China’s government has abused a nationalist neo-Confucian ideology to maintain its power in uncertain economic times – to the detriment of the country’s own future.
Without a reform of its outdated higher education system, China’s political power across the globe will falter in the next 10 to 15 years. A pre-revolutionary style of education, to unquestioningly learn by wrote the wisdom of your teacher, has been adopted by the Chinese government to control the development of intellectualism and turn universities into a pillar of Party support. Because of this, the ability of the next generation of Chinese political leaders to understand and engage with the rest of the world will be severely damaged, and lead to serious conflict over global security and climate change.
Science, engineering and maths have flourished under the Communist Party’s direction, and the upper echelons of government are stuffed with science graduates (President Hu Jintao is an engineer for example). But zero tolerance for intellectual freedom has crushed the development of arts and humanities under this regime, leaving a generation of intellectuals with nothing useful to contribute to the public debate but a worrying strident nationalism.
Kong Qingdong, an outspoken professor at Peking University, is the most obvious example of this. In January this year he reacted against complaints in Hong Kong of mainlander behaviour by accusing residents of the former British colony of being “bastards”, “thieves” and “dogs of British imperialists.” The government sanctions this language by not punishing it, whereas it regularly detains and incarcerates pro-democracy intellectuals such as Liu Xiaobo and Ai Weiwei.
Recent attempts by the Chinese government to introduce blatant propaganda into classrooms have provoked large demonstrations in Hong Kong. The proposed curriculum presents democracy as “chaos” and extols the virtue of one-party rule.
More worrying signs of the spread of this nationalism have been apparent in the recent territorial dispute with Japan over the Senkaku islands. Violent anti-Japanese protests have not been curbed by police and weaken the hand of the government in any attempts at compromise.
This matters because the ability of China to compromise with Western and emerging powers in matters of trade, economic policy and climate change will determine the direction and quality of our children’s lives. Politicians across Europe, notably Britain’s education secretary Michael Gove, have lamented the inability of Western children to follow their Chinese counterparts succeeding in science and maths. But it is that very leadership in the arts and humanities which stimulates intellectual debate.
Universities should be a place where ideas can be exchanged freely, without fear or favour. But wholesale reform of Chinese education would undermine the foundation of Communist party support. I believe the best way to tackle the problem of propagandized education is for Europe to offer more exchange and scholarship opportunities to Chinese students.
Critics might argue that the Chinese already represent one of the largest bodies of international students in most Western nations. This is true, so why would increasing study abroad opportunities make any difference?
The simple answer is that the vast majority of these students go abroad to study sciences, technology, or engineering. These subjects require little to no political or cultural debate, something which suits the Chinese government down to the ground.
A successful scholarship or exchange programme would offer considerable financial incentives or educational opportunities exclusively for arts and humanities subjects. Incentives would be required to persuade a population so focused on technical disciplines that an arts degree abroad might be worthwhile.
The most effective way to achieve this would be an expansion of the Erasmus programme by the European Commission. A specialised programme to place Chinese students in European universities could overcome national political objections by offering a reciprocal opportunity for EU undergraduates, broadening cultural exposure at the same time. This scheme would lie within the EU’s remit and could attract considerable support from governments looking to open up the Chinese market.
By offering foreign educational experience in the arts, Europe would follow the example of Sun Yat-sen and other great Chinese leaders. Western universities can offer students an unfettered educational experience which the Chinese government cannot undo and which can break the cycle of bloody-minded nationalism threatening the future of global security.
About the Author
