2007年在多倫多大學舉辦的中日關係研討會

2007年3月8日，在加拿大的多倫多大學（University of Toronto）舉辦了一場「中日關係研討會」（Sino-Japanese Conference），邀請了著名教授發表他們的研究成果。被邀請的講者包括中日關係名學者Joshua Fogel教授和Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi教授。

而我又跟中日留學生合作做了兩場圓桌討論（roundtable discussion），探討如何加深中國和日本年輕人對對方文化的認識，也集中檢討了媒體和教育制度對中日文化交流扮演了什麼角色。

整個學術會議的主要目的是促進中日兩國人民的相互理解。全場過程已經製作成DVD，以後會建立一個網站把精彩片段放上去。

組織這次會議的，不是著名教授，也不是大學的學院，而是一些關心中日問題的中日留學生。他們的主席，井澤賢人（Kent Masato Izawa）曾經選修了我教的一門叫「中日關係﹕歷史，文化，記憶」的大學課程。另外一位主席李濱（Derek Bin Li）是井澤君的好友。兩人花了很多心血，終於籌募了足夠的經費，舉辦了這個由「學生」和「民間」所發起的會議。參加會議的達二百多人，而且反應熱烈。這是連我也始料不及的。作為一個參與者，我感到很榮幸。

下面是《多倫多大學通訊》對是項活動的報道。

News@UofT -- Social Sciences Business and Law

Find this story on the web at: http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/070328-3054.asp

Students build bridges between Chinese, Japanese communities

Conference marked a turning point, bringing forth mutual understanding between China and Japan

Mar 28/07
by Hayley Morrison

Building bridges between two great Asian nations, the University of Toronto’s 2007 Sino-Japanese conference marked “a turning point in the relationship between China and Japan,” said Derek Bin Li, co-president of the Sino-Japanese conference committee.

On March 9, the student-run committee presented a full day of speakers and roundtables to examine both the historical conflict and current relationship between China and Japan. The two nations have been at odds since the second Sino-Japanese war, a conflict over the Chinese mainland that lasted from 1937 to 1945.

“We wanted to give a long review of the conflict,” said Derek Bin Li, co-president of the committee and a fourth-year international relations student. Added Ashleigh Au, the committee’s marketing director, a fourth-year East Asian studies student, the committee “did not want to neglect the cultural exchange” that existed before the Sino-Japanese war.

While most of the attendees were graduate students, some faculty members and mature students also participated in the various seminars and lectures.

To promote mutual understanding and non-official dialogue between the two communities was no easy task for committee members. They approached Yu Chang of East Asian studies and Professor Joshua Fogel, Canada Research Chair in the History of Modern China at York University, to organize the conference sessions. Using their expertise, the committee constructed several roundtables debating issues of forbearance, justice and mutual understanding.

Offering personal accounts and engaging in intensive debate, students demonstrated how Sino-Japanese relations are not just about the war but “a contemporary issue that has followed from the time of this conflict up to the present,” Au said.

With a potpourri of individuals, the committee had to accommodate many different perspectives. About 80 per cent of the committee members were not Canadian born and were influenced by the Sino-Japanese war either directly through their grandparents or through the media.

Although it was difficult for students from Chinese and Japanese backgrounds to remain neutral and bias-free, given the emotion still associated with the topic, the committee worked “to make sure nobody was in the line of fire,” Au said.

Given the sensitivity surrounding war, the committee was very careful when choosing its sponsors and speakers. Since the war has remained a politically charged topic, the committee decided an academic institution, such as U of T would be an ideal setting to host the conference. Different from other social realms, said Weiqiao Zhang, a committee member and a third-year philosophy student, the university provided the conference with academic researchers searching for the truth, rather than politicians advancing their own interests.

In light of the conference the committee members have already noticed changes in relations between members in the two communities.

“We have come to a better understanding of why we have different perceptions about the past,” said Zhang. Additionally, the conference has helped “people see each other as other people, instead of categorizing or ‘villainizing’ them,” said Au. Moreover, with many different and personal perspectives brought to the table, Ashleigh believes the conference effectively “promoted a genuine understanding of Sino-Japanese relations.”

Overall, the student organizers were pleased with the results. Along with an excellent turnout and thought- provoking speakers, “it was a very positive experience that I believe we will all cherish as an undergrad project to remember,” Au said. In terms of any future collaborations between the two communities, she believes “there is definitely an intention to hold a similar event next year.”

Hayley Morrison is a political science student at St. Michael’s College.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This webpage was last updated on April 1, 2007. Department of Public Affairs, University of Toronto, 21 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3J3
Tel: (416) 978-8638, Fax: (416) 978-1632
Web: www.news.utoronto.ca
Email: news.events@utoronto.ca

All contents copyright ©2004, 2005, University of Toronto. All rights reserved.