The Future of Australia-China Relations: Can International Education Deliver a Network of Informed Opinion Leaders?

As China is Australia’s largest trading partner, much of Australia’s future economic success will rely on the next generation of leaders and policymakers having a deep understanding of China’s culture and its way of doing business. While not discounting the commercial value of higher education, this thesis focusses on Australian universities’ contribution to the public good, through the enduring value of international education as public diplomacy. My study and internship within the Australian Studies Centre (ASC) at Peking University coincided with the Abbott Government’s implementation of the New Colombo Plan (NCP) as a public diplomacy initiative. Given that there is little evidence of the efficacy of funded scholarships making a strong contribution to a nation’s soft power, I became curious as to why the government highlighted international education to increase its influence in China and the Indo-Pacific region more broadly. As education programs are long-term public diplomacy strategies, and Australian politics have been tumultuous with five prime ministers in five years, investigating the reasoning behind the continued political support for international education as public diplomacy provides an insight into Australia-China relations. This thesis investigates two key international education programs that were identified in the Australian Public Diplomacy Strategy 2014-2016; the NCP and the network of ASCs in China. A mixed method approach was undertaken to address the problem: Have Australian Government-funded international education programs resulted in a network of Sino-Australian opinion leaders who contribute to Australia’s public diplomacy efforts in China? Many nations, including Australia, provide funding support for international education programs as they are thought to build relationships and mutual understanding between the peoples of different nations, and thereby contribute to international goodwill and the cause of peace.1 Two theories from the psychology and communications literature (the contact hypothesis and the two-step flow hypothesis in the development of opinion leaders) were used. The findings show that the NCP and ASC programs do contribute to breaking down negative stereotypes and building mutual understanding between Australia and China. However, the programs’ outcomes would be improved through strengthening the conditions of contact. Government, and, home and host university support for the NCP was high, however, due to the lack of Chinese language skills and opportunities for out-of-class interactions the condition of high acquaintance potential was low. Equal status and common goals were identified as being present for NCP scholars but could be improved as students rarely co-operated on joint projects and felt like they were treated, positively but differently, to local students. Conversely, the ASCs require additional institutional and government support. In contrast to the NCP’s adequate funding, the ASCs need increased funding which is aligned to clear objectives. There are opportunities for the NCP scholars and the ASCs to work together to diversify the Australian students’ experiences and provide more opportunities for Australian and Chinese students and academics to collaborate. Because of the intersection between policy and politics, the reasoning behind Australian Government funds for international education programs in China will be subject to change to meet the geopolitical environment of the time. We could naively rely solely on the government’s promulgated key objectives, however, without transparency regarding the intent of these programs, any evaluation could be meaningless. The strong fabric of personal and professional links between Australian and Chinese individuals and institutions will assist Australia to navigate difficult times in the bilateral relationship. Considering the limited public funding, using the NCP and ASCs as vehicles for delivering a positive message that Australia is engaged with its region, is sufficient reason for funding these programs. Improving conditions of contact would increase the probability of creating opinion leaders and therefore improving the future contribution that these programs make to the nation’s good.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)School of Govt & Int RelationsGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex