editorial committee - pku...of the analects of confucius, mencius, and tao te ching. it has been...

Editorial Committee

Min Weifang Xu Zhihong Kim Jae-youl Hao Ping

Wu Zhipan Zhang Guoyou Chi Huisheng

Editors in Chief

Li Yansong Cheng Yuzhui Zhao Weimin

Vice Editors in Chief

Yan Jun Zhang Lin

Editor

Guo Junling

Executive Editors

Zhang Yu Cai Lirong Yue Heng

Translator

Peng Shulin

English Polisher

Dai Xingyue Clifford Ames

Preface

Tao and Sophia:The Olympic Spirit from Athens to Beijing

David Wong: The Chinese Heart of a Sinologist

Yu Jiyuan: A Mediacy in Philosophy

Ethnic Relations and Religious Coexistence

Huang Shumin: Respect the Decisions of the Indigenous People

Nathan Glazer: A Reflection on American Ethnic Group Relations

Language Identity and Language Change in Collision and Dialogue

Between Civilizations

Abdel - Rahim Alkordy: Mind the Globalization

Hu Zhuanglin: The Life of Language Lies in Communication

Theraphan Luangthongkum: The Pursuit of Continuous Improvement

Global Strategy of Enterprises and Corporate Social Responsibility

Bernard Yeung: Problems with Corporate Social Responsibilities

Bernard Yeung: Are “Growing Pains”

Jiang Ping: More Profound Communication and Cooperation is Required

Jiang Ping: Between Economists and Legists

Kaneko Yuka: The Short-sighted Eye, the Biggest Problem with

Kaneko Yuka: Chinese Companies

William Blair: Social Responsibilities Should Benefit All Those Involved

Diversity of Population Development and Health Security

David Legge: China Should Move Step-by-step in its Efforts to Reform

its Health Care System

Hu Yukun: Structural Challenges in the Health Care of Rural Chinese Women

John Cleland: Because This Is an Important Job

Yao Yuan: The Participation of Old People in the Olympics is a Cultural Phenomenon

Yao Yuan: of a Harmonious Society

Contents

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Cultural Diversity, Harmonious Society and Alternative Modernity:

New Media and Social Development

Lo Ven-Hwei: The Taiwanese Media Community has the Academic

Lo Ven-Hwei: Foundation for Case Studies

Qiao Mu: The Cell Phone Is Changing China

Xiao Dongfa: Understanding the New Media from a Wide Perspective

Zhou Yongming: Looking at the New Media with the Cold Eye of History

The Inspiration of Human Heritage on the Progress of Civilizations

Chen Changdu: Attaching Importance to Our Natural Heritage

Fan Jinshi: A Long and Tortuous Path to Harmony

Neville Agnew: The Key to Cultural Heritage Conservation Lies in the

Neville Agnew: Education and the Training of Professionals

Social Change and University Development

Richard Leigh Henry : The Protection of Traditional Culture in

Richard Leigh Henry : Diversified Cultures

Simon Marginson: The University Remains the Backbone of Higher Education

Simon Marginson: in the Global Knowledge Market

Su Zhiwu: The “Hybrid Major” is not an Ideal Way to Cultivate Competent

Su Zhiwu: Communication Graduates

Xu Zhihong: Striking a Balance Between Independence and Social Demand in

Xu Zhihong: University Development

Afterword

Interviews with the Scholars of Beijing Forum 2007 Volume IV

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Preface

Approved by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and under theauspices of the Ministry of Education and Beijing Municipal Government, BeijingForum is an international academic forum jointly hosted by Peking University,Beijing Municipal Commission of Education and the Korea Foundation for Ad-vanced Studies. Since its establishment in 2004, this annual conference has beenheld successfully on four occasions, gathering altogether more than 1800 re-nowned scholars in the humanities and the social sciences from 50 countriesaround the world in order to explore various perspectives of its ongoing themeof “The Harmony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All”.

Over the past four years, Beijing Forum has increasingly won the approbationand the support of scholars worldwide, and it has used its growing internationalacademic reputation and influence to promote progress in the humanities andthe social sciences throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large. Inthis way, Beijing Forum has been able to make an important contribution to thedevelopment and the prosperity of all humankind.

Interviews with the Scholars has shared its yearly growth by conducting, com-piling and then publishing interviews with its renowned participants. Interviewswith the Scholars serves as a supplement to the discussions presented by thescholars at the Forum, and it is a faithful record of their views. Each edition ofthe journal has been warmly received by the members of the academic commu-nity for its flexible interviewing style, for its simple language and for its thought-provoking topics that examine current social realities.

Beijing Forum 2007 has responded to the ongoing theme of “The Harmony ofCivilizations and Prosperity for All” by focusing upon “Diversity in the Devel-opment of Human Civilizations” as a valuable sub-theme deserving scholarlydiscussion and debate. Accordingly, Beijing Forum 2007 has been organized

into eight panel sessions, each dealing with an important aspect of this sub-theme, and they are: “Tao and Sophia: The Olympic Spirit from Athens to Beijing”,“Ethnic Relations and Religious Coexistence”, “Language Identity and LanguageChange in Collision with the Dialogue Between Civilizations”, “Global Strat-egy of Enterprises and Corporate Social Responsibility”, “Diversity of Popula-tion Development and Health Security”, “Cultural Diversity, Harmonious Soci-ety and Alternative Modernity: New Media and Social Development”, “The In-spiration of Human Heritage on the Progress of Civilizations” and finally “So-cial Change and University Development”.

After three years of successfully recording the views of the scholars of BeijingForum on various aspects of the theme of “The Harmony of Civilizations andProsperity for All,” this year the editors of Interviews with the Scholars havedecided to concentrate on the combination of academic research with socialrealities, different theoretical approaches to the topic of globalization and to anumber of problematic spheres of change within human societies. The inter-views focus mainly on subjects like the Beijing Olympic Games, the goal of aharmonious society and the impact of new media, such as the internet, on thesocial order, the need for corporate social responsibility, for cultural heritageprotection, and for research-oriented universities as well, the interviews coverethnic relations and language transformation in the context of globalization, andexamine specific problems associated with an ageing population and with healthsecurity for rural women. We believe that this edition of Interviews with theScholars, rich in the thoughts and wisdom of many world visionaries, will helpus to reconsider the feasibility of economic globalization and the future of diver-sified development of human civilizations.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the scholars all over the worldwho have expressed their kind wishes and their enthusiastic support for BeijingForum over the past four years. Now that the year 2008 is upon us, we arewaiting eagerly to witness the fifth anniversary of Beijing Forum. In the goldenautumn of Beijing city, we again prepare to welcome the annual arrival of manyof the top scholars in the world who will assemble once more at Beijing Forumto exchange their ideas and to share their wisdom on world peace and interna-tional fellowship. As always, Beijing Forum is poised to take another step for-ward on the road to achieving the insistent but ever elusive goal of “The Har-mony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All”.

The Editorial Committee of Beijing Forum

David Wong,

Professor in the Philosophy Department,

Duke University

The Panel Session on Philosophy held at Beijing Forum 2007 welcomed not only

the world famous sinologists Tu Weiming, Cheng Chungying and Roger Ames to

the discussion, but also an affable newcomer by the name of David Wong, a

distinguished professor of philosophy from Duke University.

David Wong, Tu Weiming and Cheng Chungying, are all ethnic Chinese who live

and work in the United States of America. Professor Wong’s ancestral home is

Canton Province in the south of China, but unlike professors Tu and Chang, he

has no Chinese first name, because he is an American national, an American

Born Chinese (ABC), who combines the physical features of the East with the

cultural background of the West.

Academic Achievements

David Wong is a relatively new name when it comes to Chinese academic com-

munities and their well-informed audiences. However, in the world of American

and European sinology, he enjoys a high academic reputation based on his life’s

work and his considerable scholarly achievements.

David Wong:

The Chinese Heart of a Sinologist

Interviewer Fan Danhui

Tao and Sophia: The Olympic Spirit from Athens to Beijing

After David Wong obtained his doctorate degree from Princeton University, he

taught for 30 years, first as John. M. Findlay visiting professor at Boston

University, and then as Harry Austryn Wolfson Professor of Philosophy at

Brandeis University. In 2000, he moved to Duke University where, in July of

2007, he won the title of Susan Fox Beischer and George D. Beischer Professor

of Philosophy, the highest honor awarded by Duke University to its faculty for

research achievements. David Wong was the only Professor of Philosophy ever

to be granted this honor.

Initially, David Wong’s research interests were Ethical Theory, Moral Psychol-

ogy and Comparative Ethics, and he has published extensively in these areas,

with two of his research papers being accepted by Oxford University Press and

Cambridge University Press. However, after spending a considerable amount of

time studying western ethical theory and comparative ethics, he gradually came

to the conclusion that, western ethics in isolation constituted a field of enquiry

too narrow in scope to satisfy the proper definition and the considerable de-

mands of comparative study, not to mention grand academic perspective. As a

result of his scholarly disenchantment with his earlier research interests, he turned

his attention to heterogeneous cultures, especially to the traditional cultures of

the East. To expand and deepen his investigation of ethical theories he began to

concern himself with traditional Chinese culture, and in little over a decade he

has been able to make remarkable progress in this field, becoming an important

scholar of sinology in Europe and United States.

As a Chinese American, David Wong has had a very different education and a

very different cultural upbringing than most overseas Chinese scholars. Since he

has never been fluent in Chinese, he could only begin his study of traditional

Chinese philosophy and culture by reading English translations. Later, he gradu-

ally learned Chinese so that he could read the classical Chinese philosophical

texts in their original language. Because of this early handicap, however, Profes-

sor David Wong has had to read many of the extant English translated versions

of The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, and Tao Te Ching. It has been said that

translation is an art full of regret, and if the sense of this assertion is that even the

best translation is necessarily deficient, how much more accurate it is of tradi-

tional Chinese classics whose profundity and terseness resist faithful and el-

egant translations.

David Wong maintains that every English translation of a Chinese text has its

own peculiar characteristics and shortcomings, the individual nature of which

reveals the degree of understanding and the point of view of its translator. He

goes on to say that reading many translated works required that he draw upon

the research findings of a great many different scholars and translators, and that

his analytical reading approach has provided a great many insights into Chinese

culture for his own research. It may be the unique gift of David Wong that he

polish the precious “jade” of traditional Chinese thought with the “stone” of

English translation, and this refinement process may very well prove to be an

invaluable contribution to the improvement of comparative Chinese philosophy.

Following the Way of the “Golden Mean”

For his presentation at Beijing Forum, David Wong submitted a paper entitled

Agon and He: Contest and Harmony. In response to the given theme of Tao and

Sophia, Professor Wong’s essay offers a comparative study of the ancient Greek

notion of agon, or “contest,” and the traditional Chinese concept of he, or

“harmony,” from the perspective of ethical theory in support of his long-advo-

cated notions on moral issues. He argues that human civilizations should be

diversified ones, and that so should the morals of humankind. Different ethic

systems have both world-accepted similarities and obvious dissimilarities, and

these constitute two dialectically-unified components of value. The primary rea-

son why ethicists have different theories is that they concern themselves with

different aspect of the subject; some concentrate on the study of similarities,

while others concentrate on the dissimilarities. David Wong’s interests tend more

to the latter, but it is important to note that he rejects absolute and extreme

models of difference. He suggests that different concepts of ethic value can be

integrated with, and can benefit from others, and in order to express this idea

accurately, he pronounced the “Golden Mean” in Chinese, acknowledging at the

same time a similar notion of the “Golden Mean” in his theory.


In his paper, Professor Wong points out that in ancient Greek culture the indi-

vidual who chose to enter into the agon or the “contest” was not only agreeing

to pit his strength against another in a competition for personal victory, but also

for the benefit of the group. The concept of he or “harmony,” advocated in

traditional Chinese philosophy, also combines the individual’s desire to bring

honor to him with the collective goal of benefiting the group by avoiding de-

structive conflicts. Therefore, the Chinese concept of he is comparable to, and

inseparable in meaning from the Greek term agon, the two notions similarly

designating a struggle in which the final reward is both personal and collective.

Following Chinese Culture

Professor Wong is a celebrated scholar in the United States of America, but he

has not been as active in the Chinese academic community as Tu Weiming and

Cheng Chung Ying. This is David Wong’s second visit to the city of Beijing, but

it is his first year to participate in Beijing Forum, an experience that has won his

high praise. He commended the overall organization and the staging of the venues,

the quality of the participants and the high level of academic exchange, as well

as the friendly atmosphere of discussion and debate that characterized both for-

mal group sessions and the informal gatherings of scholars.

David Wong is an American scholar of Chinese ancestry, but his deep and abid-

ing attraction to Chinese civilization and Chinese culture has come relatively late

in his academic career. Acknowledging his late start, Professor Wong says that

he would like to use his memorable experience at Beijing Forum to inspire his

continuing research into Chinese culture and Chinese thought, and to expand his

contacts with Chinese scholars and with the Chinese academic community, both

in his ancestral home of China, and in the West. To this end, he says he will pay

more visits to China to take part in more academic activities, but he will also

invite distinguished Chinese scholars to visit the United States in order to help

his American colleagues discover and appreciate the depth of Chinese culture,

and the brilliance of Chinese philosophical wisdom.


Yu Jiyuan,

Professor in the Philosophy Department,

State University of New York at Buffalo

At a November 3rd Panel Session of Beijing Forum 2007, Dr. Yu Jiyuan of State

University of New York delivered a paper entitled Zhongyong, Zhongzheng,

and Archery, giving a constructive explanation to Zhongyong, in response to

the theme: Tao and Sophia: The Olympic Spirit from Athens to Beijing.

Zhongyong, Zhongzheng, and Archery: An Interesting Finding

from an Ancient Comparison

In the Analects, Confucius mentioned that Zhongyong (the Golden Mean) is a

virtue. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, also made reference to the “Golden

Mean” in his motto that “virtue is the middle area between two crimes.” In light

of this similarity, an analysis of “Zhongyong (the Golden Mean)” continues to

be a controversial philosophical topic.

In discussing “Zhongyong”or the Golden Mean, Dr. Yu employed the metaphor

of archery, since in archery the archer aims to hit the middle of the target, the

perfect “center” or the most “correct” position on the target. He argued: “if an

archer doesn’t hit the center of the target, he will readjust his bow and improve

his techniques. Similarly, if a person can’t achieve Zhongyong (the Golden Mean)

Yu Jiyuan:

A Mediacy in Philosophy

Interviewer: Yu Yijie

in terms of his conducts, he should readjust himself.” The key to the latter of

these two attempts at correction lies in the interpretation and the establishment

of a standard of shan or “benevolence ” and this standard is what Confucius

called ren or “humanity,” and what Aristotle called “virtue ”.

Therefore, although “Zhongyong” (the Golden Mean) has two layers of meaning,

it is without standards because it lacks a boundary.

Dr. Yu added that neither Confucius nor Aristotle focused on a proper code of

conduct for “virtuous” action, but instead concentrated on how to cultivate one’s

self. For example, Confucius talked about yi or “righteousness, but there is no

universal standard for proper conduct. What both Confucius and Aristotle fo-

cused on was how to apply these universal rules to unique circumstances be-

cause correctness is not an absolute “virtue,” but rather is determined by people

with virtue. In many circumstances we don’t know how to make the appropri-

ate or the “virtuous” decision, but those people who have cultivated virtue do,

and so we should make every effort to emulate them.

Between Chinese and Western Philosophy: I am a Mediator.

Like most of the scholars at Beijing Forum, Dr. Yu delivered his speech in En-

glish in order to facilitate communication, but when he was interviewed his flu-

ent English was replaced by standard Mandarin. Commenting on this shift, he

said: “Now Chinese scholars have good English proficiency. Elder scholars write

their papers in English and deliver them in English. Foreign scholars surely have

no language barriers.”

The November 3rd Panel Session on philosophy included Drs. Tu Weiming, Yu

Jiyuan, HuangYong, Cheng Chungying, among other prominent Chinese phi-

losophers teaching at overseas universities. Acknowledging that these scholars

play a very important role in academic exchanges, Dr. Yu observed: “Recently,

we have invited dozens of Chinese scholars abroad to compile the Frontiers of

Western Philosophy”. Speaking on behalf of the others, he went on to say: We

understand the situation of Chinese philosophy, and also know the issue con-

templated by western philosophers. It is more acceptable for us to write these

academic dissertations than to read articles of western philosophers. In this area,

I am a mediator.”


Huang Shumin:

Respect the Decisions of the Indigenous People

Interviewer: Wang Hanqi

Journalist: It seems to me that you have specifically focused your study on

rural problems. Three of your books, including The Spiral Road: Change in a

Chinese Village through the Eyes of a Communist Party Leader, have all con-

tributed to the study in this field. Why is that?

Huang Shumin (henceforth “Huang”): Maybe it is because I grew up in the

countryside. When I was a boy, most of my friends were farmers’ children and

we always played together. I found it really interesting living in a rural area,

although you have to face many problems. Therefore, when I had the opportunity,

I made these rural areas the subject of my study.

Journalist: I see. You graduated from the Department of Anthropology at Tai-

wan University, and after that traveled to the U.S. to study for the PhD. degree

in Anthropology. Can you compare the different approaches to education at

Huang Shumin,

Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute of Ethnology,

Academia Sinica, Taipei

these two institutions, and describe what you have learned in each of these two

places?

Huang: In Taiwan, the approach towards education remains traditional. Stu-

dents are required to follow the instructions of the teachers, to take notes and to

memorize everything they are told in order to pass the exams. They are not

encouraged to raise questions. As a matter of fact, few students would dare to

question the professors in the classroom, which is very different from the situa-

tion in the United States. But I was different than other Taiwanese students. I

liked asking questions. Although my teachers and my classmates in Taiwan all

found me strange, I was quite comfortable in the educational system in the States

because, in American, university students are encouraged to ask questions about

what they learn. So, you can see, the difference is quite apparent.

