Today, we are delighted to have Professor Mark Lin from Griffith University. In 1964, Professor Macklin went to China for the first time to teach. Over the past half century, Professor Macklin has visited China more than 60 times, and while witnessing China's development and progress, he has worked tirelessly to introduce the real situation of China to Australia and the world. In particular, Professor Macklein's son, Stephen, was the first Australian citizen born in China since the founding of the People's Republic of China. It can be said that Professor Macklin, with his unremitting efforts and sincere enthusiasm, has built a bridge for the two peoples to know each other. In September this year, Professor Macklin was awarded the "Friendship Award" by the Chinese government. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you and many Australians for your contribution to China-Australia friendship.

-- "Jointly Pursuing the Development Dream of China and Australia and Achieving Regional Prosperity and Stability Shoulder to Shoulder: Speech to the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Australia" (November 17, 2014)

Further reading:

Macklin was born in Sydney in 1939. In the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century, Macklin began his career in Sinology. After graduating from the University of Melbourne, he went on to further his studies at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. In 1964, Macklin, a recent graduate, and his wife volunteered to teach in China, before Australia had yet to establish diplomatic relations with China. In February 1965, Macklin's eldest son, Stephen, was born in China, the first Australian child to be born in the People's Republic of China.

Today, the young scholars have become experts on China with many books, such as Honorary Professor of Griffith University in Australia, Australian Director of the Australian Confucius Institute for Tourism, and Fellow of the Australian Commonwealth College of Humanities. Professor Macklin is passionate about China and focuses on Chinese culture and China-Australia relations. He paid attention to Chinese drama and published "The Rise of Peking Opera" and "A Brief History of Chinese Theater"; He has studied China's ethnic minorities, and has many insights in "China's Ethnic Minorities and Globalization" and "Culture, Identity and Integration of Ethnic Minorities in China after 1912". He is more interested in the history of China, and has written books such as "The New Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China" and "My View of China: The Image of China in the West since 1949". Macklin once said: "When I decided to come to China, I was influenced by my mother, and after that, China also influenced me like my mother." ”

As an ambassador of China-Australia friendship, Macklin has visited China more than 60 times, participated in academic conferences as a scholar, or conducted field research on sightseeing exchanges, and taught at Renmin University of Chinese and Beijing University of Foreign Chinese for many times. For half a century, he has traveled back and forth between Australia and China, tirelessly introducing China to Australia and the international community. In his 2013 monograph, I See China: China's Image in the West since 1949, he systematically reviewed the views and understandings of China in the Western world since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and deeply analyzed the political, economic, and cultural factors behind China's image, which was well received by sinologists.

Telling the stories of old friends to future generations, and telling the story of meeting more new friends to the world, Xi Jinping's introduction of Professor Macklin's story in the Australian Federal Parliament vividly illustrates a truth: a building of mutual acquaintance needs to be built by many international friendly people.

"The Chinese will never forget every friend." The vivid details of Xi Jinping's diplomatic occasions fully confirm this. More than 3,000 Japanese people from all walks of life who are friendly to China visited China, and Xi Jinping personally attended to catch up with friends and cheer for China-Japan friendship; During her visit to India, she arranged to meet Dr. Kotnis's sister, who told her that the Chinese government and people had not forgotten Dr. Kotnis and his family. During his visit to Egypt, he met with people who have won the "China-Arab Friendship Award for Outstanding Contribution", including former UN Secretary-General Ghali...... In June 2014, Xi Jinping announced that the Chinese government had decided to establish the "Friendship Award for the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence", which aims to encourage more friendly people to play an exemplary role in inheriting the spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.