Ping pong diplomacy
Vice-Chancellor Dr Michael Spence and Chinese Consul General Li Huaxin faced off in a friendly ping-pong match this week.
The University of Sydney was outclassed by the Chinese Consulate with the Chinese team winning the men’s, women’s and men’s doubles while the University took out the mixed double prize. But the ultimate victor was the relationship between the University of Sydney and China.
The University of Sydney and China have such a fantastic story to tell.
Vice-Chancellor Dr Michael Spence said the game was a fun way for the University to engage with China.
“The Consul-General’s serve was tough to beat and he won quite convincingly. But the match was well worth the embarrassment because it was a great way for us to further build on this friendship and continue working on this important relationship,” said Dr Michael Spence.
“The University of Sydney and China have such a fantastic story to tell. Currently we have more than 7000 Chinese students studying here, and a network of over 15,000 alumni in China. Between 2000 and 2010 we published more than 1700 joint scientific and research papers with China – more than any other Australian university. The relationship is strong and will only continue to get stronger.”
The match was played at the University of Sydney’s Sports and Fitness Centre.