UNIVERSITIES JUMP ON CHINESE STUDIES BANDWAGON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000018 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL SCUL ECON KPAO TH CH SUBJECT: UNIVERSITIES JUMP ON CHINESE STUDIES BANDWAGON CHIANG MAI 00000018 001.2 OF 002 This cable was coordinated with Consulate General Chengdu. ¶1. Summary. Exchanges between Chinese universities and their counterparts in northern Thailand have become so commonplace that some local Thai university presidents complain about their frequent trips to Yunnan and other provinces to sign memoranda of understanding. Official Thai government encouragement of Chinese language studies means no university wants to be left behind. Despite all the activity, however, observers say that Thailand lags other countries in the region in promoting Chinese language learning. End summary ¶2. Northern Thai universities are aggressively going after exchange opportunities with China, primarily with institutions in Yunnan province. Direct flights between Chiang Mai and Kunming, as well as visa-free entry to China for Thai academics carrying official blue passports, make setting up exchanges relatively easy. With the Thai government actively promoting Mandarin study, every university in the north is busy developing language programs and exchanging students, with no apparent effort to avoid duplication or competition with each other. ¶3. Kunming's Yunnan Normal University (YNU) is the most-cited Chinese partner for northern Thai universities, having signed agreements with Rajabhat Universities in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Lampang as well as Chiang Mai and Payap Universities. Dr. Wu Yinghui, Director of the Office of International Affairs and Dean of the Institute of Chinese and International Studies at YNU, flies to Chiang Mai frequently to develop and nurture exchanges. ¶4. While most of the programs are cut out of the same mold, Chiang Mai University (CMU) has scored the prize of hosting Thailand's second Confucius Institute, in partnership with YNU. (Note: media reports compare these institutes, sponsored by China's Education Ministry in over 20 countries since 2004, to the British Council and Goethe Institutes.) Although YNU had earlier courted and been courted by Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Dr. Wu told the Consul General that his institution and the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language settled on CMU as the site for the Confucius Institute because "Chiang Mai University is a better brand name". The Institute, which was to open in December at CMU's International 
Day, has been postponed pending the visit of a high-level Chinese official, according to Dr. Wu. ¶5. Beyond language programs and exchanges in the Faculty of Humanities, CMU's Faculty of Social Sciences is starting a Chinese studies program because "frankly, Thailand doesn't have much expertise in this area" according to the dean, Dr. Seksin Sriwatananukulkit. Conversely, the dean reported that 20 Chinese students will be entering the faculty's Thai studies program at the behest of giant Thai corporation Charoen Pokaphand Group (CP). CP, the first and largest major Thai investor in China, told Dr. Seksin that the company's offices in China need local Chinese staff who can understand Thai language and culture. ¶6. (Consulate Chengdu confirmed that CP is in great need of more bi-lingual staff as the company expands its presence in chicken and pig farming in Sichuan province. Chengdu added that the Thai Consul General posted in Sichuan claims to be one of only a small handful of Thai foreign ministry officials with strong Chinese language skills. He told the U.S. CG that very few senior Thai diplomats have the language skills necessary to do business in China, although the number of Chinese speakers in the ministry's junior ranks is increasing rapidly.) ¶7. In addition to universities, high schools in northern Thailand have also established relationships with Yunnan Normal; graduates from the school regularly spend a term teaching Chinese language at Chiang Mai's private Montfort Academy, alma mater of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Other high schools are involved with similar exchanges, hiring Chinese teachers and sending students to China for study. Consulate Chengdu reported that high schools in Kunming are overwhelmed with offers of exchange programs with Thai high schools ¶8. The Chinese studies program that looked ready to outshine all others in northern Thailand opened two years ago at Mae Fah Luang University (MFL),a seven-year-old institution north of Chiang Rai that aspires to serve "the Greater Mekong Subregion". HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn flew up from Bangkok with the Chinese Ambassador to dedicate the Chinese-built CHIANG MAI 00000018 002.2 OF 002 Suzhou-style center in February 2004, bringing a lot of attention both to the university and to ambitious plans for the language center. Since that flashy beginning, however, Chinese government support has been limited. According to Director Pratin Manomaiwibul, the Sirindhorn Chinese Language and Culture Center has seven native speaker teachers and two Thai lecturers teaching 180 majors and 300 who are minoring in the language. The Chinese government helps recruit but not does not fund the native speaker teachers. ¶9. Thailand's Education Minister gave an additional boost to Thai-Chinese exchange activity by signing an agreement with China's Deputy Education Minister Zhang Xinsheng January 11 to train teachers, award scholarships, provide volunteer teachers, license textbooks, improve the curriculum, and develop Mandarin teaching software. According to a January 16 story about the signing in the English-language Bangkok Post, Zhang pointed out that "Thailand is relatively late" in introducing formal language learning. Thai business people were even more critical in pointing out the tardiness of Thailand's commitment to developing Mandarin skills; Seven-Eleven president Kosak Chairasmisak noted that "there are very few people with a deep understanding of the Chinese language. A lack of in-depth and all-round knowledge could hinder investment and competitiveness." ¶10. Comment: Considering the number of Thais claiming Chinese ancestry, the area's proximity to China, and the push to increase Chinese studies, investment and tourism, relatively few people in northern Thailand know more than a few words of Mandarin. The proliferation of academic exchanges and the Thai-Chinese education agreement are belated attempts to remedy the situation. If the government commitment can harness and strengthen what Thai universities have enthusiastically started, a future generation should be better prepared to engage China in the areas of business and diplomacy. CAMP