ABSTRACT
This chapter delineates China’s explicit and implicit goals and interests in Nepal, a South Asian country, by employing the Educational Soft Power Model. Nepal’s selection as a case study is primarily determined by India’s traditional and long-established stranglehold over Nepal, and the salience of the Tibetan issue in China’s foreign policy approach to Kathmandu. Accordingly, higher education is connected with China’s efforts to create a “nation-branding” resource, promotion of Chinese culture and values, and attainment of specific foreign policy goals such as diluting India’s traditional influence in Nepal and cultivating the Nepalese youth and professionals.
