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<p>How can authoritarian states sustain transnational higher education partnerships despite tensions between academic norms and political control? Analyzing China’s Chinese-Foreign Cooperative Running Schools policy from 1978 to 2024, this study identifies strategic ambiguity as a deliberate governance technology. Three ambiguity forms emerged across developmental phases: permissive (1978–2003), bounded (2003–2018), and aspirational (2018–present). Bifurcated approval systems and retrospective legitimation enable adaptation while preserving central authority, yet these mechanisms also produce interpretive and quality stratification. Elite institutions leverage interpretive capital to innovate, whereas less resourced institutions resort to ceremonial compliance, prompting the termination of 234 programs between 2018 and 2021. Strategic ambiguity thus offers a transferable governance model for nations navigating transnational education under resource constraints, though its long-term sustainability requires complementary regulatory investments to prevent the cementing of educational disparities.</p>

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Governing Through Ambiguity: How Strategic Policy Design Sustains Transnational Higher Education in Authoritarian Contexts

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月2日

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  • Ye Zhao,
  • Xiaotian Zhang

摘要

How can authoritarian states sustain transnational higher education partnerships despite tensions between academic norms and political control? Analyzing China’s Chinese-Foreign Cooperative Running Schools policy from 1978 to 2024, this study identifies strategic ambiguity as a deliberate governance technology. Three ambiguity forms emerged across developmental phases: permissive (1978–2003), bounded (2003–2018), and aspirational (2018–present). Bifurcated approval systems and retrospective legitimation enable adaptation while preserving central authority, yet these mechanisms also produce interpretive and quality stratification. Elite institutions leverage interpretive capital to innovate, whereas less resourced institutions resort to ceremonial compliance, prompting the termination of 234 programs between 2018 and 2021. Strategic ambiguity thus offers a transferable governance model for nations navigating transnational education under resource constraints, though its long-term sustainability requires complementary regulatory investments to prevent the cementing of educational disparities.