Beijing Review

20 BEIJING REVIEW APRIL 20, 2017 http://www.bjreview.com

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espite mounting tensions in geopolitics

and the global economic arena, Chinese

President Xi Jinpingís recent meeting

with U.S. President Donald Trump was not just

a boon for the leaders of the worldís largest

economies, it also signaled a tailwind for stu-

dents who are investing time in forming links

between the two countries.

Over 300,000 Chinese students are cur-

rently studying in the United States, while over

20,000 of their American counterparts are

studying in China, according to the American

Mandarin Society (AMS).

Nathaniel Ahrens, Director of China Affairs

at the University of Maryland and Executive

Director of the AMS, told Beijing Review that

ever since the normalization of relations in

1979, education has been the ballast of the

U.S.-China relationship.

ìIn addition to robust student exchange,

there are numerous academic exchanges that

happen between researchers and academic

faculty in the two countries. These international

linkages, combined with open, unhindered re-

search, are critical to innovation,î said Ahrens.

Li Daokui, a professor of economics at Tsinghua University, talks with Yale University President Peter Salovey on the

sidelines of the China Development Forum 2017 in Beijing on March 18

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In spite of that, China and the United

States had been at loggerheads before the

Xi-Trump meeting over various issues includ-

ing perceived trade imbalances, disputes

on freedom of navigation, and the denucle-

arization efforts of the Korean Peninsula.

The future of Sino-American educational

relations hangs in the balance of ongoing

developments in those areas of contention.

Hopes and challenges

The opportunity to bring Chinese and other

international studentsóincluding American

studentsótogether is vital to enhancing inter-

national understanding, claimed Carla Freeman,

Director of the Foreign Policy Institute at the

Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International

Studies (SAIS).

Freeman, also the director of the China

Studies Program, told Beijing Review that the

ability to have and sustain important shared

educational experiences rests on healthy rela-

tions between countries.

ìIf diplomatic strains between China and

the United States, for example, become too

great, the flows of students across the Pacific

could be disrupted. Currently, the economies

of the U.S. and China are economically interwo-

ven, so both countries gain from having young

Americans and young Chinese learn about each

otherís societies.î

Trumpís policies have already created an

undertow of uncertainty for international aca-

demicians working and studying in the United

States. A March 2 article from the science jour-

nal Nature states that researchers from various

countries are reducing travel to and ending col-

laborations and rethinking their ties with the U.S.

ìMaintaining free and open, two-way edu-

cational exchange should be a top priority for

both administrations,î said Ahrens.

The hard part will be maintaining a stable

relationship between China and the U.S. to pre-

vent it from becoming derailed by a trade war

or escalating regional conflicts. This was high-

lighted by Trumpís decision to launch a missile

strike on Syria the same day as Xiís visit.

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professor at the School of Politics and Global

Studies at the Arizona State University, claimed

that Sino-U.S. relations will remain ìa work in

progress.î Simon told Beijing Review that there

are issues where the U.S. and China can work

together, for example on North Korea and Iran.

They nonetheless differ on issues such as the

East and South China Seas. ìThey are certainly

rivals, but not necessarily adversaries,î he said.

Trumpís frequent denouncements of China

during his campaign and while in office were

underpinned by his chief strategist, Stephen

K. Bannon, who in 2016 even predicted war

over the South China Sea. Bannon was recently

removed from his position at the National

Security Council due to the outspoken political

advisorís ìoutsized influence over military and

intelligence decisions from the policymaking

body,î according to the Los Angeles Times.

ìI think people like Bannon and John Bolton

[the former U.S. Ambassador to the United

Nations from 2005-06], are dangerous because

their views of China are so dark. I donít think

their predictions are probable, but [in a] worst

case analysis, they could become self-fulfilling

prophecies,î said Simon, who added that

Trumpís earlier rhetoric on China was ìover-

blown.î

Freeman said she is hopeful that the mis-

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