Keynote Speakers

In keeping with the theme of AAS-in-Asia 2020, “Asia at the Crossroads: Solidarity through Scholarship”, this presentation will focus on the globalizing of education, a key element in facilitating the scholarly exchanges that have become especially important in Asia. The presentation will begin by noting that the bridging of cultural differences through higher education has historical roots, but will then move to consider some of the early issues facing educators as Asian societies entered a new era after the Second World War. A major goal was to provide universal access to basic education, especially in newly independent and decolonizing states, while developing curricula that would instill a sense of national unity. As globalizing forces gathered pace, it also became obvious that preparing students for a changing world required greater attention to the international aspects of tertiary education, a direction that has gained in momentum since the late 20th-century. Developments have been most evident in the nexus between travel and technology, which has opened up new transnational opportunities for student and faculty mobility and for cross-cultural conversations. This has come, however, with unforeseen challenges, for the idea that universities can be “ranked” according to some international standard has led to increased uncertainty about expectations for teaching and research, especially in Asia’s highly diverse environment. The spread of COVID-19 has made us acutely aware of the unforeseen dangers now posed by international travel, and despite the progress in technology the goal of creating a more globalized environment for both students and faculty suddenly seems to be put on hold. Yet in these very difficult circumstances universities still have a special role to play in providing a space where debate is encouraged, where academic difference is tolerated, and where the objective of educating the next generation is prioritized. As the 21st-century advances we can thus affirm the “solidarity of scholarship” in an ever-widening global academy while acknowledging that the intellectual endeavor in Asia (itself a deceptive term) will always reflect the diversity that remains the key characteristic of this vast region.

The worldwide outbreak of Covid-19 is reinvigorating the rivalry between the United States and China, a source of major international tensions today. This rivalry is much more complex than that of the old Cold War period between the US and the Soviet Union. Instead, the new cold war between the US, a status quo power of the liberal-democratic order, and China, an anti-status quo power, represents their competition in trade, finance, technology, research and education, and even public health, not to mention the political and military spheres. This growing competition is seen today in the South China Sea, Taiwan, and the Senkaku Islands. In addition, China’s intervention in Australia’s domestic politics and its strong measures to control Hong Kong’s democratic practices pose challenges to their freedom and democracies. This hegemonic tendency may also extend to the competition between “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” strategy and the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI).

Whereas the United States is seeking freedom, China is seeking control by coercion, and the onset of Covid-19 has encouraged Xi Jinping as well as to a lesser extent Vladimir Putin to reinforce their authoritarian rule and coercive diplomacy. Moreover, they are likely to stay in power beyond the 2030s, and perhaps even longer. At the same time, the US global advocacy of universal values has declined under Donald Trump’s “America First” policy, thereby allowing the balance of power to tilt toward Beijing.

Nonetheless, China and Russia will have to cooperate on such global issues as unequal wealth distribution, excessive military spending, nuclear proliferation, environmental degradation, and pandemic disease. A democratic consultation process is likely to provide the most acceptable solution.

The G7 nations’ total GDP is 45% of the world’s, and is far bigger than China’s and Russia’s combined (15%). The G7, which includes Japan, should thus take the lead in persuading other like-minded nations with strategic plans to reduce their dependence on China’s supply chains, to revitalize the free market economy, and to rebuild a resilient rule-based liberal-democratic order.