Even as bilateral trade between the Netherlands and China grows, more
education links brings mutual benefits as well, Pauline van der Meer Mohr, the
chairwoman of Erasmus University Rotterdam, told Xinhua recently in an exclusive
interview.
"I think all Dutch universities are very keen to establish links with Chinese
partners nowadays," Mohr said.
Mohr traveled to China earlier in May to ink an agreement with Chinese Fudan
University -- the latest cooperation amid some 50 MoU agreements her university
has signed with 15 Chinese partners.
"I noticed during my trip to China how much education is part of the Chinese
dream. We see that also from the Chinese students who come to study here," Mohr
said. "They are extremely dedicated and hardworking, and obviously very
intelligent."
"What we offer, for example, is critical thinking." She said.
Mohr said the rising number of Chinese scholars globally offers the Dutch
more access to the understanding of China on a deeper level.
"I saw Chinese universities offering international programs that attract
quite some students from around the world. That's very attractive to our
students," she said.
To Mohr, more China-related changes are taking place in the Netherlands as
well, such as the Chinese language becoming more popular.
"When I was young, nobody in this county was even remotely interested in
learning Chinese. Now, it's a big groundswell in this country. The ministry of
education is being pressured to make Chinese mandarin language at least an
elective course at primary schools, if not compulsory," he added.
"In Holland, we all learn English and in the past, we used to learn German
and French. But the question now is why shouldn't we learn Chinese, because
that's the language of the future."
This change of language course means a lot, she felt. "It changes the way a
nation thinks about the world, its own position in the world and the importance
of a country like China," Mohr said.