Greetings, China watchers. This week we start with a look at a new Taiwan soft power initiative aimed to reach American hearts and minds — and elbow out China's remaining Confucius Institutes — through a Mandarin Chinese education initiative. Then scroll down for news ranging from Beijing's cinematic critique of the CIA's new China Mission Center, Harvard dumping Beijing for Taipei and the marriage aversion of China's Gen Z women. Meanwhile, we'd still like to hear from you. Does a 4,000-word deep dive make your Thursday morning, or is that just too much thumb scrolling? Do you want a longer newsletter top and shorter quick-hits in the bottom, or vice-versa? The door is open for suggestions. I'd love to hear your ideas at pkine@politico.com. Thank you and enjoy this week's China Watcher. — Phelim Taiwan has launched a soft power initiative to boost Taipei-U.S. ties through a network of government-funded language schools as an increasing number of China-supported Confucius Institutes are forced to close amid mounting academic and political criticism. That program — Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning — provides funding, teacher training and curriculum for Taiwan-backed Mandarin Chinese classes for adults. It also integrates language training with awareness about Taiwan's democracy and respect for human rights. The initiative, unveiled last month, reflects a Taiwan government strategy to displace the Chinese government's Confucius Institutes and boost U.S. public sympathies for Taiwan at a time of rising fears of Chinese invasion of the self-governing island. "Freedom, diversity, protection of academic freedom and freedom of speech form Taiwan's key competitiveness," a document produced by Taiwan's Overseas Community Affairs Council, a cabinet-level agency overseeing the initiative, describes the program's objectives. "Taiwan's Mandarin teaching shouldn't only teach Chinese language; it also should tell the story of Taiwan to US students who are learning Chinese." Taiwan's U.S. Chinese language education ambitions spring from the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative inked in December between the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. government's unofficial representative office there, and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington, D.C. The agreement specifically references Taiwan's role as a U.S.-approved alternative to the "censorship and malign influence campaigns" of Confucius Institutes and the need to "highlight and enhance" Taiwan's role as a global provider of Mandarin Chinese teaching programs. The initiative marks a dramatic expansion of informal assistance that Taiwan's government has provided for decades to Chinese language "heritage schools" operated by Chinese American communities in the U.S. The self-governing island is now targeting 429 existing independent K-12 Chinese language schools in North America and Europe as hosts for TCMLs for adult Mandarin learners. The first 15 TCMLs in the U.S. launched last month at K-12 Chinese-language schools in California, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. Taiwan aims to raise that number to 100 TCMLs over the next three to five years, the principal at one of those schools told China Watcher. Taiwan is using cash to back its aspirations of eclipsing China's Confucius Institutes. Host schools for TCMLs can apply for Taiwan government funding of up to $38,000 per year to cover items, including operating expenses and "performance subsidies" to meet teaching quality metrics. Taiwan's government will also underwrite travel and accommodation costs for U.S.-based TCML teachers to receive training in Taiwan and subsidize instructors' wages by $50 per hour. The role of TCMLs as a durable bridge between the U.S. and Taiwan is written into the contract : They are expected to create "online alumni associations" and scholarships for U.S. citizens to study in Taiwan. The sole restriction: TCML teachers "must not hold passports from Mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau." TCML host school managers said its model of scholastic freedom is a key factor in their participation. "We don't let anyone have control of our school, including the Taiwan government," said Yulan Chung, principal of the Irvine Chinese School in Irvine, Calif. The contrast in the TCML model and that of China's Confucius Institutes is also an attraction. "Confucius Institutes impose more control, but the [TCML] gives us a much greater degree of freedom … and we can make our own decisions in terms of classes and textbooks," said Chiu Ling Tang, principal of the Wei Hwa Chinese School in Springfield, Va. Taiwan last month unveiled a separate initiative to expand its educational reach into U.S. universities. Six Midwestern universities signed language-training partnerships with Taiwanese universities under the island's new "Taiwan Excellent Mandarin" program . That provides Taiwan government funding for various initiatives, including placement of Taiwanese language instructors in U.S. universities and scholarships for U.S. students to study Mandarin in Taiwan. In a veiled dig at Confucius Institutes, a TECRO statement shared with China Watcher said the value-add of Taiwanese instructors in U.S. universities included "a learning environment free from censorship and undue [government] influences." The prospect of TEM partnerships squeezing out Confucius Institutes already has support in Congress. "Although I object to Confucius Institutes, I also recognize the need for American students to study and learn Mandarin [and] that is why I fully encourage Taiwan sponsoring Mandarin programs at universities in the U.S. as an alternative to Confucius Institutes," said Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), ranking member on the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy. Confucius Institutes are already in retreat from U.S. campuses. Since April 2017, 89 Confucius Institutes have closed or are in the process of closing, leaving only 36 operational. Those closures are due to a combination of student protests and faculty concerns about Chinese government influence, the Trump administration's designation of the Confucius Institute U.S. Center in D.C. as an organ of the Chinese Communist Party and provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act denying Department of Defense funding to universities that host a Confucius Institute. Those NDAA provisions prompted the University of Kentucky to close its Confucius Institute in March. And although the school has maintained links with Chinese academic partners, its executive director for international partnerships and research Tim Barnes is pragmatic about possible alternate collaborations. "We continue to be open to engagements with universities in Taiwan," Barnes said. TRANSLATING WASHINGTON — SULLIVAN: CHINA 'DESTABILIZING' TAIWAN RELATIONS: National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan last week told China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, that the U.S. is "deeply concerned" about recent " fundamentally destabilizing" Chinese activities toward Taiwan. In an interview with the BBC, Sullivan reiterated the U.S. government position that it will adhere to the One China Policy and the Taiwan Relations Act that guide U.S. relations with the self-governing island. — CIA LAUNCHES 'CHINA MISSION CENTER': The Central Intelligence Agency is creating a new China Mission Center, POLITICO'S Quint Forgey and Daniel Lippman reported last week. That move underscores "the Biden administration's focus on Beijing as a top foreign policy priority and a formidable global competitor," they wrote. Qin Gang, China's ambassador to the U.S., said the initiative reflected CIA officials' "delusions that they are James Bond." — BLINKEN WARNS OF 'PROFOUND' EVERGRANDE IMPACT: Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Chinese government last week to "responsibly" manage the fallout from the collapsing financial viability of the property development giant Evergrande Real Estate. Blinken told Bloomberg that the crisis could have "profound effects, on literally the entire world because all of our economies are so intertwined." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded by touting China's "responsible macroeconomic policy." | 
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