On September 15th, organized by the GDUFS Institute for International Education, a brand-new style of youth talk was held among six young student delegates from Lancaster University and six students from GDUFS. In room 204 of the MBA Education center the 12 debaters drew lots to decide who should be the pro side or the con side. Each side was made up of three British debaters as well as three Chinese debaters. The two sides debated heatedly on the topic "Who should contribute more to global environmental protection: public sector or private forces?".
The debate site
In the statement session of the first round, the pros and cons both made their points. The pro side took aspects like the originality and duty of the public sector, proprietary rights and solutions into consideration and pointed out that the public sector should respond more actively in the areas of global environmental protection. However, the con side presented a novel confutation by acknowledging the limitations of companies in realizing social responsibilities due to their pursuit of profit. Then they emphasized the excellent ability of private forces to address the global problem due to their nature, reach, adaptability and flexibility.
In the free debate session tensions were upgraded. The two sides conducted four rounds of battle. The pro side not only defended their ideas but also attacked the con side making both sides became more and more fierce. Twelve debaters broke out in a war of words.
The audience was applauded the intense argument and both sides vied with each other in airing their views. In the Q&A session of the third round, they raised questions on issues like "the corruption of public sector", "the non-administrative intervention (lobbies) of private forces", "How can the public sector strengthen its overall coordinating ability as well as be an action force?" and "How can private forces avoid their corruption?", all of which sparked another heated discussion.
The heated free debate session
After the talk, students from both universities were still immersed in the heated atmosphere. The British students found they benefitted a lot from the talk. During their cooperation with the Chinese students, they surmounted the barrier of thinking patterns and were impressed by the encyclopedic knowledge and analytical thinking ability of the Chinese young students. Especially praised was the outstanding English ability of the GDUFS students. While the Chinese students paid the compliment that their British teammates spoke prudently with the critical thinking. And they all commented that the debate as "very enjoyable" since both sides were well-matched in strength after their careful preparation.
The audience raised their questions actively
As reported, this is the third consecutive year that students from Lancaster University have come to GDUFS to join in the study project in summer vacation. Apart from Chinese studies, students from Lancaster are also provided chances to visit governmental institutions and companies, and observe and practice in the English classes of other universities as well as the affiliated primary school of GDUFS. And, the annual Chinese-British youth talk has become a wonderful platform for the Lancaster University students and the GDUFS students to promote mutual understanding and communication.
