Belgian university closes its Chinese state-funded Confucius Institute after spying claims

• Song Xinning, former head of the Confucius institute at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, is a recruiter for Chinese intelligence and conducts espionage for China.
• The Belgian university says cooperating with the Chinese espionage is no longer consistent with its policies

By Stuart Lau

Confucius Institutes, the long arm of Chinese, espionage, have been established in almost 500 higher education institutions globally. 

One of Belgium’s leading universities has decided to close the Chinese state-funded
Confucius Institute on its campus, following accusations that the former head professor conducted
espionage for China.
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) confirmed that it would not extend its contract with the institute when the agreement expires next June, although it did not refer to the espionage claims.
The university said cooperation with Confucius Institute – whose stated aims include promoting Chinese language and culture and facilitating cultural exchanges – was “not in line with [our] principles of free research”, based on the information it had obtained.
“The university is of the opinion that cooperating with the institution is no longer consistent with its policies and objectives,” it said in a statement on its website.

Leading Chinese spy Song Xinning, pictured in 2016 at the University of Helsinki’s Confucius Institute, has been barred from entering a bloc of European countries. 

In October, Belgian security services accused Song Xinning, former head of the Confucius Institute at VUB, of working as a recruiter for Chinese intelligence.
The Belgian newspaper De Morgen reported that pro-China VUB had ignored a warning from the state security service about the institute’s activities.

Song was subsequently barred from entering the Schengen Area – comprising 26 European countries – for eight years.
In an earlier interview with the South China Morning Post, Song said Belgian immigration authorities had informed him on July 30 that his visa would not be renewed, because he “supported Chinese intelligence activities”.

Jonathan Holslag, an international relations professor at VUB and one of the most vocal critics of VUB’s Confucius Institute, called the university’s decision “brave”.
“This should stand as an example for many European universities,” he said. 

“It is also in the interest of Chinese students, because they are the main victims of the politicisation of academic exchanges and the suspicion that elicits.”
Confucius Institutes, which are overseen by China’s Ministry of Education, have been set up in more than 480 higher education institutions around the world. 

Over the past decade, they have come under increased scrutiny from Western governments over their links to Chinese espionage activities.Several of the institutes in the United States and Australia have been forced to close because of their undue influence on campus, while several Chinese "academics" and "researchers" have been investigated, dismissed and arrested in the US on charges of stealing intellectual property or failing to disclose funding ties with Chinese universities.
In Europe, the Confucius Institutes at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, Stockholm University in Sweden and University Lyon in France have all been closed.

Chinese spy barred from entering Schengen Area

• Song Xinning, former head of Confucius Institute at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, worked as a recruiter for Chinese intelligence
• The Chinese spy has been banned from 26-nation free-travel zone for eight years

By Kinling Lo, Simone McCarthy, Stuart Lau, Keegan Elmer

A Chinese professor who headed a Confucius Institute in Brussels has been barred from entering the Schengen Area for eight years after being accused of espionage, amid growing scrutiny of the Beijing-run cultural offices that have been established at universities around the world.
Song Xinning, former director of the institute at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), had been accused by authorities in Belgium of supporting Chinese intelligence activities in the city.
The Schengen Area comprises 26 European countries that have abolished passport and other types of controls at their mutual borders.
The Belgian newspaper De Morgen reported on Tuesday that VUB had ignored a warning from the State Security Service about the institute’s activities. 

Song had acted as a recruiter for Chinese intelligence services and hired informants from the Chinese student and business communities in Belgium.
The Belgian government did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Famous Chinese spy Song Xinning.

Song is also a professor at Renmin University in Beijing.

He said he suspected the decision to impose the ban had been influenced by the United States FBI.

The Chinese spy speaks at the Confucius Institute of the University of Helsinki in 2016. 

Song said he was told by the Belgian embassy in Beijing in September about the ban on him entering the Schengen Area. 

He is now appealing the ruling with the help of a Belgian lawyer, who Song said was in possession of a report from Belgium’s security services that accused the academic of having ties to Chinese security officials, luring Belgian scholars to spy for China and making plans to retire to Belgium.
Song said he did know Geng Huichang, a former Chinese state security minister, as they had both taught at Renmin University, and admitted to mingling with European scholars at academic conferences in China.

Confucius Institutes, which are overseen by China’s education ministry, have been set up in more than 480 higher education institutions around the world. 

Over the past decade they have come under increased scrutiny from Western governments over their espionage activities.
Several institutes in the US and Australia have been forced to close due to allegations they had undue influence on campus, while several Chinese academics and researchers have been investigated, dismissed and arrested in the US on accusations of stealing intellectual property or failing to disclose funding ties with Chinese universities.
In Europe, the Confucius Institutes at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, Stockholm University in Sweden and University Lyon in France have all been closed. 

And the British Conservative Party’s human rights commission earlier this year launched a campaign for schools to stop partnering with the institutes pending the results of a review.
Ingrid d’Hooghe, a researcher at the Leiden Asia Centre and Clingendael Institute who specialises in higher educational ties between Europe and China, said scrutiny of Chinese academics was increasing in Europe.
Song’s case was an example of how authorities in Europe have been watching China more closely, she said. 

The Chinese spy, who has now returned to his job at Renmin University, spent three years living in Brussels with his wife. 

He also worked from 2007-10 at UNU-CRIS, a United Nations research institute in Bruges.
Song is expected to be replaced at VUB by Zhou Jun from Sichuan University, who is currently awaiting his visa.
Professor Jonathan Holslag, who works at VUB and is also a special adviser to the European Commission, said it was “not a surprise” that Song had been banned from entering Belgium.
“Song is a polite guy but the institute is clearly an instrument of propaganda … and shouldn’t be part of the academic community,” he said.
The worrying part was its ability to “identify young and bright students with a potential to join the EU at a later stage” and to influence young European students with an uncritical, positive view about China, he said.