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<h1 class="gmail-postTitle">In Pursuit of Global Know-how: China’s New Area Studies Policy</h1><div class="gmail-postTeaser"><span><p>Beijing is making a concerted push to foster expertise on foreign regions and countries.</p>
</span></div><div class="gmail-postBylineWrapper"><div class="gmail-postByline"><div class="gmail-postAuthor">By <span>Margaret Myers and Ricardo Barrios</span></div><div class="gmail-postDate"><span>August 03, 2018</span></div></div><div class="gmail-postSocial"><div class="gmail-socialIcons"><div class="gmail-shareFacebook gmail-facebook gmail-sharrre"><span class="gmail-socialIcon"> </span></div><div class="gmail-shareTwitter gmail-twitter gmail-sharrre"><span class="gmail-socialIcon"> </span></div><div class="gmail-shareGoogle gmail-google gmail-sharrre"><span class="gmail-socialIcon"> </span></div><div class="gmail-shareLinkedIn gmail-linkedin gmail-sharrre"><span class="gmail-socialIcon"> </span></div><div class="gmail-printpage"><span class="gmail-socialIcon"> </span></div></div><div class="gmail-postSocialTotalCounts"><div class="gmail-shareCounts"> </div><div class="gmail-postComments"> </div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-postBody gmail-ng-scope"><p>In
order to cope with the complex demands of its growing global role,
China has been keeping a closer eye on international affairs. Nowhere is
this clearer than in China’s recent push to foster area studies
development within nation’s top educational institutions. The
Inter-American Dialogue’s recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thedialogue.org/resources/learning-latin-america-chinas-strategy-for-area-studies-development/">report</a>, <em>Learning Latin America: China’s Strategy for Area Studies Development</em>,
traces the gradual development of China’s area studies, with an
in-depth look at Chinese study of the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC)
region.</p>
<p>China’s efforts to develop foreign expertise are supported by a
robust policy framework. Launched by the Ministry of Education in 2011,
China’s “Regional and Country Studies Bases” policy calls for a
nation-wide network of area studies centers to carry out basic and
applied research on foreign regions and subregions, from the Persian
Gulf to the Amazon and beyond. This includes a two-step registration and
accreditation process, as outlined by the Ministry of Education, with
related incentives, including the possibility of $45,000-$75,260 in
center <a target="_blank" href="http://theory.people.com.cn/n/2012/0723/c40531-18578875.html">funding</a>.</p>
<p>The requirements for center registration are relatively
straightforward. For example, centers must provide evidence of a clear
organizational structure, designate office space, and establish an
“academic research institution,” such as a Confucius Institute, in the
center’s geographic area of focus. To achieve full accreditation, area
studies centers must hold at least one course on the center’s area of
specialty and one annual scholarly meeting, among other requirements.</p><a class="gmail-td-ad-inline gmail-td-ad-inline-txt" href="https://thediplomat.com/subscriptions/"><b>Enjoying this article?</b> Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.</a>
<p>Although the project is academic in substance, the goal of the area
studies enterprise is noticeably pragmatic: to inform China’s overseas
engagement. The centers’ primary function, according to relevant
government documents, is to provide <a target="_blank" href="http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A20/s7068/201703/t20170314_299521.html">consultation</a>
services to the state, while also developing a crop of
cross-disciplinary regional studies experts. In the words of former Vice
Minister of Education Hao Ping, the initiative <a target="_blank" href="http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/moe_176/201102/t20110228_115393.html">aims</a>
to meet state “demands” to “train a large group of internationalized
specialists who would have an international outlook, be familiar with
international norms, and be capable of participating in international
affairs and competition.”</p>
<p>The exact number of area studies centers is difficult to pinpoint, but <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sohu.com/a/167268851_618422">hundreds</a>
are now evident across China. To date, China has some 60 centers
dedicated to the LAC region alone, although only 16 of them have
successfully registered in accordance with the government’s area studies
policy. Some, such as the Institute of Latin American Studies at the <a target="_blank" href="http://ilas.cass.cn">Chinese Academy of Social Sciences</a>, are sizable, with established reputations. Others, such as Qingdao University’s <a target="_blank" href="http://qdzgxy.qdu.edu.cn/info/1067/1393.htm">Latin America Center</a>, are small upstarts with little to show in the way of staff or content. A few, like the <a target="_blank" href="https://news.bfsu.edu.cn/archives/4791">Center for Mexican Studies</a> at Beijing Language and Culture University and the Center for <a target="_blank" href="http://www.tsccla.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn">China-Latin America Management Studies</a> at Tsinghua University, conduct research on particular countries or disciplines.</p>
<p>China’s pursuit of area studies expertise has also focused to a
considerable degree on foreign language acquisition. The country’s
foreign language departments are growing as rapidly as area studies
centers, if not more so in some cases. To date, China has roughly 120
Spanish language and 40 Portuguese language departments around the
country, which train China’s future academics, interpreters, and
diplomats.</p>
<p>The great irony is that China’s efforts to better understand the
outside world are modeled after the United States’ own area studies
push, which took place after World War II. In both cases, area studies
were promoted by and for the state in response to growing global
interests and an expanding risk profile. As the United States turns
increasingly inward, however, China is hoping to understand the world in
new and increasingly nuanced ways.</p>
<p><em>Margaret Myers is the Program Director in the Inter-American
Dialogue’s Latin America and the World Program, which focuses on
China-Latin America affairs. Ricardo Barrios is the Program Associate in
the same program.</em></p>
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<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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