Samoan Head of State talks with the Chancellor of CUPL
During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Samoan Head of State, Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi accompanied by his wife and entourage paid a visit to our university on the morning of 11 August, 2008 and had a meeting with representatives from among our Lectures and Students. Xu Xianming, the Chancellor of our university, Party Secretary and Co Vice Chancellor of the university, Ma Kangmei, Vice Chancellor Zhu Yong, Ma Huaide, Gao Huanyue, Liu Changmin, Zhen Ershu, Xu Lan, Xuan Zengyi, Liu Bin and other professors as well as more than twenty student representatives, attended the meeting. Chancellor Xu Xianming, firstly expressed his hearty welcome to Samoan Head of State, Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi on his visit to our university during the Olympic period. He then introduced those present at the meeting to the visitors. Chancellor Xu reflected on the history of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and The Independent State of Samoa. He also praised the great support Samoa had given China on many issues. He warmly invited His Highness, Tufuga Efi to talk about Samoa, to encourage greater understanding and friendship between the two parties.
In his speech, His Highness, Tufuga Efi expressed his gratitude for our warm reception, and then went on to deliver a wonderful speech based on his own diplomatic experiences. To begin with, His Highness, Tufuga Efi, in reflecting on the thirty three years of diplomatic relationship between Samoa and China, described the deep impression Deng Xiaoping had made on him during their meeting and commended the deep respect that is shown by Chinese diplomatic policy towards other countries. He said, “The Beijing Olympic opening ceremony was really wonderful and it conveyed how spectacular ancient Chinese culture was. The concept of ‘Harmony’ left me with a deep impression.” His Highness Tufuga Efi, drew attention to similarities in the traditions of Samoans, concerning respect shown towards elders as well as the passing down of cultural values. After commending the idea of ‘harmony’ which China expressed, he then, used the example of Chinese Traditional Medicine, Kindergarten, nursing homes and other specific examples, to understand the concept of harmony from a wide range of perspectives. Through the concept of harmony, His Highness, Tufuga Efi, expressed his surprise and praise regarding the rapid development of China since the 1980’s. He also believed through China’s wisdom and its great traditions, it will comfortably solve the big issues faced by China, for example, the Taiwan issue etc.
During the after-meeting exchange, the Samoan Head of State answered questions from our students. The questions included the state of politics, law, trade and the maintenance of the traditional culture etc, of Samoa. In answering the question regarding the issue of global warming and rising sea levels, His Highness, Tufuga Efi considered the rising sea levels a grave threat to Samoa and regarding the solution he again eluded to the concept of harmony and said, “On this issue, I think we should build on harmony, that is, the harmony between man and nature and the harmony between man and man.
Chancellor Xu commended the culture and traditions of Samoa and also praised His Highness, Tufuga Efi for being a supporter of the culture and traditions of Samoa and in summary, pointed out that the visit to the China University of Political Science and Law by the Samoan Head of State and his delegation will greatly enhance exchange in the areas of Law and Culture between China and Samoa.
After the meeting, His Highness, Tufuga Efi and his entourage, were accompanied by our leaders to visit our university’s Fayuange Library. His Highness, Tufuga Efi and his party inspected the library books and visited the Law library and before ‘Faziqiang’ (Letter of Law Wall) which is in front of the Fayuange library, His Highness, Tufuga Efi, wrote down the word ‘Law’ in Samoan and left a wonderful mark for long lasting friendship between both parties.
