News from the Claus Roxin International Forum
Here you will find current announcements, academic reports, and insights into the work of the Claus Roxin International Forum. The focus is on international academic exchange, the rule of law, liberalism, higher education, and cooperation among researchers, universities, and institutions in China, Germany, and Europe.
Historic, Intercontinental, Interdisciplinary, and Intercultural Visit
The University of Kassel, the University of Göttingen, the University of Munich, the University of Tübingen, the Technical University of Berlin, Bucerius Law School Hamburg, the Academic Commission of UNIcert®, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), the Sino-German Joint Research Centre for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Isar-China International Chinese School Munich e.V., and the MUT-Institut China e.V. jointly supported and invited professors from Peking University, Renmin University, Fudan University, Beijing Normal University, China University of Political Science and Law, Northwest University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai DianJi University, Shantou University, Guangdong Israel Institute of Technology, Wuhan University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Southwest Medical University, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China Foreign Affairs University, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for a visit to the Federal Republic of Germany from November 20 to 30, 2023. This visit was of great significance and highly successful.
On November 20, 2023, the founding ceremony of the Claus Roxin Academic Research Centre took place in the All Saints' Court Church of the Munich Residenz. Prof. Zili Guo from Peking University, Chairman of the Academic Advisory Board of the Sino-German Joint Research Centre for the Humanities and Social Sciences, officially announced the establishment of the Centre on site. The Chinese Consul General in Munich, Mr. Defu Tong, attended the ceremony and delivered a speech. He first paid his deepest respects to the 92-year-old Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Claus Roxin of the University of Munich for his outstanding contributions to academic exchange in the humanities and social sciences between China and Germany. He also informed the attending experts and professors about the current state of exchange between China and Germany in the fields of economy, trade, education, and the humanities. Consul General Tong expressly emphasized the significance and value of the Centre's establishment: friendship between nations is based on the bonds between peoples, and these in turn on mutual understanding. Joint research projects in the humanities and social sciences contribute to further consolidating the social foundation of Sino-German relations and consensus, while simultaneously promoting bilateral and multilateral cultural exchange. He expressed the hope that the newly established Claus Roxin Academic Research Centre would play an active role in academic exchange between the two countries, concretely promote mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples, and become a sustainable bridge for deepening relations between both states.
On November 21, 2023, the delegation visited the University of Kassel. The Vice President of the University, Prof. Dr. René Matzdorf, received the guests from China and chaired a conference on cooperation dialogue between the University of Kassel and Chinese partners.
On November 22, a joint reception by the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Medicine took place at the University of Göttingen. Subsequently, an academic colloquium on "Current Developments in Chinese and German Criminal Law and Medical Law" was held together with the Chinese delegation.
On November 23, the Academic Commission of UNIcert® received the delegation in the Paulinerkirche, the Old Library of the University of Göttingen, a protected historic building. Dr. Johann Fischer, Chairman of the Academic Commission of UNIcert® and Director of the Central Language and Key Qualifications Centre (ZESS), chaired the "UNIcert® Dialogue with China 2023: Open World • Higher Education • Foreign Language Teaching at Universities" and the international conference on higher education between Chinese and German universities.
On November 24, the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) in Bonn received the Chinese delegation. The HRK President, Prof. Dr. Bernd Scholz-Reiter, chaired the "Dialogue on Sino-German Higher Education in a New Era". In the afternoon of the same day, this high-level, interdisciplinary delegation of professors visited the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The Secretary General of the Foundation, Dr. Enno Aufderheide, once again thanked the Association of Chinese Humboldt Fellows on behalf of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for the generous donation of valuable medical protective equipment from China during the pandemic in 2020. Subsequently, the "Conference on High-Level Cooperation Dialogue of the New Era between Chinese Higher Education and the Support Services of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation" was successfully conducted.
On November 25, 2023, the delegation visited the Chinese Consulate General in Frankfurt am Main. Consul General Yiyang Huang received the group. Prof. Dr. Ye Li, Vice President of Shanghai Normal University, reported to Consul General Huang and the responsible staff of the Consulate General on the visits to Göttingen, Kassel, and Bonn, as well as on participation in the founding ceremony of the Claus Roxin Academic Research Centre. The Consul General provided information on the current state of exchange between China and Germany in economy, trade, education, and culture, and expressly acknowledged the results and great significance of this visit by the interdisciplinary delegation of professors. He expressed the hope that the participating professors and experts would continue to assume responsibility and in the future make an indispensable contribution to exchange and cooperation in the field of higher education and culture between China and Germany, and beyond that between China and Europe.
From November 26 to 29, 2023, the delegation continued its visit and visited the University of Heidelberg, the Sino-German Science and Technology Park Heidelberg, the German Bundestag in Berlin, and Bucerius Law School in Hamburg. There, a symposium on "Necessities and New Trends in the Exchange of Legal Higher Education between China and Germany" was successfully organized together with the Executive Board and Board of Trustees of Bucerius Law School.
On November 30, the delegation successfully concluded its visit and exchange and returned safely to China. As the first official Chinese delegation within the framework of a state visit in 2023 and simultaneously as the first joint interdisciplinary delegation of professors from Chinese universities sent from China to Germany after the end of the global pandemic, this successful high-level visit will occupy an important place in the history of free exchange and liberal development of higher education and culture between China and Germany, between China and Europe, and beyond at the international level for optimization.
