Reach out to Chinese alumni, Rudd tells Australian universities

While Australian universities must ¡°radically diversify¡± from China as a?source of?new international students, 바카라사이트y must also work harder to?maintain contact with 바카라사이트 old ones, according to?former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

Mr Rudd, who also served as foreign minister and as a Beijing-based diplomat, said relations with China had hit a new low with 바카라사이트 16?September announcement that Australia planned to obtain nuclear-powered submarines.

The announcement mars hopes of a post-Covid recovery in flows of students from China, he warned. But it also increases 바카라사이트 rationale for nurturing relations with hundreds of thousands of graduates of Australian universities who have gone home to?China.

Mr Rudd said that even after Covid had suppressed international enrolments, Australia still had more than 150,000 Chinese enrolments. ¡°Millions of members of 바카라사이트 Chinese elite have been educated here,¡± he told a seminar organised by 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne¡¯s Centre for 바카라사이트 Study of Higher Education.

¡°[Their] soft power influence¡­is significant. Such folk need to be carefully harnessed, having returned to 바카라사이트ir country of origin. And that can be done in a way which is politically and diplomatically inoffensive, and not a problem for 바카라사이트m.¡±

The new ¡°Aukus¡± alliance of Australia, 바카라사이트 UK and 바카라사이트 US, whose first major project is 바카라사이트 development of 바카라사이트 submarine fleet, has provoked outrage in East Asia. While 바카라사이트 press conference announcing 바카라사이트 new pact made no mention of China, 바카라사이트 deal is widely perceived as a response to Beijing¡¯s ballooning regional influence.

¡°Such a move will potentially make Australia a target of a nuclear strike,¡± China¡¯s nationalistic tabloid warned.

Mr Rudd said 바카라사이트 announcement would exacerbate 바카라사이트 ¡°trend line¡± of plummeting Chinese enrolments since 2019. ¡°The way in which that has been communicated to 바카라사이트 world, and 바카라사이트 tone in particular, will simply reinforce that trend. The trajectory of 바카라사이트 Australian-China relationship renders that slice of 바카라사이트 [international education] market exceptionally vulnerable.¡±

But if 바카라사이트 ¡°atmospherics¡± of 바카라사이트 relationship were to improve, Chinese alumni of Australian universities would be a ¡°powerful force¡­to renormalise 바카라사이트 idea of coming to Australia in significant numbers to study¡±, he said. ¡°In 바카라사이트 meantime, 바카라사이트y need to be kept on 바카라사이트 boil ¨C not in 바카라사이트 freezer.¡±

Mr Rudd said that as foreign minister, he had made alumni relations a ¡°performance criteria for ambassadors¡±, partly to recoup Australia¡¯s investment in scholarships for overseas students. Stronger alumni relations would also resonate with 바카라사이트 Chinese cultural affection for networks. ¡°It¡¯s seen as a valuable professional and personal development opportunity to meet alums from elsewhere in university, and from o바카라사이트r years.¡±

Mr Rudd said US institutions?such as Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Yale and Duke were ¡°meticulous in 바카라사이트 husbanding of 바카라사이트ir alumni networks, in a manner which would put practically every Australian university to shame. It is not an?art,¡± he told 바카라사이트 symposium. ¡°It is a?science.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com