Abstract
The book, China’s Soft Power and Higher Education in South Asia Rationale, Strategies, and Implications, by Romi Jain leaves the audience awestruck with the importance of China’s geo-intellect in the sphere of higher education. The book illuminates how China uses the higher education mechanism in South Asia to advance its national interests and investigates the challenges and opportunities for China. This book applies the geo-intellect model for countries such as Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as micro case studies, which has profound geostrategic value for the Asian giants such as China and India. The author explains China’s growing internationalisation in the field of education and research, and the dynamics between higher education and geostrategic relations.
China’s Soft Power is divided into three parts and eight chapters. Part I gives an introduction to the definition of soft power and explains the internationalisation of higher education. In this section, the author explains the importance of higher education for achieving soft power goals. This section also explains the values, goals, and motivations for China’s consideration for higher education and, most importantly, discusses Nepal, a South Asian country as a case study. The author did a wonderful job in explaining China’s academic charm for Nepalese students and the perceptions of China’s foreign policy based on interviews that she conducted with Nepalese students and alumni as well as academics and politico-bureaucratic elites. Part II explains the rise of China’s geo-intellect, especially in South Asia. The author explains geo-intellect to trace the evolving dimensions of China’s global dominance in higher education and research. Finally, Part III reveals how foreign policy and higher education policy reinforce each other in the context of China following the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Importantly, this book advances an innovative conceptual model of research and innovation paradigm in the twenty-first century. The author attempts to initiate a debate and provide a thoughtful account of data analysis based on archival sources and interviews with China and South Asia experts.
China’s Soft Power also addresses the important issue that China’s influence is spreading beyond military, security and economic domains in several South Asian countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and so on. China is making a strong engagement with several South Asian countries with a proactive policy to internationalise higher education. The author also addresses how China is promoting language and culture as a soft power tool via Confucius Institute. The book addresses how higher education has become the goal of Chinese leadership to achieve ‘comprehensive national power’, and how China’s BRI programme is becoming a vehicle to ‘export education and promote China’s soft power diplomacy’. The book is a reflection of how China is promoting cultural investment for broader influence in the world. It is significant to note that China is opening several campuses and Confucius institutes across South Asia. Kathmandu University in Nepal, for example, has a Confucius institute that promotes Chinese cultural festivals and programmes. China has already made its name in the global market by attracting international students to study in China and also promoting leading Chinese universities. Further, the study reveals the increasing engagement of the Arniko Society, which is an association of Nepalese alumni with the Chinese government. The society is involved in building Sino-Nepal ties by holding China education fairs, getting the involvement of Chinese NGOs in the development works for Nepal, and so on.
It is important to understand why China’s Xian Jiaotong University launched the University Alliance of the Silk Road (UASR). USAR is a non-governmental and non-profit organisation, which developed international collaboration in higher education, and advances institutional exchanges and partnerships on the Silk Road routes in the areas of scientific research, policy studies, talent education, and so on. It is important to note that the book focusses on the experiences of racism among the Nepalese students, however, a deeper discussion on the Nepalese students’ perceptions of Chinese society would be helpful. Although the book explains their increasing engagement with the Chinese government in domains of Sino-Nepalese relations, it is important to see whether a lack of cultural penetration has created a bottleneck for such interactions. At the same time, it would be great to see some discussion on whether China is trying to dilute India’s traditional influence in Nepal, and whether their objective is to build collaborative platforms in higher education and foster regional openness or otherwise?
The author should have also discussed the role of Indian institutions in higher education, especially in comparison with China. It is important to see whether the political leadership in China is as much successful as in India in facilitating innovation in higher education in South Asia. We cannot deny the fact that both India and China are on the path to reforming their education systems, and India is engaged in the same type of internationalisation. For example, while China’s thirteenth Five-Year Plan (2016–2020) is dedicated to ‘innovation-driven development and technological centers’, India is focusing on ‘knowledge creation and innovation’ based on the 2020 National Education Policy (Schulte, 2019). It is imperative to see a discussion on how India might outpace China between (2025–2030) in science and technology (Shouguang, 2018). India is competing with China on the internationalisation of higher education, and that competition is both intentional and driven by foreign policy.
India and China are promoting internationalisation of higher education and are fast becoming major hubs for attracting international students. However, China is way ahead in the game due to the initiatives taken by the China Scholarship Council to promote diverse study opportunities in China with scholarships to compete in the global market. Although India has the University Grants Commission to coordinate higher education, the agency lacks the promotional strategies to encourage international students. This might help readers to understand key differences in leadership policies in both countries as well as the differences that exist between the Chinese and the Indian education system. Besides, procedural issues and operational costs are important factors that should have been discussed in greater detail in the book. This is a significant issue because it explains how China is attracting more students from South Asia and beyond.
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the geo-intellect to trace the evolving dimensions of China’s global dominance in higher education. For scholars who are eager to know ‘the evolving patterns of transnational higher education in the Global South’, this book provides an excellent grounding and foundation. It will be valuable to students across the social science disciplines that are eager to know more about higher education and how it can be used as a mechanism for achieving soft power goals. Jain’s work is truly special and unique.