In response to the United Nations International Day of Peace, held annually on Sept. 21, The Hong Kong Metropolitan University Li Ka Shing School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKMU LiPACE) held the first Peace Day Symposium and Exhibition in Hong Kong's tertiary education sector on Sept. 22. Under the theme "Bridges of Peace: Celebrating International Peace Day through Global Dialogue and Humanitarian Legacies", the event brought together peace advocates, scholars and diplomats from China, Scotland and Uruguay. It also featured the "Eric Liddell and Weifang Photo Exhibition", shown in Hong Kong for the first time and presenting rare wartime photographs and documents related to the Weifang Concentration Camp in Shandong Province.
At the symposium, DotDotNews conducted exclusive interviews with four speakers——Dr Benjamin Chan Tak-yuen, Dean of HKMU LiPACE; Mr Federico Lage Cabeza, Consul-General of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Hong Kong; Professor Liu Cheng, the Holder of the UNESCO Chair on Peace Studies at Nanjing University; and Professor Zhang Xuexiang, Dean of the Foreign Language College and the Institute of Peace Studies at Weifang University, to explore how peace education can move from ideals to real-world practice.
Dr Benjamin Chan Tak-yuen said peace education must not stop at knowledge. He emphasised that peace should be "lived out" in students' day-to-day conduct, reflecting the school's vocational and professional approach. Rather than treating peace as abstract information about co-existing peacefully, he said the focus is on concrete initiatives and behavioural practice that align with the institution's motto.
Federico Lage Cabeza described peace as "a shared responsibility". He noted that governments have a decisive role because their decisions shape whether conflict occurs or is prevented. However, he stressed that civil society is essential too: communities and individuals can create pressure, express commitment, and help push governments towards the shared goal of world peace. He concluded that when governments, academia, civil society and international organisations align with the same fundamental aim, the goal becomes more achievable.
Liu Cheng pointed to international standards linking cities and peace, arguing that whichever framework is adopted, it must meet three requirements: peace research, peace education, and peace-related action. In his view, universities should carry out peace research to clarify what peace means; schools should teach peace education to cultivate people for a future of peace; and society should regularly organise peace activities - such as the event taking place that day. For a city to be truly high-calibre in peace, these pillars must work together and produce tangible results.
Zhang Xuexiang focused on the human dimension of peace in an AI-driven, fragmented era. He cited a traditional Chinese maxim linking harmony among the people to good relations among states, and argued that communication between hearts is crucial. With people facing an overwhelming variety of information and cultures today, he said goodwill and kindness can act as a "universal language" that connects people across cultural backgrounds. In an age of fragmentation, he added, young people need the ability to take history as a whole, then engage in deeper interpretation to develop empathy. He described empathy as the foundation and root for realising the dream of peace, and urged young people to practise this capacity within diverse historical and cultural contexts.
(Reported by Lynn Zhou, Felicia Li, Ian Lau)
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