Consul General Mr. Hanscom Smith Paid a Visit to Nanjing Normal University

Mr. Hanscom Smith, Consul General at the United States Consulate General in Shanghai, together with Vice Consul Ms. Angela Chang and Cultural Affairs Officer Mr. Josh Lustig, visited Nanjing Normal University (NNU) on 14th Dec. 2015. Professor Jiandong Miao, Vice President of NNU, met with these foreign guests on Suiyuan Campus. 

On behalf of all the faculty members and students, Mr. Vice President expressed heart-warming welcome for their arrival and introduced to them the history evolution of NNU, the ties between Ginling College (the precursor of NNU) with the US, recent cooperation in multiple levels and of various forms between NNU and the US side, such as cooperation in building Confucius Institutes, academic exchange visits, student exchange program and American students’ study situation. Professor Miao also expressed the sincere wish for further cooperation with American first-class universities and deep communication between our faculty members and students under the Sino-US humanitarian exchange mechanism. Mr. Consul General said that it was his first visit to Nanjing，which was one of his favorite Chinese cities. He was expected to witness a growing number of American students studying in NNU, a famous normal university in the time-honored city. He also asked for details about American students’ application for NNU, teachers’ training, social services through science and technology and so on.

After the meeting, Mr. Smith, as a guest speaker of the third session of the Ambassadors’ Forum, delivered a keynote speech titled Sino-US Cooperation for undergraduates and postgraduates from School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Social Development School, Business School, School of Law, School of Education Science and School of Public Administration. Mr. Smith introduced the provinces the United States Consulate General in Shanghai covers, visa processing and Sino-US cooperation in trade, energy, environmental protection, culture and education. He also pointed out that in spite of some differences between China and the US, we shared common goals and interests in many other areas, and that the US government hoped to strengthen win-win cooperation with China and to address challenges through joint efforts.

By the end of the speech, students were active in raising questions and received energetic replies from Mr. Consul General. Especially, when it came to cross-cultural communication, he put forward some positive suggestions based on his own experience and the cultural shock he met. What’s more, Smith spoke highly of the NNU’s students’ English level and their acute thinking during the Q&A part.

Mr. Hanscom Smith assumed the position of Consul General at the United States Consulate General in Shanghai in Sep. 2014. As a senior diplomat, he once worked in the US Embassy to Yaoundé, Copenhagen, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Kabul and Beijing.