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From July 1 to 14, Professor Wu Jian, vice president of SCNU, led a delegation to the Philippines, Brunei, and East Timor. This visit is pivotal in expanding the university's international influence in southeast Asian countries and conducive to strengthening collaboration and dialogue in education and culture, people-to-people exchange, academic research, and talent development between SCNU and southeast Asian institutions.
The delegation visited institutions including the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, the University of the Philippines, the Philippine Chinese Education Research Center, the Federation of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce, the Philippine Federation of Chinese Schools, the Chinese Embassy in Brunei, the University Brunei Darussalam, the Brunei Center for Strategic and Policy Studies, the Brunei Chinese Enterprises Association, the Brunei-China Belt and Road Promotion Association, the Chinese Embassy in East Timor, and East Timor National University.
The delegation from SCNU visit the Federation of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce.
During the visit to the Philippines, the delegation actively promoted cultural exchange and cooperation between China and the Philippines, particularly in areas such as China studies, Southeast Asian studies, geography, economics and trade exchange, Chinese language education, and overseas Chinese affairs with institutions like the University of the Philippines. In addition, the delegation looked forward to the future cooperation between the two universities in a range of disciplines and specialized fields, including life sciences, political science and history.
Wu Jian underscored the deep grassroots friendship between China and the Philippines, highlighting universities as pivotal "civilian ambassadors" in promoting bilateral relations. Xiong Sheng, Education Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, praised SCNU for its contributions to advancing Sino-Philippine educational cooperation and cultural exchanges. Dr. Cecilio Pedro, Chairman of the Federation of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce, emphasized their commitment to various sectors in the Philippines with the motto "Chinese blood, Filipino heart."
Discussions during the visit focused on cooperation in Philippine Chinese language education and vocational education, aiming to enhance bilateral relations through these efforts. The delegation has committed to exploring ways to promote improvements in China-Philippines relations in the academic, economic and trade sphere, and contributed to improving the bilateral relationship.
The delegation from SCNU visit Brunei.
During their visit to Brunei, the delegation engaged extensively with Chinese enterprises, associations, Chinese schools, universities, and think tanks to discuss various topics including the development of Chinese enterprises in Brunei, cooperative projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, cooperation between SCNU and the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) in many fields, training of young Chinese entrepreneurial talents, and collaboration in education within the Chinese community. For instance, Li Feng, branch manager at the Bank of China (Hong Kong) in Brunei, highlighted sectors such as the digital economy, new energy industries, agriculture, and tourism as crucial areas for enhanced cooperation under Brunei's Vision 2035.
Additionally, the delegation held in-depth discussions and explored cooperation with entities such as the Brunei Chinese Enterprises Association, the Brunei-China Belt and Road Promotion Association, the Brunei Center for Strategic and Policy Studies, and the University Brunei Darussalam. During the visit to UBD, Joyce Teo, vice chancellor of UBD, pointed out that they are interested in the relationship between the Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asia, and they also looked forward to establishing institutionalized collaboration with SCNU in the fields of chemistry, biology, transnational cooperation in the areas of new energy and biodiversity.
Their visit to the Brunei Center for Strategic and Policy Studies was especially noteworthy. They had detailed discussions about Brunei's industrial transformation, prospects for Chinese enterprise development, the investment environment, and Chinese language education. This culminated in plans for future research collaboration projects. Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Xiao Jianguo praised Wu Jian's leadership of the research team's tour of three countries, highlighting their comprehensive practical work across various fields in Southeast Asia's regional country studies.
During their visit to East Timor, the team met with President José Manuel Ramos-Horta and took commemorative photos. Chinese Ambassador to East Timor Wang Wenli applauded the Southeast Asia Research Center at SCNU for its active efforts in promoting educational exchanges between China and East Timor, expressing readiness to deepen cooperation with the school to advance bilateral educational collaboration and cultural exchange. The visit also strengthened international understanding and exchange with multiple entities in East Timor, expanding SCNU's influence in the country.
Diogo Freitas da Silva, technical advisor, and executive secretary to the President of the National University of East Timor, noted that the delegation from SCNU was the first official visit by a Chinese university delegation to their university, anticipating that the visit would promote cooperation between the two universities in research, faculty exchange, student exchanges, and talent development. João Soares Martins, President of the National University of East Timor, presented the school's history, academic disciplines, and international cooperation efforts, proposing specific collaboration plans to strengthen alignment and cooperation in academic disciplines. Additionally, the team visited the Board of Directors of the East Timor National Chinese School, learning more about and discussing the potential and pathways for Sino-East Timor cooperation in Chinese language education.
The recent visit to three southeast Asian countries has garnered widespread attention and coverage from multiple media outlets. Wu Jian was invited to an exclusive interview with "Chinatown TV," the Philippines' most influential Chinese community news channel. Prominent southeast Asian local media platforms and publications such as the Borneo Bulletin, the Philippine Dragon Media Network, the Filipino-Chinese Business Lifestyle Platform, United Daily News, See Hua Daily News, and Sin Chew Daily have highlighted the visit.
Specialized reports were also published on platforms such as Science Net, China Social Sciences Net, Sohu, GDToday, and Yangcheng Evening News, as well as by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Negara Brunei Darussalam, the Embassy of China in Timor-Leste and the People's Daily Overseas Edition.
Source from SCNU News Center
Translated by Zhao Yinfan, Tang Jingyue
Proofread by Edwin Baak
Edited by Li Jianru
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