For the third time, we are hosting the "International Relations Cup" Secondary School International Relations and Diplomacy Debate Competition. This year, we are taking it to the next level by moving the venue from a university campus to the former French Missionary Society building in Central. This century-old red-brick building, which once served as the residence of the first Governor of Hong Kong, foreign consulates, and the Court of Final Appeal, is a historical temple steeped in Hong Kong's governance heritage, giving this intellectual exchange among young people an even deeper meaning.
The debate topics in the final and semi-final rounds precisely constitute a dual-track proposition in contemporary international relations. The semi-finals explored the institutional effectiveness of the Israeli-Palestinian "two-state solution," testing the debaters' understanding of multilateral mechanisms. The final round directly addressed the argument that "strong military force is a necessary prerequisite for maintaining peace," forcing students to confront the realistic boundaries of military power. These two debate topics reflect that in a world order lacking mutual trust, moral rhetoric alone cannot stop war, and blindly expanding military power cannot guarantee long-term stability. There are no perfect solutions to international power struggles; only by understanding the strategic intentions and bottom lines of major powers can we explore long-term peace.
After the competition, I joined Mr. Zhang Jiamin, who led the São Paulo debate team in the 1970s, to witness our alma mater's juniors win the championship. This reunion across half a century testifies to the enduring vitality of critical thinking. The vision of the predecessors and the vigor of the younger generation were handed over in the purest form through a clash of logic.
