The Issue of Mutuality in Canada-China Educational Collaboration

This paper examines the power relationships in two major Canada-China university linkage programs which ran between 1989 and 2001: the Canada-China University Linkage Program [CCULP] (1989-1995) and the Special University Linkage Consolidation Program [SULCP] (1996-2001). The study adopts the cosmopolitan concept of mutuality as a theoretical lens and employs the analytical method of constant comparison of qualitative data to explore the context surrounding the mutuality evidenced in CCULP/SULCP. The findings show that both programs manifested the four characteristics of mutuality identified by Johan Galtung: equity, autonomy, solidarity and participation. Human values or cultural agency were identified as the key factor making mutuality possible, as well as nurturing and sustaining the relationships between Canadian and Chinese participants. This study suggests that cosmopolitanism be given more attention in this increasingly interconnected world. Its primary emphasis is on human relationships, and this dimension needs to be given more space in international academic relations