Journalist: Did you participate in some practice courses when you were in

Taiwan?

Huang: Yes, always. For example, taking the measurements of the human body,

and participating in archaeological excavations.

Journalist: Anthropology is in fact the outcome of western-centered thinking. In

your previous speeches, you have said that you wanted to be an anthropologist

of action, not an imperial exploiter, that you wanted to help the people you are

studying. As a Chinese scholar who once taught in the United States, how do

you feel about the difference between you and your western colleagues?

Huang: The fact is that anthropologists are against colonialism, racism, or any

other actions that invade or suppress weak nations, and this is the common ground

we share, whether our background is eastern or western. Some post-modernist

scholars criticize anthropologists as instruments of imperialism and colonialism,

but their claims are groundless. As a matter of fact, anthropologists, including

me and my American colleagues, have always been opposed to any type of

suppression.


Journalist: Did you participate in the symposium on the corridor between Ti-

betan and Yi ethnic groups held this September? Since the Qinghai-Tibet Rail-

way was opened for passenger service, opinions on its impact have always been

conflicting. Some support Tibet’s openness to the outside world, which means

that the Tibetan people are under great pressure to change their traditional

lifestyle. Others oppose the prospect of Tibet’s openness, arguing that Tibet

should be preserved as a humanitarian specimen. What do you think of this?

Huang: I think we’d better leave it to the indigenous Tibetan people to make a

decision. However, even the Tibetans themselves may disagree upon whether or

not to build the railway, to start industrialization, or to develop tourism. As a

result of this uncertainty, state policy may have the final say on these matters. In

any case, the policy should integrate the mainstreaming ideas of the local com-

munities and be formulated in consultation with the local people. No outsiders

and no political parties should unilaterally make the final decision.

Journalist: In reality, minorities have always been in a disadvantaged position.

Even now many of the aboriginal people in Taiwan still have to rely on social

welfare payments. How would you comment on the present situation and the

future of Taiwan’s aboriginal people? Since most of them have been integrated

into mainstream society and now live in the cities, are you worried that their

traditions might vanish some day?

Huang: This is a sad question. Of the 480,000 indigenous people in Taiwan,

about half of them are living in cities, mainly in Taipei, Taoyuan and Gaoxiong.

Most of the children of these city dwellers don’t speak their aboriginal languages,

and for whose who live in their native land, only some can still speak their own

languages. As a consequence, many of these indigenous languages will most

likely disappear within one or two generations. However, the authorities are

instituting policies designed to preserve these languages. For example, if the

children of aboriginal people are able to pass tests written in their own languages,

they will receive extra scores in the selective exams for higher level schools.

However, I have noted that only around half of the indigenous people support

such language policies. Those opposed claim that what’s most important to them

is not the preservation of their native languages, but that their children can go to

the top universities, find good jobs and be integrated into mainstream society.

Some students also say that learning indigenous languages takes up their valu-

able time and provides no benefits in return. This, I believe, is a global problem.

At present, there are around 5,000 distinct languages in the world, but every

year dozens disappear. In Taiwan, the most endangered language is the one

spoken by the Shao ethnic group, which I believe will vanish in one or two

generations, The second most endangered language is the one spoken by the

Saisiyat ethnic group. Anthropologists and ethnologists may help to preserve

some of the endangered languages, but the trend of history and globalization is

irreversible. Once indigenous people reach the point of not wanting to speak

their native languages, scholars can do nothing to change the situation. Nobody

can go against the trend of the history.

Journalist: What are the factors that undermine the social competitiveness of

aboriginal people in Taiwan?

Huang: This difficulty is not confined to Taiwan alone. In fact, the native Indians

in America and the Maoris in Australia face the problem of being less competi-

tive than those in mainstreaming society, and this is largely because they are less

educated than the majority, and because they lack the necessary facilities and the

basic infrastructure. It is impossible to solve the entire aboriginal problem, or

even the better part of it. In other words, there is no all-inclusive policy that

meets the needs of all indigenous peoples. All have proven unsatisfactory. The

inequality among ethnic groups in a country is caused by the very existence of

minorities, and at the same time, it is impossible for every ethnic group to estab-

lish its own separate country. Therefore, I believe there is no ultimate solution to

this problem.

Journalist: In the course of your studies, you must have done many field surveys.

Which one was the most impressive?

Huang: Most anthropologists enjoy doing field work, and most have derived

pleasant memories from these experiences. In point of fact, field work is seldom

tough despite harsh conditions. On one occasion, I traveled to a remote and

isolated mountainous area in Guizhou Province where the living conditions were

extremely poor, and where the villagers were without tap water or a stable power

supply. Nevertheless, I did not find the experience very taxing because I was

able to meet all kinds of interesting people and to learn many new things in the

place, all of which were very memorable to me.

Journalist: But you also mentioned that you felt quite lonely in the village be-

cause the local people were not as intelligent as you are.

Huang: This is true, but I believe that my feelings of isolation were because we

cared about different things. As a scholar, I view things from a global perspec-

tive and I am concerned about a great many things in the world, from the coup in

Burma to the presidential election in the United States. The local people do not

care about these things. I didn’t feet lonely because I was more intelligent than

they were, but because we did not share the same interests. Nowadays, the situ-

ation is much better than it was in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It is possible to access

the Internet even in remote areas of the world, and as a result most anthropolo-

gists do not feel so cut off during their field investigations.

Journalist: Is that the reason why you do not live in those remote places for a

long time? I know that in order to conduct their research some anthropologists

stay in inaccessible places permanently.

Huang: I know of an anthropologist who finally married a tribal chief in New

Guinea, and then never strayed from the chief’s village again. I won’t do that.

When I finish my field surveys I want to restore my contact with the outside

world and to return to my familiar surroundings. However, I have always en-

couraged my students to seek out new environments and to welcome all kinds of

novel experiences.

Journalist: That is the end of my interview. Thank you!


Beijing Forum 2007 held its Panel Session on “Ethnic Relations and Religious

Coexistence” on November 2nd, 2007 in the Great Hall of the People. As a

member of this panel, Professor Nathan Glazer of Harvard University delivered

a paper entitled “Dual Nationality in Immigrant Receiving Nations: Is It a

Problem, and What Kind?”

During a break from the scholarly presentations, Peking University News had

the opportunity to get some clarifications of Professor Glazer’s reflections on

American ethnic groups.

America is universally acknowledged as a “melting pot”, its population being

made up of immigrant peoples of different colors, religions, and cultural back-

grounds from all over the world. According to Dr. Glazer, the most significant

and most noticeable achievement that the United States has made with respect

to the country’s immigrant population is the process of ethnic merging, a prac-

tice that is becoming more and more accepted, judging from public opinion

polls. For example, fifty years ago, if one asked the person in the street: “What

is your attitude towards interracial marriage between whites and blacks?” around

70% to 80% would have been against it, especially among the white population.

Nathan Glazer:

A Reflection on American Ethnic Group Relations

Nathan Glazer,

Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Education,

Harvard University

Interviewer: Wang Yi


According to Glazer, this percentage has probably dropped to somewhere around

20%. He claims that this achievement is attributable to a change in public atti-

tude towards interracial integration, or at least the attitude expressed by the

public, and that this change has taken place somewhat faster in the United States

than in Europe, or in many other places.

When asked about the most sensitive topic concerning ethnic group relations

that is being considered by modern American sociologists, Professor Glazer

pointed out that the most contentious issue is probably illegal immigration. Ac-

cording to him, illegal immigration is a very important political issue that is

debated all the time, and it is an issue about which little has been done and

nothing that is positive. According to Glazer: “We simply made the southern

border much more difficult to cross, which is very inconvenient and leads to

many deaths when people try to go around and cross in the desert.” Glazer

claimed that “Many people say that the issue is not immigration perse, but the

unlawful aspect of illegal immigration that bothers people. The fact is that most

illegal immigrants are Mexican, so it is an anti-Mexican and anti-Latin American

confrontation.” For example, Glazer asks: “If the illegal immigrants were not

Mexican, but Irish, or Canadians or English, would their immigration be such a

divisive issue?” “So I would say that the connection between illegal immigration

and one major ethnic group is a significant issue,” Glazer concluded.

Another significant issue involving ethnic group relations that has troubled

America for a long time is the matter of the economic and educational back-

wardness of black Americans, and how to interpret this social phenomenon.

Addressing this subject in an interview in England, James Watson, a scientist

with an international reputation commented that he would not be optimistic

about the future of Africa because everything has shown that the Africans are

inferior intellectually. Watson was awarded the Noble Prize in Physiology and

Medicine in 1962 for his work in genetics, and his racial observation on black

inferiority caused a tremendous uproar. Professor Glazer responded to Watson’s

claim: “In fact, he was describing a reality, because on normal intelligence tests

blacks score low, which can be explained in terms of the discriminatory nature

of the tests themselves, or in terms of the legacy of backwardness which the

blacks have had to overcome. The most difficult issue is the reality of the

educational, and therefore the economic backwardness of African Americans,

and how we can discuss this question, and how we can treat it.”

Globalization is not only a current topic of interest to scholars in the communi-

ties of politics and economics, but also to those in the discipline of Linguistics.

At the Panel Session devoted to Language Identity and Language Change in

Collision, and Dialogue Between Civilizations held on the morning of Novem-

ber 3rd, 2007, Professor Abdel-Rahim Alkordy presented his paper entitled Lin-

guistic Changes in the Age of Globalization. After the session, Professor Alkordy

agreed to an interview with our journalist in which he explained the impact of

globalization on the language environment in the Middle East.

The Other Side of Globalization: Cultural Hegemony

Professor Alkordy stated that “Globalization has multiple implications, one of

which is that the world’s developed countries such as the United States of America

and France use free trade and social exchange as a pretence to culturally annex

Abdel-Rahim Alkordy:

Mind the Globalization

Abdel-Rahim Alkordy,

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities,

Suez Canal University

Interviewer: Chen Qianzhi

Language Identity and Language Change in Collision and Dialogue Between Civilizations

small and weak countries.” He pointed out that globalization and international-

ization are two different things, the latter of which refers to the free will of all

countries to enjoy common development and mutual interaction with each other

without any difficulty.

Professor Alkordy contended that globalization is a double-edge sword. On the

positive side it facilitates the development of information technology, which

rapidly shortens interpersonal distances, and thus promotes integration and in-

terdependence in the world. However, on the negative side, dominant countries

too often use the slogan of globalization to try to culturally annex weak countries,

and this practice can lead to a form of cultural hegemony. Professor Alkordy

feels strongly that this negative aspect of globalization needs more attention:

Culture in the Middle East is Under Attack

Professor Alkordy says that the negative impact of globalization is clearly appar-

ent in the Middle East. The governments of the United States and France pro-

vide funds to governments in the Middle East and ask in turn that these admin-

istrations change their education policy with respect to all levels of schooling,

from entry level kindergarten all the way up to the universities. Since most of the

subjects are taught in English, the young people of the Middle East gradually

develop an attraction to the American way of life, not only in terms of minor

preferences, such as food, but also with respect to larger issues, like ideology.

Thus the young people of the Middle East slowly lose their cultural identity as

persons of the Middle East.

Professor Alkordy used a number of examples to illustrate the profound impact

of globalization on the Middle East. First of all, the United States of America

and France are currently providing funds to a group of Barbars living in the

mountains in the south of Algeria to revitalize their language, called Amazighid.

Meanwhile, the people living in the south of Egypt and the north of Sultan are

ordered to speak Noba, thus forcing the people in the south of Sudan to speak

three different languages. In this way, the Western countries are attempting to

fragment the cultures of the Middle East by bringing nations that have been

communicating with each other in Arabic for more than a thousand years into

disunity. Now in the streets of many of the cities in the Middle East you can see

shops with English names spelled in Arabic letters, or Arabic words written in

Latin letters. In terms of the dominant language in the Middle East, Professor

Alkordy argues that the powerful countries of the world “are attacking Arabic.”

The Egyptians have been able to maintain a strong national awareness, and up to

now have been able to escape many of the negative affects of globalization.

However, the neighboring countries around Egypt are being deeply influenced

by globalization, and Egypt is becoming more and more isolated. In order to

avoid the corrupting impact of globalization on the Egyptian culture, the major

media in Egypt, such as the newspapers and the television stations, have been

appealing to the people “to mind the allure of globalization.”

Cultural Dialogue to Avoid Conflict

In defense against the invasion of the Western form of globalization, Professor

Alkordy proposes three measures that he believes will undermine the world pres-

sure towards cultural hegemony. First of all, he maintains that the self-serving

attitude of powerful countries towards globalization should be changed. The

unity of the world can only be achieved through cooperation, dialogue and respect,

or more specifically, through the open and honest acceptance of the cultures of

all countries. The practice of using globalization as a way to annex the weak

countries, distort their cultural identities, and suppress their languages must come

to an end. Second, every country should maintain and develop its national

language, and, in order to safeguard this language against outside interference,

it should ensure that the national language is the language of instruction at every

level of education. Third, the government of every country should encourage

national language study in order to make the language more relevant and more

suited to the communication needs of the era of information.

In conclusion, Professor Alkordy reiterated that all attempts to use globalization

to interfere with other countries’ national languages and cultural structure should

cease immediately, but those positive aspects of globalization that do not com-

promise other nation’s languages should be welcomed.


Hu Zhuanglin,

Professor of English, Department English,

Peking University

At Beijing Forum’s Panel Session on the theme of Language Identity and Lan-

guage Change in Collision, and Dialogue between Civilizations held on No-

vember 2nd, 2007, Professor Hu Zhuanglin from the English Department of Pe-

king University delivered a paper entitled From Literacy to Literacies. Follow-

ing the presentation, our journalist was able to arrange an exclusive interview

with Professor Hu Zhuanglin.

Journalist: In your speech entitled “From Literacy to Literacies,” you men-

tioned eight cultural proficiencies that you think people today should possess,

such as the ability to operate a computer, the ability to speak a foreign language,

and the ability to communicate effectively with others. Do you think that this

wide-ranging aspiration, with such colorful objectives, could be realized given

the current conditions in China?

Hu Zhuanglin: At present, the possibility of acquiring the eight cultural skills I

mentioned in my speech is not the most pressing issue. We must concern our-

selves with the necessity of developing these skills, and the urgency of bringing

this type of education into practice. In modern society, one’s future standard of

living depends upon one’s current developmental potential, and everyone should

Hu Zhuanglin:

The Life of Language Lies in Communication

Interviewer: Guo Biao

have the objective of realizing his or her comprehensive development. Generally

speaking, if our society or the relevant agencies of government are unable to

offer the individual the means to such a comprehensive education, this lack of

opportunity for complete personal growth will constitute a kind of social

inequality, an imperceptible shortcoming that could undermine the nation’s so-

cial harmony. Therefore, our country must nurture this goal of a comprehensive

education in the “literacies”.

Journalist: At present, several hundred million Chinese are learning English.

However, some people are convinced that it is not necessary for China to have

a national campaign to promote the acquisition of English. For example, the

English language skills of the Japanese people are comparatively inferior to

the people of some African countries, but Japan is far more developed than

these Africa nations.

Hu Zhuanglin: Japan is a special case, and besides we cannot truthfully say that

Japan is unaware of the importance of the role of foreign languages in the realm

of international communication. Indeed, Japan boasts a large team of translators,

whose duty it is to introduce the most advanced foreign technology and the

most up-to-date foreign practices into Japan, and the Japanese government sets

aside a large budget to fund this activity. The case of China is different from that

of Japan. China’s economy has experienced the fastest development of any

economy in the world over the past two decades, and this development is di-

rectly attributable to its opening up and to its integration into the world commu-

nity of nations. As tools of communication, foreign languages are of great im-

portance to the development of those individuals who want to participate in the

world community, but the government cannot force people to learn English if

they don’t want to. The demands of Chinese society are the reason why so many

of China’s young people are voluntarily learning English, and irrelevant com-

parisons of countries in terms of their language competence, or allusions to

government policies on language acquisition do not help to clarify the issue of

China’s need for people who are fluent in foreign languages.

Journalist: With the growth in the number of English learners in China, more

and more foreign words are entering the Chinese vocabulary, such as fans,

nylon, sofa, salon. Do you think these borrowed words are an invasion or an

enrichment of the Chinese language?

Hu Zhuanglin: Personally, I prefer the latter way of thinking about vocabulary

acquisition because a language is a living, dynamic system of communication,

and its growth through borrowed vocabulary virtually always follows the daily

common practice. Therefore, as long as borrowed words are accepted by the

public, they will survive. Language is in the process of continuous development,

and the absorption of loan words is inevitable.

Journalist: Although foreign languages contribute many new words to the Chi-

nese vocabulary, many of these words only exist in the spoken language, such

as fan. Do you think that these words will some day enter the written language

and be integrated into the literature?

Hu Zhuanglin: As I said just now, the life and the health of a language depends

upon its degree of acceptance by the public, and the same is true of the words

that constitute that language. As long as these words are widely accepted, they

will inevitably be absorbed into the vocabulary and will find their way into the

literature. This process is not something that is destructive. Many expressions

that are used in Buddhism have survived in Chinese culture, and a good many

specialized Buddhist terms have become an important component of the Chi-

nese language. Similarly, English loan words will be subject to the test of time

and popular favor to determine whether or not they will survive in the Chinese

language. This selection process is one that is determined by the masses and it

cannot be manipulated by the will of one or more individuals.

