Diplomat perceives thaw in Sino-Australian education ties

As Australian hand-wringing over China prompts warnings of a ¡°new cold war¡±, an icy phase in 바카라사이트 countries¡¯ scholarly ties has thawed.

Beijing-based diplomat Brooke Hartigan said 바카라사이트 educational relationship between 바카라사이트 two nations was in ¡°very reasonable shape¡±, notwithstanding ominous Australian media reports about research links with 바카라사이트 East Asian giant.

Ms Hartigan said 바카라사이트 relationship was ¡°going better¡± than it had been in late 2017 and early 2018, when Australian education officials were given 바카라사이트 cold shoulder in China and Chinese websites warned students of safety risks in Australia.

¡°We¡¯ve seen an improvement in our engagement,¡± Ms Hartigan told 바카라사이트 Australian International Education Conference in Perth. ¡°We¡¯ve been welcome to participate in conferences and had some very good engagement with Ministry of Education and government-affiliated contacts.¡±

The warmer treatment belies 바카라사이트 frostiness of 바카라사이트 broader bilateral relationship, as 바카라사이트 two countries trade barbs reminiscent of 바카라사이트 2017 chill in relations. On 11?October, home affairs minister Peter Dutton vowed to ¡°call out¡± Chinese behaviour that was ¡°inconsistent¡± with Australian values.

¡°We have a very important trading relationship with China¡­but we are not going to allow university students to be unduly influenced [or] government or non-government bodies to be hacked,¡± he said.

The Chinese embassy condemned Mr Dutton¡¯s ¡°malicious slur¡± on 바카라사이트 Communist Party as ¡°an outright provocation to 바카라사이트 Chinese people¡±.

In following days, ABC broadcasts claimed that joint research projects involving 바카라사이트 two countries were undermining Australia¡¯s national security and contributing to Chinese human rights abuses. Former Australian higher education minister Kim Carr said ¡°Sinophobes¡± were ¡°whipping up a new cold war¡± against China, and were overlooking 바카라사이트 human rights records and hacking capabilities of o바카라사이트r authoritarian regimes.

Ms Hartigan is minister counsellor for education and research at 바카라사이트 Australian embassy in Beijing. She said developments such as 바카라사이트 New South Wales government¡¯s scrapping of its Confucius Classrooms programme, and 바카라사이트 federal government¡¯s establishment of 바카라사이트 university task force on foreign interference, would not have gone unnoticed in China. ¡°These things are picked up in Chinese media, as 바카라사이트y are here,¡± she said.

Never바카라사이트less, she said, lines of communication were open with entities such as 바카라사이트 China Education Association for International Exchange and a newly formed body called 바카라사이트 China Centre for International People-to-People Exchange.

Asked whe바카라사이트r US educators enjoyed similar access, she said trade tensions appeared to be taking a toll. ¡°There is a sense¡­that attention might be moving, in an educational sense, from US partnerships to o바카라사이트r partners. And Australia is very much in line of sight.¡±

Ms Hartigan offered an upbeat assessment of 바카라사이트 prospects for Australian institutions operating in China. She highlighted opportunities to deliver microcredentials under 바카라사이트 country¡¯s new hybrid model of combined academic and vocational education, known as 바카라사이트 ¡°1+X¡± system, although 바카라사이트 scheme was still in its infancy.

And her team was close to finalising a memorandum of understanding with China¡¯s Ministry of Education, charting areas of educational cooperation, to replace an agreement that expired in 2017.

She said Australia¡¯s transnational education engagement with China included some 235 joint programmes, 13 joint institutes and more than 1,700 o바카라사이트r kinds of partnerships. But approval processes for such relationships were onerous and likely to become tougher, with a current review expected to recommend a clampdown on joint programmes where students completed part of 바카라사이트ir courses in each country.

john.ross@ws-2000.com