Australian studies thrive in China while China studies diminish in Australia

Australian studies are flourishing in China, researchers say, with ‘Patrick White and Henry Lawson probably taught more in Chinese universities than in Australian’ institutions.

China has the largest Australian studies program outside of Australia.

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Australian studies are flourishing in China despite tensions in ­bilateral relations, researchers say, a trend at odds with the declining state of Chinese studies in ­Australia.

China has the largest Australian studies program outside Australia, with almost 40 studies centres and about 250 ‘‘Australianist’’ scholars ­teaching mainly Australian literature and Indigenous history, ­according to the new book How Australia is Studied in China by Australian university researchers.

This represented more than half of the Australian studies centres worldwide and was often celebrated as “a success of Australia’s soft power in China”, co-authors ­Richard Hu and Diane Hu said.

There has been no change in the way Australia has been taught in China since bilateral relations soured in 2017, University of ­Canberra Professor Richard Hu told The Australian.

Classic Australian authors such as Patrick White and Henry Lawson were probably taught more in Chinese universities than in Australian ones, he added.

Australian author Patrick White, whose works feature prominently in Chinese university courses.

Earlier this year, 60 China scholars from 22 Australian universities warned the decline in funding for research on China “runs counter to our national sovereign interests”. A report by the Australian Academy of the ­Humanities in March, which drew on input from over 100 China experts, argued universities needed to train more people with expert China knowledge.

“The evidence of a downturn in Chinese studies in Australia does not appear to be matched by a comparable process in China,” the co-authors write in their new book. “There is evidence of deterioration in images of the other in both countries, but their effect on how each studies the other is more in Australia than in China.”

“As of 2023 Australian studies are still doing quite well, and ­better than one might have ­expected, considering the still rather unsatisfactory state of bilateral relations.”

Of the 37 Australian studies centres in mainland China, 31 are within the school of English or ­foreign languages, with six others in international relations, economics, education and media studies departments.

Inner Mongolia Normal University, for example, has been teaching an Australian children’s literature course since 2018. It includes analysing picture books and translating poems, and had nearly 200 students enrolled by 2021.

At Beijing Foreign Studies University, students can sign up to Australian gender studies, Australian government and political system, and Australian cinema and society. “This is a very successful ­example of cultural diplomacy, apart from trade and formal ­international relations,” Professor Hu said.

“Australia is an English-speaking country … Compared with other Western powers, there no historical barrier for them. The perception of Australia as a society overall is very favourable.”