When law professor and veteran lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun spearheaded a two-day international summit in Hong Kong for top academics in December, she left out one item on the agenda: politics.
She “explicitly” told the participants that they were not there to talk politics and that it was a non-government event.
The Global University Presidents & Leaders Summit attracted more than 50 renowned guests from over 20 countries and regions. They hailed from institutions such as Tsinghua University, the University of Tokyo, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
“The event allowed foreign university leaders to get a better understanding of Hong Kong … It’s about seeing, learning and experiencing the city first-hand, and [let them know] we have five universities among the world’s top 100,” she said.
The summit was hosted by the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship, a group she founded last year, inspired by the growing importance of “people-to-people” diplomacy, a strategy Beijing has often emphasised amid rising geopolitical tensions.
She is convinced that such civilian-led initiatives can, at critical times, achieve more than governments.
