Speech by Dai Bin at the Commemoration of the 92nd Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China and the Symposium on "Professional Competence and Social Services"

On July 13, 2013, Dai Bin delivered a speech at the 92nd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the special seminar on "Professional Competence and Social Service". The full text is as follows: Comrades who adhere to academic ideals in the reality of social service, the two keywords "professional competence and social service" were coined in the autumn and winter of 2012. They not only deepen the construction achievements of disciplines, talents, internationalization, and academic achievements of the research institute, but also reflect on the next strategic direction of the tourism academic community, including branches and bases. I hope to consciously inherit the historical tradition of Chinese intellectuals serving the people through the annual work meetings of research institutions outside the institute, the annual conference of Chinese tourism science, and the joint thinking of internal personnel, actively undertake the contemporary mission of improving national tourism welfare and tourism industry vitality, and actively innovate and disseminate the contemporary Chinese tourism discourse system. Before elaborating on the connotation, goals, and path of "professional competence and social service", I would like to first talk about why I chose this topic. 1、 The origin of social services, or why should we consider social services on the fifth anniversary of its establishment? Since the establishment of the research institute, although we have not dug a "corner" from a university, every PhD working in a research position has been trained by universities and higher research institutions, and they all have too much university sentiment - the dream of a university president that I am still pursuing. When it comes to universities, we cannot ignore their three major functions: talent cultivation, scientific research, and social services. In the process of economic development and social transformation, in today's real society, the social services of universities, especially the characteristics of influencing society through ideological and cultural means, are becoming increasingly unclear. I remember Professor Qian Liqun from Peking University once said at a special seminar on "Ideal University", "Some of our universities, including Peking University, are cultivating some 'sophisticated egoists' who are highly intelligent, secular, old, good at performing, understanding cooperation, and better at using the system to achieve their own goals. Once these people hold power, they pose greater harm than ordinary corrupt officials. Some people may say that so many universities are developing science and technology parks, setting up companies, and so many university professors are working on horizontal projects. Running companies as chairmen or general managers is also engaging in social services? Definitely not! Strictly speaking, it is a commercial exchange or market transaction between universities, professor groups, and society, rather than a social service, let alone a conscious historical consciousness. During the Spring Festival, my academic activities revolve around the "Preface". First, a preface was written in the form of a letter for Professor Xie Yanjun's academic essay collection at Northeastern University of Finance and Economics. Then, Professor Bao Jigang from Sun Yat sen University wrote the preface to his second academic essay collection "The World" titled "A Lover in My Heart, a World Outside". Finally, he wrote his reflections on "Industry Requirements and Academic Consciousness" for Dr. Xie Chaowu's academic work on tourism safety at Huaqiao University. The reason why I wrote such words in my almost uninterrupted schedule is because I long for the historical memory of the work, life, and poetry of the scholar group in the early years of the Republic of China. Hu Shi, Mei Yiqi, Zhang Boling, Tao Xingzhi, Chen Yinke That group of people can still be called "gentlemen" in a hundred years, and can even be considered refined individuals of an era. Looking at the present, how many people are left? One day we will also enter history. How will future generations evaluate our generation of tourism scholars? This is a big question that I have been pondering deeply. I always feel that future generations will not only evaluate our academic achievements, but also our contributions to society, as well as our mutual experiences and interactions. Although the research institute does not have the task of cultivating talents within the education system, it should have a conscious commitment to inheriting the true spirit of the university, and should take on the responsibility of serving academia through tourism, society, and the world. Looking back at the past five years of development, the research institute has been engaged in social service work since its establishment. We are a tourism research institution approved by the central government and supported by national financial assistance and administrative support from the National Tourism Administration. Our academic ideal is to serve the industry and contribute to the country, which is also our duty. Starting from this, the "government think tank" is placed at the forefront of expressing the founding purpose of the institute. The government referred to here includes the central government represented by the National Tourism Administration, as well as local governments at all levels. Under the framework of the Constitution, laws, and administration, they represent the country and the people, and serving them is serving the country and the people. More realistically speaking, the government is composed of leaders and civil servants from specific internal institutions such as ministries, departments, offices, and departments. This is also why when it comes to tasks assigned by the National Tourism Administration, whether it is research projects, work tasks, or even speeches with Chinese characteristics, I always lead by example and ask my comrades to do their best to efficiently complete them. To be honest, sometimes the government and leaders may not necessarily adopt the research results and written materials we have completed. I remember exchanging opinions with the main leaders of the National Tourism Administration at the beginning of the year, and he said, 'Since the establishment of the research institute, not every report and suggestion you have made has been adopted, but I always seek your opinions on major issues.'