Sydney, Australia—Australian academics are anxiously eying what they see as rising U.S. interest in China. They talk of hearing American accents in Beijing, and they have noticed a real dip in Chinese students at home. They attribute some of that decrease to competition from the United States.
The number of new Chinese students at Australian postsecondary institutions this year is down 15 to 25 percent, says Anthony Pollock, the chief executive of IDP Education, a student-recruitment company. (The most recent U.S. numbers show Chinese students up more than 50 percent.) But from my observations here, admittedly anecdotal, the Australians are well ahead of Americans in building connections to China. Those connections are at a variety of levels: cooperative research, institutional partnerships, and platforms for student and faculty exchange.
First, some important background: Australia was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with China in the 1970s, as the Cultural Revolution drew to a close. Now China is Australia’s top trading partner, thanks to China’s appetite for coal, iron, and natural gas. Australia is a day’s plane ride from China, compared to the two days of travel time from the eastern United States. Overlapping time zones between Australia and China make it easier for university partners in the two countries to do business than U.S.-China partners.
Although geographical proximity does not guarantee intellectual links, I have the sense that many Australians get off the plane and go straight to work in China. American academic administrators sometimes seem to still be scanning the Chinese academic environment when they arrive in Beijing or Shanghai. It’s important to avoid stereotypes of course: Mandarin-speaking Australians have committed gaffes in China, and some American institutions—Yale and Johns Hopkins come to mind—have long-standing and deep Chinese relationships.
Still, in the institutions that I have visited in Australia, administrators rattle off impressive lists of activities in China and talk of recent or forthcoming trips. In October, Australia’s “Group of Eight,” eight of the top Australian universities, signed an agreement with the Chinese universities known as the “China Nine,” including such brand names as Fudan, Peking, and Tsinghua universities, and the “Hong Kong Three” (University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology). Initially the agreement is centered on student exchange, but should blossom into faculty exchanges and joint degrees, says Jennie Lang, pro-vice-chancellor for international at the University of New South Wales, a Group of Eight member. “Suddenly we have access to a couple of hundred student places,” says Ms. Lang.
There is also plenty of action outside of the Group of Eight. When I talked to Steven Schwartz, the vice chancellor of Macquarie University, earlier this week, he was essentially just off the plane from a trip with the prime minister to Beijing. The voice of Ian O’Connor, the vice chancellor of Griffith University, swelled with enthusiasm in an interview as he mentioned the eagerness of Chinese academics to go straight to work on making partnerships productive. His description of Chinese attitudes reminded me of the Nike “Just do it” advertising campaign. In April, Griffith celebrated the official start to a China-supported Confucius Institute, not that unusual an achievement, but this one will be centered on tourism, believed to be one of a kind.
This week, Simon Evans, pro-vice-chancellor for international at the University of Melbourne, and colleagues, are headed off on a four-city, 13-university tour to seek out Melbourne alumni living in China and to talk with institutions where Melbourne has research-led relationships. Mr. Evans estimates that 100 Melbourne scholars are doing research in or on China. “The international element of the university is not built around student recruiting,” said Mr. Evans. “It is built around everything that we do.”
Ultimately, of course, it is difficult to measure Chinese connections when you are not in China. At the Universitas 21 meeting that I am attending here, I sought out Wu Zhipan, an executive vice president for Peking University. Our conversation circled back to students. He told me that with China’s one-child policy, Chinese parents pay great attention to the safety of their children. Australia is still viewed as a comparatively safe study destination, he says. But when it comes to working toward a doctorate, he said, U.S. laboratories and equipment are often viewed as the best.
