The Saudi youth delegation visited Beijing Medical University on Wednesday and exchanged knowledge and expertise with the university’s students and teachers.
The visit provided Saudi students an opportunity to compare the Kingdom’s achievements in medical research and clinical applications with the Chinese accomplishments in the field.
The Saudi-Chinese Youth Forum, which ends today, was organized by the Foreign Ministry to support Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s initiative to promote dialogue between various faiths and cultures.
The Saudis visited the university’s various departments including that of herbal medicine. and were briefed on its facilities and different diagnosis and treatment methods, which impressed the Saudi delegates.
The forum will send two messages; one addressing leaders of their two countries and the other to the World Health Organization, including their recommendations.
Saudi Ambassador to China Yahya bin Abdul Karim Al-Zaid has praised the youth forum. “We are always happy to meet with young people," he said, adding that young people are the future leaders.
The ambassador praised the forum’s role in boosting Saudi-Chinese relations and said the forum was one of the fruits of the summit meeting held between King Abdullah with Chinese leaders.
The Chinese ambassador to Saudi Arabia Lee Chang said this year’s forum focused on health and medical research. “This topic should enrich the exchange between the youth,” he added.
The Saudi delegation visited a number of Chinese institutes and universities specialized in medicine and medical research in Beijing.
“They will acquaint themselves with the latest Chinese developments in this regard and will conduct meetings with the Chinese students as well,” he said.
The Saudi students visited the National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. The group toured the library and was briefed on its facilities and available books in various fields and specialties.
The first Saudi-Chinese Youth Forum was organized in 2010 in China.
China’s medical research impresses Saudi students
China’s medical research impresses Saudi students
UK entrepreneur says people who disagree with his Palestine solidarity should not shop at his stores
UK entrepreneur says people who disagree with his Palestine solidarity should not shop at his stores
- Mark Constantine shut all British branches of cosmetics retailer Lush earlier this year in solidarity with Gaza
- ‘I don’t think being compassionate has a political stance,’ he tells the BBC
LONDON: A British cosmetics entrepreneur has told people who disagree with his support for Palestine not to shop at his businesses.
Mark Constantine is the co-founder and CEO of the Lush chain of cosmetic stores, which temporarily closed all of its UK outlets earlier this year in an act of solidarity with the people of Gaza.
He told the BBC that people should be “kind, sympathetic and compassionate,” that those who are “unkind to others” would not “get on very well with me,” and that anyone who disagrees with his views “shouldn’t come into my shop.”
He told the “Big Boss Interview” podcast: “I’m often called left wing because I’m interested in compassion. I don’t think being compassionate has a political stance.
“I think being kind, being sympathetic, being compassionate is something we’re all capable of and all want to do in certain areas.”
In September, every branch of Lush in the UK, as well as the company’s website, were shut down to show solidarity for the people of Gaza.
A statement on the page where the website was hosted read: “Across the Lush business we share the anguish that millions of people feel seeing the images of starving people in Gaza, Palestine.”
Messages were also posted in the windows of all the shuttered stores, stating: “Stop starving Gaza, we are closed in solidarity.”
Constantine was asked if he thought his views on Gaza could harm his business, and whether people might decide not to deal with him as a result.
“You shouldn’t come into my shop (if you don’t agree),” he said. “Because I’m going to take those profits you’re giving me and I’m going to do more of that — so you absolutely shouldn’t support me.
“The only problem is, who are you going to support? And what are you supporting when you do that? What is your position?”
