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238 Panel 5Under the direct guidance of Hanban, theorganizational structure of all CI is similar. Each CIhas a joint committee comprising five to sevenmembers. The committee has two directors, one Thaiand one Chinese, who are appointed by theiruniversities. The committee assembles once a year andgenerally includes the president or vice-president ofeach university, who act as chairperson or deputychairperson.Chinese directors and employees are appointed,administered and paid by Hanban. The duration of adirector’s term is two years, and can be extended. Thenumber of Chinese volunteer teachers working at eachCI depends on context, and the volunteers areappointed by Hanban and work under the director’sauthority. After their mission term of one yearteaching in Thailand, the volunteers return to theirhome universities.The Thai and Chinese universities are jointlyresponsible for CI operations. The host universities inThailand provide working space, including offices,libraries, classrooms and meeting rooms. The hostsalso provide the salaries of Thai staff and provideChinese volunteer teachers with direct financial inputssuch as assistance with water and electricity bills,sanitation and security services, lodging and lunch fees.In Mae Fah Luang University in northern Thailand,Chinese volunteer teachers are given a sub-incomepaid directly by the university. 8In term of financing, the Confucius Institute issupported by both China and Thailand. Through theHanban in Beijing, the Chinese government provideseach institute with an initial amount of USD 100,000.Hanban is also responsible for providing textbooks,teaching materials and monthly salaries for theChinese volunteer teachers. The case of the CI at MaeFah Luang University is an exception. In this case, theChinese government provided 60 million baht, orUSD 2 million to build a Chinese language andcultural center for CI activities. 9 This CI has thelargest number of undergraduate students, with 800Thai students attending its training courses who areexpected to receive a BA in Chinese Studies inconjunction with the Faculty of Liberal Arts. 10Confucius Classrooms are set up in primary andsecondary schools and are placed under themanagement of Hanban in Beijing and the Embassy ofthe People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom ofThailand. Generally these classrooms do not havepartner institutions in China. The ConfuciusClassroom in Bangkok’s Traimit Wittayalai HighSchool is an exception in that it is organized in theform of an institute. This was the first CI/Classroomto be established in Thailand. It was established in2006 and was supported with USD 380,000 forfacilities and equipment by local Thai-Chinesecommunities in Bangkok. The CI/ConfuciusClassroom in Traimit High School is considered aspecial success in Chinese language teaching andlearning at the secondary level.Though all CI are under the direct guidance ofHanban in Beijing, each has the freedom to design itsown programs which must be approved beforeimplementation. Common activities include:• Organizing short-term Chinese languagetraining courses (from three to six monthsduration) for different groups, including publicservants, teachers in universities and schools, andothers who want to learn. The curriculum mayinclude basic Chinese courses and courses forspecial purposes;• Organizing lectures, academic seminars,exhibitions, competitions, performances andactivities to promote Chinese art and culture.These include activities such as Chineseknowledge contests, tea ceremonies, classicalmusic events, karaoke contests, films/movies,gardening, Chinese ikebana, traditionalcostumes, Chinese cuisine, painting andcalligraphy, Kung-fu, and Chinese folk dancing;• Organizing Chinese Language Proficiency tests(HSK) for citizens of Thailand;• Providing library services;• Providing consulting services about study inChina or in Thailand and organizing short-termstudy tours in China;• Providing Chinese textbooks and collaboratingwith Chinese university counterparts to developteaching curricula and reading materials.Hanban places a strong emphasis on the importance oftextbooks originating in China. Dr. Xu Lin, Director-General of Hanban and Chief Executive of ConfuciusInstitute Headquarters has stated:“In the next three years, we should focus onteaching textbooks and teachers. No matterwhether it is for local teachers or teachersThe Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows