Chinese Students in America Policies, Issues, and Numbers (1988) / Chapter Skim
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Conclusion: Chinese Students: An Emerging Issue in U.S.-China Relations?
Conclusion: Chinese Students: An Emerging Issue in U.S.-China Relations?
Pages 114-122
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From page 114... ...
Some problems have come and gone while others, such as the seemingly eternal Taiwan issue, and the Congress-inspired tensions over China's family planning policies and human rights in Tibet, seem to have no immediate resolution and will continue to introduce some tension into U.S.-China relations. In a way, then, it is surprising that the decision of a large number of Chinese students to remain in the United States has not, at least so far, made an "unpleasant incident" list.
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From page 115... ...
In China's case this problem is magnified, because whereas personal or family funds support twothirds of the students Corning to the United States from other nations, the proportion is reversed for China and t~vo-th~rds of her students are government sponsored, if not government funded. Although an ever-growing share of the cost of educating Chinese students is borne by American institutions, in just three years between 1983 and 1985 Beijing has spent some US$75 million on their nationals in the United States.
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From page 116... ...
policies or congressional resolutions; they must be resolved by the Chinese themselves. The question of why some Chinese scholars choose to stay in the United States was discussed in some detail in the body of this report.
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From page 117... ...
Beijing's current effort to arrange for students to obtain practical experience while abroad makes sense in terms of the country's present needs, but in the case of students who are already here, it is targeting individuals whose original goals and training would make them reluctant participants. In sum, to reduce the numbers of students choosing to remain in the United States, China must make their return economically and professionally more attractive.
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From page 118... ...
It is easy to sympathize with Chinese concerns and as the number of Chinese students and scholars in the United States increases, so does the speculation as to how Beijing plans to address this problem. The latest spate of rumors about China's future plans for foreign study were precipitated by a State Education Commission document, which was published on November 28, 1987, but did not become public knowledge for several months.
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From page 119... ...
press predicting drastic cuts on the basis of a misinterpretation of a statement that the number of astate-sponsore&~ students sent here will be limited to 20 percent.5 This brought quick denials by the Chinese government. The Xinhua news agency published an interview with Huang Xinbai, a member of the State Education Commission who is In charge of the foreign-study program, ~ which he affirmed that China's policy of sending students abroad has not changed and that rumors of cuts were groundless and Fabricated with ulterior motives."6 Huang further disclosed that in 1988, 4,600 students will be sent to the United States, of which 600 will be state-funded and 4,000 will be financed by various institutions and departments.
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From page 120... ...
Certainly the arrest, trial, and conviction of Yang Wei, who completed his graduate work at the University of Arizona, for writing articles attacking Chinese policies while in the United States aroused serious concerns among Chinese students abroad and at homed Tight controls over the sending of scholars to the United States would also have broader implications of considerable consequence for Beijing. Any such restrictions would send the wrong message to the outside world and once again raise questions with regard to the sincerity of China's open-door policy.
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From page 121... ...
Without in any way minimizing China's dilemma with regard to the loss of scholars, it is nevertheless important to consider to what extent students who remain in the United States undermine the goals of both modernization and the exchange program? Setting aside the issues of floss of face" and possible political backlash, and viewing the problem from the long-term strategic, commercial, and humanistic perspective, it is quite possible to conclude that, on balance, China's loss of a certain proportion of students should be neither a incomplete loss" nor a national crisis.
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From page 122... ...
If an economically and politically healthy China is in the interests of the United States- and most believe it is and if close and friendly relations with the United States are in the long-term interest of China end most believe they are then, however Beijing decides to approach the problem of Chinese students who choose to remain in the United States, this issue should not become a major bone of contention in U.S.-China relations.
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