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Entity Type: Domestic University

ISCOM

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ISCOM, or the Institut Supérieur de Communication, is a private French institution that trains students for careers in communications and advertising, with eight campuses across France. According to ISCOM’s own description of the school, it combines academic coursework with practical, hands-on training built on ongoing partnerships with industry professionals. Caroline Grassaud has directed the school’s Paris campus since 2023. In June 2026, Grassaud signed a cooperation agreement with the Communication University of China (中国传媒大学), arranging a student exchange tied to the Chinese university’s School of Advertising and Brand Communication. ISCOM is marking its 40th anniversary this year.

Vrije Universiteit Brussel

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The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (布鲁塞尔自由大学), or VUB, is a Dutch-speaking public research university in Brussels, Belgium. According to the university’s own account of its history, it traces its roots to the Free University of Brussels, founded in 1834 by lawyer Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen as a secular alternative to church-run higher education, which split along linguistic lines in 1969 into VUB and the French-speaking Université libre de Bruxelles. VUB became a fully independent institution in 1970. The university enrolls roughly 22,000 students across eight faculties and campuses in Etterbeek, Jette, Anderlecht, and Pajottegem. VUB previously hosted a Confucius Institute, a Chinese state-funded language and culture program, established in 2015 and shut down in 2019 after Belgian security services accused its director of working as a recruiter for Chinese intelligence.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

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The Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (한국외국어대학교) is a private research university in Seoul, founded in April 1954 by Kim Heung-bae (金興培). The university currently teaches 45 foreign languages and includes programs in humanities, law, political science, social sciences, business, medical science, natural sciences, and engineering. Within its College of Social Sciences, the university offers Journalism and Mass Communication majors that include programs in Journalism and Media Studies, Advertising and Public Relations, and Television and Film. While no formal framework for cooperation with China was found, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies maintains engagement with Chinese institutions through participation in bilateral forums. In October 2025, Professor Park Han-jin from the College of Chinese Studies participated in the 2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum held in Seoul under the theme “China-South Korea Cooperation for an Intelligent Future.”

East Asian Civilization Research Center

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The East Asian Civilization Research Center (东亚文明研究中心) at SWPS University, or CCAW, is an interdisciplinary research institute established in 2003 and headquartered in Warsaw, focusing on political, cultural, linguistic, and literary studies of Mainland China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. Founded by the late Professor Krzysztof Gawlikowski, the center evolved from an organizational unit into the Department of Asian Studies within the Faculty of Humanities in 2017-2018. The center participates in the European Union’s Horizon Europe “China Horizons” project examining contemporary Chinese society and culture, and operates a research platform on hermeneutics and translation of classical Chinese texts in collaboration with the University of Warsaw, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, and Adam Mickiewicz University.

Seoul National University

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Seoul National University (서울대학교) is South Korea’s flagship public research university located in Seoul. The university was established on August 27, 1946, by merging ten institutions of higher education around the Seoul area. The university comprises 16 colleges offering 83 undergraduate programs and serves nearly 17,000 undergraduate and 11,000 graduate students. While no formal framework for cooperation with China was found, Seoul National University maintains engagement with Chinese institutions through participation in bilateral forums. In October 2025, Professor Park Byeong-seug, visiting professor at the university’s Graduate School of International Studies, participated in the 2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum held in Seoul under the theme “China-South Korea Cooperation for an Intelligent Future.”

Dankook University

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Dankook University (단국대학교), or DKU, is a private research university in South Korea founded in November 1947, with campuses in Yongin (about 40 kilometers south of Seoul) and Cheonan (about 90 kilometers south of Seoul). The university hosts more than 30,000 students and employs approximately 2,700 faculty members across 20 undergraduate colleges and 10 professional graduate schools. The university is recognized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange, an institution under China’s Ministry of Education, which ensures degree recognition for Chinese graduates. While no official framework for cooperation with China was found, Dankook University maintains engagement with Chinese institutions through participation in bilateral forums. In October 2025, Professor Kim Jin-ho from the College of Social Sciences participated in the 2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum held in Seoul under the theme “China-South Korea Cooperation for an Intelligent Future.”

University of Salamanca

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The University of Salamanca (Universidad de Salamanca), founded in 1218, is one of the oldest universities in the world and Spain’s foremost public research institution, enrolling over 30,000 students across four campuses with 72 undergraduate and 86 official master’s programs. In October 2017, the Chinese Embassy in Spain sent an urgent email to the university’s president and dean demanding cancellation of its inaugural “Taiwan Cultural Days” — warning the event “would affect the university’s good relations with China” — and the university complied the same day, deleting all mention of the event from its website and social media. The incident, which only became public knowledge in August 2018 after a lecturer went public with the embassy’s email, drew widespread condemnation as an instance of Beijing pressuring European academic institutions. In May 2025, the university and Guizhou University (貴州大學) jointly established a Confucius Institute (孔子學院) — institutions that have faced sustained criticism over academic freedom — which a Guizhou University representative described as “advancing the Belt and Road Initiative” (推進一帶一路倡議).

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

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The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), founded in 1837, is one of Greece’s oldest universities, with eight schools and 33 faculties offering programs in medicine, law, sciences, humanities, and engineering. The university maintains 800 bilateral agreements with institutions in 63 countries, including partnerships with universities in Asia, particularly China. In September 2025, NKUA hosted an international conference on Greek-Chinese philosophical dialogue, a China-led initiative for cultural diplomacy between Greece and China. The event was attended by Li Xi (李希), a member of the CCP’s Politburo Standing Committee, signaling Beijing’s strong interest in strengthening ties with Greece. The conference strongly emphasized Greece and China as ancient Western and Eastern civilizations, in line with the CCP’s more recent deployment of civilization-related political discourse, including through its Global Civilization Initiative.

Angeles University Foundation

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Angeles University Foundation (AUF), located in Angeles City, Central Luzon, is a private, non-stock, non-profit Roman Catholic educational institution. It was founded on May 25, 1962 by Agustin P. Angeles, Barbara Y. Angeles, and family, and was granted university status by the Philippine Department of Education on April 16, 1971. In 1975, the founding family executed a Deed of Donation relinquishing ownership, converting the institution into a tax-exempt foundation under Philippine law. AUF became a Catholic university on February 14, 1978 — the first Catholic university in Central Luzon, according to the university. It operates the AUF Medical Center, a private teaching and research hospital inaugurated in 1990. According to the university, AUF has held autonomous status granted by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) since 2003, a distinction held, it says, by fewer than 70 of the country’s approximately 2,400 higher education institutions. In October 2009, AUF established the Confucius Institute at Angeles University Foundation (CI-AUF) in partnership with Fujian Normal University (福建師範大學), with a formal opening in January 2010 attended by then-Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, then-Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao (劉建超), and then-Hanban (漢辦) Director General Xu Lin (許琳).