2023
On the 16th of February, the China Competence Centre at the University of Würzburg held its first general members' meeting. The meeting highlighted this center's possibilities and generated some very exciting new ideas. Many thanks to those present for their participation and commitment to the cause!
The China Competence Centre of the University of Würzburg (CCCUW) sees itself as a cooperation and communication platform to capture and share the China competence at the University of Würzburg. Experiences in the exchange with Chinese partners between colleagues from different disciplines can be exchanged via the centre. In addition to regular events, the website offers plenty of content to optimise current or upcoming academic cooperation with the People's Republic.
In order to help shape the CCCUW in the long term, everyone has the opportunity to become a member. Membership entitles you to have a say in the development of the Centre, for example in the organisation of future events or content on the website. In addition, members receive separate information about the CCCUW and China cooperation at the University of Würzburg.
If you would also like to contribute to this exciting centre, please send us an email to chinacentre@uni-wuerzburg.de. Membership is free of charge and can be cancelled at any time.
On the 24th of January at 18:00 in room 00.006 of the Graduate School (Beatrice Edgell Weg 21), Prof. Dr. Lauren Johnson told us about Chinese influence in Africa. In this hybrid English-language event, Prof. Johnston from the Univesity of Sidney explored the interconnections between the market for donkeys and Chinese medicine, a line of research that offers unexpected insights into Chinese influence on the continent .
For those of you, who wish to know more about the donkey industry in China and Africa, here is a link to Professor Johnston's latest article on donkey trade in Africa:
On the 20th of June, the China Competence Centre and the EU-funded Remote Ethnography XUAR Project screened and discussed the film 'Nikah: An Islamic Wedding'. The film is about a 27-year-old woman who is pressured by her family to marry. Within the framework of local traditions and constant surveillance by the Chinese state, the protagonist has to make some tough decisions. In the packed Graduate School hall, the film was received with much applause and discussed until late in the evening.
For the discussion, the director, Mukaddas Mijit, a native Uyghur who now lives in France, joined via Zoom from Paris to answer questions from the audience. Mrs Mijit was very open and honest about the challenges of making this film. Particularly impressive is her attention to detail, which is expressed in almost every scene in the film. The experts on the panel (Professor Alpermann from the University of Würzburg, Professor Vanessa Frangeville from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Dr. Rune Steenberg from the Free University in Berlin) complemented the director's explanations with fascinating details about the regional differences and rituals of Islamic marriage in Xinjiang and other parts of the world.
We would like to thank Mukaddas Mijit, Professor Alpermann, Professor Frangeville and Doctor Steenberg, as well as the audience, for their active participation in an event that will remain in our memories for a long time. Special thanks to Professor Alpermann for organising it as part of the EU-funded 'Remote Ethnography XUAR' project! We look forward to more events in the future!
On the 29th of June, the China Competence Centre together with the Bavarian Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt) organised an event entitled 'The Chinese Social Credit System Revisited: Implementation, Impact, Irritation' at the Graduate School of the University of Würzburg. At the start of the event, Xie Sishi from Sinolytics gave a keynote speech on the impact of the social credit system on international companies in China. Afterwards, Ms. Xie, together with Professor Doris Fischer (University of Würzburg), Prof. Dr. Omar Serano (Bern University of Applied Science) and Dr. Chen Mo (TU Munich), looked at the topic 'Social Credit System' from all angles. The discussion was led by another expert from the bidt project, Ms. Lena Wassermann, who skilfully and sympathetically guided the audience through the evening. After the discussion, participants from the audience were able to discuss the topic in more depth with the experts over champagne and snacks .
From the discussions it became clear that the development of the Chinese social credit system will also be of great importance for German companies, which is why joint research on the topic will continue to be extremely important. The interdisciplinary research project "Learning from the pioneer? A multidisciplinary analysis of the Chinese social credit system and its impact on Germany", aimed to examine the opportunities and risks of the digital transformation emanating from China and its impact on the state, companies and society in Germany.
We are delighted with the success of this event and the research project! Tonight's event clearly showcased the concentrated expertise of this research group. The insights gained into this highly complex topic will remain in the audience's memory for a long time.
On 15 November at 18:00, Dr Alexander Kriebitz from the Technical University of Munich explained the challenges faced by German companies in adapting their supply chains to possible human rights violations in Xinjiang.
In front of a packed hall in the Graduate School, Dr Kriebitz first explained the various theoretical perspectives on the topic of business ethics before focusing on the case of Xinjiang. Examples from German industry, in particular Volkswagen, which has plants in the westernmost province of China, were explicitly discussed. The case studies made it clear just how ramified and complex business ethics issues relating to human rights and values are for companies in China. The lecture dealt with the human rights implications of trade by German companies in the region and critically analysed what measures companies should take to prevent violations of human rights standards.
The CCCUW would like to thank Dr Kriebitz for the fascinating lecture and encourages interested parties to continue to engage with the topic!
