– Sudheendra Kulkarni, former aide of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1999-2004) and currently founder, Forum for South Asia

The most decisive factor driving the quality of higher education, basic research, and its application in industry, agriculture and services is the unstinted support universities receive from the highest level of Chinese leadership

In June last year I was invited by Tsinghua University, Beijing to give a talk on India-China civilisational relations. Together with Peking University, it is one of two top Chinese varsities ranked #16 in the Times Higher Education’s Top 200 World University Rankings 2023. During this sojourn Schwarzman College set in Tsinghua’s scenic campus caught my attention.

I learned that it was established by Stephen Schwarzman, founder of Blackstone, one of the world’s largest private equity firms that manages assets valued at $1 trillion. The renowned American businessman made a personal gift of $100 million to endow the Schwarzman Scholars programme, inspired by the prestigious Rhodes Scholarships funded by British colonialist Cecil Rhodes. It supports 200 students from around the world annually for a one-year Master’s programme. Known as ‘China’s Harvard’, Tsinghua also boasts other American connections. Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella and Elon Musk have been members of the advisory board of its business school, one of the best worldwide. The incumbent chairman of its board is Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Like other world-class universities in China, Tsinghua is founded, funded and managed by the central government. Therefore, two questions arose in my mind. First, why hasn’t a single public university in India received such global recognition? Second, why are captains of American business so generously giving their time and money to Chinese universities, despite the US engaged in a fierce trade war with China, having restricted all hi-tech exports to Chinese companies?

The answer to the first question is simple. Most public universities in India, especially those run by states, are engaged in a race to mediocrity. IITs, IIMs and a few Central universities are exceptions. However, the Indian government has shown no interest in internationalising them by attracting foreign students and faculty in large numbers, or by inviting eminent foreigners to join their advisory boards.

The second question is best answered by Schwarzman himself. Explaining why he chose a Chinese university for his philanthropic munificence, he said, “Those who will lead the world must understand China today.” Leading American companies know that China is not only a large market for their products, but also a manufacturer of hi-tech products with growing share of world markets.

Take, for example, DJI, Huawei and BYD, whose headquarters in Shenzhen I visited. DJI is the world’s largest drones manufacturer with more than 50 percent of global market share. Huawei is the world’s largest provider of telecommunications equipment, and a tough competitor to Apple and Samsung in smartphones. In 2011, Elon Musk had scoffed at the idea of BYD (which stands for ‘Build Your Dreams’) ever competing with Tesla. Today, the Chinese carmaker is driving towards becoming the world’s #1 electronic vehicles manufacturer.

China could not have achieved this level of technological excellence without excelling in higher education and research. Chinese universities and research institutions have consistently bested the US in publication of scientific papers most cited in the world’s respected journals. Since 2019, China has also been the top filer of international patents — more than double the number filed by the US.

The most decisive factor driving the quality of higher education, research, and its application in industry, agriculture and services is the unstinted support universities receive from the highest level of Chinese leadership. When President Xi Jinping (incidentally, a Tsinghua alumnus) rose to power in 2012, he directed national scientific research institutions, high-level research universities, and leading enterprises to work together and make China “a world power in science and technology”. In a future-focused speech to a joint assembly of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering on May 28, 2021, he made a strident call for China to achieve global leadership in “deep sea, deep space and deep earth”. For this, he said, China must become “self-reliant” (atma nirbhar) in critical technologies (AI, semiconductor chips, quantum computing, green energy, etc). But he also stressed that self-reliance does not mean closing the doors to learning from others and forging foreign partnerships.

Universities cannot attain global excellence unless they have excellent leaders, researchers and teachers. Underscoring this fundamental truth, Xi observed: “Academicians are the wealth of the country, the pride of the people, and the glory of the nation. In the selection of academicians, we shall break decision-making on rank and promotion based on seniority, eliminate the influence of non-academic factors, and maintain the purity of the title of Academician.”

Prime minister Narendra Modi should read the words — “eliminate the influence of non-academic factors”. But will he? In India, corruption, casteism and political interference play a major role in the appointment of vice chancellors. In recent years, a new “non-academic factors” has come into play — affinity to the Sangh Parivar. Sad.