The president of the six major Australian universities visited China, emphasizing that Australian universities still welcome Chinese students. (photo by Australian Financial Review)
According to the Australian Financial Review newspaper, the presidents of several top Australian universities have organized a group to visit China in an effort to ensure that diplomatic frictions between Australia and China do not affect the education industry. The presidents told senior officials in Beijing that these Australian universities are the safest campuses in the world for Chinese students.
Last week, the presidents of the six member universities from the Eighth University of Australia (Go8) were invited to visit China to participate in the celebrations of the 100th International University Leaders Meeting and the 120th Anniversary of Peking University. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the event.
Jacob Booth (Ian Jacobs), president of the University of New South Wales and president of the University of New South Wales, said there was no sign of a deterioration in education relations during a meeting between university representatives and Chinese government officials. But the Australian delegation is taking advantage of the opportunity to allay concerns about student safety.
"what we want to say is that we attach great importance to students from China. We also emphasize that Australia is the safest place in the world for international students to study. " In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, he said: "the spread of diplomatic and political issues into higher education is unjustifiable. We were welcomed and well cared for, and none of our university presidents had any problems getting visas. "
In fact, under the cloud of tighter political relations between Australia and China, the contacts between Australian university leaders and senior Chinese officials have sent a positive signal to the development of education relations between the two countries, according to an analysis by the Australian Financial Review.
Since the end of last year, (Malcolm Turnbull) `s anti-foreign intervention bill has split relations between Australia and China, plunging Australian universities into a diplomatic debate between the two countries. Colleges and universities have raised concerns one after another.
In February, China`s Ministry of Education posted on its website the No. 1 warning for studying abroad, saying: "there have been several violations of the personal and property safety of Chinese overseas students in different parts of Australia over a period of time. Please pay attention to all those studying in Australia and China to be vigilant, strengthen risk prevention, and pay attention to their own safety. "
Chinese students accounted for 38% of Australia`s higher education enrollment, according to December 2017 data. The number of Chinese students enrolled by Australia`s top universities is now close to 134000. Australia`s higher education industry relies heavily on the hundreds of millions of Australian dollars that Chinese students generate each year.
In addition, Jacob Booth, president of Australia`s eight-School League, and Freshwater (Dawn Freshwater), vice-president, also spoke at a meeting of leaders of the top 100 international colleges and universities on Saturday and will meet with university leaders and Ministry of Education officials from all over the world.
In addition to the leaders of Australia`s top six universities, representatives from 94 other universities, including Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge and others, also visited China to attend the World University Presidents` Symposium and the Beijing Forum on Friday.