Journalist: While China has witnessed a massive influx of foreign languages,

the spread of interest in learning the Chinese language has also made great

gains abroad. By the end of July, 2007, China will have started the construc-

tion of more than 170 Confucius Institutes or societies in more than 50 coun-

tries around the world. The number of Chinese learners is increasing rapidly


worldwide. What is your opinion of the current condition of overseas Chinese

language instruction?

Hu Zhuanglin: Several years ago we had absolutely no idea that today the desire

to learn the Chinese language would be so widespread outside of China, and we

have made insufficient preparation for the training of enough Chinese language

teachers. Therefore, while we are rejoicing over the great popularity of the Chi-

nese language abroad, we must turn our attention to the challenges that accom-

pany this global trend.

Journalist: Do you think that those teachers who are preparing themselves for

overseas Chinese-language instruction should strengthen their understanding

of Chinese culture so that they can better disseminate our extraordinarily pro-

found and rich Chinese cultural heritage?

Hu Zhuanglin: Cultural promotion is a good recommendation because it will

help to increase the interest of foreign students in China and Chinese culture.

However, at present we had better respect the will of our Chinese staff abroad

who are busy with their Chinese language instruction and recognize that it is not

necessary for the government to make cultural expertise a compulsory require-

ment of their employment. I believe that in time a comprehensive understanding

of Chinese culture will become an important goal of those who are training to

teach abroad, and that this knowledge will increase along with the improvement

in the quality of overseas Chinese language instruction.

Journalist: Today, English is a dominant language in international

communication, and it has grown to become almost the “universal language”

of the world. With the rising competition from other countries, do you think that

there will be another language that will challenge the status of English as the

“universal language,” and perhaps surpass it?

Hu Zhuanglin: The status of a language in the world is closely related to the

economic and political strength of the country of its derivation. For example, as


Theraphan Luangthongkum,

Dean of the Faculty of Arts,

Chulalongkorn University

Professor Theraphan Luangthongkum is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at

Chulalongkorn University, and is one of the most distinguished linguists in

Thailand. In 2002, she was honored as a Distinguished Researcher of Thailand

(in the Humanities). With an extensive and deep understanding of South-East

Asian languages, Professor Theraphan Luangthongkum has conducted empiri-

cal research on maintaining language diversity and on the role of language in

safeguarding national unity. Her research on minority languages in Thailand,

Theraphan Luangthongkum:

The Pursuit of Continuous Improvement

Interviewer: Lu Yingyu

China has developed into an important nation in the world, the Chinese language

has become more and more popular overseas. However, the Chinese language

will probably not replace English as the “universal language” because the En-

glish language, with its early and wide-ranging influence, has already penetrated

into virtually every aspect of international life. The Chinese language can hardly

match the historical advantage of English. However, it is clear that the Chinese

language will become very important in certain fields, and I believe that as China

continues to rise on the world scene, the Chinese language will become increas-

ingly popular and influential overseas.

and in the countries neighboring Thailand, has opened up new areas for studying

Thailand’s national culture.

The Excellent Organizational Work of Beijing Forum

The theme of the Panel Session at Beijing Forum that dealt with linguistics was

Language Identity and Language Change in Collision, and Dialogue Between

Civilizations. However, thanks to the dialogue portion of the session, the colli-

sion between civilizations did not lead to any overt conflict between the panel-

ists or the members of the audience.

Professor Theraphan offers the languages of Northern Thailand and Southern

Laos as examples to illustrate the language variation and change that has re-

sulted from language diversity. She argues that linguistic variation and change

that are due to linguistic diversity can be accommodated without conflict or

negative feelings when they are introduced gradually and naturally through lan-

guage contact. She also suggests that language assimilation should be encouraged,

and that bilingualism and multilingualism should be both promoted and valued

as key factors in policy formulation.

This is Professor Theraphan’s first attendance at Beijing Forum and she says

that she is deeply impressed by the excellent work of Beijing Forum’s organizers.

In comparing other conferences with Beijing Forum, she praised its outstanding

organization and careful planning, mentioning specifically the relevance of the

topics selected for discussion and the quality of the scholars invited for

participation. Theraphan explained that her experience with Chinese academic

forums was not always good, and that last year she had attended a conference

held at a Chinese university in which there was almost no provisions made for

the non-Chinese-speaking scholars who were in attendance at presentations de-

livered entirely in Chinese. She was highly impressed that Beijing Forum pro-

vided simultaneous interpretation at the Chinese sessions since the majority of

the attendees spoke fluent English. She said that it was a pleasure to discuss

issues with scholars from around the world since language difference ceased to


be an obstacle to the exchange of ideas and the communication of thoughts

between participants.

More Professionalism is Desired

The scholars of linguistics at the Panel Session on language and civilization were

drawn from different research areas of the discipline, and each participant brought

her or his latest research findings to share at the forum. However, the expertise

of one scholar did not always coincide with the specializations of the rest, and

therefore the unique nature of a number of the linguistic studies and the unex-

pected interpretations of some of the outcomes were productive of periods of

lively discussion and debate, not to mention occasional lapses in communication.

Nevertheless, the periodic need for explanation and clarification did not dampen

the enthusiasm of the scholars in their discussions.

The paper delivered by Professor Theraphan was entitled Language Change

Without Collision: A glimpse at Linguistic Diversity in Northern Thailand and

Southern Laos. Since not many participants on this panel were familiar with this

area in the field of linguistic study, Professor Theraphan, tried her best to sim-

plify her research methods and her research findings, refraining for the most part

from using abstract terminology and obscure theories. Theraphan suggested that

in the future the forum might want to be more specialized in its focus on schol-

arly topics so that its invited guests could engage in more profound discussions

and thus gain greater benefit from the conference. Professor Theraphan’s rec-

ommendation is an area that Beijing Forum’s planners may wish to consider in

their pursuit of continuous improvement.

Fast Growing China and the Lovely Chinese People

Professor Therapan first came to Peking University to attend a Linguistic re-

search conference in 1982. She said that she was amazed at the transformation

that China had undergone in the past 25 years, emerging from a backward coun-

try in which the people were poor and the living conditions meager, into a mod-

ern nation with modern transportation. She said that when she visited Beijing

and Peking University this time she could not contain her admiration: “The

changes in China are so huge. The city is so clean and the environment so good.

The development of China is too fast to be true.”

She went on to express her approval: “I like China very much” she confessed,

“the Chinese teachers and the Chinese students are lovely. The Chinese people

are lovely.” She recalled that she once traveled to Yunnan Province to conduct

an on-site study of an ethnic-minority group village, but the trip was unfortu-

nately marred by an accident in which she broke her leg. The injury was so

severe that she could not walk at all, so the Chinese driver had to carry her on his

back down the hill to the hospital in the village. On the way, some warmhearted

villagers went to the town to bring the doctor to her, and the county magistrate

and many other local leaders came to see about her treatment. “If it were not for

their help,” said Professor Therephan, “I can’t image how long it would have

taken me to recover.”

The Language Scientist and the Language Specialist are Different

In discussing the difference between learning a foreign language and studying

linguistics, Professor Theraphan pointed out that the language specialist and the

language scientist are very different animals. The language scientist understands

language as a phenomenon for scientific investigation, while the language spe-

cialist considers language as a tool for communication. Learning a foreign lan-

guage is like studying any other academic subject, she said, it requires hard

work, patience, and a great deal of practice in listening, speaking, reading and

writing.

As a language scientist, Professor Therapan is devoted to her work. She has

made many excursions to Yunnan, Guangxi and Hainan provinces to conduct

on-site surveys and has had to undergo various physical hardships and technical

difficulties, but she remains committed to her discipline.


Bernard Yeung,

Abraham Krasnoff Professor of Global Business

at Stern School of Business, and Director of China House,

New York University

At the Panel Session on The Global Strategy of Enterprises and Corporate

Social Responsibility, Professor Bernard Yeung from New York University pre-

sented a paper entitled China’s Product Safety: Issue and Action that was warmly

received by the participants. Since the first half of the year 2007, China’s recur-

ring problems with product safety have occasionally gained headlines from the

international press, and this concern was the subject of our reporter’s interview

with Professor Yeung.

The Concern over the Safety of Chinese Exports is a Blessing in

Disguise

Journalist: In your presentation just now you mentioned that the international

concern over the safety of Chinese exports is a blessing in disguise. Could you

tell us why?

Bernard Yeung: Food safety in China is an issue of great significance because it

concerns the sustainable development of the Chinese food export industry. The

frequency with which China has had problems with the integrity of her food

Bernard Yeung:

Problems with Corporate Social Responsibilities

are “Growing Pains”

Interviewer: Zhang Shengming

products has attracted international concern over China’s environment protec-

tion practices and her product safety record. China has been criticized by the

outside world because her monitoring of the food safety situation has been

insufficient, but the Chinese food industry has benefited from this exposure in

two ways: first, it has attracted the attention of all concerned. This type of inci-

dent that directly involves the public wellbeing draws the interest of the Chinese

government, the managers of the food industry, the media and the citizenry, and

it has the effect of raising the awareness and the social responsibility of the

Chinese food enterprises. Second, it establishes a link between behavior and

outcome: when we realize that the actions we perform now will lead to certain

outcomes in the future, we have an incentive to improve our behavior. For this

reason I believe that the international focus on the safety of China’s food ex-

ports is a “blessing in disguise”.

Journalist: In your presentation you also mentioned that oversights on matters

of corporate social responsibility, such as inadequate product-safety protection,

environmental pollution issues, and inadequate labor standards are all “grow-

ing pains” in the economic development of China. In your opinion, what are

the causes of these oversights? Which of them are universal, and which ones

are unique to China?

Bernard Yeung: Generally speaking, problems with product safety, with envi-

ronmental pollution and with poor labor standards are all universal, and a great

many countries in the world have experienced these “pains” in the course of

their growth.

In the early stages of their development, enterprises can do harm to others un-

wittingly and due to their lack of anticipatory information and pre-emptive

awareness. However, as these companies acquire more information about safety

standards this unintentional harm will decrease. At the moment, our lack of funds

and our antiquated technology prevent us from solving all of these safety problems.

We must keep in mind, though, that a company’s poor performance in environ-

mental protection measures and inadequate safety procedures is not always the


result of the manager’s neglect of the situation, but may come from the company’s

insufficient organizational capabilities.

Corporate growing pains can affect three areas of social responsibility. First of

all, a company can be unaware of its dangerous operational practices because it

lacks the relevant protective information. Second, even when a company is aware

of its safety problems it may lack sufficient resources to resolve them. Third, a

company may be cognizant of its safety deficiencies and it have the resources to

overcome them, but it still may lack the necessary organizational abilities. Only

once the pain of these three social responsibilities has been eased can the em-

ployees and the management of a company work together to achieve a better

record in environment protection and in product safety.

Journalist: What lessons do you think we can learn from developed countries

that will help us to solve these kinds of safety problems?

Bernard Yeung: I think we can learn a great deal from the advanced countries of

the world. First, we can study the way in which they have responded to their

social responsibilities by putting into practice adequate safety procedures, suffi-

cient environmental safeguards, and appropriate labor standards, and by learn-

ing from them we can take a shortcut and save the money of trial and error.

Second, we can study their technology, and where needed replicate it. Third, we

can encourage the developed countries to help us solve our problem with prod-

uct safety by importing our products.

Journalist: A major divergence of opinion emerged at this panel session con-

cerning corporate social responsibility, and whether it should be increased or

decreased. In your opinion, what is the ideal or the appropriate level of a

corporation’s responsibility to society?

Bernard Yeung: I think that when it comes to corporate social responsibility we

cannot impose a single, uniform standard on all companies. The social and eco-

nomic strengths and weaknesses of each country must be taken into consider-

ation when deciding whether a company should increase or reduce its social

responsibilities. China has a great many laws on the books, but the enforcement

of such laws is not always an easy matter. Therefore, I think that the first priority

must be to improve the government’s ability to regulate and enforce the existing

laws, and only then can we turn our attention to the question of whether compa-

nies should increase or reduce their responsibilities to society.

Challenges to Corporate Social Responsibilities in the Era of

Globalization

Journalist: In your opinion, what challenges will globalization bring to corpo-

rate social responsibilities, such as product safety, environmental protection

and labor standards?

Bernard Yeung: The effect of globalization and outsourcing on the obligations

of corporations to their societies will change as the world changes, and will

become increasingly more complicated and more uncertain as time passes. I

think that globalization and outsourcing will influence corporations’ awareness

of their social responsibilities in the following ways.

First, globalization produces an open-ended resource distribution system that

operates around the world. In one scenario, the finished piece of merchandise is

produced as a cooperative project. Each part of the final product is first manu-

factured and then shipped to the assembly point by a different producer, thus

making it much more difficult to identify the source of a safety problem in the

finished product. For example, who should be held responsible for the harm to a

child who had swallowed a miniature toy train? It would be difficult to mete out

the blame fairly.

On the other hand, globalization exerts more pressure on enterprises to be com-

petitive and to lower their production costs for short-term benefits, and this in

turn leads to their poor performance with respect to their social, responsibilities

and this is a problem with short-sighted planning.

In the context of a domestic economy, the cost of solving those problems that

come about as the result of the responsibilities of corporations to society will be

borne by the tax revenues from the consumers. However, in the context of

globalization, the government of the producers which bear these social expenses

could hardly be expected to receive any compensation from the governments of

the consumers. This inability to fairly assign the costs of social problems could

contribute significantly to the difficulty of identifying the social responsibilities

of the individual corporations.

To sum up, the separation of behavior from results in globalization will worsen

the problems related to corporate social responsibilities.

Corporate Social Responsibilities in China

Journalist: What is your assessment of the current situation of corporate social

responsibility in China? Considering the unique characteristics of China, what

measures do you think that China should take to anticipate and to deal with

safety problems?

Bernard Yeung: China has a great many problems with product safety, but the

Chinese are improving their record all the time. Chinese enterprises produce

hundreds of millions of good-quality products, and only about one percent of

them turn out to pose a safety risk. However, despite this small percentage of

defective goods, the Chinese should not be satisfied with this accomplishment.

In quality control but should make every effort to reduce this ratio to zero. To

this end, it is of vital importance that the government set up a reasonable stimu-

lus system to encourage enterprises to fulfill their social obligations. I believe

that a combined effort over a reasonable period of time will lead to the eradica-

tion of all these problems.

Journalist: Over the last decade, many well-known multinational enterprises

have continued to release reports on their social responsibilities to the outside

world. They have even been honest in disclosing their “skeletons in their closets”.

What can China learn from this straightforward practice?


Bernard Yeung: I think this is exactly what Chinese enterprises should do. Trans-

parency in business is very important, not only because figures show that trans-

parency reduces capital costs, but also because transparency is the easiest way

to win the broad confidence of the consumers. In the short term, transparency

may have some negative outcomes, but over the long run this policy will defi-

nitely yield abundant rewards.

Jiang Ping,

Vice-Chairman of the China Law Society,

Professor Emeritus,

China University of Political Science and Law

Jiang Ping:

More Profound Communication and Cooperation is

Required between Economists and Legists

On November 2nd, 2007 the Grand Opening of the fourth Beijing Forum was

held in The Great Hall of the People. Mr. Jiang Ping, Vice-Chairman of the

China Law Society and Professor Emeritus of China University of Political Sci-

ence and Law, was invited to the meeting room to act as the commentator for

the keynote speakers of the Panel Session. During a break in the meeting, Pro-

fessor Jiang agreed to be interviewed by the Peking University Gazette.

Journalist: What do you think we can learn from each of the speeches made by

the four keynote speakers today?

Jiang Ping: The four professors who delivered the keynote speeches just now

Interviewer: Wan Zhao


impressed me most with their discussions of three relationships that we usually

are unable to handle properly, but which we must learn to deal with in a sincere

and proper way. The first of these relationships is the one between law and the

economy, the second between the private interests of enterprises and their social

responsibility, and the third and final one is the relationship between the strate-

gic concept of China-based development and the globally based development of

Chinese enterprises.

Of the four speakers we just heard from, two are professors who teach at the

business school, and the other two are professors at the school of law. Ordinarily,

professors from business schools think more of global competition and the eco-

nomic benefits that can accrue to individuals and society from successful

enterprises, both of which are issues of great concern to world economists. Pro-

fessors from schools of law generally think more about social order and social

harmony. The exceptional nature of this meeting today, and its special promise

for all of us lies in the fact that legists and economists sat down side by side to

discuss the development of Chinese enterprises. When legists make laws, they

should first take the economic growth and the efficiency of society into

consideration. I firmly believe that we need to encourage more dialogue be-

tween economists and legists on the subject of the lawmaking mechanisms in

China, especially with respect to business law, so that economist and legists can

combine their efforts in studying the growth of Chinese business enterprises.

With respect to the second relationship, the one between the private interests of

businesses and their public responsibility, it goes without saying that these enter-

prises are chiefly interested in making profits and in promoting their own interests.

However, all business enterprises must concern themselves with a multitude of

fundamental relationships that they must handle properly if they are to succeed,

and these include dealings with employees, with consumers, with debtors and

with other related parties. In the past we have more often than not separated

business responsibilities from business interests, when it would be more con-

structive to treat business interests and business responsibilities as equal parts of

an organic unity.

Finally, with respect to the third relationship, the one that contrasts the China-

centered development of business with the globally-based growth of Chinese

enterprises, we must acknowledge that China has become globalized

economically, and that it is now legally integrated with the rest of the world.

Nevertheless, the global profile of Chinese business is comparatively small, and

many people still think that only large enterprises or multinational companies

should enjoy global notoriety. Many people wonder why small enterprises would

bother to seek global prominence because they believe that small operations do

not worry about having a global plan of development, but in fact a global out-

look is important to global success.