. I fully understand and believe that this is the ideal state of benign interaction between the government and academia in the new era: scientific research and academic construction are the process of "seeking truth", while politics and administration are guided by "seeking goodness" and are the result of comprehensive consideration of various interests and constraints in reality. So whether we adopt it now or in the future, we must do our best to serve the government with our professional abilities. This is the main platform and primary task of the research institute's social services. Have you ever felt wronged in the process of wholeheartedly dedicating your wisdom and loyalty to your country? There must be some! From Qu Yuan, Sima Qian, to Yue Fei, Yuan Chonghuan, who hasn't felt wronged? You can read the Man Jianghong written by Yue Fei. It is impossible to write such words without unparalleled talent, full of loyalty and continuous misunderstanding and resentment. Not afraid of grievances, the key is how to deal with grievances. Is it to pay tribute to the lost youth and then drift away, to live a leisurely life like clouds and wild cranes, or to stick to and construct one's own ideal world without regret, as if asked by friends and family in Luoyang, with a heart of ice in a jade pot? For most people, we should not demand too much. As long as we do not violate the law, respect the elderly and love the young, take care of our husbands and children, and live our lives solidly, it is also good. After all, ideals and ethics are always aimed at the conscious behavior of a few people. For the academic community, higher requirements are needed, and we also need to find beliefs and support for everyone to uphold our ideals. Returning to tourism research, if we are only satisfied with the growth of institutions and the expansion of social influence, the logical consistency of scientific research processes, or even the pursuit of our own achievements through academic research as a platform, then we will not go far no matter what. We must establish the belief that intellectuals should serve the government as well as the broader country and society. Scientific research and social responsibility should serve not only the present, but also history and the future. Without such belief recognition, one may waver on the path ahead, be captured by specific interest groups, and even give up ideals and beliefs in order to protect their own interests. The figures worth reading in the Republic of China include not only educators like Mei Yiqi, academic leaders like Fu Sinian, but also patriotic and anti Japanese generals like Sun Liren. From biographical materials, it can be inferred that during General Sun Liren's training of the Tax Police Corps, Song Ziwen treated him and his team very well, even using financial resources to equip him with four fully organized regiments that could rival the elite units of the regular army. During the Battle of Songhu, the general's blood stained the battlefield. If it weren't for Song Ziwen's full assistance, he would have died long ago. Despite this, he was still very depressed until he asked the Supreme Command several times to break up the tax police corps and reorganize it into a division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. In the general's mind, he is training elites for the country, not guarding the homes of high-ranking officials and nobles. Only the battlefield is his home, even if he sacrifices himself, it is to defend his country. As a result, even if he becomes the "second Zhang Xueliang" in the history of the Kuomintang, there will be no regrets. The reason why I talked with comrades about the history that seems to be far away from the business work of the Institute is that there is always a lingering concern in my heart: if there is no ideological recognition and the team's conscious adherence, only the efforts of a few people, once the external environment and internal factors have changed - from the transformation of government functions, the reform of public institutions, to the personnel changes of the leadership - can the academic community, which has only begun to take shape when it has just turned five years old, jump out of the "Huang Yanpei question" sent to the CPC by the democrats during the Yan'an period? Therefore, our career orientation must be based on the recognition of ideals and beliefs, rather than specific personal attachment relationships. Our service targets must be the largest number of tourists and tourism professionals, rather than narrow government departments. As for myself, although I agree that the government represents the country and society, the country and society are not entirely the government, let alone specific civil servants within government departments. Our survival and development conditions must be based on the improvement of the scientific research foundation of the institution and the continuous improvement of the professional ability of the research team, rather than someone's favoritism towards you at certain stages. 2、 What are the goals of social services, or what kind of social services do we need? The overall direction is our founding purpose, the ideal of "serving the industry and serving the country", and also a major aspect that all comrades need to adhere to for a long time. The current goal is to continuously improve the professional capabilities of the research team, contribute to the improvement of national tourism welfare, unite the full strength of the academic community, and work together with domestic and foreign political, commercial, and media forces to provide constructive criticism and suggestions for the strength of the national tourism industry, and to lead by example in specific social practices. We also need to actively participate in the construction of the international tourism discourse system, striving for humanity to walk more freely and with dignity on the earth, especially to make more contributions to the evolution and progress of world tourism development theory with Chinese academic thought. We cannot just be satisfied with pure theoretical speculation, but should actively participate in industrial activities and social practices, actively testing our own viewpoints and constructed theories in a comprehensive and multi-level manner in contemporary tourism practice. The scientific part requires the courage to persist, and to acknowledge and even deny oneself for imperfections or even errors. In this regard, I think it is