On Wednesday 29 October, EPRC hosted a seminar by Dr Julie Miao, Lecturer at the Department of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow. The seminar focussed on cross-border policy learning in managing knowledge facilities in the Asian context, specifically through examining Sino-Singapore Science Parks in Suzhou (South China) and Wuhan (Central China).
The seminar served to highlight that the mediators engaged in managing Sino-Singapore relations could be seen to operate across three functions: 1) coordinating rationale and motivation; 2) balancing power and; 3) strengthening or cultivating compatibility.
Whilst the involvement of governments in the two cases varies, as does the involvement of the private sector, the specific compositions and functions of the mediators in the two cases were found to be distinct.
It was also concluded that the complicated bureaucratic system in China and Singapore countries has influenced the scale and depth of policy learning in the two cases.