Speeches and Articles by Former Consul General James R. Keith

Remarks by U.S. Consul General James Keith at the Luncheon for the Fulbright China Research Forum

Inter-Continental Hotel, Hong Kong
Wednesday, February 26, 2003

(As Prepared for Delivery)

Mr. Chan, Professor Young, distinguished guests:

I'm very pleased to join you this afternoon to celebrate two important initiatives in international educational exchanges between the United States and China, ones that give further expression to Hong Kong's international orientation.

There are many personal as well as individual ties between education in Hong Kong and the United States. Many of the men and women who have joined us today are graduates of U.S. colleges and universities. Hong Kong's fine institutions of higher learning all have active exchanges of faculty, staff and students with their American counterparts. This event today, so generously sponsored by the Better Hong Kong Foundation, is an example of the importance that Hong Kong's leaders put on maintaining the flow of people and ideas.

I think it's fitting that the Fulbright China Research Forum got its start last year here in Hong Kong, with a great deal of organizational effort by Dr. Glenn Shive and his staff at the Hong Kong-America Center. After all, the Fulbright Program got its start in Asia - the first agreement was signed with China in 1947 - and the program with Hong Kong started soon after that.. The Hong Kong-America Center is increasingly involved in Fulbright exchanges. That part of its work and its other activities are supported by many Hong Kong citizens, led by board chairman C.C. Tung, and I'd like to thank Mr. Tung and the board for their continued commitment. The Forum, which has invited American scholars from all over China to come here to discuss their research, shows how Hong Kong can serve as a regional center for academic interchange.

Senator J. William Fulbright's vision of academic exchanges that could build bridges between America and the rest the world was never more timely than its is today. The program in which many of you are participating has promoted both scholarship and greater international understanding for over a half a century. It continues to open possibilities for students and teachers in America and abroad to deepen their knowledge through exposure to foreign learning, cultures and societies around the world. The number of Americans - lecturers, students, researchers and teachers or participants in seminars - who have come to Hong Kong to live and work is now approaching two hundred, and nearly a hundred Hong Kong lecturers, students, researchers and teachers have had similar experiences in the United States.

While the flow of American Fulbright participants to Hong Kong has been steady over the years, for a variety of reasons the flow of Hong Kong scholars to the United States was less regular. That has changed, as we move into the second year of the Fulbright Hong Kong Scholar Program, made possible by the far-sighted generosity of the Research Grants Council. With the selection of another group of four local scholars who will spend the next academic a year at American institutions, the Fulbright program in Hong Kong is well on its way to becoming a truly two-way exchange, in keeping with Senator Fulbright's vision. I heartily congratulate the four reipients of the award for 2003-2004:

Dr. Esther Ho Sai-chu of the Faculty of Education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who will study at the University of Pittsburgh;

Dr. Lee Pui-tak of the Centre of Asian Studies at the University of Hong Kong, who will do research at Cornell University;

Dr. Tatia Lee of the University of Hong Kong's Department of Psychology, who plans research at the University of Texas at San Antonio; and

Dr. Eva Man Kit-wah of Hong Kong Baptist University's Department of Religion and Philosophy, who will study at the University of California at Berkeley.

Professor Kenneth Young, the Research Grants Council's chairman, is with us today and I'd like to express my thanks to him for undertaking this initiative with us towards greater interaction between the academic communities of Hong Kong and the U.S.

The Fulbright program in all its manifestations is a commitment to the future, not just of scholarly exchange, but of our societies. It is another expression of Hong Kong's international orientation that underlies its unique character and contributes to its dynamism and prosperity. The programs of academic exchange I've spoken of here today are more than ivory-tower exercises. They deepen the economic, commercial, cultural and other ties between the United States and Hong Kong, indeed, all of greater China - ties that produce mutual benefit. I am confident that, with the great interest that is evident here today, we can continue to work together towards even greater exchanges of people and ideas.

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FULBRIGHT HONG KONG SCHOLAR PROGRAM ANNOUNCES NEW GRANTS The Fulbright Hong Kong Scholar Program has announced the four recipents of the second round of awards to local academics to conduct research in the U.S. The program in the arts, humanities and social sciences is jointly sponsored by the Research Grants Council and the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong-America Center, a non-profit consortium of Hong Kong universities, administers the program. The recipients for grants in 2003-2004 were announced at a luncheon hosted by the Better Hong Kong Foundation for the Fulbright China Research Forum on February 26, 2003. (Left to right) Dr. Tatia M.C. Lee of the University of Hong Kong; Mr. C.C. Tung, chairman of Orient Overseas (Int.) Ltd. and board chairman of the Hong Kong-America Center; U.S. Consul General James Keith; Dr. Lee Pui-tak of the University of Hong Kong; Dr. Eva Man Kit-wah of Hong Kong Baptist University; Dr. Esther Ho Sui-chu of the Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Dr. Kenneth Young, chairman of the Research Grants Council.