Dozens of scholars from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Oct 18 to 19 for the Third International Symposium on Chinese Modernization from Overseas Perspectives.
The event was organized by Xiamen University (XMU), with Tan Kah Kee Foundation Malaysia and INTI Foundation as co-organizers.
At the opening ceremony, Liew Chin Tong, deputy minister of Finance of Malaysia, urged the international community to reconsider the models centered on the Western world and contribute to the creation of a new international order.
Professor Wu Chaopeng, vice-president of XMU, pointed out that Southeast Asian Chinese offer a unique perspective on different cultures and development paths and enhance cooperation between China and ASEAN.
The keynote session explored Chinese modernization through historical, cultural, and regional perspectives. Universiti Malaya Professor Danny Wong Tze Ken examined the perspectives and experiences of Malaysian Chinese, while XMU Professor Li Minghuan discussed qiaopi (letters sent by overseas Chinese to their families) and qiaoxiang (ancestral hometowns of overseas Chinese), highlighting cultural integration.
The two-day conference included a workshop on Chinese modernization and multicultural integration in Malacca, as well as four roundtable discussions on overseas Chinese community development, civilizational dialogue, globalization of education, and bilateral relations.
First held in 2024, the symposium was hosted abroad for the first time this year. The symposium's organizer, Professor Liu Yue, director of the Center for Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations at XMU, emphasized that the symposium's first overseas edition expanded the scope of exchange, with the aim of promoting dialogue and mutual learning among civilizations.
