M.U.S.T. Honorary Doctor Prof. Kishore Mahbubani Talk on
“Foreign Affairs Academic Lecture – China and the World”
In celebration of its 22nd anniversary, the Macau University of Science and Technology held a special talk titled “Foreign Affairs Academic Lecture – China and the World”, in an online-offline hybrid form, at the University’s Grand Auditorium in Block R Academic Complex, in the afternoon of March 25, 2022. Under the theme “Can mankind maintain peace”, the talk invited Prof. Kishore Mahbubani, an honorary doctor of M.U.S.T., the founding dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and a former senior Singaporean diplomat, as the keynote speaker, followed by a dialogue with Distinguished Guest Speaker Hao Yufan and Visiting Professor Jiang Shixue of the Institute for Social and Cultural Research of M.U.S.T.
Prof. Kishore Mahbubani (Online) and Guests Posing for a Photoshoot
Commissioner Liu Xianfa of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao S.A.R., Deputy Mayor Li Chong of Zhuhai People’s Government, Deputy Director Huang Yuanhong of the Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao Affairs Bureau of Zhuhai, Director Fong Ka Kin of the Division of Tertiary Educational Cooperation and Exchange of the Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macao S.A.R., Chancellor Liu Chak Wan of Macau University of Science and Technology, Vice-Chancellor and President Joseph Hun-wei Lee, Vice President Tong Ka Lok, Vice President Jiang Zhihong, Vice President Pang Chuan and Vice President So Yuk Chow of M.U.S.T., Secretary Chen Jimin, Council Member Ms. Linda Chen and Council Member Ms. Su Hsiang Mei of the University Council, and M.U.S.T. teachers and students attended the lecture.
President Joseph Hun-wei Lee delivered a speech welcoming Prof. Kishore Mahbubani and the attending guests. He noted that with the support and help of all walks of the community, within only two decades M.U.S.T. has grown to become the largest comprehensive university in Macao, and it has made its contributions to the higher education of Macao and even that of the nation, by cultivating generations of outstanding patriotic Macao-loving, China-loving talents. As a rising superpower, China plays an increasing stabilizer role in the world order. In the wake of this unprecedented era, unseen and evolving over the past century, M.U.S.T. would like to join its peers at home and abroad to stand based in Macao, have the back of the country and face the world, promote foreign affairs development with Chinese characteristics, and make contributions to the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, and mutual exchanges and learning between civilizations.
President Joseph Hun-wei Lee
Commissioner Liu Xianfa also gave a congratulatory speech, in which he pointed out that in the face of the unprecedented cumulative changes in the world order over the past century, in a world deprived of stability and filled with uncertainties, Chairman Xi Jinping proposed China’s solutions, which is to build a community with a shared future for mankind. China is not only an anchor for world peace and safety but also an engine for global development and a trailblazer for reforms of global governance. Today, in Macao, a place where the west meets the east, the “China and the World” lecture held by Macau University of Science and Technology will help us to better understand China’s positioning and its roles to be played in the world.
Commissioner Liu Xianfa Delivering a Speech
Professor Mahbubani’s talk consisted of three parts. First, he elucidated some clear and loud warnings from several key western philosophers against the eastward expansion of NATO. He then proceeded to analyze why these warnings were largely ignored by the relevant authorities and, lastly, he discussed how great diplomacy can play a key role in the prevention and solution of conflicts. Prof. Mahbubani emphasized that mankind must draw lessons from the conflicts that have happened continuously in history and employ various methods and approaches to maintain peace. In the ensuing dialogue section, Prof. Mahbubani engaged in a profound discussion with Prof. Hao Yufan and Prof. Jiang Shixue and gave detailed responses to questions raised by the students. Students were actively engaged in the discussions.
Prof. Mahbubani is a senior Singaporean diplomat and renowned scholar. He is an outstanding fellow of the Asia Research Institute – National University of Singapore. He was in service for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore for over 33 years, was a permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore stationed abroad for diplomatic positions in Cambodia, Malaysia, Washington D.C., and New York. He was twice Singapore’s Representative to the United Nations and served as rotating president of the United Nations Security Council in 2001 and 2002. The professor is prolific in achievements in his career as a diplomat. He was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Gold) by the Singapore government in 1998. Prof. Mahbubani is well known to the international academic community for his “Asian mindset” conception, and he expounded on The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East, believing China, instead of the USA, to be a real defender of multilateralism. In 2004, he was awarded The Foreign Policy Association Medal by the eponymous American association, and was critically acclaimed in the citation as “A gifted diplomat, a student of history and philosophy, a provocative writer and an intuitive thinker.” In 2005, he was also listed as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines. The Foreign Policy magazine commended the professor as “the Great thinker of the Asian century”. In 2019, Prof. Mahbubani was elected as an honorary international member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
