Confucius Institutes v2 (1)

54 CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF CHINA’S SOFT POWEReducation institutions have a long history of studying Sinology, orin more contemporary terms: China Studies, so far there is only oneMandarin program with resident teachers with a national curriculumon the African continent at Stellenbosch University. 43 Furthermore,there is currently only one research center dedicated to the researchof contemporary China, the Center for Chinese Studies, also atStellenbosch University. The lack of either tradition or infrastructureto engage with China on an academic level in Africa suggests thatConfucius Institutes could play a more prominent role on the Africancontinent, and could be more influential there than in other partsof the world. To address these questions, the second part of thepaper takes a closer look at CIs’ activities in South Africa, currentlythe country with the most CIs, in four locations: StellenboschUniversity, Rhodes University, the University of Cape Town, andDurban University of Technology (which, during the course of myfield research in late 2013, was still in the making).Confucius Institutes in South AfricaThe People’s Republic of China and the Republic of SouthAfrica established diplomatic relations on January 1, 1998. Sincethen, bilateral relations between the two countries have continuedto develop. Over the last decade, China has become South Africa’sbiggest trading partner, with increasing amounts of foreign directinvestments. 44 According to the study of Strange et al, South Africawas the tenth largest recipient of China’s aid between 2000 and 2011,receiving U.S. $2.3 billion. 45In celebration of the 15th anniversary of the establishment ofdiplomatic relations, the Chinese ambassador to South Africa notedthat “China and South Africa have been supporting each other incommon development in the past 15 years. We are good friends, goodbrothers, and good partners. Currently, the international landscape,as well as both our two countries, is undergoing profound changes.This brings major opportunities to the development of our bilateralrelationship.” 46 He also pointed out that emerging economiesrepresented by the ‘BRICS’ are coordinating to address challenges