On December 8, the Irish Government hosted the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad for 2022. The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, attended and spoke at the ceremony to present the awards to the recipients. Professor Wang Zhanpeng and Professor Chen Li, respectively director and vice director of the BFSU Irish Studies Centre, were awarded under the category of Business and Education. They are the first Chinese scholars awarded such a prize for their outstanding contribution to "raising the awareness of Ireland and Irish culture in China", and to "making the Irish Studies Centre at BFSU a key hub for Irish Studies in China". A total of 12 people received the award in 2022 and they came from Afghanistan, the United States, South Africa and the United Kingdom, among others. Micheál Martin, the Prime Minister of Ireland; Simon Coveney, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence; and others attended to the events. Ireland's former Ambassador to China, Declan Kelleher; China's Ambassador to Ireland, He Xiangdong; representatives of Irish experts who have taught at Beijng Foreign Studies University and some graduates from BFSU who are learning and working in Ireland were invited to attend the event.
The Presidential Distinguished Service Award was established by the Irish government following the 2011 Global Irish Economic Forum as a means to recognise the contribution of members of the Irish diaspora and was first awarded in 2012. This is the eleventh year of these distinguished and much-cherished awards and it is an opportunity each year to acknowledge those who have, through their work, helped in different ways to burnish Ireland’s reputation across the globe, from the categories of Arts, Culture and Sport, Business and Education, Charitable Works, Irish Community Support and Peace, Reconciliation & Development.
The Irish Studies Centre at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) is the first comprehensive, multidisciplinary research institution in Irish Studies in China, which undertakes a range of interdisciplinary programmes involving literature, culture, history, politics, economics and international relations. It has been actively involved in the development of Irish Studies, academic research and scholarly exchanges, and has produced many academic works of high quality that have had a wide impact at home and abroad. The success of the Irish Studies programme at the prestigious BFSU is a major development which has contributed to raising the awareness of Ireland and Irish culture in China.
