Talk on Sino-Japanese War

The Centre for Chinese Studies organised a talk titled “Recent Development of Studies on Sino-Japanese War” at Sungai Long Campus on 8 February 2018.

Prof Wang delivering his talk

Invited to deliver the talk was Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ (CASS) World History Institute Director Prof Dr Wang Chaoguang. In his talk, he first explained the major developments of Sino-Japanese relations in the past and recent years and shared the major focal point of his research efforts to the audience.

“In recent years, three of the most popular keyword research in China are Xinhai Revolution, Sun Yat-sen and Sino-Japanese War. With the rise of recent development in history studies, Sino-Japanese War has emerged as a popular area of study and it has yielded considerable outcomes,” said Prof Wang.

He stated out the characteristics of Sino-Japanese War studies, namely the historical commemoration, realistic significance, internet factor and factual writing, and provided a conceptualisation of the progressive improvements of the studies to the audience. He also revealed a dangerous tendency among the amateur historian in sharing their opinion via internet because most of them have a tremendous sense of self-righteousness and belief in their version of historical truth.

Prof Wang also talked about the studies’ problems and limitations which could serve as an opportunity for further research. He also expressed his wish to enhance the collaboration among scholars in order to make contributions in the historical research area.

The talk ended with an interactive Question-and-Answer session, followed by a souvenir exchange betweenInstitute of Chinese Studies Dean Assoc Prof Dr Chong Siou Wei and Prof Wang.

Souvenir exchange between Dr Chong (right) and Prof Wang

Q&A session