ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an outline of Australian-Chinese relations and illustrates how Confucius Institutes are perceived in Australia. Referring to Don Starr and his division of CI models, the case study illustrates that Confucius Institutes in Australia are established as cooperation between an Australian entity and a Chinese counterpart. In Melbourne or Sydney, for example, there is not only competition from the Confucius camp, but also from commercial providers, mainly in the language training business. Chinese Teacher Training Centre was established in Melbourne with seed funding from Hanban, and was founded on research from the Confucius Institute. Cultural-related activities refer to a wide range of cultural activities, such as exhibitions, movie screenings and concerts, courses for Chinese painting, tea ceremony or calligraphy. The chapter concludes that the rise of China 'poses a challenge of historic significance for Australia, matched only by the shift from Britain to the United States as Australia's major security partner following World War II'.
