Shifting axis of educational diplomacy: student mobilities at Vietnam-China borders

Abstract

ABSTRACT Vietnam and China have a shared history of collaboration and conflict, with economic interdependence becoming an important pillar in recent decades. China's larger worldwide policy of economic and cultural expansion (or the ‘go-out strategy') is crucial in facilitating Chinese migration to Vietnam, notably in the form of contract labour migration. Simultaneously, China's borderland and economic corridor development policies contribute greatly to commerce flows and social visits connecting the two nations’ border regions. Since its inception in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has strengthened these economic ties and created an environment conducive to educational exchanges. In the context of Vietnam's long history of student exchanges with the West, this article examines how both China and Vietnam respond to new educational and economic opportunities presented by the BRI. It focuses on (a) the role of student mobility in the development of Vietnam's education system, (b) the state and institutional initiatives centred on academic collaboration and scholarship programmes, including BRI, that facilitate Vietnam-China educational exchanges, and (c) the significance of cultural and language learning as a basis for student mobility flows against the backdrop of educational diplomacy and deepening economic ties between the two nations.