Edmonton Public Schools has renewed a deal to host and administer the Confucius Institute Edmonton — an organization with ties to China’s Communist government that has proven controversial in Western nations.
The five-year deal, inked in Beijing in October, continues the decade-long relationship between the public school district and the Confucius Institute’s Headquarters, known as Hanban.
Similar arrangements with Canadian school districts and universities have drawn criticism, and some agreements have been terminated when detractors raised concerns about China’s human rights record.