International Journal of Education

Under the context of global knowledge restructuring and the rapid diffusion of artificial intelligence, Chinese higher education internationalization is shifting from a passive import mode to an active reconstruction of educational sovereignty. However, the long-standing Western-centered model has generated implicit “spiritual colonialism,” marginalizing non-Western educational values, curricula, and discourse systems. Grounded in postcolonial theory and cultural security, this paper explores how Chinese higher education can reconstruct its sovereignty through “localized internationalization.” Drawing upon key national policy documents, including the Blueprint for Building China into an Educational Power (2024–2035) and China’s Education Modernization 2035, it analyzes structural issues such as discourse dependence, curriculum externalization, and evaluation standardization. The study proposes a tri-dimensional approach—discourse sovereignty, curriculum sovereignty, and evaluation sovereignty—to promote localization-based internationalization. The paper concludes that localization is not a rejection of internationalization but an open process rooted in cultural subjectivity, serving as a key component of Chinese-style educational modernization.

Spiritual colonialism; Cultural security; Localized internationalization; Educational sovereignty; Modernization of higher education