SBU President Sam Stanley and Chinese Consul General PENG Keyu

On September 10th Dr. Sam Stanley held the First Presidential Lecture of his tenure as SBU's new President. The guest lecturer was the Chinese Consul General of NY, Ambassador PENG Keyu. It was also the first lecture of the Confucius Institute it its new home on the 3rd floor of the Charles B. Wang Asian American Center.

President Stanley introduced Ambassador Peng with a broad overview of Chinese and American educational interactions, the establishment last year of the Confucius Institute at SB, and the highlights of Peng’s career. Peng gave a talk on Sino-American relations and then opened the floor to questions. The first, from Applied Math and Statistics Prof. LI Xiaolin, put Ambassador Peng on the spot and added spice to what had been a very straightforward lecture. Everyone then enjoyed Long Island wine and hors d'oeuvres in the Skylight Lobby. 

A videotape of Ambassador Peng's talk is available at the link below, taken by The Stony Brook Independent. Below is also a brief description of some of Peng's talk, a discussion of the pros and cons of both Prof. Li's question and the concept of Confucius Institutes as well as photos from the event.

Sino-American Relations
Peng talked openly about China, China's relationship with the US, and the importance to the world of maintaining that relationship.

'Back in 1972 China-US trade was next to nothing. In 2008 it was $333.74 billion US dollars. On any given day more than 5000 passengers fly across the Pacific that separates us... The relationship between our two countries has grown. Some would say it is the most important bilateral relationship in contemporary relations.'

'Chinese development has grown along with Chinese American relations. The past 30 years witnessed substantial annual growth in China - annual growth of 9% - jumping China to the 3^rd largest economy in the world. Yet it is still developing. Annual per capita income is $3250 USD making China 105^th in the world. It is still backwards in the western part of China. Not all is like Shanghai and the rest of the east coast. There are 20 million in poverty. We still have a long way to go.'

'What path should China pursue? We should promote rapid and sound economics, education, health benefits, a secure social security net for Chinese citizens.' 

'The world is in a period of profound change. China will follow peaceful development and the opening up of mutual development. China's development is not a threat. It will be a responsible power in a global community.'

'Despite all the twists and turns our countries have maintained this most important bilateral relationship. Since Obama our two countries have worked together for a smooth transition... China has a proactive fiscal policy and put in place a $5.86 billion USD stimulus plan. Economic recovery is working. We are at a new historical turning point.' 

'The top priority is to maintain a better relationship. China and US have differences. How to address the differences? How to address issues? Consultation and dialogue. Especially economic dialog and the trade deficit.' 

In response to a question Peng gave an interesting description of trade worth repeating in more detail. It gives a different perspective than the one held by most Americans, including the unnamed US Senator he referred to.

'Let me tell you about trade. Like an iPod sells for $299 in US. Most of the money goes to Japan. Only a small part goes to China. 60% to Japan, 30% to US businessman, Chinese side is only labor costs of 2%.

Many companies set up in China but import parts from Thailand and the Philippines where they are made even cheaper than in China. Then they are assembled in China, then exported to US. It's really not fair to say it's made in China when China gets 2%. We should address these issues by dialogue and consultations.'  

Peng concluded by saying his greatest hope is that more students will come to China to study or visit and he closed his talk with a quote from State Counselor Liu. She had opened the Confucius Institute at Stony Brook last year. "When more and more young people are devoted to the cause of Sino-US relationship, a new page is bound to be opened up in the history of our bilateral relations."

Given that there is now a SB China Alumni Chapter started by graduates of the College of Engineering and how many Chinese international students are involved in the AA E-Zine, we personally know first hand how true those new pages are. 

Confucius
Peng began his discussion by saying "Confucius not only belongs to China but to the whole world." He went on to say that many things Confucius wrote about have become mainstream, not only in China but everywhere. 

Prof. Li questioned why China had chosen Confucius for its outreach since Confucius has many detractors in China. He said that Chairman Mao had once said Confucius "is real garbage." He felt there should be some balance. "As  scholars we should be critical. I am in favor of spreading Chinese culture but I think we should be cautious about using Confucius as one who is perfect and harmonious to do this." 

For those who know Confucius' teaching, there is much to be critical of. To name just a few - he was paternalistic to the point where women were no more than chattel and he favored slavery. 

Peng seemed embarrassed by the question. He began his response by saying "This is a hard question to answer" and ended saying "This is a very difficult question." But upon consideration, was there really a better name for China to use?

To the world in general not everything about China is good. Many view its rapid growth as threatening because it is still not clear how controlling the Chinese communist government will be in this new system of 'capitalism with a Chinese face'. Its treatment of Tibet has been abysmal. So calling them 'China Centers' would have even more detractors. The US government's American Centers were set up prior to the Iraq War when America's standing in the world was far more favorable.    

