Academic diplomacy along the Belt and Road Initiative : the case of China's soft power strategies in post-war Sri Lanka
department or school: Arts and Social Sciences, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Gamage, Horagampita Dimuth Tharaka
issued: 2024-12-19T21:31:38Z
issued: 2024
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: China’s rise as a leading international study destination and its advancements in post-secondary have provided it with a strong position to attract educated youth and academics from developing countries. Through its own version of a "Marshall Plan"—the Belt and Road Initiative—China has leveraged significant financial investments to align its foreign policy goals with the expansion of its higher education system. The relationship that has developed between China and developing countries based on higher education has received relatively little attention in academia. This study, using Sri Lanka as a case study, has focused on how China's academic diplomatic strategies, such as providing scholarships and establishing collaborative academic partnerships with developing countries, have aligned with its soft power objectives in these nations. China provides tens of thousands of scholarships to students from developing countries to participate in Chinese academic initiatives. This study demonstrates that in addition to academic knowledge, China provides student recipients with significant exposure to Chinese language, culture, and political system. Through interviews with former students and current scholars who have pursued higher education in China, this research has identified various soft power tools that China has employed within this broad academic initiative, which has been recognized as part of China's short-term and long-term foreign policy strategy. Furthermore, this study has presented several significant and novel findings regarding the specifically designed academic structures in China targeting foreign students, specific soft power programs within this broader initiative, and various other direct and indirect impacts of these initiatives.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/89953
note: ACADEMIC DIPLOMACY ALONG THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE: THE CASE OF CHINA’S SOFT POWER STRATEGIES IN POST-WAR SRI LANKA by Horagampita Dimuth Tharaka Gamage B.M., Sichuan University, 2021 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Interdisciplinary Studies) (Global Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) December 2024 © Horagampita Dimuth Tharaka Gamage, 2024 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled: Academic Diplomacy Along the Belt and Road Initiative: The Case of China’s Soft Power Strategies in Post-war Sri Lanka submitted by Horagampita Dimuth Tharaka Gamage in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts. Dr. David Geary, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Supervisor Dr. Manfred Elfstrom, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Eric Li, Faculty of Management Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Kyong Yoon, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies University Examiner iii Abstract China’s rise as a leading international study destination and its advancements in post-secondary have provided it with a strong position to attract educated youth and academics from developing countries. Through its own version of a "Marshall Plan"—the Belt and Road Initiative—China has leveraged significant financial investments to align its foreign policy goals with the expansion of its higher education system. The relationship that has developed between China and developing countries based on higher education has received relatively little attention in academia. This study, using Sri Lanka as a case study, has focused on how China's academic diplomatic strategies, such as providing scholarships and establishing collaborative academic partnerships with developing countries, have aligned with its sof…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-02
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0447581
language: eng
degree discipline: Interdisciplinary Studies
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Geary, David, 1976-
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89953