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北京大学英语新闻网/Peking University News
By Xue Linyan
Peking University, Beijing, April 20th, 2005: Austrian Chancellor Mr. Wolfgang
Schussel came to Beida today to lecture the Beida students and scholars. His lively
speech made the audience present burst into delighted laughter several times.
The Chancellor gave a forty-minute speech on the development of Austria and the
Sino-Austrian relations these years. Of course, Austria is famous for its musical
status in the world, as well as its marvelous landscape and forests. Some movies like
The Sound of Music and Princess Sissie are widely known among Chinese people.
And more and more Chinese are watching the annual New Year concert in the
Golden Hall. In most Chinese‘s eyes, Austria is a country full of musical genius and
beautiful sceneries. However, what is not known by most people is the miserable
experience of being invaded during the Second World War and its long and hard
reconstruction. During World War II, inside Austria, like in Germany, was obsessed
with fascist thought. Although some people with lofty ideals did all they could to avoid
those kind of thought, and tried their best to avoid the invasion of Hitler‘s regime,
somehow they failed and was then occupied until the end of World War II in 1945.
Then, Austria was announced to be a permanent neutral by the newly founded
United Nations. As Mr. Schussel addressed, the reconstruction at first was extremely
hard. Austria was considered one of the poorest regions in the world. Regarding its
special strategic position, which is in between the Soviet east and Capital west, the
United States gave Austria a great amount of money with the Marshall Plan. Since
then, Austria went on the right road of reconstruction. And twenty years later, it went
back to the group of the wealthiest countries in the world. From Mr. Schussel‘s face,
we could tell his pride and deep love of his country. Mr. Schussel also emphasized
that after Austria‘s entry to the European Union in 1995, its trade with China is
tending to be more and more important.
After Mr. Schussel‘s speech, some students asked their questions. The questions
involved in many fields, from culture to economy to international relations. One
student from the German Department of the School of Foreign Languages
impressed Mr. Chancellor as well as all the audience in the hall with his fluent
German. And Mr. Chancellor had surely impressed Beida students as well, since one
lady praised him, saying that Mr. Chancellor was very handsome.
In the end, Mr. Min Weifang, the Chair of Peking University Council, gave Mr.
Schussel a traditional china vase as a present. Delighted, Mr. Schussel put the vase
on his shoulder for journalists to take photos of him and Mr. Min Weifang.
Also present in this lecture are vice minister of education of China, the ambassador
of Austria to China and his wife, the ambassador of China to Austria and his wife,
and some of Peking University‘s distinguished scholars and executives.
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