Institute for the same reason.
The University Observer has reached out to Mrs. Abbas for comment and will update this story when further information is made available.