Thesis Defence: Academic Diplomacy Along the Belt and Road Initiative: The Case of China’s Soft Power Strategies in Sri Lanka
December 9 at 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Dimuth Gamage, supervised by Dr. David Geary, will defend their thesis titled “Academic Diplomacy Along the Belt and Road Initiative: The Case of China’s Soft Power Strategies in Sri Lanka” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies – Global Studies theme.
An abstract for Dimuth Gamage’s thesis is included below.
Defences are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. Registration is not required for in-person defences.
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 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 significant exposure to Chinese language, culture, and political system. Students return to their home countries having acquired this comprehensive exposure. 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.
