On 14 March, the UN Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee paid a visit to Yenching Academy. YCA Dean Dong Qiang met with Mr Chatterjee at Jingyuan Courtyard 3.
Dean Dong first highlighted that Yenching Academy is dedicated to promoting cross-cultural exchange and understanding from both Chinese and international perspectives. The Academy’s interdisciplinary China Studies program leverages a top-tier faculty and an international approach to cultivate talents who will bridge China and the rest of the world together. Prof Dong emphatically mentioned the letter from former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the Academy’s founding. In his letter, Ban encouraged the Academy and its staff and students to contribute their efforts to the global development. Sticking to its mission, the Academy has forged ahead over the past decade. The dean introduced the upcoming Yenching Global Symposium and thanked Mr Chatterjee for recording a video for the symposium despite his busy schedule.
Mr Chatterjee said that he was pleased to meet with Dean Dong at the Yenching Academy. He admired China’s pivotal leadership role in the global economy and its profound impact on the global political landscape in an era of radical transformation. The UN Resident Coordinator stressed that the wildfires in Los Angeles are warning of a devastating ecological challenge and that the international community must make a concerted effort to address the pressing ecological issues around the globe. Mr Chatterjee thought highly of Yenching Academy and YGS, praising the Academy’s flagship event for providing an important platform for young talents from around the world to sit together and discuss emerging global issues. At YGS, young talents forge consensus as they investigate global issues from diverse perspectives.
Dean Dong Qiang detailed the Academy’s student enrolment, curriculum, and career development opportunities. Tom-Louis Flohrer, a Cohort 2024 Scholar from Germany attended the meeting as the representative of our Yenching Scholars. Flohrer talked about his life and study at the Academy. As the recipient of the Dean’s Grant, Flohrer was able to make a study trip to Qingdao, Shandong province, for research on Chinese and German cultural heritage in the city. He found this trip academically fruitful and was grateful for the Academy’s support for students’ development. Flohrer was impressed by Mr Chatterjee’s remarks on the unseen changes in the current geopolitical landscape, which is highly relevant to this year’s YGS—Fortitude: Navigating the Tides of Change. He noted that the young people of his generation must engage with and navigate the changing world, keeping an open mind to whatever comes to them.
After the meeting, Dean Dong Qiang accompanied Mr Siddharth Chatterjee for a tour of Jingyuan Courtyard 3 and the Second Gymnasium and gave Mr Chatterjee a gift from the Academy. This fruitful visit of Mr Chatterjee strengthened the cooperation between Yenching Academy and the UN, and laid a solid foundation for the two parties’ close collaboration in educational exchange and other global issues.
Mr Siddharth Chatterjee posted on his social media about his fruitful visit to Yenching Academy, and again praised the upcoming Yenching Global Symposium.
