Americas Quarterly - Winter 2012

erals essential to a number of Japanese industries.

Tensions throughout the region have continued to grow. In Vietnam, protests flared for three months after the Chinese cut the cables of a Vietnamese survey ship in May 2011. China’s neighbors, including Vietnam, Japan, India, Australia, and the Philippines, have responded to this more assertive China by banding together—forging a set of new alliances and fortifying old ones.

While China and the ASEAN members met in Indonesia in July 2011 and made some progress in tamping down the tensions, little progress has been made in resolving the dispute. At that same meeting, Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario called Chinese claims over the entire South China Sea “baseless and a potential threat” and argued that they would be “ rejected by an international court.” 15

Moreover, state-run Chinese media continue to fan nationalist flames. The Global Times published an editorial that received widespread coverage in China and abroad, arguing that “countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam believe China has been under various pressures. They think it is a good time for them to take advantage of this and force China to give away its interests [...] If these countries don’t want to change their ways with China, they will need to prepare for the sounds of cannons. We need to be ready for that, as it may be the only way for the disputes in the sea to be resolved.” 16

MODEL AT HOME, MODEL ABROAD

As China seeks to define its new place in the global system, its greatest challenge may well be its own system of governance. Just as many Chinesebelieve their current economic model has run its course and now seek to develop an economy based on innovation and creativity, many also think China’s foreign policy model is outmoded and must evolve to confront new challenges.

Change is unlikely to come easily. An interview in August 2011 with Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying in the German newspaper Der Spiegel suggests the challenge ahead. In answer to a comment that “The West perceives a lack of transparency and rule of law in the Chinese model,” Fu retorted, “I think at the moment it is the Western governments that are having problems. We are observing what is going on in the West. We try to understand why so many governments made so many mistakes. Why do political parties make commitments they cannot fulfill? Why do they spend so much more than they have? Has the West been stagnating since the

AMERICASQUARTERLY.ORG

STUDYING ABROAD
IN CHINA
Rachel Glickhouse

According to the Institute of International Education, nearly 14,000 U.S. university students studied in China during the 2009–2010 school year. Latin American students are increasingly following the same path, but compared to the U.S., the numbers are still small. According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, of the 55,251 foreign students matriculated in Chinese universities in 2010, only 771 were from South America, compared to 6,065 from North America.

Explanations include high costs, red tape to secure a visa and challenging entry requirements. Some Chinese government scholarships for Latin Americans, for instance, require students to pass a difficult Chinese language test.

In the U.S., sending students to China has become a national priority with bilateral support. In November 2009, President Barack Obama announced the 100,000

Strong Initiative to
send 100,000 Amer-
ican high school and
university students
to China. After Sec-
retary of State Hill-
ary Clinton launched
the program—which
relies entirely on pri-
vate-sector funding—
in May 2010, China’s
Ministry of Educa-
tion offered 10,000
full scholarships to
American students for
study abroad. A year
later, the Chinese gov-
ernment promised
an additional 10,000
scholarships—the
hope in both cases is
to support Chinese
language studies in
the U.S. to improve bi-
lateral relations. The
20,000 slots not only
provide opportunities
for short- and long-
term study for under-
graduate and graduate
students, but also
short-term exchanges
for high school stu-
dents, teachers and
school administrators.
Carola McGiffert,
director of the

100,000 Strong Initiative, says the program is vital for diplomacy: “The U.S.–China relationship is perhaps the most important bilateral relationship we have, and it will only grow over the years.” She also stressed the economic imperative for familiarity with Chinese language and culture. “We need to make sure young people are equipped to succeed in the global economy.” Now they just need to learn the language.