The power of Asean-China youth
young people from the Middle Kingdom and asean show their vision and care for regional well-being.
PEKING University welcomed hundreds of students from various higher educational institutions from Asean countries late last month.
They were in the Chinese capital to participate in the 11th China-Asean Youth Camp (CAYC) and the 4th China-Asean Youth Summit (CAYS).
Together with those from China, about 1,000 youths huddled together to show they care and brainstorm ideas to make the region a better place for all.
Highlights of the event, themed “Technology Innovation”, included visits to corporations involved in technology and innovation, a cultural night, forums and a mock Asean Conference.
They may be young and lack social experience, but these ambitious Generation Z lot have a broad vision and determination to map out a future world for themselves and others.
After rounds of brainstorming sessions at the week-long CAYC, the participants came up with a joint declaration with ideas on strengthening the relationship between the two areas, improving business ties and upgrading the community livelihood.
Organising committee secretary-general Lim Qin Yong said the event gave him a broader view of Asean as well as the world.
“This was the first time I am involved in organising a regional-level event, the whole preparation process was very intense and challenging.
“The whole working culture and standard operating procedures here in China are very different from Malaysia.
“It was fun to work with people from different countries and I learned a lot on how to deal with the officials and work with people with different work cultures. It was a priceless experience,” said the third-year Peking University student in Data Science and Big Data Technology.
The 19-year-old pointed out that the event enabled youths from Asean and China to better understand each other and cooperate closely for mutual benefits while preventing conflicts caused by misunderstanding.
He encouraged youths to take part in the event.
“My communication, leadership and management skills have improved tremendously. I am more humble now and appreciate the team effort that everyone has put into this summit,” he said.
The 58-point China-Asean Youth Declaration, covering areas such as regional security, environment, youth affairs, and technology and trade, was handed over to the Asean-China Center in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry and Peking University for review.
“We, the youth from Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, are gathering at CAYC and do hereby put forward the following proposals,” they wrote.
The group has called for the respective governments to incorporate anti-terrorism into secondary school curriculum to raise awareness on the negative impacts brought by such extreme ideology.
They also proposed participating countries to draft cybersecurity laws to counter issues related to data and privacy protection, illicit hacking, cyber crime, and online harassment and gambling.
The youth also viewed the importance of the need for these nations to strengthen cooperation in disaster relief and pandemics control.
On technology and innovation, the Gen Z hoped to see the setting up of a unified innovation incubator to boost the growth of private enterprises in this sector.
Others included encouraging the exchange of experts in scientific and technological fields, to set up a shared database and construction of the digital network through a common information systems.
On environmental protection, they noted the urgency to protect and manage the ecosystems.
“Asean and China could work closely to establish research funds focusing on biodiversity, and establish a mechanism for biodiversity information sharing to combat environmental issues together,” the declaration added.
On youth affairs, they urged Asean nations to allocate more funds for students studying at each other’s country to support educational exchanges.
“There should be more programmes to promote the role of youth in the multilateral relations and exchange to groom the next generation of diplomats.
“We hoped that the governments would also cooperate with private enterprises to provide cross-border career-oriented training for youth according to market demands to groom talents,” they said.
They also proposed for the joint development of a digital finance market through technology exchange and technology transfer to intensify regional collaboration on e-payment system, to set up the Asean Tourism Alliance on tourism promotion as well as to establish the China-Asean University Alliance for talent training and sharing of high-quality education resources.
CAYC was started by a group of students in Beijing, who were passionate about issues concerning China and South-East Asia.
It is an annual event of the South-East Asian Association of Peking University, formed in 2016 to promote friendship and culture between Asean and Chinese students at the higher learning institution.
The CAYC was initiated by the All-China Youth Federation with an aim to foster better understanding and cooperation between the youth from both areas.