The HKBU Student Union Mandarin Debate Team achieved exceptional performance in the local and Mainland debate competitions. A team won the championship at the 2016 Interuniversity Mandarin Debate Competition organised by RTHK Putonghua channel while another delegation received the first-runner up award at the 10th debate competition 2016 organised by the Chinese Debate Association.

A total of 11 tertiary institutions sent representatives to take part in the local intervarsity competition. The motion of the final round between HKBU and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was “Which attribute is more important for a political leader? Capability or morality?”

The HKBU team comprised Ping Hiu-yan (Financial Journalism, Year 3), Ren Ke (Mathematics, Year 4), Lin Sen (Physical Education and Recreation Management, Year 5) and Pang Shuo (Mathematics, Year 4). They performed brilliantly and impressed the judges with their outstanding debating techniques and team spirit. The team triumphed over their opponent CUHK and successfully claimed the championship title. Team member Lin Sen was also named Outstanding Debater in the final competition and the Best Debater of the Year. The champion will represent Hong Kong to participate in a debate competition next year, competing with other winning teams from Macao and Guangdong.

Meanwhile, another delegation from the Mandarin Debate Team won the first runner-up award at the 10th debate competition 2016 organsied by the Chinese Debate Association. The winning delegates were Zhang Yuhong (Computer Science, Year 2), Chen Donghuang (Humanities, Year 2), Wu Dailin (Sociology, Year 2), and Chen Lu (Government and International Studies, Year 3) who was also presented with the Best Debater award.

The Chinese Debate Association competition was organised with the aim of providing an excellent debating platform for students while strengthening the cultural exchange and learning across institutions in Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese Mainland. The six institutions joining the competition were the University of Macau, Chongqing University, East China Normal University, Wuhan University, HKBU and Xiamen University.