Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Hamilton has announced a new scheme to enhance academic co-operation with China as he attended the 100th birthday celebrations of Beijing’s Tsinghua University.
Representatives of over 120 universities were present, ranging from Chinese institutions to Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard.
Following an agreement made at the event, Oxford and Tsinghua will begin an increased program of co-operation within academic research, and an enhanced exchange of students and faculty over the next 5 years.
Students from China would be able to undertake summer research placements at Oxford, whilst similar programmes in China will also be offered to those at Oxford. Additional ‘Li and Fung Scholarships’ will support the exchange of students between China and Oxford, whilst seminars and workshops will also be co-hosted under the new scheme. The sharing of academic materials was also proposed.
As well as celebrating Tsinghua’s birthday, the “Tsinghua Consensus” was reached by the University representatives. It was decided that the Universities would attempt to strengthen co-operation and exchange, maintain a commitment to excellence, play a more important role in international issues, and “improve the development of human civilization”.
The Consensus echoes growing calls that, in a time of shifting global economic dominance, the export of top quality higher education will become increasingly important for Western economies.
Fourth year Mansfield student Melvin Chen, who was born and lived in China, was positive about the relationship. He said, “Grassroots initiatives that promote understanding, collaboration and investment between China and the developed world are critical to the future prosperity of both parties.
“I believe that the development of global leaders who intimately understand both cultures is one of the great challenges of this century. Fostering greater academic collaboration will be key in this respect.”
However, whilst Hamilton discussed the growing need for global co-operation amongst Universities, some have questioned Oxford’s increasingly warm relationship with China.
The Vice Chancellor accepted an honorary doctorate from Tsinghua and revealed how over 3,000 senior Chinese government officials have received short-term training programs in Oxford in recent years.
The University’s Advanced Leadership Development Programme trains politicians up to Vice Minister level, and is run through the Department for Continuing Education in association with the UNDP.
A spokesperson for the university confirmed that this training is partly aimed at helping Chinese leaders to meet Millennium Development Goals.
St. Catz student Pascal Jerome commented, “China’s human rights abuses are grave and many, but the risk of legitimising these transgressions through academic collaboration is surely outweighed by the opportunity of naturally fostering human rights ideals in the higher echelons of Chinese government.”
Oxford University is currently home to around 750 Chinese students, 4% of the total student body and, as stated by Hamilton, “China has become the biggest source of students following the United Kingdom and the United States”.
He stressed that enhanced globalisation for universities did not necessarily mean taking a fundamentally different approach. Whereas many Western universities have rapidly established new overseas campuses in countries such as China, Oxford has not yet announced any plans to do so.
