BXAI

CHANG Tsu Wei is a double degree student at Waseda University and Taiwan University where she studies Political Science and Economics.  She aspires to someday become a diplomat.

BXAI Summer Program 2016 helped Chang develop close relations with peers from all over the world, and become aware of different ideas.  In particular she enjoyed discussing cross-strait relations with her Mainland Chinese roommate, and hearing her roommate’s perspective on WWII as they toured the Peace Memorial Hall in Hiroshima.

In the coming year Chang plans to prepare for the public service examination she will need in Taiwan to take in order to pursue a career in politics.  She will also share her experience of being in the double degree program as an AFLSP Scholar with incoming students at her school’s orientation.  In the near future, however, Chang hopes to spend some time with her parents, for she has not had as much time to spend with them recently due to her busy academic schedule.

An AFLSP graduate from Kyoto University with a Masters in Nuclear Engineering, ZHANG Zeyu is currently working at Yamada Business Consulting in Tokyo.  Although different from what he studied in academia,Zhang has excelled in his new work by utilizing his outstanding communication and organization skills.

In 2014 Zhang worked with his Japanese friends to establish “Japan-China Friendship,” an organization that hosts annual study trips for Chinese students interested in studying in Japan.

Chen Xian (Ken) is a graduate of Hitotsubashi University where he pursued an MBA in the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy Hitotsubashi ICS.  He joined BXAI Summer Program 2015 as an AFLSP Scholar, and returned in 2016 as a group facilitator.

For Ken, participating in last year’s Summer Program as a group instructor gave him the opportunity to observe the scholars’ teamwork, as well as the program as a whole, from a whole other perspective.

In the future Ken hopes to support Scholars in Japan, such as organizing company visits for those seeking job opportunities.  Recognizing that the Summer Program is an annual “one-time event,” he hopes that its momentum will be able to continue beyond the summer itself.

Tomohiro HASHIMOTO is a Japanese political science graduate student from Waseda University and an AFLSP Scholar at Zhejiang University where he studied Master of Public Administration.  When Tomohiro first visited China at the age of 16, he was surprised at the differences between the country in front of him and the one shown on television back in Japan.  Since then he has been particularly interested in researching solutions to China’s domestic problems.

Mutual understanding across cultures is something that Tomohiro has a large amount of personal interest and experience in.  When studying abroad in Hangzhou, Beijing, and other Chinese cities, he was able to see the diversity of Chinese people on a regional level.  Similarly, while speaking about his AFLSP experience, Tomohiro valued how he was able to better understand regional diversity by observing the differences between scholars based on their nationality.

AFLSP Scholar Chen Hua (Martin) is a theoretical physics major at Kyoto University where he researches quantum gravity.  As a scientist who often finds it difficult to initiate conversations, Martin found that the way he spent his summer—socializing with different scholars during the BXAI Summer Program—very different from how he would normally spend it.  Nonetheless, he was able to find a great sense of community at Bai Xian.

“I think a good community isn’t about whether or not you’re very social,” Martin said.  “It’s about [whether] you can really talk about something important in that community [without being afraid].”

Martin considers the interactions he had with fellow Scholars the most meaningful part of the program.

“Every day we would have lunch and talk together and have quite a deep discussion,” Martin said, saying how such experiences helped broaden his worldview.  For instance, he remarked the way in which the media portrayed certain nationalities turned out to be quite different from what he experienced first-hand.

Jackson TSE is an AFLSP Scholar from Peking University where he is pursuing a Masters in China Studies at Yenching Academy.  Born and raised in Hong Kong, he is passionate about expanding educational access in developing Asian countries.

Jackson has held an interest in social entrepreneurship since high school when he co-founded Project Laos, a nonprofit organization that equips Laotian students with educational resources such as teachers, textbooks, furniture, and computers.  He hopes that by increasing educational access he can help economic development in the Asia Pacific.

“I think the quickest way to do that is working to improve the educational institutions in Asia,” said Jackson, believing that a good education is a prerequisite to the economic success of any country.  According to him, every child should have the same access to education regardless of where they come from.

Jackson hopes to gain experience in multinational corporations to understand how the private sector affects educational policies.  In the long-term, he plans to use that insight to increase educational opportunities for people.

An AFLSP Scholar and Zhejiang University graduate, ITO Yoshimi has since been working as a researcher at the Embassy of Japan in Beijing.  “Here I have obtained many opportunities to understand Chinese society, such as interviewing Chinese scholars and communicating with people from the media,” said Ito.

While studying global governance and regional strategy at Keio University, Ito discovered a deep interest in Chinese society and culture.  In 2014, after discussing with a school advisor, she suspended her studies at Keio University and pursued a Master of Public Administration at Zhejiang University instead.  “I think living in China is important for me to obtain firsthand information for my research.  And the AFLSP helped me meet a lot of friends with different cultural backgrounds,” said Ito.