Students, faculty and members of the Peoria community packed the Hayden-Clark Alumni center Wednesday night, as Bradley welcomed Liu Jun, the acting consul general of the People’s Republic of China in Chicago to discuss U.S.- China relations.
Liu’s position covers nine states in the Midwest of U.S., (Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana and Iowa), and with over 80,000 Chinese students in this region, a large part of his job includes traveling to different universities
The acting consul general agreed to visit Bradley after communications assistant professor Tianjiao(Grace) Wang reached out, hoping to promote university internationalization.
“It’s absolutely important for Bradley students to get to know China, as the country has grown into the world’s second largest economy, the largest industrial producer, the largest trader of goods and the holder of the largest foreign exchange reserves,” Wang said. “The bottom line is that if students want to work in almost any industry with a global reach, the secret weapon will be their understanding and knowledge of China.”
Sophomore television arts major Keegan Burkhardt attended the lecture for his international seminar class, a part of the Global Scholars program offered by the communication department.
“It was awesome being able to cultivate what I’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to [Liu’s] speech. I am now more intrigued and knowledgeable on China’s relations with the U.S. for sure,” Burkhardt said.
The lecture began with a brief history of China’s 40-year reform, an analysis of their current economic position (both with the U.S. and independently), 21st century issues facing the country and ended with an explanation of their initiatives in moving forward.
“Overall, China has responded wonderfully to globalization,” Liu said. “Globalization has caused competition to intensify, and countries should not only solve their own problems, but learn to work as a global community, especially on issues like immigration and the environment.”
Adding on to this, Liu specifically discussed China’s trading policy with the U.S., a subject he said recently has been “rocky.”
“China has no intention of replacing the U.S. as a global superpower,” Liu said. “Both sides should ground themselves in our historical relationship, be cooperative and not competitive, enhance mutual trust instead of suspicion and respect each other rather than do harm for one’s own benefit.”
Overall, Wang described the event as very successful, and after meeting with the consul general, said he was very pleased with the university.
“Mr. Liu and his staff were impressed by Bradley’s leadership, faculty and students, more specially our efforts on student engagement and our commitment to campus internationalization,” Wang said. “We are confident to say that we have achieved all our goals and will keep in touch with the consulate. Hopefully in the near future, we will see more scholars and students from China on campus.”
With only 161 international students, both graduate and undergraduate, enrolled, the lecture was an important step in the university’s push towards internationalization, one of the goals outlined in the strategic plan.
According to Wang, internationalization tends to be more difficult for smaller to mid-size universities like Bradley. Tony Adams, chair of the department of communication, said improving the university’s relationship with China was a priority.
“Currently, Bradley has four affiliate institutions for study-abroad programs and we are happy to announce that the Slane college will host a new study-abroad program in the Spring of 2019,” Adams said.
While the university is responsible for making international strides, Wang described ways individuals should be more involved.
“Read newspapers, daily if possible; follow social media of major news networks such as CNN, BBC or Wall Street Journal, etc.,” Wang said. “Go to events such as this public lecture. Join local communities such as the Peoria Area World Affairs Council; finally, be open-minded and stay curious.”
