From October 26 to 29, 2015, Professor Yuan Ming, Director of the American Studies Center, Peking University, was invited to the University of Hong Kong and delivered a speech on the “2015 Fan Shuqin Memorial Lecture”. She was awarded the Certificate of Honorary Professorship by Prof. Peter William Mathieson, President of the University of Hong Kong.
On the evening of October 29, Professor Yuan Ming delivered an important speech entitled “China and the World: The New Cultural Landscape in International Relations” at Rayson Huang Theatre of the University of Hong Kong. Before the lecture, Prof. Peter William Mathieson awarded the Certificate of HKU Honorary Professorship to Professor Yuan Ming and delivered a welcoming speech. It was the first time in HKU’s history that a president held a public ceremony to confer the honorary professorship. The lecture was hosted by Prof. John P. Burns, Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences. Prof. Peter William Mathieson and his wife attended Professor Yuan Ming’s lecture.
From left: Prof. John P. Burns, Prof. Yuan Ming and Prof. Peter William Mathieson
Nearly 300 people from the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong S.A.R., the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the University of Hong Kong, other universities in Hong Kong, Peking University Alumni Association of Hong Kong, consul generals in Hong Kong and their diplomatic representatives and consular offices, relevant international organizations and foreign-invested enterprises in Hong Kong attended the lecture.
In addition, HKU invited 30 outstanding Hong Kong high school students to the lecture to meet with Professor Yuan Ming before the event.
The lecture
In the lecture, Yuan Ming focused on the importance of “culture landscape” in international relations. The concept of “culture landscape” originated before the cold war. After the cold war, it provided every country, political party and international organization with the opportunity of cultural consciousness, thus a new round of global cultural exchanges were launched.
Professor Yuan Ming held that the globalization and regional economic integration after the cold war did not bring about “cultural integration”. On the contrary, the identities of people in different regions have been strengthened in the process of globalization. The question that “who we are” prevails in both developed and developing countries. The recognition of multicultural centers has become an important factor affecting current international relations.
Since the reform and opening up, China’s culture has consciously entered a new stage: the core concepts of tolerance, moderation, and composure in traditional culture are reborn today. The concept “who we are” proposed by Samuel P. Huntington, a political scientist, is mentioned by more people in China today. People practice their cultural consciousness by worshiping ancestors, reviewing classics and promoting folk culture.
Professor Yuan particularly stressed that we should continue to vigorously promote China-US people-to-people exchanges, especially the dialogues and exchanges between young students of both countries. The lecture was a complete success.
Professor Yuan Ming and students
During her visit to Hong Kong, Professor Yuan Ming called on Mr. Dong Jianhua, Vice President of the CPPCC, and had an in-depth discussion on the youth and education development in Hong Kong and China-US relations on October 28. In addition, she also exchanged views with Yin Xiaojing, Deputy Director of Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong S.A.R., and Shih May-lung, member of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Financial Services Development Council.
Professor Yuan Ming’s visit and activities in Hong Kong were widely reported by Wenweipo, Ta Kung Pao, Hong Kong Commercial Daily and South China Morning Post.
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