On November 14, a press delegation from the Pacific Island countries visited Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) in Guangzhou and exchanged insights on the past and future of cooperation between SYSU and the Pacific Island.

According to Xiao Haipeng, President of the First Affiliated Hospital of SYSU and Executive Vice President of SYSU, SYSU has established longstanding cooperation with Pacific Island Countries in a wide range of fields such as culture, education, and healthcare. Since 2012, affiliated hospitals of SYSU have sent 12 medical teams to Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, and Soloman Islands, as well as other Pacific Island countries.

Professor Zhong Zhijin and Professor Wang Xuedong respectively introduced the current development status of the School of Journalism and Communication and the School of International Relations of the university.

On July 2 2012, the Center for Oceanian Studies (大洋洲研究中心) was established at SYSU in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. It is the first center in China dedicated to the study of Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific Islands), and it seems fitting that it be based at a university that honors the ‘Father of the Nation’. Sun Yat-sen spent much of his childhood, and completed most of his formal schooling, at Iolani and Oahu (now Punahou) in Hawaii.

“The Center has been publishing annual reports on the development of Oceania for more than 10 years. SYSU has good relations with the universities across the Oceania areas, and launched theoretical studies, including the internet, political economy, and climate change,” introduced Wang Xuedong, Associate Professor of the School of International Relations of SYSU.

Representatives also discussed strategies for staying up to date with changing media platforms during courses and ways to avoid the dissemination of fake news.

Link to the report: https://www.newsgd.com/node_5c070fdd03/43a521e8dd.shtml