Opinion | Closer ties to mainland bode well for Hong Kong’s scientists and scholars
Closer ties with the mainland will boost the formation of an innovative ecology in Hong Kong, with its universities being its engine and its brain
“Leaves that grow on a tree ultimately leave and return to where the roots are,” an old Chinese saying goes.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, I left the city after high school for college and postgraduate education in the United States. I spent most of my teaching and research career away from Hong Kong, and came “home” earlier this year to take up the office of vice chancellor and president of the
Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). I am delighted the strong stem and roots that nourished me in my youth still supports the skyward growth of CUHK and the city.
Higher education is one sector that was globalised long before it became a household term. From its founding in the early 1960s, CUHK has been conceived and run on an international framework. Throughout its history, academic exchanges between the students and staff and their counterparts in many American and European universities have been frequent.
Can Hong Kong universities and experts work together under one roof?
CUHK established a mainland presence long before other local and Western universities did, and continues to forge and strengthen those academic links. Our annual intake of non-local students includes students who come from various mainland cities and provinces, many of which also serve as the sites of our academic exchanges and internships.
As a publicly funded institution of higher learning, CUHK has an obligation to play an important role in the transformation of Hong Kong into a diversified, knowledge-based economy. The Hong Kong and central governments have recently offered opportunities to allow the university to play a greater and more tangible role in the development of the local and mainland economies in terms of technological research and innovation.
