Chinese Education in Diplomacy

Abstract

Since 1964 when the China Foreign Affairs University offered a course entitled of PRC Foreign Relations, education diplomacy started to take shape in Chinese universities and achieved several accomplishments in many aspects. Over the years, significant improvements have been witnessed not only in developing a Chinese-style curriculum system and compiling numerous textbook references, but also in designing syllabi and improving teaching methods. This progress has contributed to the education of several generations of professional diplomats. However, as China rises rapidly to prominence in the international arena, the demand for highly professional diplomats is becoming increasingly stronger. It is therefore pertinent to ask: to what extent does education in diplomacy at current Chinese universities meet this demand? Although there have been critical investigations made into Chinese diplomatic studies, there appears to be no analysis of Chinese education in diplomacy. Therefore, this article aims to fill this gap. Research into Chinese education in diplomacy is supported by three types of data sources. The first comprises textbooks used widely in Chinese universities. These books are widely used in Chinese diplomatic education: (a) Contemporary China Foreign Relations: Theory and Practice by Yang Gongsu and Zhang Zhirong of the School of International Studies at Peking University. This book has been used as a textbook at the School of International Studies for many years. (b) Introduction to Chinese Diplomacy by Li Baojun of Renmin University. (c) Contemporary Foreign Affairs of China by Yan Shengyi of Fudan University. (d) History of Contemporary Chinese Diplomacy by Xie Yixian of China Foreign Affairs University. (e) Diplomatic Thought in the People's Republic of China by Ye Zicheng of Peking University. The second data source is a collection of syllabi employed in Western diplomatic education. These provide a comparison between Western and Chinese diplomatic education: a) Chinese Foreign Policy 1949-2005 by Alastair Iain Johnston of Harvard University; b) International Relations Theory and the Study of Chinese Foreign Policy by Thomas J. Christensen of Princeton University; c) Chinese Foreign Policy: International Relations and Strategy by Fravel M. Taylor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the syllabus of China and the World; and d) National Unification and International Integration--China Faces the Future by Allen Carlson of Cornell University. The third data source comes from the author's decade-long teaching experience in the Department of International Relations at Jilin University, as well as feedback from the students. A content analysis of textbook and syllabi was carried out to examine the goals, contents and pedagogy of Chinese education in diplomacy. SHORTCOMINGS IN THE CURRICULUM CONTENT In any discipline, including diplomacy, the first question an educator should ask is what kind of knowledge and skills he or she intends to impart to the students. This article proposes the following five aspects to be addressed in the curriculum content. First, the teaching focus, which can also serve as the objective of comparative studies in the field, should be on Chinese foreign policy and diplomatic relations. Second, teaching should be strongly oriented towards a strong engagement in both China's international status and international trends, thereby building the capability of students to work in alignment with national strategy and develop an acute sensitivity to changes in the international environment. Third, teaching should not only focus on diplomatic theories, but also on the realities of diplomacy. Fourth, the history of Chinese diplomacy and that of Chinese diplomatic thinking needs to be emphasised in the teaching. Fifth, training in research methods is essential for conducting basic research, especially for graduate students. …