On November 5, 2016, Mr. Rinchinnyam Amarjargal, former Prime Minister ofMongolia and former Member of the State Great Khural (Parliament) of Mongolia,paid a visit to the Yenching Academy of Peking University. Prof. Yuan Ming, Dean of Yenching Academy, greeted Mr. Rinchinnyam Amarjargal at Jingyuan Courtyard.
Dean Yuan welcomed Mr. Rinchinnyam Amarjargal and gave him a brief introduction to Peking University and Yenching Academy, as well as an overview ofthe Mongolian Language major at Peking University. Dean Yuan also introduced theMaster’s Program in China Studies offered by the Yenching Academy of Peking University. As Dean Yuan noted, the Master’s is a specially designed, English-taught program that aims to push the study of China beyond the traditional boundaries ofthe Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines. The core of the program lies its emphasis on interdisciplinary study and the value it assigns to thinking about China's development from both Chinese and international perspectives. While the Yenching Academy is now in its second year, there are as of yet no students from Mongolia. Both Dean Yuan and Mr. Amarjargal expressed their wish for Mongolian scholars to join the Yenching Academy family in the future, and through their studies to increase the mutual understanding between China and Mongolia.
After his meeting with Dean Yuan, Mr. Amarjargal had a face-to-face talk with a group of Yenching Scholars. Prof. Jiang Guohua, Associate Dean of Yenching Academy, hosted the meeting. Mr. Amarjargal discussed the development of Mongolia along several dimensions, including politics, economy, diplomacy, human capacity, with a special emphasis on the process of democratization in Mongolia. He mentioned that although the country faces its share of problems, the democratization of Mongolia has been progressing steadily for more than twenty years. Mr. Amarjargal noted that Mongolia places special emphasis on relationswithin Northeastern Asia, and the country keeps close relations with its neighbors. These strategies have contributed to the rapid economic growth in Mongolia in recent years.
After his remarks, Mr. Amarjargal answered questions posed by Yenching Scholars. Quoc Anh Tran (Vietnam, Hanoi University of Science and Technology) raised a question concerning the practice of democracy in Mongolia, and Mr. Amarjargal laid out his vision of democracy, emphasizing that the problems in Mongolian politics are best understood as a consequence of diverse understandings of “democracy” rather than as a weakness of democracy itself. Every country has its own understanding on democracy, Mr. Amarjargal said, which thereby affects the appearance and conduct of its politics.
Olivia Bergen (United States, NYU Abu Dhabi) asked a question about Mr. Amarjargal’s identity shift from professor to prime minister. Mr. Amarjargal shared stories and lessons from his life, and particularly referred to the importance of language learning. He said: “I know the Russian language, and I got a huge advantage from it. Then I learned English, and I gained access to the English-speaking world, which provided me a totally new perspective.”
Jiang Anji (China, Wuhan University) asked: “How can the young generation contribute to the world?” Mr. Amarjargal pointed out the similarities among global youth. Although they come from different countries, they listen to the same musicand can discover their similarities more easily than any generation before them. It is relatively easy for the young generation today to communicate and consolidate, he argued. This will make today’s youth better able to accommodate and benefit from the technology-driven changes that will shape the world’s future.
