TC Activities ‘Crested-Ibis Cup’ 3rd Trilateral Youth Speech Contest Held in Xi’an
2024-03-24
‘Crested-Ibis Cup’ 3rd Trilateral Youth Speech Contest Held in Xi’an
On March 24, 2024, the ‘Crested-Ibis Cup’ 3rd Trilateral Youth Speech Contest (TYSC) was successfully held in Xi’an, China. Supported by the Foreign Ministries of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, the 3rd TYSC was hosted by Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), co-hosted by China Foreign Affairs University, and organized by Xi’an International University. TCS Secretary-General LEE Hee-sup, Consul General of the ROK in Xi’an HONG Soon-chang, Assistant Director of Japanese Foreign Ministry HEMMI Mana, Deputy President of Xi’an People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries ZHANG Yong, and Executive President of Xi’an International University DAI Qizhi, among others, attended the opening and awarding ceremony.
▲‘Crested-Ibis Cup’ the 3rd Trilateral Youth Speech Contest was held in Xi’an, China
In his opening remarks, TCS Secretary-General LEE Hee-sup highlighted the distinctive feature of the TYSC in cross-adoption of the Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages during the speeches, adding that the purpose to hold the TYSC is to shed light on the commonality of the cultures of the three countries and enhance the recognition of the East Asian culture identity by the younger generations by demonstrating the close ties between these three languages.
▲TCS Secretary-General LEE Hee-sup addressed the opening ceremony
▲Xi’an International University Executive President DAI Qizhi addressed the opening ceremony
With the theme of “Tell Your CJK Exchange Story”, the young finalists from China, Japan and Korea shared their own experiences of cross-cultural exchanges, and expressed their desire and determination to enhance understanding and mutual trust among the three countries as well as to develop a friendly and future-oriented cooperation among the three countries. HE Jiaqian, an oversea Chinese in Japan who is currently studying in Shaanxi Normal University, said that, from civil exchanges to governmental cooperation, and from online meetings to face-to-face communications, as long as the spirits of openness, unity and cooperation are firmly adhered to the three countries will be able to build a more prosperous and harmonious East Asia, just as the civilization of the ancient Chang’an has blossomed. NAKAZAWA Kinakira, a Japanese student studying at Peking University, emphasized communication and solidarity as a distinctive feature of East Asia culture from the perspective of the tradition of chopsticks using that embeds in the three countries, adding that trilateral cooperation will create a better future for the region. Kim Garam from the ROK took the metaphor of “birds with two wings(比翼鸟)” to visualize that China, Japan and Korea are partners with each other, and that cooperation among the three countries is not only conducive to their own development, but also of great significance to the peace and prosperity of the region and beyond.
▲TCS Secretary-General LEE Hee-sup presented award to “CJK Challenger” 1st Place Winner
▲Hong Soon-chang, Consul-General of the ROK in Xi’an HONG Soon-chang presented award to “C.J.K Specialist” 1st Place Winner
▲Assistant Director of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan HEMMI Mana presented awards to 2nd Place Winners
▲Chinese Scholar and Calligrapher XIAO Yunru presented awards to 3rd Place Winners
▲Xi’an International University undergraduate ZHOU Xinqi delivered a keynote speech as a youth representative
The Trilateral Youth Speech Contest was initiated by the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat in 2022. There are two categories of the contest: the “C.J.K Specialist” contestants have to complete their speeches in one of the three non-native languages, and the “CJK Challenger” contestants have to complete their speeches in a mixture of CJK three languages.