Chinese and U.S. Students Exchange Views in Hong Kong and Shenzhen
During the 2023-2024 academic year, the Georgetown University Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues organized a yearlong student dialogue program with 24 students from Georgetown University, the University of California, San Diego, Peking University, and Fudan University. After six virtual meetings, the program culminated in face-to-face exchanges in Hong Kong and Shenzhen in May 2024.
Established in 2020, the U.S.-China Student Dialogue exchange program is designed to promote communication and increase mutual understanding of U.S. and Chinese views on critical issues in international relations among younger generations. The 2023-2024 cohort focused on the topic "What responsibility do the United States and China have towards the Global South?" during their virtual and in-person conversations. The week-long visit in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, held from May 21 through 28, 2024, was organized by the Georgetown initiative in partnership with the Hong Kong-based China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).
Hong Kong: A City of Layers
The trip came as both China and the United States are pushing to renew people-to-people exchanges and increase travel flows between the two countries. Hong Kong served as a natural destination for the student dialogue participants to meet, an international city imbued with both Chinese and Western culture.
Over the course of the tour, students and accompanying faculty held meetings with officials, business leaders, journalists, and entrepreneurs from a wide range of organizations including the Hong Kong Chief Executive's Policy Unit, the South China Morning Post, the American Chamber of Commerce, Goldman Sachs Group, U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong, and others. The students were also invited to a social and networking reception hosted by Leigh Tung Chou (SFS’93), a School of Foreign Service alumna and member of the Georgetown University Board of Directors. “We really enjoyed welcoming back such a dynamic group of students from the Hilltop. It was a great opportunity for students from Georgetown, HK and mainland China to engage in meaningful dialogue and to develop a greater understanding of Hong Kong and its role in the region,” Chou said.
Aside from the visits and meetings, students went on to discover Hong Kong Island—the heart of the city’s business district. They learned of the city’s history with visits to Tai Kwun and a guided walking tour through the Central District starting near the harbor and heading up into the Mid-Levels neighborhood. The second leg of the trip included moving from Hong Kong Island to the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where the cohort joined local students in dormitories at Lee Woo Sing College.
Throughout the program, the students from American and Chinese universities tackled questions surrounding China and the United States’ responsibility toward the Global South and prospects for cooperation across different policy areas, including climate change and the environment, economics and trade, development, global governance, global health, and peace and security. In small groups, students presented their findings from the year’s conversations and proposed innovative approaches to revitalizing China-U.S. cooperation. In their spare time, students engaged each other through ping-pong diplomacy and tours of the beautiful CUHK campus, local scenery, and the Tsz Shan Monastery in the New Territories.
Georgetown student Neval Mulaomerovic (SFS'24) observed that both American and Chinese students found Hong Kong an intriguing and thought-provoking location.
“Hong Kong as an international hub and a product of the one country-two systems policy offered an interesting look into China’s complex domestic governance and how foreign influence continues to shape Hong Kong’s identity. It was also interesting to hear the perspectives of the Chinese students, since many of them had never been to Hong Kong or Shenzhen before.”
Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area
The final leg of the tour brought the students across the border with mainland China to Shenzhen. In the rapidly developing city of more than 12 million, the group first visited the SkyMirror for a 360-degree panoramic view of the city before later touring Nantou Ancient City, bridging Shenzhen’s modern skyline with its history. On the final day, students were welcomed at BYD’s auto showroom and the Nanshan Energy Ecological Park, highlighting two facets of the local economy and its place within the Greater Bay Area.
The in-person trip marked the final chapter of this year’s student dialogue program, deepening shared views and providing opportunities to create lasting ties among Chinese and American students. Senior Fellow Dennis Wilder emphasized how creating this space is a core purpose of the program.
“There are these huge differences... in life experiences, in values, in societal approaches. There’s no question that these exist. But when we get to this discussion of who we are today as young people, you find some really interesting commonalities and differences.”
Read the students’ blogs to learn more about their experience with the program.