On the morning of June 3, the 10th Board Meeting of the Confucius Institute at Cave Hill Campus, University of the West Indies (UWI Cave Hill), Barbados (hereinafter referred to as "Barbados Confucius Institute"), co-established by China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) and UWI Cave Hill was successfully held. The meeting adopted a hybrid format of online and offline participation. Attendees included Clive Landis, Principal of UWI Cave Hill; Winston Moore, Deputy Principal; Ma Huaide, President of CUPL; Gang Wenzhe, Deputy Council Chair; Lu Chunlong, Vice President, and other Chinese and foreign council members. Hallam Henry, the Barbados Ambassador to China, attended the council meeting as a special guest. Lu Chunlong chaired the meeting.
(CUPL President Ma Huaide delivering speech, photo credit to: Lu Yunkai)
For a start, President Ma warmly welcomed Hallam Henry, Clive Landis, and their delegation. He pointed out that in the nine years since the establishment of the Barbados Confucius Institute, both universities have actively deepened cooperation in various fields, achieving fruitful results in Chinese language teaching, cultural activities, student and faculty exchanges, co-establishment of research centers, moot court competitions, and international course offerings. For example, five successful "China-Caribbean International Law Moot Court Competition" sessions have been held, making banner events for faculty and student exchanges between the two universities. Both universities have set up credit courses reciprocally, promoting bilateral legal and cultural exchanges. Today, both universities will further sign the China-Caribbean Joint Research Center Cooperation Agreement, marking a closer cooperative relationship and broader fields of cooperation. He expressed his hope that both universities would continue to use the Confucius Institute as a platform to deliver more win-win outcomes and contribute to cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Barbados.
(UWI Cave Hill Principal Clive Landis affirming the cooperation, photo credit to: Lu Yunkai)
In his speech, Principal Clive Landis fully affirmed the cooperation between the two universities using the Confucius Institute as a platform. He stated that the Confucius Institute Board Meeting is an opportunity to exchange and share work information and a valuable chance to express mutual respect and understanding of shared human values. Using the visit of The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, to CUPL as an opportunity, both universities successfully held an academic seminar on the Law of the Sea, continuously expanding academic cooperation in this field. He particularly thanked Ambassador Hallam Henry, President Ma Huaide, and the teams of both universities for their strong support and heartfelt efforts. He looked forward to achieving new and more significant accomplishments in language teaching, student and faculty exchanges, and the construction of joint research centers.
According to the meeting agenda, the Board welcomed its new members from UWI Cave Hill. During the work report session, David Bulbulia, foreign Co-Director of the Confucius Institute, and Nie Lu, Chinese Co-Director, jointly reported on the annual work summary and the following year's work plan. The Board reviewed and approved the reports and tentatively decided the time for the next Board meeting.
(Signing of the Cooperation Agreement, photo credit to: Lu Yunkai)
Subsequently, President Ma Huaide and Principal Clive Landis, representing the two sides, jointly signed the China-Caribbean Joint Research Center Cooperation Agreement.
Finally, Principal Clive Landis, President Ma Huaide, and Ambassador Hallam Henry gave concluding speeches. Clive Landis stated that the Confucius Institute, co-established by the two universities, is the most successful cooperation project of the two sides, and he is full of expectations for multi-field cooperation using the Confucius Institute as a platform in the future. UWI Cave Hill will spare no effort to continue supporting the development of the Confucius Institute and continuously promote in-depth cooperation between the two universities. President Ma Huaide hoped both universities would actively implement the three newly signed cooperation agreements in the past six months, producing more outcomes in expanding student exchanges and deepening academic cooperation. He sincerely wished the Confucius Institute to achieve tremendous success. Hallam Henry expressed that the collaboration between the two universities using the Confucius Institute as a platform has broad prospects. He looked forward to further expanding student and faculty exchanges and strengthening cooperation in maritime law and the blue economy. The Barbados Embassy in China will continue fully supporting the interactions and exchanges between the two universities, jointly promoting the bilateral cooperation relationship to a higher level.
(The 10th Board Meeting of the Confucius Institute at Cave Hill Campus,
University of the West Indies, Barbados, photo credit to: Lu Yunkai)
This Board meeting was a complete success. Other attendees included Ochieng Odhiambo, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education at Cave Hill Campus; Antonius Hippolyte, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law; Don Marshall, Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies; Justin Seale, Assistant Dean; Lu Yunkai, Deputy Dean of the School of Civil, Commercial and Economic Law at CUPL; Zhu Lijiang, Deputy Dean of the School of International Law; Li Dandan, Director of the Confucius Institute Office; Qu Xin, Deputy Director; and Pan Ren, Project Officer.
