NEWS

On Thursday, May 9, 2013, the Australian Ambassador to Japan, H.E. Bruce MILLER, visited APU and delivered a special lecture under the title of “Australia-Japan Collaboration in the Asian Century”. During his speech, the Ambassador spoke about economic and social connections between the two countries, research collaboration, and more.

Ambassador MILLER began by highlighting the close social and economic links between Australia and Kyushu including the sister-city arrangements between cities in both countries, and Australian mineral exports to Oita copper smelters, steel mills and power stations. Australian exports account for 25% of Kyushu’s LNG supply and Australian coal is a major supplier for Kyushu power stations. As the Ambassador pointed out, “It’s no exaggeration to say that when you switch on a light in Kyushu, you should think of Australia”.

A fluent speaker of Japanese, the Ambassador has enjoyed ties with Japan since studying as an exchange student in 1978. This experience, he said, was “immensely rewarding and set the foundations for my lifelong engagement with Japan”. He also praised APU as a pioneer in Japanese university internationalization and encouraged students to make the most of the opportunity to “form international friendships and relationships that are not only personally enriching, but by extension also enrich our societies, cultures and economies”.

During the Q&A session, the Ambassador welcomed questions from the audience on a range of subjects including regional security, climate change, his role as ambassador, and the ongoing issue of Japanese whaling in the South Pacific. “Whaling is one of the very few areas where our two countries disagree, but we do not let it affect our very good bilateral relationship and we hope that it will be resolved through dialogue and international law”.

APU currently has four Australian students and nine Australian faculty members*. Australia is also a destination for many APU exchange and study abroad students. We look forward to even stronger ties with Australia in the future.

*as of Nov 1, 2012