Regional dynamism and inequality

Higher education and research are forging ahead in some Asia-Pacific countries but not all. In the Confucian systems of East Asia and Singapore, R&D investment and participation in tertiary education are at or approaching Western European levels, as Chap. 3 discussed. Growth brings difficulties of its own. The quality of human resources is a constant issue, and there are tensions over organizational cultures and priorities and the values underpinning state intervention: Chapter 13 discussed this in relation to Singapore, and Chap. 7 in relation to Tsinghua University in China. In the most mature Confucian system, Japan, the previous era of rapid development of higher education has given way to a holding operation (Chaps. 17-18). The last is also true of the British heritage systems in the Western Pacific, Australia and New Zealand-and these nations have also become overly confined to a narrow commercial orientation in their regional relations (see Chap. 20).