Title: Shifting Paradigms: China’s Influence Through the Intermediaries of Tertiary Education Institutions in the 21st Century
Stream: Higher Education
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Xi Huang, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Abstract:
The world has witnessed the rise of East Asian developmental states in the aftermath of World War II and the ascendence of China. Since China announced the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, China has increased its overseas influence through foreign direct investments in the countries along the BRI route. Alongside the shifting of global economic power eastwards, the centrality of soft power is transiting from Global North to South. China’s strategic adoption of building overseas Confucius Institutes and language learning centres is niched with the value of expanding soft power. In 2016, China announced the Education Action Plan for BRI, symbolising the greater openness of Chinese education to the global arena. Although the BRI has received great attention since its launch, education as the ‘soft infrastructure’ is little discussed with regard to the geopolitical value shaped by the Chinese actors. I argue that changing paradigms on China’s overseas influence from the intermediaries of Confucius Institutes to the tertiary education institutions, marked the de-centralised soft power projection with declining roles of Chinese-state and increasing involvements of subnational and nonstate actors. The author attempts to understand why and how Chinese soft power approach has been altered, and how neighboring regions like Southeast Asia respond to China’s changing approaches.
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