First Thought
Insights drawn weekly from Karin Fischer’s global-education newsletter, latitude(s). Subscribe here.
The U.S. House has passed legislation to restore Fulbright exchanges to China and Hong Kong.
A little-noticed amendment in a recently approved China competition bill would reverse a July 2020 decision by the Trump administration to end the signature U.S. government exchange program with China and Hong Kong. The move to sever cultural ties with China — the Peace Corps also pulled out of China on President Donald Trump’s watch — occurred during heightened Sino-American tensions.
Rep. Rick Larsen, a Washington Democrat and one of the sponsors of the amendment, said in a statement that reinstating Fulbright would “build U.S. expertise on China, strengthen people-to-people ties, and give Chinese participants a chance to experience the real U.S. and the benefits of academic freedom.” (Larsen’s amendment was actually specific to mainland China as the underlying America Competes Act already contained language restoring the Hong Kong program.)
Trump’s decision was criticized as short sighted by many in international education and foreign policy who said it was important to better understand China as a growing superpower — whether friend or foe. At the time, Karin spoke with Glenn Shive, a former Fulbright administrator in Hong Kong and China, who said: “This deepens the downward spiral of U.S.-China relations and further politicizes people-to-people exchange programs that have served American public diplomacy with China over four decades.”
The reinstatement, of course, is not a done deal. Read more from Karin in this week’s latitude(s).