also advisable to fully draw on the effective practices in the construction and operation of ancient academies, modern universities, and contemporary think tanks. For example, in Chinese history, there is the Yuelu Academy, which integrates academic inheritance, social propaganda, and talent cultivation, as well as the Donglin Academy, which directly participates in politics and society, with the saying 'Do not engage in empty discussions among scholars, and blood stains all over the place'. For example, Panasonic Corporation, a well-known private enterprise founded by Japanese foundations such as Mitsubishi Research Institute and Nomura Securities Research Institute, has a "Political and Economic School" under its umbrella. In addition to traditional think tank practices, it recruits students with strategic literacy from the whole society, and then provides systematic political, military, economic, diplomatic, philosophical, historical training, and even military training for each individual. These strategic talents with both civil and military skills are then sent to the Japanese political, business, and military circles, including Yoshihiko Noda, Seiji Maehara, and dozens of legislators who have backgrounds in the "Political and Economic School". From a global perspective, first the United States, then Japan, and now including Europe, are all striving to build strategic think tanks funded by foundations, some of which are directly established in large enterprises. A typical practice is the Rand Corporation, funded by the Ford Foundation in the United States, which provides strategic advice on politics, military, and finance to various sectors of society based on value neutral professional research. Their position was established through successful predictions of major events such as "China will send troops to North Korea", Soviet satellite launches, establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Great Depression in the United States, and German reunification, and was tested through military, economic, political, and social practices. Of course, there is a possibility of errors in these predictions and reports, but the risk of errors or failures must not be avoided. If we only focus on mutual recognition and admiration within the academic community, and are unwilling or afraid to accept practical testing, then theory and academia will always be weak and powerless decorations. We cannot just be satisfied with the pleasure of criticism at the level of language and writing, but should focus on the construction of scientific research rationality and the formation of academic ideas. In today's world, competition between countries is more manifested as competition between industries, and in addition to economic, technological, and talent competition, there are also ideological competition, cultural competition, and psychological competition that support industrial competition. In addition to their own academic growth, the academic communities of developed countries in Europe and America also pay attention to the hot and difficult issues of social development and industrial evolution, especially actively providing suggestions and recommendations on issues related to national advantages and strategic interests. Looking back at the history of tourism industry development and academic growth over the past thirty years, although there have been some remarkable achievements in the introduction of professional education frameworks and research methods, development experience, management models, and commercial oriented tourism planning, how many original tourism ideas and development concepts have come from the group of Chinese tourism scholars? To put it in an extreme sense, many achievements are just "annotations" of academic thought and verification of existing theories in developed Western countries. In recent years, more educational research institutions and experts have attempted to step out of their own territory and communicate and interact with the government and industry. Due to long-term isolation, the information control, dialogue platforms, and even discourse styles among research, academia, industry, government, and media are asymmetric, making it easy to form a situation where each speaks their own words. What should I do? I think simple mutual accusations, emotional outbursts, and joking and cursing are not advisable. Using social networks such as Weibo and WeChat to say some "ticklish" things and then using "(online) public opinion" to show self-respect is also suspected of abusing knowledge tools and elite advantages. China, which has entered the primary stage of mass tourism development, urgently needs development theories and academic ideas that are compatible with it. However, theories and ideas can only be formed, evolved, and improved in the process of serving society and working with the industry. We cannot just be satisfied with increasing social awareness, but also independently carry out guidance work on local tourism development and tourism industry practice innovation under the leadership of the National Tourism Administration. Due to the solid efforts of comrades in the past five years and the publicity and reporting of central media such as CCTV, Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, and China National Radio, the industrial influence and social visibility of the research institute have been steadily increasing. We have reason to be proud of it, and we should also regard it as a practical driving force for the service industry practice of the research institute. When an institution comes into this world, whatever it says is new, and of course, if it makes sense, more people will listen. But after all, we are a public institution with independent legal personality, not the spokesperson of the National Tourism Administration, nor can we just be an interpreter. We must and should use our professional abilities to provide social services, especially guidance for the development of the tourism industry. When it comes to the relationship between fame and professional contribution, I would like to turn my attention to those figures in the depths of history who have warmed the present and illuminated history for comrades to refer to. For example, Einstein and Charlie Chaplin, who both made great contributions to society and enjoyed high popularity, I would rather choose Einstein as the goal for young scholars to grow up with. Although few people truly understand what his theory of relativity is, he ushered in a new era in physics. Yuan Longping, a Chinese academician