ZHENGZHOU, China -- At first, the Web site director and his schoolteacher wife sent their 5-year-old son to a Confucian school in this central Chinese city simply because it was two minutes from home.

In this Oct. 22, 2015, file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks as he attends the opening of the UCL Institute of Education Confucius Institute annual conference in London, the United Kingdom.

Since the inception of the communist party, China has had contentious relationships with major foreign powers, and its political structure has been under the scrutiny of the international community.