May 4, Youth Day in China marks the 101st anniversary of the May 4th movement.
For our colleagues from countries elsewhere, the day of May 4th in terms of significance in world history, it is our China’s July 4th, the Declaration of Independence, it is our China’s Landing of Normandie.
However, the speed with which China has transpired since that fateful date of May 4th is truly astonishing to the rest of the world. We know all of that, precisely because we, the students of Springboard International Bilingual School are receiving an international education. We are international therefore we understand where we are coming from even better!
History takes us back to May 4th, 1919. Students of Beijing University in the wake of news of the Treaty of Versailles after WWI, ceding the German-occupied territory in Shandong Qingdao to Japan, marched in massive demonstrations. They broke in and burned the residence of the then Vice Foreign Minister Cao Ruilin’s home.
It was a rare occurrence in Chinese history that young scholars resorted to violence, yet it was a rare occurrence that police force stood down to students’ passion and patriotic act on that day. What happened on that day can hardly be expressed by words. It was a day when China announced herself to the world as the “sleeping lion” was awakened, leading to Modern-day China that we all embrace today. The rest is history.
Forty years after the May 4th movement, New China was inaugurated in 1949. Another 30 years later, China was opened to the world, the Economic Reform in 1978, hence, the birth of Shenzhen, the fastest growing city in human history. Hence, we have a sprawling global metropolis such as Beijing, the epic center of globalization. Hence, we have over 1000 international schools today in China, with half a million students and 40,000 foreign teachers.
For another 40 years, 2019, the centennial anniversary of the May 4th movement, China’s GDP in purchasing power parity term had surpassed that of the United States, to whom China once sought justice and fairness from President Woodrow Wilson on the negotiation table of the Treaty of Versailles.
Think about it, how remarkable? Compared to the trajectory of the United States, not until 89 years later after the Declaration of Independence, African-American slaves were freed, not until 189 years later, African-American were allowed to vote and it took nearly 100 years from 1776 for America's economy to become the largest in the world. For China, it will be 100 years from May 4th, 70 years from 1949!
Today, May 4, 2020, we face an unprecedented global challenge, the COVID-19 pandemic, let us not forget the spirit of China’s youth generation demonstrated 101 years ago. One hundred one years later, the challenges will not let up to our youth generation, global health, climate crisis, the antagonism between nations, poverty, and inequality, to name a few. You, our SIBS young scholars, have the opportunity to announce yourself to the world and someday lead China and the world to a new place.
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