Australian students are allegedly being “indoctrinated with Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda” in taxpayer-funded community language schools, a Chinese language school principal has warned.
Dr. Bin Lin founded his community language school, the Academy of Chinese Culture, 12 years ago and has been its principal ever since.
Lin alleges that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has infiltrated community Chinese language schools and is brainwashing Australian students by sending teaching materials and teachers, issuing certificates to “Chinese language education demonstration schools,” and organizing activities such as winter/summer camps and poetry readings.
“Most of the teachers are from mainland China. It is natural for them to educate students in the same way as the Communist Party,” Lin told The Epoch Times on Feb. 27.
“These teachers verbally teach that ‘we Chinese should love our motherland.’”
“These students are Australian nationals, so you can’t say they’re Chinese.”
Students Praising Mao Zedong as ‘Great Man’
Lin, who has a PhD degree in political science from the University of New South Wales, said that the strongest penetration was in the various [cultural] activities organized by the CCP.“Students from language schools participate in various winter or summer camps [promoted by the CCP] and receive a lot of CCP propaganda during the trip,” he said.
Lin provided a copy of the registration notice for the “Journey to the Roots” winter camp issued by the Consulate General in Sydney, which indicated that “accommodation, food, study, visits, transportation, and other expenses are covered by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” for the campers.
The student wrote that after visiting Mao’s hometown, he felt he knew “nothing” about this leader and now understood that he had been misrepresented by foreigners and called Mao “a great man.”
Lin had previously served as principal of a pro-CCP Chinese language school in Sydney. He was removed from a Chinese language school in South Sydney after the Chinese Consulate expressed concern about his role as principal.
According to another document offered by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the Consulate General in Sydney to select “Chinese Language Education Demonstration Schools,” one of the basic criteria for a demonstration school is “supporting ‘One China’ and opposing any anti-Chinese government actions and organizations such as Taiwan independence, Tibet independence, Xinjiang independence, pro-democracy movements, and Falun Gong.”
The document offered by Lin, which helps to define the selection process for the model schools, states that “the overseas embassies and consulates will review and submit a recommendation list to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council,” which is an external name of the CCP’s United Front Work Department.
In August 2009, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office announced the first batch of overseas “Chinese language education demonstration schools.” A total of 55 Chinese language schools in 21 countries were selected, among which there were four schools in Australia.
‘Government Not Doing Enough’
The NSW Department of Education website shows that there are 125 registered Chinese Community Language Schools in the state, which teach in public school classrooms after school hours and on weekends.Each school is eligible to receive a $2,500 grant from the NSW Department of Education to establish a campus and up to $10,000 for materials and training activities.
Lin believes that the Australian government is not doing enough to monitor the teaching and learning in community language schools, especially the activities that are held in community schools. He called on the government to pay attention to Beijing’s infiltration into community language schools.
A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Education said that the department would look into these concerns.