Journalist: Of the speeches at the Beijing Forum this year, what viewpoints are

comparatively more interesting to you?

Jiang Ping: Different participants may have different preferences, but Professor

Yip has undertaken a very interesting study which he has supported with a large

amount of relevant data. Professor Yip’s report concerns not only the subject of

business management, but also the status of employees of businesses in different

countries and their role in sustaining business efficiency, a study that is both

realistic and practical. Since Professor Wu Jinglian and I have worked together

in setting up a research center that deals with Chinese law and the Chinese

economy, I am especially interested in empirical studies presented by professors

from business schools. For example, both the United States and China employ a

similar management system in which the board is run by an independent

directorship. However, what are the differences between these management

models since this system works well in the U.S. but does not work at all in

China? What effects, if any, are produced when this management system involv-

ing a board of independent directors is adopted? Furthermore, in the U.S. there

is no board of supervisors, but in China there is. This type of comparative study

between different countries can be very instructive.

Journalist: Business management and law are by nature very different subjects.

What do you think brings scholars of these two different subjects to sit side by

side on the same panel?


Jiang Ping: I have always thought that the connection between business law and

business economics is not understood at all, and it is frequently ignored in the

drafting of Company Law. Seldom are the opinions of companies welcomed in

these discussions, and their business managers usually disregard the applicable

laws. I teach EMBA courses at several universities where business law is always

included as one of the key courses. However, I think that more efforts are needed

in this respect, that is, in providing managers of companies with legal knowledge

and with legal training, while legists should be encouraged to make laws that

meet the economist’s objectives of management and efficiency. This meeting of

minds is essential because the laws should also abide by economic rules. If a law

fails to take into consideration the management efficiency of a business, it is not

an effective law.

Journalist: What is your advise for young people who are engaging in the study

of the law?

Jiang Ping: To satisfy future needs, Chinese educators are encouraging the inte-

gration of the materials from different subjects, and the development of interdis-

ciplinary courses. Currently, society has more than enough specialists who have

been trained in a single subject. Now, the fast pace of social change is demand-

ing inter-disciplinary knowledge and skills, and since the economic development

of China depends heavily upon economics and law, the study of these two sub-

jects should be brought together. Generally speaking, economics stands for effi-

ciency and law stands for order and rules. However, these two seemingly in-

compatible approaches to social order should be reconciled. Sometimes the imple-

mentation of rules and order limits the role of efficiency, but if it is well handled,

efficiency can be established on a more orderly basis. It has been said that the

economists help to make the cake bigger while legists help to divide the cake

properly. This is not always the case. We are better off if we say that the fairness

of distribution should also be the concern of the economist, while the legist

should also consider the efficiency of the distribution. As it rests now, legists

usually choose to ignore efficiency because of their predilection for justice and

order, and this is why Chinese society is desperately in need of talents that are

capable of taking in the broader perspective.

Kaneko Yuka,

Professor of International Cooperation,

Kobe University

Question: What is your impression of Beijing Forum?

Answer: Well, I’m delighted by the huge scope of the forum. It involves profes-

sors from a great many countries, and I honestly didn’t expect such a big confer-

ence here. I sincerely hope that Peking University can continue to host this ex-

cellent forum in the future. I am, however, a bit disappointed about the limited

time allotted for the participants speeches. The sessions allowed the speakers no

more than twenty minutes for their presentations, and that is a bit too short, so

we were unable to go into a deeper discussion on our chosen subjects. In any

case, this was a very valuable opportunity for me, and I suppose for many other

foreign professors who know what is going on in China and who are aware of

China’s global interests.

Question: Before the Panel Sessions we talked about the economic conditions

that have brought about the development of Asia, but now that Asia accepted its

role in globalization, what impact do you think that this will have on China and

Japan?

Answer: First of all, I think it provides an opportunity for us to attend Beijing

Kaneko Yuka:

The Short-sighted Eye, the Biggest Problem with

Chinese CompaniesInterviewer: Wan Muchun


Forum where we can join with professors from China to discuss these issues.

Beijing Forum offers a chance for a renewed cooperation between China and

Japan. Several years ago, the Chinese were profoundly concerned with Japanese

issues, but lately their interests have diversified, and have shifted more to the

United States and to a number of European countries. However, I believe that

China and Japan should attempt to pursue a more cooperative relationship in

every field, especially in the areas that relate to the economy and to education.

And Beijing Forum is the ideal opportunity for Japanese professors to maintain

contact with their Chinese counterparts to exchange their respective views on

these issues.

Question: Can you give a brief introduction to the area of your study?

Answer: I am especially interested in economics and the law. I understand that

China and Japan have their own economic and social backgrounds, and that in a

great many areas their societies are incompatible with western culture. However,

what we need to do is not to simply copy the west, but to find the most suitable

model that will correspond with our economic realities. I think we should learn

more about our respective economies and then find the right models to promote

them.

Question: Comparing similar companies in Japan and China, what do you

think distinguishes the Chinese companies from their Japanese counterparts?

Answer: I am doing surveys on a number of companies in Japan and comparing

them with their Chinese counterparts, and one of these big differences that I

have discovered is that the Chinese companies tend to be more independent in

their daily transactions. The Chinese companies that I have studied are more

interested in quick and independent transactions than in establishing long-term

relationships with other companies. The Japanese companies seek long-term

relationships that are based on product systems, or on other systems that tend to

stabilize productivity, and therefore they attract long-term business friends who

are interested in investing with a far-sighted eye. Because this far-sighted busi-

ness model is more of an investment in the future than in the present, it may be

something that companies in China might want to consider by way of

improvement.

Question: What do you think is the biggest problem that Chinese companies are

having to face at the present moment?

Answer: The biggest problem that Chinese companies are facing is that they

have a short-sighted eye on business, and therefore they think only of short-term

profits. But a company should be a long-term venture, and therefore the maxi-

mization of short-term profits is not the only concern that a company should

have. So, I think that Chinese business people should learn to look at the larger

picture and learn to invest in the future.

Question: So, do you think that Chinese companies need to experience some

sort of revelation?

Answer: Yes, I now understand that Chinese corporate law is improving, and

this means an improvement in Chinese companies’ business activities. An issue

that is becoming increasingly popular in business circles is the responsibility that

companies have to society, and this is an important problem that they will have

to be prepared to tackle. A better knowledge of corporate law will help these

companies understand their responsibilities to the communities they service.


At the Beijing Forum session held on November 2nd and 3rd, Professor William

Blair, the former Queen’s Counsel in Great Britain, delivered a paper entitled

The Social Responsibility of Financial Institutions: The Development of Inter-

national Rules on Money Laundry and Financing Terrorism. During the lunch

break, Professor Blair agreed to be interviewed by Zhang Shengming, a corre-

spondent from Peking University News.

Journalist: One of the topics under debate at this session of the Forum is whether

the responsibilities that corporations owe to society should be established un-

der law or should be left to informal regulation or to the company’s moral

conscience, Also, should corporations be subject to more or less social

responsibilities? What is your opinion on these topics and how do you think

China should respond?

William Blair: Convention holds that corporations aim at maximizing their prof-

its for their shareholders, and there is nothing wrong with that. But if these

corporations focus only on short-term returns they might end up with little long-

term profits. So corporations should assume their due social responsibilities, be

it for the sake of their own interests or for the sake of public’s interests. The best

William Blair:

Social Responsibilities Should Benefit All Those Involved

William Blair,

High Court Judge,

Queen’s Bench Division, U. K.

Interviewer: Zhang Shengming

way to make corporations assume their due social responsibilities is to make

them realize that by so doing they can achieve commercial success.

I think corporations should take on more social responsibilities, including Chi-

nese companies. In fact, China’s new corporation law supports this position.

Journalist: Who are the major players in China who are addressing the issue of

corporate social responsibility? And what are the roles of each link in this

process?

William Blair: I think many institutions should get involved in addressing the

issue of corporate responsibilities. Corporations, share-holders, consumers and

the different levels of government should all play their due roles. In other words,

all the stake holders should get involved because corporation in modern society,

especially against the backdrop of globalization, should no longer seek only

their own profits, but should assume some social responsibilities that will benefit

the whole of society. Relative institutions should also get involved in addressing

the issue of corporate social responsibilities.

Journalist: How has globalization influenced the legislation of corporate so-

cial responsibilities?

William Blair: That is a very interesting question. Because globalization has played

a very important role in corporation growth and development around the world,

every country is involved in the expansion of globalization. For example, com-

merce and finance, among other aspects of trade, are heading towards

globalization. Therefore, the impact of globalization must be considered in the

legislation of all corporations’ social obligations. Many scholars have raised

questions concerning the impact of globalization on corporations’ social

responsibilities, and how multinationals in a globalized world should assume

their social obligations in the foreign countries in which they operate. I think

that informed discussions on these topics are very necessary.


Journalist: In the era of globalization, how can corporations properly assume

their social responsibilities, and at the same time, avoid the collateral damage

caused by those companies who refuse to acknowledge their social obligations?

William Blair: Today’s international business environment is very competitive,

and it has put an enormous amount of pressure on corporations to increase their

profits. As a result, it is inevitable that some corporations will be short-sighted

and to fail to properly shoulder their social responsibilities. We should work

hard to generate an environment which can benefit both the society and

corporations. When a corporation fulfills its obligations to society it benefits the

whole of society.

Journalist: What is your comment on the way in which Chinese companies are

shouldering their social responsibilities, and is there a particular direction in

which China should go in the future?

William Blair: Fifteen years ago, I visited the Great Hall of the People for the

first time. Since then, I have witnessed China’s enormous economic achievement;

I have witnessed China’s social and economic miracle.

I believe that China is progressing with the same speed and enthusiasm in its

determination to take care of corporate social responsibilities. Indeed, I have

compared the provisions in China’s new corporation law with the amendments

to Britain’s corporation law, and I applaud China’s magnificent efforts.

David Legge,

Associate Professor in the School of Public Health,

La Trobe University

Beijing Forum was delighted that David Legge was able to travel from La Trobe

University in Melbourne Australia to Beijing in order share his considerable

knowledge on public health care systems with the participants at the 2007 session.

A professor in the School of Public Health at La Trobe University, David Legge

expanded upon his extensive research on the transition of the Chinese public

healthcare system. In a break after four rounds of discussion, Professor Legge

readily agreed to be interviewed by Lin Wei & Ding Maoyu of Peking University

News.

Journalist: Would you please explain to us why you have chosen “medical

insurance and hospital efficiency” as examples to illustrate your viewpoint on

the policy impasse in the China health care system?

David Legge: Because medical funding and hospital inefficiency are the greatest

challenges facing China’s health care system today. There is an enormous gap

between the financial institutions who provide the funds for health care and the

health institutions who are responsible for the medical care of the patients. The

former institution is charged with making sure that the funds for health care are

David Legge:

China Should Move Step-by-step in its Efforts to

Reform its Health Care System

Interviewers: Lin Wei & Ding Maoyu


used efficiently, while the latter institution is consistently unable to find an effec-

tive way to regulate its finances. I think this lack of coordination is the largest

problem contributing to the impasse in the operation of the Chinese public health

system. Therefore, I have selected this one issue to illustrate my viewpoint.

Journalist: Where do you think China has done its best in the area public health

during this transitional phase?

David Legge: China has done a very good job in medical technology research

and in the establishment of grass-root medial care systems. China boasts one of

the most advanced medical service complexes in the world, and China is also

leading other countries in its advances in medical science and technology.

However, there is a clear inconsistency between high medical costs in China and

the quality and universal availability of health care.

The Chinese government encourages the combination and coordination of Western

medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, a very good policy in principle. The

two approaches to medical care are so different that the combination of the two

of them will definitely lead to progress in both.

Journalist: China’s health care system is so different from those that have evolved

in other countries around the world, how is China going to be able to discover

a suitable path of development for itself ?

David Legge: Different countries have different health circumstances, and each

will have to find its own unique path of development. There is no easy way to

reach universal health care that can be followed by all countries. China is now in

the process of transition, and during this time it is facing serious problems with

the difference in the quality of health care that is available to those living in rural

areas as opposed to those living in urban areas, or to the rich as opposed to the

poor. However, as China’s health care system continues to develop, these issues

will gradually disappear. I often tell my Chinese students that they should study

the history of the evolution of the medical care systems in different countries,

such as Britain, Germany, France and India, in order to learn the different prin-

ciples and strategies employed by each.

Journalist: China’s transitional period is one of the reasons why it is experienc-

ing an impasse in its health care policy. Could you please explain how Germany

was able to ride out its transition in health services after World War II and the

United States after the Great Depression, and then offer China some sugges-

tions on how it might best cope with its own transitional period?

David Legge: This is a good question. My overall impression of China’s current

health care dilemma is that the country is facing a bigger challenge than both

conquered Germany after the Second World War and the United States after the

Great Depression.

The key to understanding the scope of the problem under the current Chinese

system of health care reform is that there was no sound system of health care

under the planned economy and that a new system of health care under a market

driven economy has only been proposed. After a series of reforms to state-owned

enterprises, they have been released from the responsibility of having to pay for

public services, like education, but at the same time China still has no existing

public health care system.

Also, the United States that emerged after the Great Depression was very differ-

ent than China is now. For one thing, the United States inherited an established

public health system. The new unified Germany that recently materialized after

the reunion of East and West Germany serves as another good example, although

the current population of Germany is far less than that of China. Another differ-

ence between China and the unified Germany that makes a comparison of their

health care transformations difficult is that the latter received strong support

from outside friendly nations, while the reform that China is undergoing must be

completed from within.

The Chinese legal system that governs the fiscal interrelationship between grass-


root, middle level and top level governments is of great importance to an emerging

market economy system, but it is especially vital to a nascent health care system

that needs financing from all government revenues, such a taxation.

Journalist: Would you please describe for us the prospect you envisage for a

Chinese operated and funded public health system, and then tell us your under-

standing of the step-by-step process that would lead to its realization.

David Legge: China’s vast and complicated medical health care system is in a

state of uncertainty and disorder, and the only way to bring about the necessary

reforms that will rescue this giant complex is to reduce it to its bare fundamen-

tals and then proceed forward step-by-step. As the health care policy under the

former complicated system will become increasingly cumbersome and

unpredictable, the new long-term policy will need to be flexible so that it can be

modified to accommodate new situations that will crop up from time to time.

However, the stability of different levels, departments and issues will have to be

considered under the step-by-step approach to the reform of the Chinese health

care system. The key to the reform of the system will lie in how to integrate all

the different demands at each stage of the process with a certain degree of

consistency, rather than to give in to the special needs of certain interest groups.

The stable health care system that we are pursuing today is exactly what differ-

ent people with different perspectives on health care are seeking, and this revi-

talized system will make Chinese society more equitable and efficient for all of

its citizens.

Therefore, I believe that in the coming twenty to thirty years, the public health

care system in China will develop a clearer overall design.

Hu Yukun,

Associate Professor in the Institute of

Population Research,

Peking University

As a panelist at the session on The Diversity of Population Development and

Health Security addressing the theme of “The Health of Vulnerable Groups”,

Dr. Hu Yukun delivered a paper entitled The Health of Chinese Rural Women in

the Age of Globalization: The Burden of Diseases, Structural Challenges, and

Future Choices.

Taking forty minutes out of her busy schedule, Dr. Hu Yukun agreed to our

interview. During our conversation, Dr. Hu recounted some stories about a

number of considerate but unhappy women who live in the rural areas of China,

and she introduced us to her research topic that focused on the living conditions

and the health issues facing rural Chinese women during the period of social

transformation and globalization.

Rural Women: China’s Most Vulnerable Group

Towards the end of the 1990s, Hu Yukun was completing her doctorate in the

United States by defending her PhD thesis on the effects of half a century of

environmental change on an Inner Mongolian village. Continuing her interest in

Hu Yukun:

Structural Challenges in the Health Care of

Rural Chinese Women

Interviewers: Ding Maoyu and Lin Wei


the rural areas of China, Dr. Hu shifted the focus of her research to women’s

health issues, especially those that concerned women’s reproductive health.

Dr. Hu admits to having been deeply moved in the closing years of the twentieth

century by the miserable lives that many women in rural China have to endure

from day to day. In the past two years, she has compiled a great deal of informa-

tion on the causes of their unrelieved suffering, and has focused her research on

their general health and physical wellbeing.

Dr. Hu was particularly intrigued by a survey she involved on the suffering and

the daily struggles of Chinese women in the rural areas of Yunnan province.

According to the study, they are constrained by their traditional cultures and

lack basic human rights, they are illiterate and are afraid of going into the cities,

and they suffer from extreme poverty and mental exhaustion. In Yunnan province,

the living conditions and the health issues endured daily by these rural Chinese

women is in urgent need of redress.

Over the past few decades, concerted efforts at social development and health

intervention have brought some relief to these rural women. However, as China

enters the world community and moves with other nations towards globaliza-

tion and marketization, the shifting power base and the assurances of the coun-

try has made great impact on vulnerable groups, including rural women. Ironically,

the Chinese government’s promise in 1970s that “everyone will have health care

by 2000” has not materialized, and this is especially the case with rural women,

especially those who are poor.

“Small Illnesses can Develop into Serious Ones”: The Precarious

Health of Rural Women is Worrisome

Some studies claim to show that the morbidity among women living in rural

areas of China is lower than that among women living in urban areas. Dr. Hu’s

explanation for this anomaly is that the morbidity published in the report is not

based on the total number of sick women in rural areas as opposed to the urban

areas, but only upon the number of sick women who sought help from doctors.

