“Asian tigers” ramp up internationalisation amid big four woes
Territories and countries like South Korea and Hong Kong, part of the so-called “Asian Tigers” alongside Singapore and Taiwan, now view international students and intra-East Asian mobility as critical to sustaining economic growth in the region.
“We have a very different economic situation compared to the UK or Canada. We don’t have an employment problem – in fact, we need more people and more talent across the board,” said James Tang, secretary-general, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong SAR, during a session at the International Higher Education Forum 2025, held last week at the University of Birmingham.
“Our path to economic growth must shift – driven more by innovation and technology,” he added.
A broader immigration crackdown in recent years across major study destinations, including the UK, US, Canada, and Australia, has had significant repercussions for international students.
The US, under Trump, has imposed study visa interview freezes, increased social media vetting, and revoked visas over personal views and nationality.
Canada continues to enforce tightened restrictions on temporary residents, while Australia and the UK have proposed policy measures to make it more difficult for international students to enter and remain in their countries.
These changes, combined with more affordable options closer to home, relaxed residency requirements, lower tuition fees, and world-renowned universities, are now prompting the traditionally West-bound cohort from East Asia to look inward for higher education opportunities.
According to a British Council report, student mobility within East Asia grew more rapidly between 2013 and 2020 than mobility from the region to major English-speaking destination countries.
We’re now focusing on parts of the world which were previously inconceivable to us as potential student markets
James Tang, UGC, Hong Kong
While over 140,000 students from East Asia studied in China in 2018, its special administrative region, Hong Kong, is advancing its “Study in Hong Kong” brand, positioning the territory as an emerging international hub for post-secondary education.
Between 2019/20 and 2021/22, the number of international students enrolled in Hong Kong’s eight universities rose from 12,349 to 13,376, with around 65% coming from Mainland China.
In an effort to diversify that student body, Hong Kong is increasingly targeting students from India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and other countries.
“With the right resources and support, we’re helping universities work together to reach out to potential markets. Our longer-term strategy is to promote broader awareness of Hong Kong’s institutions globally,” stated Tang.
“One interesting development is the possibility of attracting more students from Afghanistan and Indonesia. We’re now focusing on parts of the world which were previously inconceivable to us as potential student markets.”
Although Tang acknowledged the challenges of job creation and the shortage of affordable housing in Hong Kong, he emphasised the need to develop campuses that cater to international students.
“To stay competitive as a small region with big internationalisation ambitions, we need to build campuses that are truly cosmopolitan and diverse.”
Similar to Hong Kong’s education branding efforts, South Korea has been advancing its “300K” project, which aims to boost the number of international students at its universities to 300,000 by 2027.
As of June 2024, the figure had reached 236,000, an increase of 29,000 from the previous year and a significant jump from around 170,000 recorded in 2022.
While South Korea is only beginning to embrace the idea of welcoming more international students, there’s also a growing effort to highlight their value to the country’s ageing population, which now makes up a significant majority.
“We need to highlight that internationalisation isn’t just about bringing in international students but it’s also about how these programs impact our domestic students, their education, and future employment,” explained Jun Hyun Hong, professor at the School of Public Service, Chung-Ang University, South Korea.
South Korea’s push to attract more international students is driven by its need to counter a declining fertility rate and an ageing labour, but the effort is also challenged by nationalist sentiment and concerns over job competition.
“If we want internationalisation to be meaningful, we have to take several key issues seriously and think differently about how we approach them,” stated Hong.
“The government, universities, and industry must work together to ensure these efforts are not only successful but also sustainable in the long run.”
According to Hong, regions like South Korea and Hong Kong don’t need to look to countries like the UK, US, or Canada for guidance on being a host country, instead, they should focus on leveraging their own strengths.
“I don’t think Korea should try to become like the US or the UK. We need to follow our own model that fits our national context and values,” said Hong.
Moreover, programs like Campus Asia, which promote trilateral academic collaboration between South Korea, China, and Japan, have now also been extended to ASEAN countries through the Korea-ASEAN AIMS (Asian International Mobility for Students) project.
“What’s encouraging is that this program is now being extended to include ASEAN countries as well,” explained Hong.
“If we want to be efficient and make real progress, we need to build on these kinds of exchange programs.”
As the US education sector undergoes significant changes, including cutbacks, funding reductions, and downsizing, stakeholders like Tang are looking to the UK to reinforce its already strong educational partnership with Hong Kong, seeing it as a relationship that could benefit East Asia.
This comes as the Trump administration moves to restrict Chinese student visas and limit US universities’ partnerships with Chinese institutions, citing “national security” concerns.
“Of our 6,000 ongoing research projects, over half involve partners from Mainland China, with the rest largely coming from the US followed by the UK, Germany, and France,” stated Tang.
“We currently have about 400 research collaborations with British universities, and there are still many opportunities to expand, both in research funding and student exchange.”
According to Tang, the current headwinds facing Hong Kong universities’ partnerships with US institutions present an opportunity to deepen collaboration between Hong Kong and the UK.
“As our own strategy evolves and global conditions change, there’s significant potential for us to step up our engagement with UK institutions,” he said.
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