Professor Diarmuid Hegarty:

Griffith College has been bringing in students from China since 1994. I have colleagues in several Chinese universities. Indeed, my professorship was awarded by a Chinese university. I have had the advantage of studying in China over the past 26 years. The changes that are happening are slow, but they are happening. The best contribution that we in the West can make is to quietly and gently impart the values that the Senator spoke about to the students. They will bring them back to their country and will be part of the change. As is always the case with social change, there will be a reaction and situations where governments may feel that people have gone too far, but I believe that what I have seen in China is a gradual change. It is probably best that we not get terribly excited. We have to be concerned about civil rights, but we also have to respect the history of the country. We have to, and do, respect the fact that the party in China has done a significant job in building the country since 1989. We must hope that the values that we give to our students will ultimately inform the development of society in China. I know that was a long answer to the Senator's question and was probably not as specific as he wanted.