The disparity in the morbidity among women living in rural areas of China and

those living in urban areas is clear if we note that the incidence of short-term,

two-week illnesses and the incidence of chronic illnesses are much higher in

urban areas. When the healthcare demand and the provision of health care are

not balanced, the ability to see a medical doctor will depend largely upon

affordability, not upon the healthcare demand. Urban workers can take advan-

tage of different kinds of social healthcare insurance, but for most of rural people,

health insurance is not an economic option. Many rural people cannot afford to

see a doctor, and this is particularly the case with rural women whose economic

and social status is so low.

Without proper medical attention, small illnesses can develop into serious ones,

and the result is that some poor people can eventually lose their ability to work,

and some can even lose their lives.

Working as an expert on social gender for the China-United Kingdom project on

water supply and sanitation, Dr. Hu visited Yunnan and Sichuan provinces to

conduct field research. Afterwards, she said, “When we were working on the

research report, some of the members shed tears.”

In a Yi village in Yunnan province, the female population became the major

source of labor in the fields when most of the men migrated to the large cities to

find employment. When one of suspension bridges in the area was washed away

by floods, the women workers had to wade across the river in order to get to the

fields on other side. Eventually, most of them developed problems with arthritis

and rheumatism, but because of their lack finances and an inadequate transpor-

tation system, their only remedy was to inject doses of penicillin to kill their

pain. When someone asked what they really needed to ease their pain, they blurted

out, “A bridge!”

Constrained by the dictates of their traditional cultures, and ignorant of safe

child-bearing and child-rearing practices, many Chinese women living in rural

areas are unable to take proper care of themselves and their offspring, and so

there is a high incidence of maternal mortality. In addition, many women who


are made desperate by the misery of the countryside and seek relief and comfort

in the cities, find only the twin specters of discrimination and neglect. In order to

survive, some of them descend into prostitution and become the victims of HIV

or AIDS. After the Cultural Revolution, China’s moral standards began to decline,

and some young people in the rural areas refused or were unable to care for the

elderly, which resulted in great hardship and suffering for a great many elderly

women. All of these unpleasant examples of female disenfranchisement demon-

strate that poor women living in rural areas in China have almost no resources

and very little assistance in preserving their health and in prolonging their lives.

Globalization: Structural Challenges to the Health of Rural Women

Gender inequality in China and the gap between the services that are available to

the people living in the urban and the rural areas contribute significantly to the

multitude of problems that confront China’s rural women. These two areas of

disparity underlie a huge number of interrelated factors affecting the health of

rural women, so the implementation of a few policies simply cannot rectify the

problem.

Against the backdrop of globalization, China has to begin on its own path to

social reform, and in the initial stages it is inevitable that there will be many

problems with staying the course. However, these challenges are much greater

for China’s large population of rural women. For example, because of healthcare

reform, many city dwellers can now afford health insurances, but this not true

for rural women. In order to resolve this problem of the inequities in health

services and health care, particularly faced by rural women, we must address the

root causes and initiate changes at the institutional and structural levels.

Fortunately, the Chinese government has realized the urgency of these health

care issues and is introducing remedial legislation.

In the early stages of the implementation of the Chinese government’s family

planning policy, Dr. Hu said that some rural areas leaned towards population

control, which negatively affected women’s health since they shouldered the

major responsibility for family planning. For example, it was the women who

had to suffer when the family sought birth control through sterilization or the

use of intrauterine devices. However, after International Conference on Popula-

tion Development, the Chinese government’s focus on family planning changed

from birth control to a policy that favored people-centered development, and

therefore the government attempted to control population growth by effecting a

balance between social, economic, resource, and environmental demands. To

this end, the Chinese government has launched a great many quality service

projects.

Building a Harmonious Society: Bringing Health Care to

China’s Rural Women

Rural women are an integral part of the Chinese population, and therefore a

harmonious society must be one that respects their health and their civil rights.

China must seek to eradicate the political and economic injustices that privilege

the urban population if it is to break the vicious cycle of poverty, inequality and

disease, and so bring hope to rural women.

Dr. Hu also praised the Chinese government’s determination to set up a mini-

mum living-allowance plan that would bring needed relief to the most vulnerable

part of the country’s population, the rural poor. She concluded the interview by

saying that the Chinese government is taking its lead from other successful coun-

tries who are attempting to eliminate extreme economic disparity between their

peoples, to guarantee equal rights for all of their citizens, and to ensure that

every man, woman, and child can reap the benefits of the nation’s growth and

prosperity.

On the afternoon of November 4th, 2007 the last meeting of the Panel Session on

The Diversity of Population Development and Health Security was held in Room

203 of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. Professor

John Cleland chaired the meeting and delivered his paper entitled The Diversity

of Fertility Levels and their Implications for the Future.

Professor Cleland pointed out in his speech that the level of human fertility is

more varied by country and region today than at any other time in history. In

some African countries, the women still undergo on average seven births during

their lifetimes, while in some European countries the fertility level is at the other

extreme of not more than one birth per woman. These extremely high and low

birth-rate averages provide a sharp contrast and reveal the great disparity in

human fertility levels around the world. Professor Cleland pointed out that over

the last forty years the birthrate in comparatively poor countries, such as those

in Asia and Latin America, has suffered a dramatic decline, while the birthrate in

Middle East and Africa countries has remained relatively high, although in the

long run it has declined too. In certain parts of the world, the current situation,

he concluded, is very grave. For example, in African areas to the south of the

Sahara, every woman on average will bear five children. Although recently there

John Cleland:

Because This Is an Important Job


John Cleland,

President of the International Union

for the Scientific Study of Population

Interviewer: Li Xiaoyan

has been a sharp decrease in the birth rate in some of these countries, this decline

can be attributed for the most part to the spread of AIDS, making the population

problem even more complicated and difficult. Furthermore, high birth-rate lev-

els lead to food shortages, rendering Africa more dependent on assistance from

outside.

Professor Cleland observed that “unless the situation in Africa improves, 20% of

the world’s population will be reduced to poverty.” When talking about the

solution to this problem, Professor Cleland remarked that population migration

is not an effective way to deal with overpopulation, and its likelihood of attract-

ing international aid and monetary relief is also doubtful. According to Dr. Cleland,

the only way to succeed in combating overpopulation is to lower the high birth

rate level in the affected countries, and this is only possible if the populations’

demand for contraception and birth control is satisfied. He also pointed out that

China has played a tremendously positive part by being a role model for the rest

of the world. At one period in its history, China ignored the threat of

overpopulation, but fortunately the Chinese government realized the growing

severity of the situation and decisively adopted the family planning policy, thus

effectively controlling the growth of its population. Professor Cleland mentioned

that China’s timely solution to its threat of overpopulation should provide a

good lesson for Africa.

When talking about the low birth rate in Europe, Professor Cleland commented

that the redistribution of populations could not be taken as a final solution, be-

cause in order for Europe to maintain its current population level, it needs an

annual influx of 1.8 million people. In the future, Cleland pointed out, Europe

would require 3 million a year, and this number would continue to increase

down the road. However, Europe has a limit to its capacity. This contradiction

between population migration and capacity worries many European governments.

When asked by the interviewer how Europe could solve this anomalous situation,

Professor Cleland offered the relatively optimistic reply that each country in

Europe would need to adopted measures particular to its own situation, and in

adopting such measures some countries have produced certain positive effects

already.


The problem of fertility level diversity around the world is a difficult one, but

what leads to this problem? Asked this question after the panel session, Profes-

sor Cleland replied that the diversity of fertility levels in different countries is

caused by many factors that are cultural, educational, economic, geographical,

and many depend upon the will of the people. For example, some women’s

lifestyle is not conducive to having children because they like to work, to travel,

and to enjoy themselves, and therefore they do not want to give birth to children.

There are different explanations for the diversity of fertility levels in different

countries around the world because it is a complicated problem and there are a

great many factors behind it.

At the end of the session, Professor Cleland was asked why he was interested in

conducting research in the field of world population growth, and he replied that

“This is an important job.” This terse reply might be enough to make us reflect

on the various and complex problems that face our society, our planet, and the

fate of humankind as a whole.

Yao Yuan,

The Deputy Director of the Population Develop-

ment Studies Center, Renmin University of China

During the Beijing Forum of 2007, a panel of noted scholars was convened to

discuss the theme of The Diversity of Population Development and Health

Security. Among the experts present at the Panel Session, Professor Yao Yuan

presented a paper that examined a number of issues related to the aging popula-

tion in Chinese society and population control, and then afterwards agreed to be

interviewed by our reporters, Lin Wei and Ding Maoyu.

As a country with a historically large population, China has needed to turn its

attention to the issue of population control. The Chinese government’s stated

determination “to build a harmonious society” is a policy that has garnered great

attention and concern, both here in China and abroad. For this reason, we de-

cided that our interview with Professor Yao Yuan should begin by asking him to

talk about this topic.

Journalist: China is the most populous country in the world. What do you think

are the future implications of helping senior citizens to play their role in society,

and of involving them in the process of building a harmonious society?

Yao Yuan:

The Participation of Old People in the Olympics is a

Cultural Phenomenon of a Harmonious Society

Interviewers: Lin Wei & Ding Maoyu


Yao Yuan: The ongoing role of senior citizens in Chinese society has enormous

implications for the country as a whole because the ageing of the overall popu-

lation leads to the growth in the number of old people. As the ratio of the elderly

increases with respect to the entire population, this group will call for the expen-

diture of a relatively larger amount of the country’s social resources for old-age

support. The reality of the situation is that the distribution of the country’s social

resources is like the sharing of a cake. The increasing demand of resources for

the maintenance of old people will decrease the share for the middle-aged popu-

lation and for the young. This will inevitably lead to conflicts between the differ-

ent generations. Early this year, an internet article entitled “23 Strict Rules for

the Elderly by the Young” in which the producers vividly described the increas-

ing conflicts that were arising between different generations because of the ag-

ing population.

However, an area of latitude in the implementation of government policy still

affords us plenty of room to resolve the conflicts between the different generations.

Nevertheless, it is only after the problems involved with maintaining an aging

population are resolved, and only after the old people are made psychologically

healthy that they can take their rightful place in society with respect to the other

generations. Only then can the government seek, and society enjoy genuine

harmony.

Journalist: Both in your abstract and in the delivery of your paper, you re-

ferred to some ancient Chinese anecdotes that dealt with the respect for the

elderly in Chinese society. So, from the perspective of globalization, what do

you think that the Olympic spirit and ancient Chinese philosophy share in com-

mon in their attitude towards the elderly?

Yao Yuan: The Olympic spirit calls attention to commitment, to participation,

and to social harmony, values which are very important to the elderly because

the elderly constitute a vulnerable group in society that cannot solve all of its

problems on its own. The elderly need the love and care of society. As a whole,

the traditional Chinese ethical system has placed its highest value on filial piety,

a child/parent relationship which is responsible for the harmony between the

different generations. The observation that society can be seen as a “hierarchical

system” is very different from recognizing that the Chinese ethical system is

based on filial piety, a relationship in which “the father is kind and the son is

filial.” This reciprocal principle requires that the old take care of the young, and

in turn the young take care of the old, a social obligation that, if honored, all but

guarantees intergenerational harmony. To make this point about the cardinal

importance of filial piety in the traditional Chinese ethical system, I cited Mencius’

adage on “the Road to Kingship” in which he observes that “gray-haired people

will not be in the streets carrying heavy burdens on their backs,” and the anec-

dote in which the Duke of Lo asks Confucius to elaborate upon his maxim that

“the benevolent live long”.

Journalist: So, in your estimation what message can be taken from the partici-

pation of the elderly in the staging of the Olympic Games in Beijing, and in the

spread of the Olympic spirit?

Yao Yuan: First of all, the participation of the elderly in the 2008 Beijing Olym-

pic Games will solve the problem of any shortage of unpaid helpers, and will

help to diversify the age and the type of the volunteers. Second, the large-scale

involvement of the elderly in the Olympics as volunteer workers will demon-

strate to the world that the hosting country is both peaceful and harmonious,

and that the old people in China enjoy good health. In turn, the good health and

the active lifestyle of the old people in Beijing will point toward the economic

effectiveness and the high standards of the medical system in China.

Journalist: The theme of the Panel Session on population was “The Diversity

of Population Development and Health Security”. Do you think that the East

and the West have different rates of growth for their aging populations, and do

the policies of the respective governments need to be flexible enough to accom-

modate these differences?

Yao Yuan: Certainly the growth rates of the aging populations of different coun-

tries are different. For example, the phenomenon of an aged sector of the popu-

lation in France has a history of 100 years, during which time the French economy


witnessed continuous growth and its social security system was gradually ad-

justed to meet the needs of the elderly. In China, the growth of the aged popula-

tion is both widespread and rapid. It took France 100 years to reach the critical

stage with its aged population, but China has almost reached this point after only

several decades. It should be noted that China has had a significant aged sector

of its society ever since 1999.

The policies that need to be adopted by all governments, both East and West, are

ones that establish and coordinate an old-age security system, and that set up a

comprehensive social service network. Laws protecting the legal rights of the

old people need to be established, and the whole of society needs to be mobi-

lized to take care of its old people, thus creating a sound social environment of

support, care and assistance for the elderly.

Journalist: A light question to conclude this interview. Could you please tell us

how the old people in your family will participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympic

Games?

Yao Yuan: My mother is already 82 years old and therefore will not have a direct

participatory role in the Olympic Games. However, she will pay close attention

to the ceremonies and to certain competitive events. In conducting my research,

I have come to the same conclusion about the aging population of China in

general. About 80% of the old people know when China will hold the Olympic

Games, and many of them intend to follow the Games closely. I think that even

some young people in China may be less informed than many of the elderly. So,

although the great majority of old people in China may not take part in the

Olympic Games directly, they will probably be involved indirectly in some way,

such as by following the events through the media coverage, or by exchanging

their ideas with their children, or with other members of their communities. As I

mentioned in my talk today, the number of old-age volunteers who are healthy

and skilled enough to participate in helping to hold the Games is quite small.

However, there are various ways that Beijing’s old people can participate indi-

rectly in the Olympic Games, such as by working to maintain a good social order

and a clean environment within their respective urban communities. This will

also be an important contribution to the success of the Beijing Olympic Games.

On the afternoon of November 3rd, 2007, Professor Lo Ven-Hwei delivered a

paper at the Panel Session on New Media and Society that focused on the con-

troversial issue of “pornography” in the media. Professor Lo explained in the

session that he had employed quantitative research methods to analyze how the

important concepts of mass communication, such as “optimistic prejudice” and

“the effect of the third person,” are reflected in the “the public’s perspective on

pornography”. During the tea break, a journalist from Peking University News

interviewed Professor Lo.

Journalist: Your essay is based on a quantitative study of a social phenomenon.

This type of an approach to a research topic is rarely seen in studies conducted

on the mainland of China. How do you account for this difference?

Lo Ven-Hwei: Yes, most of my scholarly research involves case studies, an ap-

Lo Ven-Hwei:

The Taiwanese Media Community has the Academic

Foundation for Case Studies

Lo Ven-Hwei,

Director of the Department of Journalism,

Chenchi University

Interviewer: Bian Zhuozhou

Cultural Diversity, Harmonious Society and Alternative Modernity: New Media and Social Development

proach to my subject which has a great deal to do with my educational

background. In Taiwan, 80% of the communication researchers have PhDs from

overseas educational institutions, and because of their backgrounds they lean

towards the American way of conducting research, which by and large entails

the application of quantitative methodologies. On the mainland of China, there

are fewer researchers who have had this type of overseas educational training,

and therefore they have no experience with using quantitative research methods

to analyze concepts in mass communication. But of course, with many research-

ers returning to China in recent years with Western educational backgrounds,

the number of experienced quantitative researchers is growing, and as a conse-

quence more and more mainland scholars are starting to conduct research from

this quantitative perspective.

Journalist: You mentioned in the thesis to your presentation that “pornogra-

phy” has become an issue that can no longer be ignored because some of the

Taiwanese media are simply exploiting this problem as a way to entertain the

public. Last September, many TV programs and televised reports called for “A

Decade for the Abolitionist Movement” as a way to publicize pornographic

subject matter in order to gratify prurient public tastes. What is your opinion?

Lo Ven-Hwei: Indeed, there have been many TV programs and many media

reports on pornography, and all of them have been commercial features that

ultimately may have a negative impact on reducing the appeal of the subject.

This form of publicity is not the best way to crack down on the spread of

pornography, but every coin has two sides. This type of popular programming

can bring public attention to the plight of the sex-trade workers, and can show

that they are likely at the bottom of the social pyramid and can only survive by

prostitution. So, from this perspective we can conclude that a crackdown on

prostitution by itself is ineffective. Pornography is everywhere in Taiwan, and

we must treat it as a complex social issue.

Journalist: We have noticed that in recent years “citizen news” has been on the

rise in the Taiwan media. What is your comment?

Lo Ven-Hwei: The mass media has an ever increasing influence on society, but

the traditional reporting practices no longer meet the demand of the general

public for a type of media that can interact with society. Now, “citizen news”

has modified the old news reporting format by making news coverage interactive,

responding exactly to public demand and to the new developments in communi-

cation media. My opinion is that public news reports should be based on facts,

and we cannot be certain about the source and the validity of those aired by

“citizen news”. This lack of credibility is one of the most serious weaknesses of

“citizen news,” but now it is too early to gage the future direction and success of

the “citizen news” phenomenon. Perhaps the definition of news coverage is

changing.

Journalist: You have conducted research on the media workers in Taiwan, in

Hong Kong, and on the mainland of China. What is the biggest difference that

you have found that distinguishes the media professionals who are working in

these three places?

