ABSTRACT
China has never been completely occupied by a foreign power. During the nineteenth century competition between the Europeans, Americans and Japanese helped to prevent overt colonization. Throughout the period Chinese officials remained hostile to 'foreign devils' and refused to grant their representatives diplomatic rights. A conscious attempt was made by leaders in China voluntarily to learn from Soviet experience. In the event, according to Achievement of Education in China published by the Department of Planning, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the communist government inherited a very underdeveloped system of education. Clearly, however, after 1949, the government of the People's Republic of China made strenuous efforts to extend education by restructuring higher education; by reforming teaching; by setting up second-level schools for children of workers and farmers; by developing adult education; and by providing scholarships for needy students.
