The Chinese Department took ten pupils from Hundred to Upper Sixth to participate in the 2022 China Goes Global Conference at Cambridge University on Friday 4th March. The highlight of the day was attendance to a lecture at Judge Business School, led by Professor Rana Mitter OBE, a British Academy Fellow who specialises in the history of republican China. Professor Mitter regularly provides advice on China strategy for UK and international think tanks. He was named by Prospect one of the world’s top 50 thinkers.
The title of Professor Mitter’s lecture was “Why ideology is back in China and why it matters for the world”, in which he focused on the sources of China’s ideological and historical conduct, touching on its modern history, traditional thought and its implications for the future, as well as the influences of Marxism-Leninism throughout the twentieth century. Professor Mitter stated that the modern China is not a natural continuation of the country’s historical and cultural traditions, and that the CCP doesn’t want to be seen as purely following Marxism or going back to Confucianism. Moreover, he concluded that recent rehabilitation of traditional Chinese culture has resulted in a change of ideology – providing a fascinating insight to how past events have shaped the China and the CCP we see today. After the lecture, Professor Mitter was joined by a panel of experts to answer additional questions, who offered an extended insight on contemporary issues such as the situation of liberalism in China and the Ukraine Crisis.
Finally, the group headed over to Pembroke College where we enjoyed a welcoming supper in their dining hall. The conference was hosted by two Old Marlburians – Tom Kirkwood (TU 1981-86) and Ed Holyroyd-Pierce (LI 1996-2000) who both read Chinese Studies at Cambridge University.
Written by Iona G (L6)
