20.02.2026 US’s shadow looms over Japan-China academic exchanges

Academic exchange between Japan and China is undergoing a subtle but significant transformation. Collaboration is no longer shaped only by educational and scientific priorities. It is increasingly filtered through security thinking, alliance politics and administrative risk management. This shift affects who is trusted, how exchanges are organised and which channels of cooperation remain viable.

Japan’s alliance with the United States now provides an important context for its approach to research security and international collaboration. While Japan has not adopted the highly politicised enforcement style seen in the United States, American ideas about export control, sensitive technologies and institutional risk have clearly influenced how Japanese authorities and universities assess cooperation with China.

In practice, this influence operates indirectly. Certain institutional affiliations and research fields trigger closer scrutiny, particularly in science and engineering. This suggests that academic exchange between Japan and China is no longer shaped only by bilateral educational goals but increasingly framed through alliance-based assumptions about strategic risk. The alliance does not determine every decision, but it strongly conditions the environment in which decisions are made.

Source: University World News
Author: Futao Huang 
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