Ene Selart and Urmas Hõbepappel visited Asian networks

Ene Selart and Urmas Hõbepappel visited Asian networks

Ene Selart participated in the conference "Japan and Japanese Studies in the 21st Century" organised by Copenhagen Business School. The event, which took place from 24 to 25 March, brought together Nordic Japanologists. The range of topics covered in the presentations ranged from social sciences to humanities: developments in Japanese studies in the Nordic countries and Japan's economic cooperation with the European Union were discussed. The conference was concluded by a round table, where discussions were held on the profession's needs, its follow-up, and the possibilities of cooperation between Nordic Japanologists. The Scandinavian-Japan Sasakawa Foundation supported the high-level meeting.

At the same time, Urmas Hõbepappel was at the China-Baltic Symposium of the Centre for Geopolitics (Centre for Geopolitics) at Cambridge University. In a free atmosphere, the influence of China in the Baltic Sea region, especially in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, was discussed. The main issues concerned China's soft power, economic relations, and China's cooperation with Russia. It was acknowledged that China's lack of economic cooperation with Estonia and other Baltic countries is why Beijing has not been able to gain much influence in this corner of the world. Hopefully, the next similar event will be held with our Cambridge colleagues in Tartu in a year