Dr Anthony Pun, National President of Chinese Community Council of Australia (CCCA) is urging Professor Caroline McMillen, the Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University to rethink and reassess its decision to reduce its Chinese Programs from a major to a minor within its Bachelor of Arts degree.
“As Australia prepares itself to have a greater China focus for a rapidly changing regional and global economy, we should be working towards equipping our graduates and people with a high level of Asian language literacy, strong cross-cultural competence and targeting and welcoming foreign direct investment”, said Dr Anthony Pun, National President of CCCA.
“Australia shares a very close relationship with China but we have only skimmed the surface in terms of economic and social engagement. Rather than reducing the Chinese major, Newcastle University should be investing in more resources to strengthen and widen its programs to reach new students.
China is on track to becoming the world’s largest economy and Australia is well placed to meet its changing needs. Resources such as iron ore, coal, wool and gas continue to underpin Australia’s exports to China but as China moves into its next growth phase, its economic engagement with the rest of the world will change.
Australia needs to broaden its links with China beyond the resources sector and start identifying new opportunities for growth as China moves towards domestic consumption and services. The continued growth of China will bring about new needs and challenges and Australia’s world class service sector is well positioned to provide that opportunity.
“We need to have qualified people with sufficient knowledge to build on these opportunities. CCCA believes that reducing the Chinese programs will have significant and long term impacts on the training of specialised experts. We need to have adequate programs to offer pathways to postgraduate study and help build a valuable research base relating to Chinese studies.
“CCCA strongly supports Newcastle University’s Student Association’s position and invites Professor McMillen to reconsider its decision and reassess the issue and come up with the right program to provide the best experience for students”, concluded Dr Pun.
澳华社区议会(CCCA) 全国主席潘瑞亮博士日前敦促纽卡索大学校长卡罗琳.马特斯教授重新考虑及评估其减少该大学本科中的中文课程之决定。
“当前，澳大利亚正聚焦中国以适应迅速变化中的区域和全球经济，我们应该致力于培养具有高水平亚洲语言能力的大学毕业生，促进跨文化交流并欢迎国外直接投资”。潘博士表示：”澳大利亚同中国的关系非常密切，但我们与中国的经济和社会互动还远远不够。纽卡索大学校应该加强在中文课程上的投资，扩大招生而不是背道而驰，削减压缩其中文项目。”
中国有望成为世界上最大的经济体而澳大利亚也在继续加强其铁矿石、 煤炭、 羊毛和天然气等资源出口到中国的力度，以应付中国不断转变的需求。更为重要的是当中国进入其增长新阶段时，将会改变其与世界其他地区的经济交往。
澳大利亚不仅需要扩大与中国在资源方面的联系，同时，也应该在中国经济转向国内消费和服务时寻求新的商机。中国的持续的增长将会带来新的需求并面临新的挑战，而澳大利亚具有世界先进水平的服务性行业则完全有能力提供这种机会。
“我们需要拥有具备足够知识的合格人才来打造这些机会。而足够的培训项目和研究基地，将为学习和研究中国铺平道路。CCCA 认为减少中文课程的做法则对培养这种专门人才造成重大且长期的（负面）影响。”潘博士最后表示：“CCCA 强烈支持纽卡索大学学生会的立场，并希望马特斯教授重新考虑并评估其决定。”
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