Navigating Geopolitics and Culture: A Comparative Analysis of Inclusive Education Policy in China and Vietnam

Inclusive education (IE) is a global movement in addressing the inequalities faced by children with disabilities, but the way a country interprets it can vary. This comparative case study explores how the complex socio-cultural and geopolitical contexts in China and Vietnam create the nations’ own unique ways of conceptualizing the ideology of IE. Through a qualitative analysis of IE-related policy documents in China and Vietnam, we find Confucian ideologies to be present in both countries’ policies. However, Vietnam adopts a rights-based language that contradicts traditional cultural values yet aligns more closely with international frameworks, while China, in contrast, has developed its own model of inclusion, emphasizing integration based on local resource capacity and cultural beliefs, with less focus on conforming to global standards. We argue that this difference can be explained by how nation-states position themselves within geopolitics based on concerns such as sovereignty or international funding. This study contributes to the IE literature by revealing how international relations and local dimensions, including cultural values, interplay within national policy contexts to shape a country’s understanding of IE.