On the morning of September 18th, 2020, a lecture, titled as COVID-19 Pandemic as an Accelerator to the Ups and Downs of Countries and Civilizations and the New Mission of Area Studies: Taking the Area Studies in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as an Example, was given by Professor Xie Maosong at the invitation of Research Center for Indian Ocean Island Countries (RCIOIC). Professor Xie is not only the director of Research Center for Chinese Civilization and Chinese Path of China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy but also an adjunct professor of the Department of Literature and History of Party School of Central Committee of C.P.C. The lecture was chaired by Professor Zhu Xianlong, the executive director of RCIOIC, and attended by Professor Zhong Shuneng, the head director of RCIOIC, persons in charge of each research offices as well as the postgraduate students majoring in area studies.
The lecture mainly centered on six topics, that is, 1) COVID-19 pandemic as an accelerator to the ups and downs of countries and civilizations, 2) the diplomatic philosophy of equal emphasis on morality and stateliness, 3) the importance of civilized dialog, 4) the employment of strategic thinking in adaptability, 5) Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road from the perspective of civilization history, 6) Greater Bay Area and area studies. Professor Xie started from cracking the dispute between traditional Chinese and western medicine and advocated a rational perspective on the differences between them. Based on the prevention and control of COVID-19, he then discussed in depth the opportunities and challenges brought by the pandemic to China's development. Moreover, Professor Xie believed that it was of great theoretical and practical significance to conduct area studies based on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Thorough exchanges were later conducted between the participants on epidemic prevention and control, Sino-US relations and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Professor Zhong said in his concluding speech that Professor Xie's sharing pointed out the direction for the following work at the RCIOIC and broadened the way of thinking. He expressed his hope that researchers at the center could focus on inheriting Chinese culture, helping Chinese culture to go global and building confidence in Chinese culture and that they should at the same time pool their wisdom and explore the development path of China's foreign relations in the new era, starting from the study of Indian Ocean island countries, so as to serve the needs of national and local strategic development and make the center fully play its role as a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics.
