On October 29th, Ireland’s Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan, together with Irish Ambassador to China Paul Kavanagh and Prof. Andrew Deeks, President of University College Dublin (UCD), visited Peking University(PKU).They were received by Zhu Shanlu, Chairman of PKU Council and Li Yansong, Vice President of PKU. Both sides engaged in a friendly discussion at Linhuxuan and exchanged their opinions on several issues.
Zhu Shanlu first extended a warm welcome to the distinguished visitors. Zhu Shanlu said that Peking University is a prominent university in China, with its history of providing higher education dating back to 2,000 years ago when “Taixue” functioned as the highest education institute. Looking ahead, Zhu noted that Peking University is trying to find its own development path and builds its identity while embracing the world at the same time. He also briefed the visitors on PKU’s traditional strengths in the humanities and social sciences. PKU highly values international communication, and that’s why PKU always maintains good cooperative ties with Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin.
Besides, Zhu Shanlu noted that the cooperation between PKU and universities in Ireland should be further strengthened and hoped more Irish students can come to China to learn Chinese and Chinese culture , to which Minister O’Sullivan showed agreement.
Minister O’Sullivan said that she would like to provide support and help for exchanges programs and joint training proposals, and Irish universities attached great importance to cooperation in scientific research among different universities and institutions. A Confucius Institute has been set up in University College Dublin, and even courses about Chinese and Chinese culture will be incorporated into the teaching of middle schools.
Towards the end of the discussion, both sides reached an agreement to build a stronger relationship. Seeing that UCD had already succeeded in holding a “UCD Day” at PKU, Zhu Shanlu proposed to hold a “PKU Day” in UCD as well. The proposal was well received by Minister O’Sullivan and Prof. Deeks.
After the meeting, Minister O’Sullivan and Ambassador Kavanagh attended a student discussion. Minister O’ Sullivan took the opportunity to share her views on European Union with PKU students who took European Study courses. Prof. Li Qiang, Director of the Center for European Studies, also exchanged his views with Minister O’Sullivan and Ambassador Kavanagh.
Written by：Wang Runjian
Edited by: Chia Wai Kian
