In addition, the university stated on request: "We have no concrete evidence, but we cannot completely exclude the possibility of influence. The Confucius Institutes cooperated directly with Chinese institutions or bodies linked to a state institution, it was said. From a legal point of view, the termination was necessary because no scientific tasks were apparent which the Confucius Institute had taken over. However, the NRW Higher Education Act makes this mandatory in such a case.

But the end of the Confucius Institute has not yet been sealed, according to its director Cord Eberspächer: "We are holding talks with our other partner, the City of Düsseldorf, about a continuation of the cooperation. The Chinese community has meanwhile become an important location factor for Düsseldorf. The institute is part of that. If the talks do not lead to a result in the coming weeks, it would have to close at the end of April, Eberspächer said.

The city is keeping a low profile regarding the status of the talks: "At present, the state capital of Düsseldorf is examining how cooperation with the Confucius Institute could be reoriented in the future," it was merely stated.

Even if the institute in Düsseldorf has to close, there is still a sufficient opportunity for learning the Chinese language, the city assured. Various language schools, for example, which offer Chinese as a foreign language, as well as the Volkshochschule.

In NRW, the University of Düsseldorf has so far been an exception - the other universities have so far maintained their cooperation with the Confucius Institutes. According to the Minister, it is indeed to be suspected "that university cooperation with Chinese Confucius Institutes could mean a creeping erosion of academic freedom through anticipatory self-censorship or a one-sided positive presentation of China". Pfeiffer-Poensgen, however, trusts that the universities of Bonn, Duisburg-Essen and Paderborn will "deal responsibly and critically with the cooperations entered into", as stated in the report requested by Green MEP Matthias Bolte-Richter.

At the University of Duisburg-Essen there is an institute with two German and one Chinese co-director. The Confucius Institute there is mainly responsible for "Chinese as a foreign language". There are about 500 Confucius Institutes worldwide. In Germany there are almost 20, and their umbrella organisation Hanban is under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. Currently, institutes are also being closed in other countries, for example in the USA, Canada, Sweden or France. Sometimes because of fundamental concerns, sometimes because of scandals. Most recently, the Free University of Brussels closed its institute.

Since 2018, at the behest of head of state Xi Jinping, the institutions are to concentrate on "building a socialist culture", support "Chinese-style diplomacy" and train the teaching staff accordingly.

For the Federal Government the matter is clear. In a recent statement it says: "The Federal Government is aware that the Chinese state or the Chinese Communist Party exerts influence on events, teaching contents and materials at Confucius Institutes in Germany.

(Original text: Kirsten Bialdiga; Translation: Mareike Graepel)