The Confucius quote at the beginning of this article appeared on the Facebook blog of Anis Siddiqi, a New Delhi writer in her 50's, around the same time as the talk. They had no relationship to each other. Each day Anis puts up a new quote she believes is an important thought. To Anis, and to the world in general, Confucius was a wise old philosopher. His maxims are so much a part of each culture that often it is not even known they were his - "A picture is worth a thousand words" probably being the most ubiquitous. 

On the other hand, there is much of Confucius' teaching for which there is no criticism at all. He promoted the idea of a society based on merit rather than hereditary power, even if only for non-slave males. Meritocracy is how most of the modern world now operates.

Peng could have found it easier to say "No one is perfect. Confucius was not perfect. In America, Thomas Jefferson is considered one of the greatest of the founding fathers. His espoused a society where "all men are created equal" yet this slave owner signed the Constitution of the United States. It continued to allow slavery and did not consider women at all. Each individual must be viewed in perspective to the time in which he lived. Yes, Confucius had many faults, but that does not mean he did not also have many important and valuable things to say that have passed the test of time. To the world, Confucius is still the most respected person in Chinese history. We should not ignore his faults but like Jefferson, we can also respect his greatness."

Confucius Institutes are funded by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, primarily on college campus’ throughout the world. Director of the Confucius Institute at the China Institute in Manhattan, Agnes Shu, asked Peng about their role - with China Institute as one of the oldest Confucius Institutes in the US and SUNY Stony Brook as one of the newest - what they could do to fulfill the vision? 

Peng turned the floor over to CEN Jiu Jan from the Ministry of Education. Cen said the Confucius Institutes have three primary responsibilities and goals. 

First, to provide Chinese language services and prepare teachers to teach Chinese. [This is very true in the US where American children are commonly taught French, German, Latin or Spanish and only in the past few years, in a tiny number of schools, has Chinese been offered.]  Second, to teach about Chinese culture. With bilateral trade only increasing, businessmen need information about China. Third, getting more American students going to China to study and to have good experiences and vice versa, to have more Chinese students going to the US.

But just as with Confucius himself, Confucius Institutes have their detractors. The Canadian Secret Intelligence Service (Canada's CIA) issued a report in 2007 in which it said it considers Confucius Institutes a calculated use of “soft power.” "While academics debate the relative importance of hard power - tanks, missiles, guns and the like - versus soft power, the People's Republic of China (PRC) government views the soft power concept as useful."

Unlike American Centers, the US government funded soft power facilities based at US Consulates and Embassies, [they offer free internet, for example, to circumvent governments that do not allow open access], the Canadian spy service notes the Confucius Institutes are more similar to the German Goethe Institutes, the Spanish Cervantes Institutes, the British Council, and the French Alliance Francaise, each promoting their countries culture and language. 

The Chinese, however, have been smarter and more effective. As of April 2009 there were over 326 Confucius Institutes in 81 countries, primarily on college campus'. Unlike those of other countries, they are able to reach students more easily by coming to where the students are rather than making the students come to them. It is on college campus' that future government leaders of the world will be made.

The Confucius Institute at Stony Brook is headed by Dean of International Academic Programs William Arens. Stony Brook’s CI is the first in a New York State institution of higher education. It is providing a free Chinese language course, open to the campus and community, and houses a library of Chinese monographs. Its opening on April 13, 2009, was attended by State Councilor Madame Liu Yan-Dong and Minister of Education Zhou Ji of the People’s Republic of China, as well as by other Chinese and U.S. dignitaries including Consul General Peng and philanthropist Charles B. Wang.

The Stony Brook Confucius Institute free entry level Chinese language class is held every Monday and Thursday evening. Anyone interested should contact Shasha WU at shaswu@ notes.cc.sunysb.edu.

Photos:
Album 1: http://aasquared.org/gallery/PENGKeyuSBU0909
Album 2: http://aasquared.org/gallery/PENGKeyuSBU20909

Video: Please note, unless you are on campus, this will be too large to download. http://www.aasquared.org/videos/PENGKeyuSBU0909.mpg

Consul General PENG Keyu is a career diplomat with over thirty-five years of broad international experience and has spent the past five years in the United States. He has been Consul General in New York for the past two years and prior to that was Consul General in San Francisco for three. His international experience has included diplomatic positions in Malaysia, Pakistan and Zambia, where he was China's Ambassador. He was also the Director General of the Department of Consular Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was born in 1950 in Hubei Province and has a Master's degree from Wuhan University.

by Jon Hu, Editor-in-Chief and Ja Young, Alumni Editor