Lo Ven-Hwei: I would have to say that the biggest difference between the media

employees in these three locations is their educational backgrounds. For example,

many of Hong Kong’s media workers have studied mass communication in

Taiwan, since the educational infrastructure in Taiwan is quite advanced. The

second important difference is the contrasting attitudes that the media personnel

have toward the purpose and the function of the media, such that the Taiwanese

media have excelled at exposing political scandals, while the mainland media

have focused primarily on disseminating propaganda. This difference is of course

a philosophical one, and it exists for historical reasons.

Journalist: You just mentioned that the educational infrastructure in Taiwan is

advanced, but we know that the public credibility of Taiwanese media is very

poor. Why is this?

Lo Ven-Hwei: I am convinced that the development of the mass media in any

social context reflects the social development of that particular region, and for a

long time the Taiwanese media have been preoccupied with reporting negative


social news, such as political corruption and pornography. While these kinds of

reports are useful in disclosing the darker side of society and in revealing press-

ing social problems, this one sided approach to news reporting may be very

different from many other local media. The competition between the Taiwanese

media is very fierce, and indeed it stands in need of considerable improvement.

Journalist: It is said that in Taiwan few media workers are more than forty five

years old. Why is this the case?

Lo Ven-Hwei: That is correct. Most of the Taiwanese media are large corpora-

tions that strictly limit the career promotions and the pay increases of their young

journalists. For this reason, many Taiwanese journalists seek employment in other

professions before they reach the age of forty, some of them gravitating to

business, some to hospitals, some to other vocations. In a word, the phenom-

enon of relatively young media employees in Taiwan is mainly the result of the

media companies’ personnel policies.

At Beijing Forum’s Panel Session convened to discuss the topic of New Media

and Society on the afternoon of November 3rd, 2007, Dr. Qiao Mu, Dean of the

Center for International Communication Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies

University, presented a paper that focused on the way in which the cell phone is

irreversibly changing our lives and imperceptibly reshaping our world. After Dr.

Qiao’s presentation, he agreed to be interviewed by our correspondent, Li

Jianxiong.

According to Dr. Qiao Mu, along with the TV, the radio, the newspaper, and

the computer as a means of online networking, the cell phone has reached the

highest communication status, becoming the “fifth media”. Its growing popular-

ity and its widespread use in China is attested to by the Beijing municipal

government’s taking for granted that a group cell-phone message expressing the

government’s thanks to the Beijing residents for their consideration during the

Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and another explaining the government’s

position on the 2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, would reach everyone. Dr.

Qiao explained that he had received such global messages during his visit to

Britain, and he decided to investigate this phenomenon upon his return to China.

Qiao Mu:

The Cell Phone Is Changing China

Qiao Mu,

Dean of the Center for International

Communication Studies,

Beijing Foreign Studies University

Interviewer: Li Jianxiong


In Dr. Qiao’s presentation, he pointed out that the statistics from China’s Min-

istry of Information show that by the end of July 2007, there were over 508

million cell phone users on the mainland of China, accounting for 38.3% of the

total population. Originally used only as a device to facilitate wireless

communication, the cell phone now uses information and internet technology to

provide a multitude of services, such as short message sourcing (SMS), online

computer surfing, digital game playing, and online shopping. With a doctorate in

political science and training in specialized knowledge, Dr. Qiao is currently

studying the impact of the cell phone as a form of new media on people’s politi-

cal involvement in modern society through analyzing the cell phones application

in short message sourcing (SMS).

Dr. Qiao argues that the SMS service transmits messages in a “decentralized”

way. This means that no one participating in an SMS transmission is in the con-

trolling position since everyone has the power to be both a sender and a receiver.

Unlike conventional media that functions without a target group, the SMS ser-

vice targets users on the basis of their interpersonal relations and their shared

interests, thus creating a more effective transmission experience.

Dr. Qiao says that the Chinese people felt the great impact of SMS for the first

time during the SARS outbreak in the spring of 2003. The outbreak began in

November of 2002 in Guangdong province and ended its infectious course after

punishing the Beijing residents in June and July of 2003. During this time, the

SMS service produced new SARS related topics of discussion rather than sim-

ply repeating those topics that were set up by the conventional media.

In Dr. Qiao Mu’s presentation to the panel on New Media and Society, he also

alluded to the Chinese anti-Japanese demonstrations in 2005 when the SMS

service was used effectively to mobilize the public into widespread political

agitation. The SMS was able to capitalize fully on the cell phone users’ interper-

sonal relations when the Sino-Japanese ties began to sour and Chinese national-

ism began to run high Messages, such as “Boycott Japanese products and dem-

onstrate against Japan,” were quickly spread among family members, and then

among friends, finally reaching more and more people, and inciting anti-Japa-

nese sentiment into a fury. Eventually, the Chinese government followed suit by

using SMS to communicate its stance on the anti-Japanese demonstrations and

to clarify all unfounded rumors in a timely fashion. The size and complexity of

this public incident also convinced the government to put the use and the control

of SMS on its agenda.

As early as 2002, the annual revenues from China Mobile’s SMS services ex-

ceeded that of the combined revenues from both the TV and the radio businesses.

During the first seven months of 2007, 328.43 billion SMSs were sent on the

Chinese mainland alone, and with each transmission costing the sender 0.1 RMB,

the total revenue of China Mobile’s SMS service stood at 32 billion RMB. Since

there is a trade-off between corporate profits and moral responsibilities, it seems

there would be a direct conflict of interest if an attempt were made to force the

implementation of the real-name registration system for mobile phone users. So,

the upcoming third-generation era (3G) will have to continue the political de-

bates on these new technologies.

Dr.Qiao Mu argues that with the development of information technology and

the development of individualized communication approaches represented by

the use of mobile phones in particular, the conventional international communi-

cations with nations, countries, international organizations and transnational media

as its leading forces will make more individuals the active players in interna-

tional communications which features more effective interpersonal

communications.

The multi-media service (MMS), the mobile TV service, and the heatedly de-

bated 3G can all be regarded as new media frontiers whose future development

and social impact are still uncertain, but what is certain is that these new media

will not simply replace the conventional media, but each medium will help to

reinforce the other.


Xiao Dongfa,

Professor, School of Journalism and Communication,

Peking University

The Blog, the Mobile Phone Novel, Shareko, RSS, the Net Magazine…Are

these all legitimate multimedia forms of publication? What direction should the

traditional publishing industry take when it is challenged by the rapidly evolving

new publishing media?

As a member of the Panel Session devoted to “New Media and Social Develop-

ment” held at Beijing Forum 2007, Xiao Dongfa Professor in the School of

Journalism and Communication at Peking University, gave a detailed analysis of

the application and effect of new media forms on the evolving publishing industry.

Our reporter from Peking University News was able to conduct an interview

with Professor Xiao Dongfa.

Professor Xiao prefaced his remarks by stating: “In our study on the relationship

between new media and publishing, we must adopt a wider perspective on the

publishing industry”.

“Publishing is not Dependent upon Paper; Many Media are

Publications in their Own Right.”

Professor Xiao explained that “The basic essentials in the publication process

Xiao Dongfa:

Understanding the New Media from a Wide Perspective

Interviewer: Bian Zhuozhou

are the compilation of information, the processing, the copy, and the wide spread

distribution of the finished work. Paper is not a key component in the publica-

tion process, and therefore many new forms of media are publications in and of

themselves. This, then, is what we may call a wider perspective on publishing”.

According to Professor Xiao, many emerging new media forms are all part of

the concept of an all-inclusive publishing industry. For example, the Blog is an

individualized publication meant to facilitate a reader and audience-centered

communication. Publications like Mobile Phone Novels provide a brand-new

platform for publication, and the emergence of Sharekos to display salaries and

stocks on the internet reflects the two characteristics of interaction and sharing

that are necessary to satisfy the wider definition of publication.

“The time and effort that it takes to understand the new media publication indus-

try is a process in itself. In the past, our research has focused mainly on fields of

activity that are closely related to traditional publishing, such as Audio and Video

products, Discs, and E-book circulation. Today,” explained Professor Xiao, “we

must include these new media forms within our new all-inclusive definition of

publishing, and thus provide new areas for our research into the publishing

business”.

“The Monopoly on Publishing has been Broken, and Traditional

Publishing is Facing Fierce Challenges.”

Traditional publishing has long enjoyed the position of a monopoly in the industry,

an exclusive control of the publishing market that has been broken by the emer-

gence of the new media. “Media like the internet and the mobile phone are now

competing for available resources alongside conventional books and magazines,”

pointed out Professor Xiao, “a factor which further increases the stagflation in

traditional publication houses, resulting in less publication volume and increased

stocks in warehouses.”

The new media is developing all the time; neither its form nor its content is fixed.

New technology provider is already involved in the creation of original works,”


added Professor Xiao, “creator of original works in new media publication does

not necessarily integrate with traditional publishing houses. This is undoubtedly

a tremendous challenge for traditional publishers.”

New media publication comes as a huge shock both to traditional publishing

industry and the industry chain. It also poses new problems to the management.

“Should it be under supervision or not? How to solve the problem of piracy and

infringement of copyright? Is it the case that those to be supervised are under-

supervised while those not to be supervised are over-supervised?” Professor

Xiao expressed his worries.

“Multi-media Publication is a Growing Trend, and the Traditional

Publishing Industry should Face it Forcefully.”

When talking about the measures adopted by the traditional publishing industry,

Professor Xiao commented that “traditional publishing houses do not concern

themselves with new media at the outset, but just adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

If a form of new media establishes a foothold in the industry, the traditional

publishing houses carefully follow its development, recognizing that they may

need to change their understanding of the responsibilities of the publishing

business, its position, its content, its form and service.”

Professor Xiao explained that as the traditional publishing industry continues to

development and to accommodate itself to the emerging new media, it is inevi-

table that it will need to establish a digital publishing company of its own, to

create a large database to satisfy its particular requirements, and to establish

definite content standards and digital standards.

Professor Xiao concluded the interview by asserting that, “The trend towards

digitalization in the publishing industry is irreversible. In order for the business

to continue to develop in a constructive way it must have a clear understanding

of the general trends in the industry, and it must meet the challenge of the arrival

of new media with a positive attitude and with a willingness to adapt”.

At Beijing Forum’s Panel Session that met on the afternoon of November 3rd

2007 to consider the topic of New Media and Society, Zhou Yongming, an an-

thropologist from the University of Wisconsin, delivered a paper entitled Teleg-

raphy and Politics in Late Qing China in which he examined the new media

from a historical and theoretical perspective Our journalist, Zhu Yuejun, had the

opportunity of interviewing him after his presentation.

Research out of Doubt

When I asked Professor Zhou why he chose to pursue the study of the history of

the telegraph and Chinese politics in the late Qing dynasty in China, he gladly

recalled his experience as a research fellow at Woodrow Wilson International

Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. in year 2001. He claimed that many of

the scholars at that time took a rather unimaginative and stereotypical position

with respect to the internet, arguing that it was a brilliant new technology that

would promise many good things for the future. Zhou Yongming says that he

was aware of the power of the new technology, but viewed it with suspicion as

a double-edge sword. In order to convince his fellow scholars of their naivete,

and inspired by a detail in his graduation thesis, he began the research that would

Zhou Yongming:

Looking at the New Media with the Cold Eye of History

Zhou Yongming,

Professor in the Anthropology Department,

University of Wisconsin at Madison

Interviewer: Zhu Yuejun


eventually lead to his paper: “Telegraphy and Politics in Late Qing China”.

Supported by a wealth of historical evidence and an abundance of precise data,

Zhou Yongming’s research has attracted a great deal of attention from members

of the academic community, and has increasingly won him the approbation and

the support of many scholars worldwide, Echoing the sagacious words of

Confucius, Zhou Yongming, advised: “Gentlemen, seek harmony but not

conformity.” He concluded by saying: “I am very satisfied with my current level

of acceptance.”

Being Neither Pessimistic nor Manic

When I asked Zhou about the influence of the new media on Chinese society, his

reply revealed clearly that he viewed so-called technological progress with the

cold eye of historical hindsight. He said that there is a crucial difference between

the leadership in the late Qing Dynasty and the Chinese government today in

terms of their approach to the arrival of new technologies. He pointed out that

the Chinese government is already cognizant of the role of the new media with

respect to society, and it is attempting to use its economic and political power to

guide the evolution of the media in concert with the social development of the

Chinese people, thereby exploiting its advantages and avoiding its disadvantages.

The impotence of the late Qing Dynasty in failing to recognize and embrace the

new telegraph technology, a communication breakthrough at the time, is clear

historical evidence that overlooking the advantages of a new form of media can

have serious social consequences. The Qing Dynasty’s oversight spelled delay

and hardship for telegraphy in China. This mistake does not need to be repeated

in China, and with the firm guidance of the Chinese government, the future of

the new media in this country will be far more beneficial to society then the

telegraph was to the late Qing Dynasty.

The development of new media is an unavoidable and irreversible trend in our

modern technological age, and the key to taking advantage of its benefits is to

face it with a sober, but optimistic mind. For example, the “zero-barriers to

entry” for users of BBS and BLOG will be a moral challenge for society, but we

do not need to be entirely pessimistic about these types of developments be-

cause the government’s macro-control and the public’s moral self-discipline will

regulate the deployment of the new media. Technology only opens up new chan-

nels for us to explore, but it is quite another matter whether or not these chan-

nels will lead us to a better civil society. Facing the breathtaking pace of the

developments in the new media, we need not panic or lose hope, but should face

these developments with clear vision and a sober mind.

No Haste, No Waste

Zhou Yongming mentioned that the year 2007 has seen the fourth successful

meeting of Beijing Forum, and that he was delighted to have been a witness to

its ongoing development and growth as an international conference of reputa-

tion and repute. When talking about the contribution that Beijing Forum has

made to the world at large, he said that the organizers of the conference had not

expected to recreate the universe in a single day, but had intended to assemble

renowned scholars in the humanities and the social sciences from around the

world who would be willing to engage in a serious conversation on how to best

promote world harmony and prosperity. He went on to say that the scholars and

world experts present at Beijing Forum should attempt to transmit their thoughts

and ideas to a world-wide audience of academics and professionals who have

the ability to persuade their countries’ decision-makers into developing more

comprehensive and more benevolent policies. Zhou Yongming suggested that

evidence of positive change in the world would be a great reward for the schol-

ars who have chosen to participate in the Forum. He was confident that as a

world event it will surely continue to enjoy an increasingly powerful influence,

and its value and significance as a voice for global change will be heard and

understood by more and more people.

.

Zhou Yongming expressed his deep appreciation to Peking University for spon-

soring Beijing Forum, and he extended his thanks to its faculty, staff and stu-

dents for their great efforts in organizing and hosting the conference.

In a short interview of less than fifteen minutes, Zhou Yongming was able to

articulate clearly his views on the benefits and the dangers that society might

well experience as it continues to embraces the thriving new media technologies,

and he counsels both individuals and governments alike to proceed with caution

and with the cool eye of historical memory.


Chen Changdu,

Professor, The School of Environmental Studies,

Peking University

On the afternoon of November 2nd 2007, Beijing Forum’s Panel Session examin-

ing the theme of The Inspiration of Human Heritage on the Progress of Civili-

zations was held in Jilin Hall located in the Great Hall of the People. Chen

Changdu, a senior Professor in Peking University’s School of Environmental

Studies, and one of the visionaries who laid the foundation for China’s land-

scape ecology, attended the session and made a presentation on China’s natural

heritage, and on the management and conservation of its ecological environment.

Chen Changdu:

Attaching Importance to Our Natural Heritage

Interviewer: Li Xin

Review the Value of our Natural Heritage

Professor Chen is the only expert attending this session of Beijing Forum who is

dedicated to natural heritage studies, and his solitary presence here speaks loudly

of the low status of natural heritage studies in comparison with cultural heritage

studies within the heritage studies academic circle. As Professor Chen points

out, nothing can exist without nature; so people should attach more importance

to their natural heritage, which is the basic “wealth” of society and the founda-

tion for all development, including cultural development.

According to UNESCO, our natural heritage includes our geological heritage,

our landscape ecology, and our biological heritage, the latter of which is con-

cerned with bio-diversity. The term “natural heritage,” therefore, is a very com-

prehensive one, and it demands of the expert on environmental studies an exten-

sive knowledge of many different fields of academic enquiry. Environmental

research conducts rigorous investigations into the relationships between living

organisms and their interactions with their natural or developed environments in

order to better understand and protect our natural heritage. Professor Chen ex-

plains that this type of research is arduous, and that it has not received due

attention from either the academic disciplines or from the public at large. He

suggests that when the phrase “human heritage” is mentioned, people immedi-

ately think of the rich historical and cultural heritage of the country they live in,

and neglect their natural heritage. The potential risk to ignoring our shared eco-

logical environment is that it will not only endanger some important aspect of

our natural heritage, but will put at risk the whole of the natural environment on

which we depend for our future.

Biodiversity shows the Richness and Unique Character

of China’s Natural Heritage.

In simple language, biodiversity refers to the diversity and the variability of liv-

ing organisms and the ecological community or systems they make up.


Professor Chen tells our correspondent that China’s rich land forms and vast

territories provide the country with a bounty of natural heritage resources, espe-

cially biological resources. Biodiversity is a measure of the diversity and the

variability of living creatures in an environment, and data show that there are

over 30,000 advanced plant species in China, not to mention that it has the

largest number of gymnosperms on the planet. Data also reveal that the verte-

brates that live in China account for 14.2% of the world’s total, that China’s

birds are 14.5% of all birds, and that its mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish

are 14.2%, 5.9%, 7.4% and 20.3% respectively.

According to Professor Chen, a large portion of the living organisms in China

are ancient creatures, and this is because China’s vast territories and unique

geological conditions made it immune to the impact of the Quaternary Glacier.

