ACC's 4th Lecture of ASEAN Ambassadors Lecture Series (Singapore) Held at BFSU

On 20 May 2015, the 4th lecture of ASEAN Ambassadors Lecture Series (Singapore), co-organized by ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) and Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), was successfully held at the library of BFSU. H.E. Mr. Stanley Loh Ka Leung, Ambassador of Singapore to China, delivered the lecture on "25 Years of Singapore-China Partnership", and was warmly received by the audience. 

ACC Acting Secretary-General and Director of General Affairs and Coordination Division (GACD) Ms. Huang Ying, Chairman of the University Council of BFSU Professor Han Zhen, Ambassador of the Philippines to China H.E. Mrs. Erlinda F. Basilio, representatives from the Embassies of Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand in Beijing, as well as about 90 faculties and students from BFSU were present at the lecture. Ms. Lada Phumas, Director of Information and Public Relations Division (IPRD) of ACC, introduced ACC, the project and acted as moderator of the lecture.

Professor Han Zhen, in his opening remarks, gave a warm welcome to Ambassador Stanley Loh to BFSU. He recalled the good momentum of ASEAN-China and Singapore-China relations, particularly in education exchanges, and commended Ambassador Stanley Loh for the strong support and assistance to BFSU. Professor Han Zhen also expressed the university's readiness to further promote Singapore-China and ASEAN-China relations through education.

In her opening remarks, Ms. Huang Ying expressed that ASEAN and China were in the process of building a Diamond Decade, and 2015 marked the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China. Ambassador Stanley Loh’s lecture would be a good opportunity for the young generation to learn the Ambassador’s perspective on Singapore-China relations. Ms. Huang Ying expected the young generation could contribute to the further development and elevation of Singapore-China relations and ASEAN-China cooperation. 

H.E. Ambassador Stanley Loh delivered the keynote speech on “25 Years of Singapore-China Partnership". He opined that Singapore recognised China’s tremendous significance to the region and understood that a stable and prosperous China was in the interests of Singapore and the entire region. 

When sharing his perspective on Singapore-China relations, Ambassador Stanley Loh said over the past 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1990, one unique characteristic of bilateral relations had been the constantly evolving nature of the cooperation in accordance with the changing needs and capabilities of both countries, the highlights of which including Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-City, early launching of the bilateral FTA, cooperation in human resource development and social reforms. As a founding member of ASEAN, Singapore had been a strong supporter of closer relations between China and ASEAN. He expected both countries would work together to take this profound friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation to the next level, based on the foundation of mutual trust and respect.  

Ambassador Stanley Loh expressed that Singapore would assume the coordinatorship for ASEAN-China relations from August 2015, and Singapore looked forward to working closely with China and fellow ASEAN members to build a second Golden Decade of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership. 

During the Q&A session. Ambassador Stanely Loh answered questions raised by the students on the role of Singapore in jointly building the "One Belt One Road" initiative, Singapore’s expectations for the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the situation of Chinese language teaching in Singapore, etc.. 

Before the lecture, Prefessor Han Zhen met with Ambassador Stanley Loh and Ms. Huang Ying, Acting Secretary-General and Director of GACD of ACC, and exchanged views on current development of BFSU as well as how to enhance future cooperation between BFSU and Singapore as well as between BFSU and ACC.

At the meeting between the participants of 2015 ASEAN Plus Three (10+3) Training Programme on Understanding China and ACC, organized by ACC and BFSU at the ACC Secretariat on 21 May 2015, Director Lada informed the delegation about the success of the Ambassador of Singapore's lecture and highlighted this as a concrete project to raise awareness about ASEAN among the young generation. She also expressed ACC's appreciation to BFSU for co-organizing the project.