"Citing visas, the U.S. has set a deadline for Chinese Con***ius Institute teachers to leave the country," Kong said on his Weibo page, which has over a million followers. "Meanwhile, in China, everywhere you look you find Hollywood movies, Silicon Valley microchips and McDonald's french fries. From entertainment to technology to food products, the American cultural invasion is multipolar, omnidirectional, and deep."

Juxingguan also pointed out the disparity between the degree of cultural penetration China versus the U.S. have managed on one another's soil, calling the U.S. move a telling sign of its attitude toward China's rise. "Chinese education incorporates English into its requirements and treats it as an important subject in exams. In America, Con***ius Institute is a branch for specialized learning, have to obtain accreditation to operate, and was even once suspected to be a spy agency," he wrote. "Is it China who doesn't want to connect with the world, or is it America who doesn't want to accept China's rise?"

English.news.cn   2012-05-26 19:08:56

BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhuanet) -- It is a stunning reversal from the US state department on American visa policy for Chinese language teachers in the US. Last week, the department issued guidance ordering hundreds of teachers out of the country if they did not fix a visa problem. State department officials changed their minds on Friday and reissued that guidance.

Just outside of the Washington, DC, hundreds of American college students are learning about another capital city: Beijing.

Through the efforts of the China-funded Con***ius Institute at George Mason, Chinese language and culture can be part of the curriculum.

Gao Qing, director of GMU Con***ius Institute, said, "For American students, particularly for the students who may not be able to afford the trip to China, it's very important for them."

The six teachers who work here came on what's called a J-1 Visa, designed for university educators and researchers, but across the 81 institutes in the US, an estimated 600 to 800 teachers are also teaching in grade and high schools, under the same visa.

That sparked this toughly-worded state department guidance, ordering those teachers to leave the country and re-apply for different visas and asking Con***ius Institutes to re-apply for US accreditation.

Victoria Nuland, US state department, said, "We became aware that this wasn't just one case or a two case, but that there was a mess up in the processing in general so we need to fix that. The original directive that we issued a couple of days ago was frankly, sloppy and incomplete."

The Department has now amended its guidance with this: saying existing college "accreditation is sufficient" and teachers in primary and secondary schools are quote "not required to depart" but they do "need to have designated teachers' sponsors.

Immigration attorney Liang Ping says pressure from Beijing and concerned Universities seems to have worked.

Liang Ping, immigration attorney, said, "I think the new document is clear enough to help Con***ius institutes to continue to recruit teachers to this country."

The State Department says teachers must no longer leave the US to resolve the problem, keeping them here to continue bringing Chinese language lessons to American students.