The beloved Panda, the ginkgo, the argyrophylla and the Yangtze River dolphin,

as well as other early species that are unique to China, are all part of China’s

important natural heritage that the Chinese people must learn to cherish and to

protect.

Germplasm resources, such as domestic animals, cultivated plants and wild ani-

mals are all common in China, but as common as they may seem, they are all

vital assets that nature has provided for the Chinese to take pleasure in, and to

treasure. China has the largest number of domestic animals in the world, it is the

country in which wild fruit trees were first cultivated, and it is where rice and the

soybean originated. In addition, China boasts over 10,000 medicinal plants, as

well as 2238 species and 30 families of original flowers.

Professor Chen goes to great length to enumerate many of the abundant species

of animals and organisms that regard China as their home, and he makes the

point that these tangible natural-heritage assets contribute to the intangible Chi-

nese cultural heritage, for they inspire China’s music, its literature, its painting,

and many other of its original art forms. Nature provides the Chinese with the

beautiful source materials that allow them to cultivate and to share their unique

sentiments and their distinct vision of the world.

The spectators who came to China to see the Beijing Olympic Games, Professor

Chen muses, should have been invited to visit China’s vast natural reserves to

witness the beauty of China’s remote mountains, for this natural spectacle would

certainly have added to the charm of their Olympic trip.

Pay Attention to the Problems involved in Natural Heritage

Management.

Professor Chen says that the bio-diversity of China reveals the large number of

species in China, but the large number is itself a problem because environmental-

ists have great difficultly in classifying these natural heritages properly in order

to better protect them, to manage them, and to utilize them. In the future, as in

the past, China will have to assume the difficult and arduous task of protecting

its natural heritage.

Professor Chen noted that China has established a number of natural reserves,

but he added that their management is not quite up to world standards, and they

are beset by a lack of relevant knowledge and by the improper allotment of

economic resources to their bio-culture, which has undermined their bio-diversity.

In addition, these natural reserves are fewer in number and receive far less atten-

tion than China’s cultural heritage sites, to the detriment of China’s natural

heritage.

In conclusion, Professor Chen stressed that only by treating natural heritage and

cultural heritage as equal assets, only by balancing socio-economic development

and human heritage, only by promoting eco-harmony through care and

conservation, and only by harmonizing man and nature can China realize the

harmonious development of its entire society.


Fan Jinshi,

Director of the Dunhuang Academy, China

Fan Jinshi:

A Long and Tortuous Path to Harmony

The Beijing Forum Panel Session entitled The Inspiration of Human Heritage

on the Progress of Civilizations was held in Jilin Hall of the Great Hall of the

People on the afternoon of November 2nd, 2007. The theme of Fan Jinshi’s talk

at this year’s Beijing Forum was Caring for Cultural Heritage Together: Coop-

erative Conservation in Dunhuang through International Collaboration.

Our journalist, Zhu Mengtian, met with and interviewed Fan Jinshi, a distin-

guished Graduate of History and Archeology from Peking University, a CPPCC

member, and a recipient of the Moving-China Forward Award for 2004.

“Dunhuang Needs Me”

When Fan Jinshi was asked what motivated someone like her, who grew up in a

big city, to leave her family behind and spend 44 years in the vast desert of

western China known as Dunhuang Grottoes, she replied: “It is all because

Dunhuang needed me.” She confesses that in the beginning she was merely as-

signed to work in the Northwest and that she had not intended to stay there for

long because of the poor living conditions and the deplorable road and rail

networks. However, as time went by, she says that she developed a liking for

Interviewer: Zhu Mengtian

Dunhuang, and eventually found that she and Dunhuang could not be separated.

Now, her passion for Dunhuang drives her to accomplish all of her invaluable

work.

Fan Jinshi talks with fervor and confidence about the protection of Dunhuang

Grottoes’ relics, saying: “Economic growth is the basis for social development.

Cultural and economic development should work in tandem and harmoniously,

and they should not be isolated from each other. Driven by short-term economic

returns, people are liable to focus on economic growth and neglect cultural

protection, since culture is intangible.” Fan Jinshi says that she sees culture as

the soul of a country and a nation, and believes that culture will bring long-term

rewards. In the case of the Dunhuang Grottoes, attaching equal importance to

culture and the economy means fulfilling the task of conserving, maintaining,

and properly utilizing this invaluable cultural resource, while at the same time

developing its tourism potential.

Fan Jinshi confesses that “Harmony” is what she pursues in her life and work.

Seeking Harmonious International Cooperation

According to Fan Jinshi, the international cooperation in protecting the Dunhuang

Grottoes began in the late 1980s. With a history of over 1600 years, the Dunhuang

Grottoes, are large in scale and suffer from various destructive forces, thus re-

quiring enormous funding and technical support. Seizing the great opportunity

afforded by China’s period of reform and opening-up, the Dunhuang Academy

has cooperated with the United States’ Getty Conservation Institute, the An-

drew W. Mellon Foundation, Northwestern University, the Tokyo Institute of

Cultural Assets, and Osaka University, to carry out projects that have involved

not only supervision, analysis, and research, but also the training of specialized

conservators. During the period of cooperation between these academies and

foreign institutes and the Dunhuang Grottoes, the conservators took full advan-

tage of foreign help and resources and carried out joint projects based on mutual

trust and expertise. For example, they have had to face the huge challenge of


protecting the cliffs and their murals against the frequent sand storms. The Getty

Conservation Institute set up a world-class automatic weather station on top of

an adjacent cliff which monitors the weather on a continuous basis, thus allow-

ing conservators to keep an eye on the movement of the sand storms and pre-

vent damage to the Dunhuang cliffs.

By working together, the Dunhuang Academy and the Getty Conservation In-

stitute has jointly developed a sand prevention and control system that has effec-

tively reduced sand flow in the region of the Grottoes by 70%.

When our interviewer inquired of Fan Jinshi if there were any problems that

arose during the course of the international cooperation on the Dunhuang Grot-

toes’ protection, she replied that some difficulties have arisen owing to the dif-

ferences between Chinese and Western cultures. Most foreign scholars and re-

searchers recognize fully the value of the murals and painted statues in the

Dunhuang Grottoes, but their approach to analyzing and managing conserva-

tion problems can sometimes impede cooperation. The Chinese conservators

prefer to take the “Middle Way” when it comes to identifying maintenance and

repair problems, whereas the westerners favor precision, and they want to pur-

sue absolute science. However, it is through these cultural clashes that both

sides learn to communicate with each other, to understand and to cooperate in

their joint efforts to preserve the priceless relics in the Dunhuang Grottoes.

Just such appeals to “harmony” in Fan Jinshi’s supervision of the Dunhuang

Grottoes conservation project have characterized her actions and are embedded

in her work.

The Permanent Preservation of China’s Cultural Relics

The Dunhuang Academy is dedicated to the conservation and the protection of

the Dunhuang Grottoes’ relics and antiquities, and it has already saved many

endangered artifacts. Fan Jinshi pointed out that, although the conservation ef-

forts of the Dunhuang Academy can prolong the life of these valuable relics for

some time, it seems impossible to conserve them forever. Every day, the conser-

vationists have to confront the question of how this precious cultural heritage

can be conserved and admired for a longer time. Fan Jinshi relates that on an

occasion when she had returned to Beijing and was as always pondering this

problem, she came across a computer for the first time, and it suddenly occurred

to her that high tech might be part of the solution. She thought why not use

digital image technology to store images of the relics? Unlike the relics themselves,

these digital images could be stored for a long time, they would be more precise

than drawings, and they could be enlarged for careful examination and close

study.

According to Fan Jinshi, the number of visitors to the Dunhuang Grottoes is

increasing every year, and this poses challenges for those who are protecting the

integrity of the murals and the painted figures. She explains this ongoing problem:

“The murals and the painted figures are made of clay and straw and are quite

fragile. The more people who come and view them, the more sound and mois-

ture they must tolerate. Our monitors reveal that when there are many visitors,

the CO2 concentrations in the caves increases proportionally.” Having digitally

stored all of the relics, she reflects upon how she can satisfy the tourists, while at

the same time minimizing the damage to the murals and the painted figures. She

explains that once the digital display hall has been completed, the tourists can

view the three-dimensional display of the relics and listen to descriptions of their

composition without actually going into the caves. This will not undermine the

visitors’ fascination with the painted murals, but it will reduce the number of

tourists who go inside the caves and the amount of time they spend there. After

a decade-long period of construction and renovation this project is expected to

come on line in the near future. Fan Jinshi is satisfied; her long-cherished dream

of establishing a balance between conserving the invaluable relics and artifacts

of the Dunhuang Grottoes and exposing them to more people will finally be-

come a reality.

Looking forward to the Future and the Next Generation

In her conversation, Fan Jinshi is able to communicate to our correspondent

how strongly she values the proper education and training of talented


conservators. According to her, the many years she has spent in dedication to

the Dunhuang relic’s conservation, to international cooperation on the project,

and to the advancement of new technologies was not in the sole interest of

applying a specific technology to a single conservation project, but also in find-

ing and training young people who can grasp, improve, and apply relevant tech-

nologies to ancient artifacts. Fan Jinshi identified two ways to locate and pre-

pare would-be conservationists. First, through seeking more international

cooperation, young researchers can gain access to advanced technology and can

gain valuable experience. Second, by selecting staff pursue short-term and long-

term studies and carry out research in American or Japanese universities and

institutes. In order to be able to train more conservation personnel within a

shorter time-span, Dunhuang Academy recently joined up with the Court auld

Institute of Art of London University in offering post-graduate courses on mural

conservation. This year the joint venture will graduate its first generation of

qualified conservators.

Fan Jinshi tells our correspondent that the current high school system in China

requires the students to choose between the liberal arts and the sciences too

early, and the result is that the liberal arts students lack knowledge in the area of

natural science, while the science students have a weak appreciation of the

humanities. Archaeological work requires an in-depth understanding of both the

liberal arts and the natural sciences, and relic conservation similarly entails ex-

pertise in a number of different disciplines. Some newcomers to the conserva-

tion business who have a background in physics might find relic preservation

relatively easy at first, but in the long run they will find that it is more difficult

than they originally thought. And graduates who have only a liberal arts degree

will not be able to handle this type of work either.

When answering our interviewer’s question about how the Dunhuang Academy

managed the task of recruiting competent personnel for its conservation project,

Fan Jinshi said that prior to the reimplementation of the college-entrance exami-

nation system, the staff who were hired by the Academy varied greatly in their

abilities, and the proportion of college graduates was relatively small. The busi-

ness of conserving valuable and endangered historical relics requires both theo-

retical and practical knowledge that is very specialized. In the past, workers like

Fan Jinshi were assigned to their posts, but now newcomers have to compete for

their jobs. What especially concerns Fan Jinshi is that many young people may

want to join the Duhuang Academy only to secure a salary, or to use the Acad-

emy as a springboard to a better position. If a worker lacks passion for the

painstaking repair of flying Apsaras (gods) and beautiful patterns, he or she is

unlikely to perform this delicate restoration work well, or to stay in the desert

for a long time.

Fan Jinshi relegates the future of the Dunhuang Grottoes to the next generation.

She expressed her hope that irreplaceable historical sites like the Dunhuang Grot-

toes will continue to be managed well, that the necessary conservation tech-

niques and technologies will continue to progress, and that young people with

knowledge, with vision, with expertise, but above all with a love for Chinese

culture and China’s cultural heritage will dedicate themselves to this monumen-

tal work.

Fan Jinshi’s Beauty and Perseverance

The colorful history of the Dunhuang Grottoes and their conservation is marked

by a saga of neglect, of theft, of discovery, and finally of love and painstaking

effort. Fan Jinshi’s hometown is in the southern watery region by the West Lake,

but she has spent half of her lifetime in the western desert of Dunhuang pursuing

her passion for the preservation of the remains of the ancient civilization of

Dunhuang, and her love for flying Apsaras.


Neville Agnew,

Principal Project Specialist,

Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles

On November 2nd, 2007, at the Panel Session of The Inspiration of Human Heri-

tage on the Progress of Civilizations, Dr. Neville Agnew of the Getty Conserva-

tion Institute located in Los Angeles, delivered a paper entitled Culture Heri-

tage Education in China. In his presentation, Professor Agnew called for com-

prehensive education in heritage management and for the establishment of pro-

fessional standards for cultural heritage conservation. After the session, our re-

porter was granted an interview with Dr. Agnew on the subject of his address.

Journalist: In the paper that you just delivered at the session, you proposed

that China must strengthen its education in cultural heritage conservation in

order to tackle the new problems and challenges that are being brought about

by globalization. What do you think China should do in this respect?

Neville Agnew: China has only quite recently started a formal education pro-

gram in cultural heritage conservation, and it takes time for these types of pro-

grams to become established at the university level. The style of education that

China has pursued in the past was mainly informal, short-term training, and it

lacked the participation of the related departments at the universities. Ordinarily,

Neville Agnew:

The Key to Cultural Heritage Conservation Lies in

the Education and the Training of Professionals

Interviewer: Kuang Yingqiu

it is far from sufficient for these kinds of educational programs to rely solely on

informal training. Related government departments should also attach more im-

portance to formal educational qualifications in order to enhance their work.

Apart from short-term training for technicians, which is essential of course, what

is more important is to produce highly educated professionals through disciplin-

ary education. The conservation of a country’s cultural heritage is a complicated

process, and China should direct its efforts into training specialists who can

carry out this task. I am pleased to say that in the twenty years that I have been

working in China, impressive improvements have been made at the local and the

national levels in the conservation and management of heritage sites, and in the

training of specialized conservation practitioners. I am urging that this attention

to historically important cultural locations and the training of qualified conser-

vationists to protect these sites continue at an intensified pace.

Journalist: The Getty Conservation Institute has not only played an important

role in the conservation of the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, it has also been

among the first organizations to conduct systematic training and education on

China’s vast cultural heritage. What ideals and standards do you think we should

concentrate on in our strategy for heritage conservation?

Neville Agnew: The focus of education on heritage conservation should be on

the protection of the relic or the historical site rather than on its restoration or

reconstruction. For a long time, China has operated under a misunderstanding

of what exactly constitutes cultural conservation. For example, there has been,

in more than a few instances, a focus on restoration and reconstruction rather

than on conservation, particularly with regard to China’s archaeological heritage.

The restoration or reconstruction of an artifact or a historical place leads to the

disappearance of its cultural significance as a legitimate part of a country’s

heritage. Fan Jinshi, Director of the Dunhuang Academy, has distinguished her-

self by her perseverance to the ideal of strict conservation, and it is this common

ideal that has served as the basis for the lasting cooperation between the Dunhuang

Academy and the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI). She has understood that

the conservation and the management of cultural heritage are integrated activities,


and that both must work together to protect fragile, irreplaceable, but highly

significant national and world treasures, such as Mogao.

Journalist: As for the unique aspects or features of China’s cultural heritage,

which attributes do you think students of heritage conservation and manage-

ment should focus on in their practical education?

Neville Agnew: First of all, let me clarify here that many of the challenges facing

cultural heritage today in almost all countries around the world are the same,

and these are increasing pressure from tourism, inadequate funding for monitor-

ing and maintenance, and too few, and insufficiently trained staff. Consequently,

the cultural significance of heritage settings, which includes their historic, artistic,

scientific, and social value, as well as their economic importance, inevitably suffer.

As for the distinct features of Chinese heritage, or any other countries’ cultural

or historical heritage, I think they mainly relate to the civilizations’ diversified

forms of expression. Therefore, education programs in heritage conservation

should be multi-disciplinary, and should include in their curricula the many dis-

ciplines in which the thinking and the technology in the different fields of study

coalesce. To produce first-rate specialists in cultural heritage conservation, I

think that professional standards of practice at the highest level must be followed.

The conservation of a people’s cultural heritage is a grand enterprise. For example,

the conservation and management of the Dunhuang Grottoes is a group project

and calls for best efforts of a community of artists, historians, scientists,

administrators, and skilled conservators, among a great many others.

Journalist: Peking University has set up the Faculty of Archaeology and

Museology, and thus it is attempting to make its contribution to the preserva-

tion of China’s cultural heritage, and perhaps even to the cultural history of

the world. In your opinion, how should Peking University develop its cultural

conservation efforts in the future?

Neville Agnew: The impressive achievements of the Faculty of Archaeology and

Museology at Peking University are well known in the world of heritage

conservation. Since its inception, this university department has produced many

skilled graduates and undertaken conservation projects in numerous areas that

merit great recognition. In its future disciplinary development, the department

of Archaeology and Museology at Peking University should continue to develop

its cultural conservation efforts in two directions. First, the school should accept

graduates from a variety of academic disciplines in order to produce advanced

post-graduates with interdisciplinary degrees in heritage management and

conservation. This will ensure overall direction and guidance in depth and breadth.

Second, the school’s exchange and cooperation with other countries and other

international organizations should be expanded and strengthened. For example,

the Getty Conservation Institute in the United States has collaborated with the

Dunhuang Academy in China and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, in

developing a Masters degree course at Lanzhou University. These mutually ad-

vantageous partnerships and group-alliances should continue to be fostered by

the university. The Getty Conservation Institute’s contacts and exchanges with

Peking University have just begun, and it is with great sincerity that I express my

hope that we can encourage more strategic cooperation and further work to-

gether in order to assist in the preservation of China’s ancient and vast cultural

heritage.

On the afternoon of November 3rd, 2007, the Panel Session dealing with educa-

tion under the title Social Change and University Development, was held in

Yingjie Exchange Center at Peking University. Responding to the question on

how to resolve conflicts between traditional cultures and diversified civilizations

in the context of globalization, Professor Richard Leigh Henry from the Univer-

sity of New South Wales, Australia, argued that to protect the development of

diversified cultures was also an important way of protecting traditional cultures.

