Intra-Nationalization of Higher Education: The Hong Kong Case

This paper explores the internationalization of higher education initiatives of Hong Kong, being one of the Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of China, within the context of the Chinese Mainland-Hong Kong (CM-HK) relations. Historical, social, economic, and political ties between Hong Kong and the Mainland of China, their economic and political interdependency, and a time series analysis of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee (UGC) statistical data (local and non-local participation, geographic composition, and cost analysis of UGC-funded programs) are used to support what the author calls the “intra-nationalization of higher education.” This forms a unique internationalization strategy, whereby a sub-national region such as Hong Kong and possibly Macau, orients its internationalization strategy towards a motherland, in this case China.