The Tsinghua Ambassador Talks and the Tsinghua Institute of Belt and Road Initiative jointly hosted the Chilean Ambassador to People’s Republic of China, his excellency Jorge Heine on October 30th, 2017. Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Heine has served as Chile’s ambassador to India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (2003-2007) and to South Africa (1994-1999), as well as a Cabinet minister in the Chilean government. He is also CIGI Professor of Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Professor of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University, and a current Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Latin American Program Global Fellow.
The Ambassador discussed the Belt and Road Initiative and how it will help to improve infrastructure and connectivity in the whole world, as an example he mentioned the bullet trains and communication systems. Later, H.E. Heine explained to the audience the relevance of the trade and investment relations between both countries, emphasizing the role of Chile as one of the largest food exporter to China.
After the Ambassador’s presentation, the second guest speaker, Professor Ernesto Silva presented the topic "Democracy, Populism and Future Challenges for Latin America”. Prof. Silva has a mature academic experience as well as political experience, as he was an elected Representative at the Chilean National Congress, the Camara de Diputados. Some of the topics that he discussed were related to the current challenges faced by Chile and the role of the institutions on the development of his country.
After the two lectures and the Q&A session with the students and professors in the audience there was a signing ceremony of the MOU between the Tsinghua Institute of Belt and Road Initiative and the Universidad del Desarrollo.