After the afternoon discussion, Cai Rongrong, a journalist with Peking Univer-

sity News conducted an interview with Professor Henry.

We are Proud of our Bi-cultural Background

Journalist: As a country of immigrants, does Australia have its own traditional

culture?

Professor Henry responded: “That is a good question. Yes, Australia is a coun-

try that is made up primarily of immigrants, which suggests that it might not

have an ancient traditional culture of its own. However, every person who calls

Richard Leigh Henry:

The Protection of Traditional Culture in

Diversified Cultures

Richard Leigh Henry,

Deputy Vice-Chancellor,

The University of New South Wales


Interviewer: Cai Rongrong

Australia home is proud of being an Australian because we not only have our

comparatively recent Australian cultural background, but also that of an earlier

civilization.”

Professor Henry went on to say: “We Australians are proud of our bi-cultural

background, and take it as an advantage over those cultures that only have one.

For example, at the University of New South Wales we have a Swiss soccer fan

who told me proudly that he could cheer for two teams during the World Cup,

and could enjoy the patriotic feelings aroused by each country’s play on the

football field because of his investment in two cultures. He confessed that when

the national team of Switzerland was playing he would cheer in a red jersey, but

when the Australian National Team was on the field he would exchange it for a

yellow jersey.”

Professor Henry explained that although Australia is a country whose popula-

tion is largely composed of immigrants with different cultural backgrounds; this

does not mean that the older, traditional culture is not protected in Australia.

Culture should not be the sole possession of one ethnic group, said Professor

Henry, it should belong to the whole of mankind. A country which successfully

enjoys a widely diversified culture, like Australia does, should allow the differ-

ent cultures within the larger mixture to become unalienable parts of the ever

evolving culture of the whole nation. This is what Australia has done with great

success.

“International Universities Play an Important Role in the Development

of Diversified Cultures and in the Protection of Traditional Culture”

Journalist: As an international university, how can the University of New South

Wales play its role in protecting Australia’s traditional culture?

According to Professor Henry, international universities can play an important

role in the development of diversified cultures and in the protection of tradi-

tional ones. “People may have some misunderstandings about international

universities,” he said. They may think that the internationality of the school will

prevent it from protecting the traditional culture, when in actuality traditional

culture is frequently more respected and better protected at international univer-

sities than at residential ones.”

Professor Henry claims that it is exactly because of the University of New South

Wales’s multi-cultural environment that the students are sensitive to cultural

diversity and therefore are more likely to celebrate the traditional culture of their

motherland. In addition, the presence of many foreign exchange-students who

have different cultural backgrounds and who see Australian culture with fresh

eyes helps Australian students to deepen their understanding and appreciation of

their own culture. And it is through its students’ interactions with different cul-

tures that the international university fulfills its unspoken but understood mis-

sion to promoting cultural tolerance and protecting traditional culture.

Professor Henry explains that in protecting traditional culture the university com-

munity does not have to abandon international communication or to respond to

the challenges of globalization in a passive way. Instead, we should strive for a

more comprehensive understanding of the spirit of globalization and attempt to

use it to promote the international exchange of different cultures while simulta-

neously protecting the integrity of our traditional cultures.

Professor Henry concluded our interview on a positive note: “I think that those

who have attended Beijing Forum, and especially those who watched the bril-

liant art performance on November 3rd, would be deeply impressed by the inter-

nationality of Peking University. Nevertheless, I think that what has most im-

pressed and inspired everyone here is the rich, traditional Chinese cultural spec-

tacle that the Forum has shared with us all.”


Simon Marginson,

Professor of Higher Education,

University of Melbourne

In the global knowledge market, private educational institutions are providing

employment-oriented training that meets the needs of the labor market, thus

threatening the traditional position of universities which have enjoyed a long-

standing dominance in the area of higher education. Universities have to con-

sider where their future lies, and how they can balance the relationships between

education, research and the demands for social and economic development?

On the morning of November 3rd 2007, Beijing Forum held its Panel Session on

the theme of Social Change and University Development. The scholarly presen-

tations by Professor Simon Marginson of the University of Melbourne and oth-

ers sparked a lively debate among presidents and professors from universities

around the world on the future role of traditional universities in the global knowl-

edge market. After Professor Marginson’s talk, our journalist from Peking Uni-

versity News conducted an interview with him.

Simon Marginson:

The University Remains the Backbone of Higher

Education in the Global Knowledge Market

Interviewer: Cai Rongrong

The Biggest Challenge: How Universities can Exploit the Full

Potential of the New Communications Technology

When Professor Simon Marginson addressed the issue of “the biggest challenge

faced by universities today”, he commented that “communication will always be

an issue meriting the greatest attention in all the fields, and its influence on those

universities, which are the mainstay of higher education, will be especially

important”.

Unlike most of the private institutions operating in the education market, many

universities today have not realized the huge potential of the new communica-

tion technologies. Their focus on traditional teaching methods to the exclusion

of the new educational technologies means that university education lags behind

the reality of social development because the universities are reluctant to take

advantage of recent developments in information delivery systems.

In discussing the wide applications of the new communication technologies,

Professor Marginson said that he found them exciting because they can helps us

to organize academic focus-groups globally, or to gather specialists and schol-

ars from all over the world for an academic symposium. Using this new

technology, university scholars can administer transnational research projects,

and they can monitor the ongoing progress of their projects at any time.

Professor Marginson admitted that most university people of his generation lacked

direct experience with these new information delivery systems, but argued that

the next generation will see the value of this technology, and in exploiting, its

potential will radically change the academic and research strategies of universi-

ties around the world. Dr. Marginson maintained that university administrators

today should take the implementation of the new communication technologies

as one of their most important tasks because in this way they can make their

institutions relevant and efficient, and thereby clear the way for future

development.


Providing the Best Product: Providing Quality Education to

Students According to their Specific Needs

In order to compete with ambitious privately-run educational institutions in the

era of globalization, will the world’s universities have to change their role from

the dispensers of higher education and the proponents of scholarly research to

the retailers of products for social and economic development?

Professor Marginson responded that sponsors of higher education in many of the

world’s universities today are increasingly moving the focus away from aca-

demic research and towards the marketing of social products for education

consumers. He went on to say that this does not imply that universities will lose

their significant place with respect to higher education. Although privately-owned

educational institutions can be effective in providing practical skills that will serve

the public, they cannot offer society the advanced technological and scientific

expertise that is unique to universities.

Professor Marginson remarked: “To a certain degree, education can be seen as a

kind of product, and the relationship that obtains between the teachers and their

universities as an economic one. This understanding is generally accepted in the

world, but it neglects the wider significance of education. The ultimate aim of

education is to raise the quality of life for the whole of society rather than to

teach the individual to use tools. As for the students, they pay their tuition fees in

order to learn what they want to learn. In a privately-run educational institution,

students can never enjoy the stimulating atmosphere of university culture and

experience the camaraderie of ‘student life’, both of which are essential to the

university students’ personal growth and the development”.

Professor Marginson insisted that the scholarly traditions and the research

strengths of the universities are irreplaceable in the development of modern

societies. He argued that schools that lack the traditional educational base and

the history of academic research can never pretend to serve the social and the

economic needs of society.


Since privately-run educational institutions lack the powerful teaching and re-

search strengths of universities it impossible for them to undertake large-scale

and complex research projects, and therefore they cannot produce the type of

results that truly cater to the social and economic needs of the people. These

privately-run institutions are teaching-centered, and their primary goal is not to

advance the sciences and the arts and move society forward in the ways that are

second nature to research-oriented universities.

At the end of the interview, Professor Marginson concluded that although glo-

balization has brought with it enormous challenges and extraordinary opportuni-

ties to these institutions of advanced research and higher learning, the university

still remains the backbone of higher education.

On the morning of November 2nd, 2007, Dr. Su Zhiwu, President of the Commu-

nication University of China delivered a keynote speech entitled Communication

Influences the World, and Education Influences Communication at the Panel

Session on Social Change and University Development. During the tea break,

Su Zhiwu:

The “Hybrid Major” is not an Ideal Way to Cultivate

Competent Communication Graduates

Su Zhiwu,

President of the Communication University of China

Interviewer: He Tao

Dr. Su was interviewed by a journalist from Peking University News.

Journalist: The Chinese communication industry has been faced with an un-

precedented period of development, and in order to stay relevant higher educa-

tion has had to match this progress. Yet some people still think that the current

content and quality of Chinese education in communication are unable to keep

pace with the rapid development of society. What is your opinion?

Su Zhiwu: This is a very good question. Now, the development of the commu-

nication industry is a product of the gradual convergence of a number of differ-

ent media. And the branch of higher education that deals with communication

must try to keep pace with the times. In order to accommodate these advances,

it must adjust its curriculum, reform its teaching methods, and give free rein to

personnel development and to scientific research in the ever booming media

industry.

Journalist: While education in mass media is expanding, more and more gradu-

ates in the field of communication cannot gain the upper hand over graduates

from other disciplines when they are applying for jobs. Given this circumstance,

how should the communication graduates make full use of their advantages?

Su Zhiwu: We have to acknowledge that the personnel-recruiting system of the

regular employers of communication graduates has already changed. For example,

a great many new specialized TV channels and radio channels have emerged,

and so the employers are seeking graduates from other disciplines as well as

communication graduates. I think the best solution would be to integrate pro-

fessionals from the other disciplines with those from that of mass media. Some

economics and law majors have a solid foundation in general knowledge, but

they are sorely lacking in communication expertise. So once they get involved in

the mass media industry of TV or radio, they will need a period of time to adjust

to the industry. If the development of the entire communication industry de-

pended solely on these people, there would be some serious problems. For

instance, if the personnel employed by a TV station to develop and deliver the


content of a program on economics were all economics majors, I would imagine

that the news on economics produced by these people would be highly

unsatisfactory. In a case like this, the expertise of communication graduates

would be more than obvious.

In order to meet the diverse needs of employers, some colleges are producing

“hybrid” graduates who have combined majors in a variety of disciplines. For

example, some graduates combine a major in economics with a major in law. I

don’t think this approach is the best way to produce competent graduates. A

better method might be to have the students study different subjects at different

stages in their academic careers. For example, a student could major in mass

communication as an undergraduate, and then study law, economics, or any

other discipline in graduate school. If students are forced to study two disci-

plines simultaneously, they will master neither.

Journalist: Nowadays, some regulators of mass media have introduced vulgar-

ity into their programming. To some extent, this phenomenon has caused a

lapse in morality and credibility standards in society. What responsibilities do

educators who are teaching courses in mass media in schools of higher educa-

tion have to promote the higher principles of human civilization?

Su Zhiwu: Different schools in different countries expect different standards of

morality from their communication graduates. In China, we emphasize in our

universities that communication majors should have a higher level of political

astuteness than other majors. The negative phenomenon you have mentioned

should be curbed by the government through the enforcement of censorship

laws. In Chinese colleges, our major responsibility as educators is to improve

the students’ political and moral standards, to produce qualified graduates, and

to ensure that communication graduates seek the truth from the facts, and be-

have as responsible journalists.

The Reunion of University Presidents was held as part of the morning session of

Beijing Forum for November 4th 2007, and this gathering was attended by presi-

dents from over 50 universities from around the world. At this meeting, Xu

Zhihong, President of Peking University, agreed to be interviewed by our jour-

nalist from Peking University News.

Journalist: Now that Beijing Forum has been held successfully for four years in

a row, to what extent do you think such a high-profile forum will help to build

Peking University’s prestige as a world-class university?

Xu Zhihong: Every year there are a great many academic conferences held in

venues around the world, but most of these conferences focus on a single

discipline, more often than not one from the field of natural science. Beijing

Forum is distinguished by its focus on humanitarian studies, on the social sciences,

and on the world-wide demand for social change and development. What is

unique about Beijing Forum is that its main focus is the humanities and various

fields in the social sciences.

Xu Zhihong:

Striking a Balance Between Independence and

Social Demand in University Development

Interviewer: He Tao

Xu Zhihong,

President of Peking University


I am confident that the scholarly activities at Beijing Forum will broaden the

horizons of the faculty and the students of Peking University, not only by giving

them a deeper understanding of their own civilization, but also by allowing them

to see their culture within the wider global context. Beijing Forum makes a

contribution to world peace and prosperity by providing a platform for informed

exchanges between the very best scholars and the most distinguished thinkers

from all over the world on topics that bear directly on the health and the social

development of all humankind.

Journalist: In this session, scholars from all over the world have paid close

attention to the social responsibilities of universities. According to Clark Kerr,

an American educator, the function of modern universities should include nur-

turing talent, conducting scientific research and serving society. Do you think

that is how Peking University positions itself as an academic institution?

Xu Zhihong: Historically, Peking University has positioned itself in the academic

world as a “research-oriented university”. On one hand, we are in the business of

nurturing undeveloped and emerging talents, and over the years we have edu-

cated graduates for our country who are cultivated in the various fields of the

humanities. On the other hand, as a research-oriented university we must strive

for and achieve high standards in a comprehensive range of scientific endeavors.

Currently, many of our teachers in the liberal arts and the sciences are undertak-

ing important state-level scientific research projects.

Apart from nurturing promising talents and undertaking important scientific

research, projects, our university resources are also dedicated to serving Chi-

nese society. For example, many of the results that have been achieved by our

researchers are presently being employed in our industrial sectors. Outside of the

purely academic sphere, we provide various types of training in different localities,

and many of our students are committed to voluntary community service. In

modern times, universities enjoy great social support, and I believe that it is

necessary for us to contribute to the society and pay back the investment that

China has made in education.

Journalist: A university exists within a distinct social context, which means that

many external factors will have an impact on the university’s development.

How will Peking University respond to outside social demands and pressures,

and at the same time retain those characteristics that have made Peking Uni-

versity what it is today?

Xu Zhihong: Actually, this is a common challenge that must be faced not only by

Peking University and other Chinese universities, but also by universities and

educational institutions in other countries. Modern Chinese universities are not

the ivory towers they once were in the eighteenth century, but after the imple-

mentation of reform and the opening up policy, they have become more autono-

mous both in their funding and their administration. For example, Peking Uni-

versity includes traditional departments that pursue traditional disciplinary

research, but also a law school and a school of business that must answer first to

the demands of the judiciary and to the free market economy respectively.

Modern universities cannot ignore the needs and demands of their hosting

societies, but must try to strike a balance between scholarly independence and

social reality. In other words, many of the applied disciplines that are taught in

universities can benefit from the insights and the initiatives found in the humani-

ties and the natural sciences, while many of the pure and hypothetical disciplines

that are pursued by academics can benefit society by discovering ways to make

their achievements serviceable to the public.

Afterword

Beijing Forum celebrated its fourth successful anniversary in Beijing from the 2nd

to the 4th of November, 2007. On this memorable occasion, 441 renowned scholars

drawn from 42 different countries from around the world met at the Great Hall

of the People and various Peking University venues to discuss the theme of

“Diversity in the Development of Human Civilization” in the pursuit of “The

Harmony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All”.

As in the earlier meetings of Beijing Forum, the atmosphere of the two day

conference was charged with exciting and illuminating discussion and with the

clash of scholarly argument and debate, giving new authority to the old Confu-

cian maxim that “Exemplary persons seek harmony but not conformity”. The

great variety of scholarly presentations and papers were warmly received by all

of the participants, and many significant academic achievements were unveiled

by the speakers and recorded by the media attending the conference from home

in China, and from many nations abroad.

A three day window does not provide enough time to complete the work of this

world-class conference, or so many of the scholars insisted while earnestly pur-

suing their academic exchanges. Notwithstanding, the annual gathering of some

of the world’s finest minds at Beijing Forum is an event of far-reaching signifi-

cance since it is a unique opportunity for renowned scholars in the humanities

and the social sciences to meet and share the findings of their latest scholarly

investigations while discussing their original perspectives on the Forum’s ongo-

ing theme of “The Harmony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All”. The forum

is also an ideal chance for these scholars and world experts to broadcast their

humanitarian ideas to a wider audience of informed academics and professionals

who have the power to influence their countries’ decision-makers and persuade

them to develop more wide-ranging and compassionate policies. This is the

return paid back by these talented minds and the true meaning of Beijing Forum.

Zhou Yongming: Look at New Media with a Cold Eye of History, Interviews with the Scholars of Beijing Forum, Volume IV. P71

As a way to compensate for the protracted nature of Beijing Forum, and at the

same time to preserve an accurate record of the scholarly discussions and the

lively debates that have distinguished this particular session of the conference,

the Editorial Committee of Beijing Forum has carefully and judiciously chosen

twenty six of the best and most informative interviews with the renowned schol-

ars who participated in the Forum, and has compiled them into a single volume

entitled Interviews with the Scholars of Beijing Forum, Volume IV. Unlike the

profundity and opacity of most specialized academic works, this book was de-

signed for the average reader and features lively and simple language on topics

that are closely related to reality.

Owing to the limited space in this edition of Interviews with the Scholars of

Beijing Forum, the Editorial Committee had the difficult and unenviable task of

selecting from among all of the interviews conducted with the scholars. However,

those who are interested in acquiring additional information on the participants,

or more details about the annual meetings of Beijing Forum and its academic

achievements can log on to the official website of Beijing Forum at www.

beijingforum.org.

In conclusion, the Editorial Committee of Beijing Forum would like to extend

its sincere thanks to all of the editors and reporters from Peking University News

Center, and to all of the staff of the Secretariat of Beijing Forum for their untir-

ing efforts in helping to give birth to this edition of Interviews with the Scholars.

Any criticisms and corrections will be greatly appreciated.

The Editorial Committee of Beijing Forum

June 2008

editorial committee - pku...of the analects of confucius, mencius, and tao te ching. it has been...

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