China eyes more academic cooperation in Europe, BRI countries

China eyes more cooperation in Europe, BRI countries 

Delegates attend a seminar under the theme of "The Belt and Road Initiative -- Towards an Egyptian Vision" in Cairo, Egypt, on April 1, 2019. Egyptian researchers and experts in Asian affairs held a seminar in Cairo on Monday to discuss insights and visions on the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its economic and strategic significance for participant states. Held by the Chinese Studies Unit of Cairo-based Al-Hewar Center for Political and Media Studies, under the theme of "The Belt and Road Initiative -- Towards an Egyptian Vision," the seminar provided Egyptian insights ahead of the second high-profile BRI international forum that will be held in Beijing, capital of China, later in April. Photo:Xinhua

Despite recent US moves against Chinese scholars over so-called espionage concerns, China is still open for academic exchanges with the US and continues to expand cooperation with Europe and other countries along the routes of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 

Chinese scholars in fields such as diplomacy and cybersecurity interviewed by the Global Times said that many American scholars have been invited to China for academic exchanges, and Chinese scholars also have been to other countries to attend academic seminars. 

Analysts stressed that no matter what actions the US takes, China will not change its pace and development plan and will continue to further open up to the world, which can be demonstrated by increasing cooperation between China and Europe under the framework of the China-proposed BRI, in fields ranging from culture and science, to education. 

Shen Yi, director of the Research Center for Cyberspace Governance of Fudan University in Shanghai, said that China always welcomes other countries for academic cooperation, including the US. 

"I know many US scholars are willing to cooperate with China. If the US rejects Chinese scholars from getting into the US, we can invite them [US scholars] to China to hold talks," Shen said.

Shen's visa to the US was canceled in July 2018. He is now attending an international forum on information security in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. 

Beijing-based think tank the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) held the Fifth Annual China and Globalization Forum with UN China and the China Association for International Economic Cooperation in Beijing last week.

Wang Huiyao, president of the CCG, told the Global Times on Wednesday that some US scholars, as well as former US Ambassador to UN Terry Miller and also US Embassy Minister Counsellor William Klein, attended the forum where the tone of the discussions was very amiable. 

The CCG also invited Vincent Price, president of Duke University, based in Durham, North Carolina, to give a speech in Beijing on Thursday on higher education innovation. 

Open China

Overseas scholars are invited to participate in forums and academic exchanges at top Chinese universities and academic institutes in a wide variety of fields. 

The University of Science and Technology of China held a forum on artificial joint replacement between Monday and Tuesday in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province. 

Sixteen experts on orthopedics from countries along the BRI routes, including Dominica, Myanmar and Ukraine, attended the forum, according to the school's website.  

In early April, 56 young people from 16 countries and regions, including the US, Germany and the UK, attended a forum under the BRI for international young scholars in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province. 

Other leading universities like Peking University and Renmin University of China also launched BRI-related projects to enhance academic exchanges and talent training. 

Peking University announced in January three major academic projects under the BRI, covering talent training, history and archaeology. 

The university said it is committed to training skilled professionals for countries involved in the BRI, with 828 students from 55 countries and regions studying on campus. 

Meanwhile, the Renmin University of China opened China's first educational institution under the BRI, the Silk Road School, in 2018 in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, aiming to become a home to global talent.

Slovenian Ambassador to China, Janez Premoze, said at the opening ceremony of the Silk Road School that it was great for the school to embrace young scholars from many different countries, to "learn not only about the Belt and Road Initiative but also about the modern reality of China."

Backward US 

Chinese scholars consider the US' moves against foreign academics, especially Chinese academics, foolish amid increasing global academic cooperation. 

Western Kentucky University (WKU) announced on its website on Monday that it had shut down the university's Confucius Institute that it operated since 2010 with the Beijing-based Confucius Institute Headquarters, or Hanban in Chinese. 

On the same day, a New York Times report said that two research fellows had resigned and one was in the process of being fired from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as they failed to disclose international collaborators, which included China. 

The three research fellows' nationalities were not revealed but the report said they all had ties to China or to Chinese residents or institutions, according to the centers' reports. 

These moves show a decline in confidence on the US' part in dealing with a developing China, Shen said. 

"This will damage only the US' reputation, but it will not affect China," Shen stressed. 

"The US takes for granted that it wins all the time and never reflects on its own problems. So when it feels the threat of being overtaken by another country, it thinks that the latter must be cheating," He noted. 

Repost from Global Times，April 24, 2019