The West is trying to put pressure on Chinese culture

The massive Western offensive on China continues and is gaining momentum. The coronavirus pandemic has become the White House's new trump card in the struggle against the strengthening of China and the growth of its influence in the world.

The pandemic, which hit Western countries very hard, temporarily disconnected Europe from American influence, but this did not last long, and today the Europeans are again dancing to the tune of Washington.

On the eve it became known that Sweden drove out of the country the Chinese institutions and schools of Confucius. The coronavirus has nothing to do with it; the institutes were expelled for another reason. According to the Swedish side, these humanitarian structures that taught the Chinese language and promoted Chinese culture supposedly served as an instrument of influence for Beijing.

Note that, unlike Western NGOs, the Confucius institutions operating in many countries of the world do not interfere in the affairs of the host states, or in the matters of their domestic policy, do not dictate to the local authorities what to do, and do not speculate on human rights and international law.

Confucius Institutes are a network of international cultural and educational centers. The functions of these structures include language training, holding scientific conferences, popularizing Chinese culture, testing, organizing internships in China and so on.

By the way, for already a decade, namely since 2011, the Confucius Institute has been successfully operating at Baku State University. It was created at the Faculty of Oriental Studies of BSU in partnership with China's Anhui University. The Azerbaijani side has no complaints about this structure.

The Chinese NGO does not go beyond its goals and objectives, which are exclusively humanitarian and cultural. This cannot be said of the structures created and financed by the governments of Western countries. All of them act supposedly "independently," but in fact, they are financed from state budgets and serve political purposes.

Take the same United States Agency for International Development USAID. The organization was created allegedly to provide humanitarian assistance, but the real goal of its creators is to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries and support the strengthening of American influence.

In principle, to some extent, Americans can be understood. In recent years, China has truly turned into a powerful country in terms of its economy. The secret of China's success in its advancement in the world is that this state does not take away anything from anyone and does not dictate conditions to anyone, it simply offers the best conditions. Yes, this is called soft power, but so many countries will prefer soft power as opposed to the tough and brazen policies of the White House. China advances its interests by economic forces, giving benefits to partners, while the US uses exclusively political methods, disregarding the interests of partners. This is a very serious difference, and before the pandemic, Washington was not able to convince its allies of the need for a massive attack on Beijing. Now, at his service was the coronavirus, with which Donald Trump and his team are trying to beat the Chinese. But these weapons are unreliable and in the post-pandemic period, when the countries of the world begin the struggle for their economies, they will stop working.

But let us return to Sweden. Confucius institutions themselves probably did not even imagine that, by organizing Chinese language courses, they were believed to actually encroach on the most sacred thing – European freedom and democracy. But what does SIDA, the Swedish government agency for assisting developing countries, do? No, we will not say anything, perhaps the structure has the noblest goals, but for some reason they are realized in Russia, which the United States hates. SIDA's multi-million-dollar aid package to Georgia and Ukraine somehow looks strange, and with the aggravation of relations between Moscow and Minsk – and to Belarus.

Or take the infamous Freedom House, an American NGO created as a club that clears the way for American interests. The organization has actually devalued the concept of human rights and freedoms, turning them into an object of speculation and a weapon of pressure on governments disliked by the White House.

Can someone blame the Chinese institutions for something like this? In addition to the demagogy dictated by the US, Sweden itself is not able to present any realistic arguments supporting the accusations made.

And the Chinese language is better to continue to study. Because China has repeatedly shown the world an example of how to get out of crises, to get on their feet in the most difficult situations. The Chinese have coped with the coronavirus better than many others and today help other countries. And the fact is that the pandemic which hit the West is not a problem of Confucius institutions.

Be that as it may, Trump will not be able to "turn off" China. The hysteria associated with coronavirus in Europe will eventually pass, and Europeans will again begin to incline to what is beneficial to themselves, and not the United States. The trade war declared by the Americans on Beijing before the pandemic, as you know, hit the economies of the Western countries themselves, bringing Washington nothing but moral satisfaction.

And finally, the wise advice of Confucius to the West: If you hate, then you have been defeated...