News & Media
Unisa hosts prominent Chinese economic and political reformer
Prof Zhang Weiwei, prominent academic and Director of the China Institute of Fudan University, recently shared his views at Unisa on global issues facing the world at a lecture hosted by the university in collaboration with the National School of Government.
Zhang specialises in international relations, and has written extensively in English and Chinese on China’s economic and political reform, that country’s development model and comparative politics.
Prof Zang Weiwei presented a master class on the theme "Building Professional and Meritocratic Bureaucracies : A Challenge for South Africa and the Global South" (Image credit: SABC News)
Taking the form of a master class, the lecture, presented at the university’s ZK Matthews Great Hall on 18 August, was themed "Building Professional and Meritocratic Bureaucracies : A Challenge for South Africa and the Global South".
Speaking to SABC News on the sidelines of the lecture, Zhang said that the contemporary world is characterised by the decline of the West, and the rapid rise of the rest. "Of this 'rest'," he said, "China is the most prominent, and given its economic size and political influence, it is now the largest trading nation in the world, with most of the countries it trades with being located in the Global South."
Zhang said that the rise of China is strikingly different to the historical rise of the Western powers, who gained prominence through wars and colonisation. “China’s rise has been peaceful,” he said, “and this is a remarkable achievement.”
Commenting on the 2023 BRICS Summit, hosted by South Africa, Zhang said that the event is a symbol of the "rise of the rest", and sends a clear signal to the Western powers that the world has already changed and that the Global South demands respect.
In hosting this lecture, Unisa once again gave effect to its vision to become a centre of excellence and a lever of optimum, impactful participation in the global knowledge arena, as championed by Prof Puleng LenkaBula, the institution’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor.
* Compiled by Philip van der Merwe, Editor, Department of Institutional Advancement
Publish date: 2023/08/31
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