Hong Kong and Taiwan are the only Chinese communities in the world that adopt traditional Chinese characters in their written text. Separated by just a 90-minute flight, both communities share similar habits and customs and wield a mutual influence of each other. Taiwan has always been a popular place for Hong Kong high-school graduates to pursue further studies, yet very few Taiwanese students come to study in Hong Kong.

On the whole, Taiwan students possess an academic excellence comparable to anywhere else in the world. "Recruiting Taiwanese students will not only expand our pool of quality students but also add a new element to our internationalised campus," said Professor Way Kuo, President of CityU.

Professor Kuo attended a professional forum in Taiwan from 23-24 October, during which he visited three top high schools, namely National Taichung First Senior High School, Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School and Taipei First Girls' High School, the first two being alma maters of the President.

In his addresses delivered at the three high schools, Professor Kuo encouraged the students to go beyond the conventional education framework of "imparting, teaching and enlightening", and to develop

independent and critical thinking. They should nurture a spirit of seeking truth from facts and look for research opportunities. Professor Kuo explained that people in modern times live as part of an enormous network, connected to, interacting with, and learning from one another. It is therefore necessary for everyone to acquire a broad global perspective and contribute to the advancement of the world. It is with the aim of achieving this goal that CityU has been recruiting students from overseas.

Language is a great communication tool and the learning of languages helps refine our logical and organisational skills, Professor Kuo added. Students should therefore make the effort to use languages well. Finally, Professor Kuo reminded the students to cherish the friendships fostered at school and treasure the days and years that fellow students shared in discussing, studying and growing up together. When they eventually looked back, said Professor Kuo, these memories would bring them incomparable pleasure, not to mention that such ties would form a small network within the much bigger social network, which would benefit them throughout their lives. Professor Kuo's speeches were well received by the audience.

In order to encourage Taiwanese high-school graduates who have achieved outstanding academic results to study at CityU, the University has signed scholarship agreements with those three high schools. Each will recommend two students to study on undergraduate programmes at CityU in 2009 and 2010.

Professor Kuo also visited National Tsinghua University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.