Against this awkward background AFR Weekend sits down for dumplings with Xing.

"Controversy. OK. I think the controversy comes from people who don't have accurate, full information. People tend to make assumptions when they don't know the facts. Also because China has become very powerful and influential in the region and the world. In some way in America and even maybe Australia, feel a bit threatened," says Xing.

"I started in 2008. Before that I worked for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for eight years as the multicultural co-ordinator. Then one day I saw the ad in The Sydney Morning Herald for the job at the Confucius Institute. It was only after I took up the job I realised the institute was a collaboration with the Hanban and the university."

Some people criticise the Confucius Institute because they say it has a political agenda. What does Xing think of this criticism?

"I think the controversy comes from people who don't have accurate, full information," says Xing. Dominic Lorrimer

"We are not supposed to openly criticise the Chinese government because we are in collaboration. But then again I don't think we have a political agenda. Our main purpose is as a language and cultural provider. We are not involved in political disputes."

In America, people criticise the Confucius Institutes for exercising soft power, says AFR Weekend. They say that it influences students without being overt.

"OK. I see what you mean. But don't you think every country, every culture has the wish to promote their own culture and heritage and ideology? That's why Alliance Française opens its centres in many countries."


'Just different views'

The food has arrived while we've been talking and it's sitting on the table getting cold. Xing, unlike AFR Weekend, is not hankering for carbs, sugar and salt. So the questions might as well go on.

"I worked for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, for eight years as the multicultural co-ordinator. Then one day I saw the ad in <i>The Sydney Morning Herald</i> for the job at the Confucius Institute," Xing says. Paul Jones

If an Australian student got up in a Confucius Institute class and said, "I think Taiwan should be an independent state," what would happen?

"A Chinese student would stand up and say, 'I don't think so.' Fine you can argue, you can express your individual view. So for me I don't have a problem.

"I think people have a right to think independently. We don't tell people what to say. But we often say in the social situation you try to minimise your argument by not talking about religion, politics or sex. Because they are culturally sensitive."

So it would be possible to speak about Tibet as well, asks AFR Weekend, the question fading softly either from fear of what the response will be, or weakening from hunger.

"We often say in the social situation you try to minimise your argument by not talking about religion, politics or sex. Because they are culturally sensitive," Xing says. Dominic Lorrimer


"I remember a few years ago one Tibetan delegation asked us to organise a seminar to talk about Tibet. We organised that one. Then they had a few people come from the Tibetan Independence Association. And after the seminar they started to say, 'I think Tibet should be independent.' That's fine, just different views."

In the US, the director of the FBI expressed some concern about Confucius Institutes in America. Is there any message for Australia in that?

"I can't speak about America. I can't speak for all the other Confucius Institutes in Australia. Only my experience. I think people have a misunderstanding. They say the Chinese teachers work for the Chinese government. But from my experience that is unfair to the teachers. I have teachers who have worked for the Institute for 10 years. Two of the scholars teaching are very accomplished professors from Fudan​ University."

Xing's voice becomes firmer.

"They say the Chinese teachers work for the Chinese government. But from my experience that is unfair to the teachers, " Xing says.

"One is a specialist in comparative literature. They are both very decent persons. One has worked at Harvard. He is a very open man. He is very open-minded. I don't see that these two people have any agenda.

"One of our [Chinese language] teachers was so popular with our students I renewed her after her stay. She was one of our best teachers. She is lovely. When I hear these accusations I just think they are wrong. They work hard, they are decent, they enjoy living in Australia, they enjoy working at the University of Sydney. They are just normal human beings."

'I can understand the fear'


The director has politely started eating, slowly in small mouthfuls, as has AFR Weekend, which presses the issue with an observation:

Critics might say this is the way China presents the mask of friendship and co-operation, but in Australia we're not sure about China's aspirations in the South China Sea. It's the difference between the strong, happy cultural level and the potential from a giant country with a lot of people, in the South China Sea.

"But the Confucius Institute is just a culture and language centre. It's not our mission or function to act in that role to tell Australian society about what's happening in the South China Sea. So what are you supposed to do?" she asks, her voice expressing frustration.

The table falls silent. Xing has been open at every point: in accepting the invitation, in choosing a public place to eat, and answering questions on subjects that would make a diplomat reticent: Taiwan, Tibet and the South China Sea.

After some moments the conversation resumes with another question: Why should a university have a Confucius Institute but not have an Alliance Française or an Instituto Cervantes​?

"Maybe the French government didn't take the initiative? But the Chinese government did. Because there are more jobs, opportunities, more business, trade partner importance, so that's why people come to study Chinese. Market demand."

"There are more jobs, opportunities, more business, trade partner importance, so that's why people come to study Chinese. Market demand," says Xing. Dominic Lorrimer

The questions turn to Australian fear of China. Perhaps Australians fear that we are a country of 25 million people and China is a country of 1.2 billion and there's a fear we might be overwhelmed?


There is a long pause.

"I can understand the fear. Fear sometimes comes from insecurity. In this way the Australian government and the media think how to manage the growing influence of China and come up with a new strategy and a new narrative.

"That's why I say it's good to encourage people to build connections. Because countries' relationships come down to people's relationships. If two countries' people understand, they get along."

Xing describes a trip she made a few months ago to Europe. In Vienna she and her husband went to the opera. As they approached the opera house a scalper tried to sell them tickets. He spoke Chinese. She fishes out her mobile phone and plays a video of a city tour they did in Prague. A tour guide asked Xing if she was Chinese. She replied she was originally from China but now she is Australian. Then the guide spoke to her in "very good" Mandarin. He'd studied Chinese at Charles University in Prague.

"He said by 2020 Europe expects to get 20 million Chinese tourists a year. He said we need to get ready for that."

Time is tight and the conversation must finish soon. The table is laden with uneaten dumplings. It's time to ask Xing, what influenced her when she was growing up?

"Literature. I always very interested in literature. Not just Chinese. Western. When I was a child I read a lot of Chinese books. When I was at university my degree was on the English writer Somerset Maugham. You know his The Moon and Sixpence? That was the subject for my graduation thesis.

"When I was a child I read a lot of Chinese books. When I was at university my degree was on the English writer Somerset Maugham," says Xing. Dominic Lorrimer


"Sometimes when I look back I think in that book, that artist living in his dream. His dream to live the ordinary life. That passion, the hope for the future, maybe that attracted me. Courage and passion. Not satisfied by ordinary materialism."

The chef walks in. He's a friend of Xing's. He looks at the uneaten food. We tell him it was great and we ask a waiter for the bill.

The bill

Lotus

500 George Street, Sydney

1 mushroom dumplings, $12

1 crab xiao bag, $21

1 barbecue pork buns, $9

1 prawn pork dumplings, $14

2 milk oolong tea, $11

Total including tip, $73.70