China plans to open more Confucius Institutes
to teach traditional Chinese medicine overseas and promote the Eastern medical
science, Deputy Minister of Health Wang Guoqiang said on Monday.
"We
are working closely with the Ministry of Education and the Confucius Institute
headquarters to open more TCM Confucius Institutes and add TCM-related courses
to the syllabus of existing ones," said Wang, who is also director of the
State Administration of TCM.
"TCM,
particularly its preventive aspect, is very well received abroad, regardless of
nationality or ideology," Wang told China Daily in an interview on Monday.
However,
he added, China lacks skilled TCM practitioners who speak a foreign language.
Xu Lin,
the institute's chief executive, previously said TCM would be a highlight of
newly opened Confucius Institutes in coming years.
Confucius
Institutes, named after the ancient Chinese philosopher, are nonprofit public
institutions for promoting Chinese language and culture abroad.
To
date, there are more than 350 Confucius Institutes and 500 Confucius Classrooms
in 101 countries and regions, official statistics showed.
Two
Confucius Institutes are specially dedicated to teaching TCM - at the Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and London South
Bank University.
"We
are now preparing a third in the United States," Xu revealed.
On June
20, Vice-President Xi Jinping inaugurated the TCM Confucius Institute in
Melbourne, saying it opened a new window for foreigners to learn about Chinese
culture.
At
present, such institutes are committed mainly to spreading Chinese culture,
with a focus on TCM, rather than training TCM doctors, Wang said.
"We've
encountered rejections and barriers when we try to promote our culture abroad,
and TCM courses might be a breakthrough, because preserving health is commonly
valued by all human beings and is more easily accepted abroad," he said.
Also,
"local conventions and cultures should be considered while teaching TCM to
foreign students, and new media, such as cartoons and video games, can be
tried", he said.
Li
Daning, deputy director of the State Administration of TCM, urged TCM
universities on the mainland to think about and explore how to integrate TCM
with Chinese language instruction.
"The
administration will support the project, particularly of fundamental tasks,
such as establishing a training base, standards for certifying teachers and
textbook writing," he said.
Wang
encouraged more than 20 TCM universities to seek out cooperation with overseas
universities and colleges in setting up more Confucius Institutes to spread
TCM.
"They
should also help train more bilingual TCM practitioners to give instructions at
Confucius Institutes," he said,
In
addition, Chinese TCM doctors who have been practicing abroad for some time can
be invited to teach at local Confucius Institutes to help ease the current
shortage of qualified teachers, he added.
China
Daily/Asia News Network
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