中文摘要：

西澳大利亚大学孔子学院院长，媒体与跨文化传播副教授蒋颖2018年8月26日在中国国际电视台CGTN上发表文章《将感知与事实混淆的危险》（The danger of confusing perception with fact）。在文中，她针对近期澳大利亚有关中国的媒体报道进行了评述，认为澳大利亚目前对孔子学院的感知与事实之间的混淆令人忧虑。

蒋颖指出，混淆视听对公众来说是危险的。一些媒体头条足够引人注目，但没有事实根据。基于澳大利亚公众对孔子学院片面看法的歪曲报道，在很大程度上是由感知而非事实塑造的。新南威尔士州政府最近决定终止孔子学院在学校的项目，这一决定将其推向极端。

长达51页的调查报告《新南威尔士州公立学校外国政府/组织对语言教育的支持审查》（"Review of foreign government/organization support for language education in NSW government schools"）中明确指出，“此次审查没有发现中国政府通过孔子学院在新南威尔士州公立学校施加实际政治影响的证据。”审查只发现，“有许多具体因素可能会导致人们认为孔子学院正在或可能会提高该部门内不适当的外国影响力。”换句话说，没有证据，政府是基于“感知”而做出的决定。这为澳大利亚日益高涨的反华言论敲响了警钟。

由于资本主义和欧洲中心主义的同质化历史，目前澳大利亚话语中存在着对中国的误解与误读。再加上中国独特的发展模式与西方的预期大相径庭，因此，澳大利亚对中国的反应现在以焦虑为特征，有时还夹杂着一丝偏执。。它甚至被一些学者称为“中国综合症”，用来描述一种有点强迫性、并不总是理性的状态。

中国的政治制度与西方不同是一个事实，因此，用“西方公式”来判断中国可能过于简单化了。如果那些关注中国快速变化的人在下结论之前，先试着了解一下中国的混合政治制度及其历史，那将会更有成效。

日前，澳大利亚总理斯科特·莫里森强调，中国是澳大利亚的全面经济贸易伙伴。虽然越来越多的国内声音表明澳大利亚应该找到中国的替代者，但事实是，除了在贸易或全球事务中继续与中国接触之外，没有其他可行的办法。仅基本经济数据就说明了一个强有力的事实:按价值计算，澳大利亚三分之一的出口流向了中国。中国是莫里森面临的最大考验，澳大利亚的中国政策需要保持一致。

澳中关系是互利互惠的，然而，澳大利亚对中国崛起的焦虑程度不太可能下降，特别是在中美关系愈加紧张的情况下，右翼后座议员出于政治原因不断利用中国制造噪音。未来几年，澳中关系将更具挑战性。澳大利亚需要更多的理性思考和更多基于事实的报告，以避免由于依赖“感知”而丧失判断力，成为“中国综合症”的受害者。

（翻译：孟昀）

英文原文：

Editor's note: Jiang Ying is an associate Professor in Media and Cross-cultural Communicationand Australian Director of Confucius Institute at University of Western Australia. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

American writer E.B. White once said, "Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts."

Confusing perception with fact is dangerous for the public. When we treat perceptions as facts, we use those perceptions to back us up or to selectively choose facts to back us up.In some recent media coverage on China in Australia, this technique of cherry-picking facts is often found.

As a researcher in media studies and cross-cultural communication, I've found the current confusion between perception and facts in Australia on Confucius Institutes frightening.

Media headlines, eye-catching enough but with no grounded facts. Misrepresented informationbased on one-sided Australian public opinions on Confucius Instituteshave been largely shaped by claims instead of facts. The recent decision made by the New South Wales State Government to terminate its Confucius Institute program in Schools has just pushed it to an extreme level.

The NSW Education Department's Confucius Institute was launched in 2012. Confucius Institutes are established in universities around the world but NSW is unique in that it has a Confucius Institute located within the Education Department. In December 2017 Ross Babbage, former head of strategic analysis at the Office of National Assessments, called for an urgent review of the Department’s Confucius Institute on the grounds that it was inappropriate for Chinese government-funded personnel to be operating within an Australian state government institution.

In the 51 page long report titled "Review of foreign government/organization support for language education in NSW government schools", it clearly states, "This review has found no evidence of actual political influence being exerted by the Chinese government through the Confucius Institute in NSW public schools. Parents, politicians and academics have raised concerns in different forums but none provide evidence of actual influence. Further evidence would need to be gathered under wider terms of reference to be able to say anything conclusive on this point. In short, no evidence found."

The report explains the decision is due to “the perception of possible foreign influence”. The review finds, however, "that there are a number of specific factors that could give rise to the perception that the Confucius Institute is or could be facilitating inappropriate foreign influence in the department."

In other words, the report exemplifies a decision that is not made on the ground of “evidence”, but "perception".

It sounds an alarm for the rising anti-Chinese discourse in Australia. Campaigns and media coverage about the concern over China's influence are on rise. Chinese investors are blamed for Australia's unaffordable housing prices while Chinese students in Australia are critized for infiltrating Australian politics for the sake of their country.

Due to the homogenizing history of both capitalism and Eurocentrism, a current discourse of misreading China has formed in Australia. It often evokes anxiety because China’s distinctive model is very different from the Western expectation. Accordingly, Australia’s response to China is now characterized by anxiety, sometimes mixed with a touch of paranoia. It is even called the "China syndrome" by some scholars, which is used to describe a condition that is a bit compulsive and not always rational.

The political system in China differs from the West is a fact, therefore, using “Western formula” to make judgment about China could be over-simplistic. It would be more productive if people who are concerned about a fast changing China attempted to understand its hybrid political system and its history first before jumping to conclusions.

A few days ago, Prime Minister Scott Morrison emphasized that China is Australia's comprehensive economic trading partner. Although there are growing domestic voices that Australia should find alternatives to China, the fact is that there is no viable alternative to continued engagement with China in trade or global affairs.The basic economic data alone tells a powerful story:one-third of Australian exports by value go to China. China is Morrison’s biggest test, and Australia China policy needs consistency.

The Australia-China relationship is mutually beneficial, however, the level of anxiety about China’s rise is unlikely to fall in Australia, especially as relations between China and the USA become more strained, right-wing backbenchers keep using China to make noises for domestic political reasons. Australia-China ties will become more challenging in the years ahead. Australia needs more rational thinking and more access to reports based on facts to avoid falling prey to a China syndrome characterized by poor judgment based on perceptions.

（Author：Jiang Ying is an associate Professor in Media and Cross-cultural Communicationand Australian Director of Confucius Institute at University of Western Australia.）