photo: AFP
In a move that will raise eyebrows in many Americans, considering the dire state of some of America's schools, millionare Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone group has decided to donate 300 million dollars to a Chinese University in the hopes of creating a study exchange programs in the likeness of the Rhodes Scholarship, to both ease tensions and create opportunities for international students.
The gift, which will go to Beijing's Tsinghua University, is one of the largest donations given to a Chinese institution of learning.
The scholarship program will recruit students from countries around the world who will study in the Chinese University. The program intends to enroll 200 students per year.
The donation, Schwarzman contends, is to be taken as a measure of diplomacy of sorts, a tending of the hand towards a country that is gaining economically each year, and with which, if we are not careful, tensions could arise.
Blackstone however, has invested heavily in China, in many sectors, from real estate to other business concerns. Some are objecting to the move, since most universities in China complain that they are in fact under a gag order on political commentary from the committees on education, which are staffed by the ruling communist party.
However, the University picked by Schwarzman is one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
The fund also includes Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice, and Tony Blair with ex president Sarkozy on its advisory board.
Of the first students to attend the University, 45% will come from the United States. The program is set to begin in 2016.
Source: France 24/ 4.21.13
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