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Tripling the number of Kansas high school students who are learning Chinese probably still results in a pretty small total, but the efforts of Kansas University’s Confucius Institute are a positive development.

Using interactive distance-learning technology, a visiting KU professor from China is able to teach Mandarin to more than 40 students at seven schools across the state. Given the probable number of Kansas teachers qualified to teach Chinese, it’s a pretty safe bet that most of these students wouldn’t be able to take such a class any other way.

Knowledge of Chinese culture and language has become more important to Americans because of China’s increasing role in the global economy. KU launched the Confucius Institute this summer in partnership with the Chinese government to help promote understanding of China, its people and its development.

It’s a cinch that there are far more Chinese students learning English than there are Americans learning Chinese. The dominant role the United States has played in world events has made Americans complacent about understanding how others live and do business.

English may be the dominant language of business around the world, but that doesn’t mean that Americans with a better understanding of Chinese language and culture don’t have an edge. The person who can understand not only a direct conversation conducted in English but the side conversation that occurs in Chinese has an obvious advantage. The person who understands cultural influences and habits well enough to avoid offense and earn respect always will have an edge.

China is emerging as a business power in the global economy, which gets the attention of profit-driven Americans, but the idea behind the Confucius Institute also applies to many other geographical and philosophical areas. In politics, education and numerous other fields, Americans need to have a better understanding of the world and what influences different people and governments. Language is just one part of that, but it opens doors that most Americans have been content to leave closed.

The world still is beating a path to America’s door, but not always to our benefit. To deal better with the global influences that are having an increasing impact on our own economy, government and safety, we can no longer afford to remain aloof from cultures that are different from our own.

Forty high school students learning Chinese may not be many, but it’s 40 more than were learning it before and that’s a step in the right direction.