Peking University, Jan. 23, 2013: PKU Council Chairman Zhu Shanlu met with Kevin Michael Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia and incumbent of Parliament. The two sides made an in-depth exchange on the gains and losses in the past ten years of Beijing Forum, conferring on its future development.

Chairman Zhu and K. M. Rudd

Zhu extended gratitude to Rudd for his attendance at Beijing Forum 2012, where he delivered a keynote speech titled "The Future of Sino-US Relations: Building a 21st Century Pax Pacifica".

"Beijing Forum will turn 10 years old in 2013. We may take the tenth anniversary as a golden opportunity to learn from the previous experience and lessons, as well as to look forward to the future," Zhu said. He also pointed out that Beijing Forum should inspire the public to spiritually ponder over the opportunities and challenges in the post-financial-crisis era.

Kevin Rudd spoke highly of the theme of Beijing Forum, "The Harmony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All", and expressed high expectations on the upcoming tenth Beijing Forum.

"I hope that Beijing Forum 2013 can make full use of PKU’s discipline advantages in humanities and social sciences to better serve as the bridge  between Eastern and Western cultures," Rudd remarked, "Via Beijing Forum, Westerners are expected to know more about Eastern philosophy, including 'harmony in diversity' and 'harmony with prosperity'."

During the talk, Zhu also introduced the discipline setup of PKU to Rudd. Apart from its traditional “literature, history and philosophy", he specially mentioned that PKU now ranks alongside the world-class counterparts on science and engineering subjects as well.

"PKU has always committed itself to attracting talents, promoting research, and updating facilities. In recent years, we have made great progress," Zhu added.

At the end of the talk, Rudd accepted Zhu's invitation to attend the tenth Beijing Forum to be held later in 2013.

Written by: Zhu Wenjia
Edited by: Arthars
Source: PKU News (Chinese)