Asian universities must overcome old hostilities between their countries to forge new partnerships that will benefit their students and institutions, a leading Hong Kong education expert said this week.
Cheng Kai-ming, the University of Hong Kong's pro-vice-chancellor, said that unlike in Europe, there was 'minimal' collaboration between universities in Asia, partly due to the legacy of political tensions.
'There's a big difference between Asia and Europe. Asia has diversity but there's no harmony,' he told Education Post after addressing a workshop in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. 'What Asia can learn from Europe is how we can achieve harmony amid hostility or diversity.'
Professor Cheng said Asian countries needed to move on from past political problems, such as China's hostile relationship with Japan following the second world war and border problems between China and Vietnam, and India and Pakistan.
'The Asian society and the Asian culture has a competition ethos which explains a lot of the competitive edge in economic development but it also causes barriers in terms of collaboration and harmony in Asian societies,' he said, adding that there was even competition between various cities in China and India.
Professor Cheng said greater collaboration could help Asian researchers tackle some of the major challenges facing the region.
'There are some commonalities among Asian societies and Asian environments. For example in medicine, there's bird flu, liver problems, ageing problems,' he said.