On April 8, 2015, Arvind Gupta, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of British Columbia (UBC), along with Anne Gorsuch, Deputy to the President, Weihong Song, Special Advisor to the President, Yves Tiberghien, Director of Institute of Asian Research, visited Peking University (PKU). They were received by Lin Jianhua, President of Peking University (PKU), Li Yansong, Vice President of PKU, Jia Qingguo, Dean of School of International Studies, Fan Shiming, Vice Dean of School of International Studies, and Xia Hongwei, Director of the PKU Office of International Relations. Both sides engaged in a friendly discussion at Linhuxuan and signed an agreement to increase exchange opportunities between the two universities.
President Lin first extended a warm welcome to the UBC delegation: “Peking University is a comprehensive and national key university and has become a centre for teaching and research.” Lin continued, “PKU has maintained a good relation with UBC, and since the global education system is changing, we hope to find common interests through this discussion.” President Gupta thanked PKU for the warm reception: “We think highly of PKU’s achievements in specialised knowledge and professional skills,” he said, “It is UBC’s 100th anniversary this year, which is a brand new start for the two universities. We hope to deepen our ties and integrate the unique programmes of the two universities.”
Director Tiberghien described details regarding the graduate programme: “We would like to start a master degree at UBC, which is called Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs (MPPGA).” Since the world is in the midst of major and rapid transformation, the MPPGA program would offer students policy education with a focus on global and domestic interactions as well as sustainability issues.
Besides the master degree programme, President Gupta wants to create a mechanism for more Canadian students to study at PKU and to that Director Xia introduced PKU’s Summer School International program to the delegation: “The summer school program offers a wide variety of academic courses taught in English and all courses will be held on the PKU campus,” he continued, “The PKU Summer School International Programme is open to international students and we welcome students from UBC to further their studies and broaden their horizons.”
After that, President Gupta invited President Lin to the 2016 International President Forum: “A range of topics are discussed during the Forum, and climate change is one of the heated issues we are prepared to focus on this year.” President Gupta explained, “UBC has long been concerned about the influence of human activities on the environment, and we hope to contribute more by collaborating with other universities.”
Towards the end of the discussion, both sides signed an agreement to build a stronger relationship and expressed their interest in discussing further cooperation. Finally, President Lin delivered a heartfelt congratulation to UBC for its 100th anniversary.
Reporter: Ji Mingzhou
