Fields / Regional Lens
A Shared Technical Infrastructure
Much of the technical world I work in was built by people moving between China, India, and the United States. Universities were founded with American partners, students crossed in both directions, and now both countries propose competing models of digital infrastructure of their own. This lens follows those channels, because they shape who writes the software and the research the rest of the site cites.
Channels of Exchange
Tsinghua’s American beginning
Tsinghua opened in 1911 as a preparatory school for students bound for American universities, funded when the U.S. returned part of the Boxer Indemnity.
wiki: Boxer Indemnity ScholarshipIIT Kanpur and nine U.S. universities
From 1962 to 1972, a consortium of American universities helped build IIT Kanpur’s laboratories and curriculum.
wiki: IIT KanpurStudents in both directions
India and China send more students to U.S. universities than any other countries; in 2023–24 India became the largest source.
iie: Open DoorsParallel and Competing Theories
Two answers to how digital infrastructure should work, each competing with the U.S. platform model.
India’s UPI
The Unified Payments Interface is a public payment rail any bank or app can use; it now carries most of India’s digital payments.
wiki: UPIChina’s super-apps
Apps like WeChat fold messaging, payments, and services into one platform, a different theory of what an app is for.
wiki: super-app