Monday, July 29, 2019

Soft power of education diplomacy requires two-way policy

There's not much question that student mobility across national borders is a significant demonstration of soft power. While studying abroad, students absorb the culture of their host country and acquire the skills to live and work in a global society. In addition, countries that host international students build relationships that are likely to pay off in future good will and mutually beneficial governmental and private affairs.

China has been using higher education as a soft power tool to great success, write Ainur Yerezhepekova and Zulfiya Torebekova. In their words, the "Chinese government has enacted a policy in two directions with apparently equal success: on the one hand using soft power to attract international students and promote Chinese culture abroad through Confucius Institutes and on the other hand boosting economic opportunities to increase the flow of Chinese talent back home. In this way, they have simultaneously increased their visibility abroad, enticed talented foreign students to come to China and stemmed the loss of domestic talent."

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