Bulletin Vol. 1 No. 11 May 1965

H is publications, in the area o f Sino-Japanese re lations, are: " E x t r a t e r r i t o r i a l i t y in Ch i n a Before the Op i um W a r " ; "Japanese For eign M i n i s t e r Soyeshima's M i s s i o n " ; " D i p l o m a c y to the Tsing Dy n a s t y o f Wo r l d Powers d ur in g the Sino-Japanese W a r 1 8 9 4 - 9 5 " ; " O n D r . Yano' s Bo o k ' D i p l oma t i c H i s t o r y o f Ch i n a A f t e r the Sino-Japanese Wa r ' " ; "Japanese Studies o f Chinese H i s t o r y " ; " O u t l i n e o f Japanese H i s t o r y . " COMINGS AND GOINGS To U . S . A . a nd U . K . M r. S .K . Fang, V ice-P resident o f U n ite d College, le ft the Colony on M a y 1 at the in v ita tio n o f the U .S . State D e pa rtm e n t to v is it Am erican in s titu tio n s o f science and technology and to attend the W o rld C on gress on E ngineering Education to be held in Chicago from June 22 to 25. T h is Congress is being sponsored jo in tly by many professional societies and w ill consider various phases o f technical education, in c lu d in g tw o - year technican tra in in g programmes, firs t degrees fo r professional engineers, and post-graudate research. A fte r his v is it to the U n ite d States, M r. Fang w ill leave fo r the U n ite d K in g d om to v is it B ritis h u n iv e r sities and colleges fo r a m on th from J u ly 1 as the guest o f the B ritis h C oun cil. H e w ill re tu rn to H ong K o n g in early August. D u rin g the absence o f M r. Fang, the College C ouncil has appointed M r. N .H . Young, Academ ic Registrar, as A c tin g V ice-P resident. SOME H ISTOR ICAL FOOTNOTES T h e need fo r a u n ive rsity in H o ng K o n g teaching th ro u g h the m ed ium o f Chinese has existed fo r many years. As the Report o f the C omm ittee on H ighe r Education in H o n g K on g , comm only known as the K esw ick Report, said, "H o n g K o n g is un ique geogra ph ica lly and p o litic a lly and its people have a more advanced c u ltu ra l background than the peoples o f most other Colonies". T h e vast m a jo rity o f its inhabitan ts are Chinese, and the Chinese have a tra d itio n a l love o f scholarship, and a h ig h ly developed language, lite ra tu re , and a rtistic sense. H o n g K on g , it was tho ugh t, by reason o f its location and circumstances, should ce rtainly be a centre fo r the East and the W est to meet, n o t only fo r comm ercial advantage, b u t also fo r cu ltu ra l ex change. T o accomplish this, a un iv e rs ity w ith Chinese as the m ed ium o f teaching was considered as im p o rta n t as a u n iv e rs ity w ith E ng lish as the m ed ium o f teaching; each w o u ld make a valuable com plem ent to the other. Ke swi ck Re po rt Ever since the in cep tion o f the U n iv e rs ity o f Hong K on g , even among the B ritis h residents in the Colony, there have been many who have advanced the idea o f establishing a u n ive rsity teaching th rou gh the m edium o f Chinese, or a u n ive rsity teaching th ro u g h the m edium o f bo th Chinese and English, in all branches o f learning. T h e K esw ick Report gave strong sup po rt to such an idea. F o r various reasons, however, th is recommenda tio n o f the K esw ick Report d id no t lead to immediate action. Nevertheless, the need existed. Since 1949, social and p o litic a l conditions in China have undergone a great change. In ad dition to the large num be r o f young men and women o f college age who could no longer re tu rn to China fo r th e ir higher education, there were thousands who em igrated from M a in la n d China to the Colony. T h e g row th o f popu lation in the Co lon y from less than a m illio n to more than three m illio n between 1949 and 1959, accentuated the need fo r a second un ive rsity. Students w i t h N o Op p o r t u n i t y T h e re are thousands o f students who passed the C h i nese School Certificate E xam ination each year, b u t most o f them have found no o p p o rtu n ity fo r higher education. I t w ould be no t o n ly wasteful, b u t also dangerous to society, should the ablest youths who pass the Chinese School C ertificate E xam ina tion have no suitable avenue open to them fo r u n ive rsity education w ith the excep tio n o f those who go abroad. Am ong the imm ig ran ts to H o n g K o n g there were a num be r o f refugee educators and m issioneries who were fo rm e rly teachers in universities o r colleges on the m ainland o f China. T h e y began to found colleges o f th e ir own, though w ith very inadequate resources. N ew Asia College was founded in 1949 by such a group o f refugee professors and students, and, at first, 6