Paul John Keating is an Australian former politician who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996,holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously served as the treasurer of Australia in the Hawke government from 1983 to 1991 and as the seventh deputy prime minister of Australia from 1990 to 1991.
Norodom Sihanouk was a Cambodian statesman,Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician,film director,and composer who led Cambodia in various capacities throughout his long career,most often as both King and Prime Minister of Cambodia. In Cambodia,he is known as Samdech Euv. During his lifetime,Cambodia was under various regimes,from French colonial rule,a Japanese puppet state (1945),an independent kingdom (1953–1970),a military republic (1970–1975),the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979),a Vietnamese-backed communist regime (1979–1989),a transitional communist regime (1989–1993) to eventually another kingdom.
Simon Findlay Crean was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 2001 to 2003. He represented the seat of Hotham in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 2013 and was a cabinet minister in the Hawke,Keating,Rudd and Gillard governments.
Kim Christian Beazley is an Australian former politician and diplomat. Since 2022 he has served as the Chairman of the Australian War Memorial. Previously,he was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006,having previously been a cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating governments. After leaving parliament,he served as ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2016 and 33rd governor of Western Australia from 2018 to 2022.
Sinology,also referred to as China studies,is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilization primarily through Chinese language,history,culture,literature,philosophy,art,music,cinema,and science. Its origin "may be traced to the examination which Chinese scholars made of their own civilization."
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June 2013 to September 2013. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Rudd has been the 23rd and current ambassador of Australia to the United States since 2023.
Julia Eileen Gillard is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP),having previously served as the 13th deputy prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010,under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. She is the first and only woman to hold either office in Australian history.
Craig Anthony Emerson is an Australian economist and former Australian Labor Party politician. He served as the Australian House of Representatives Member for the Division of Rankin in Queensland from 1998 until 2013. Emerson also served as Minister for Trade and Competitiveness,Minister for Tertiary Education,Skills,Science and Research and Minister for Competition Policy,Small Business and Consumer Affairs in the Rudd and Gillard Governments.
Stephen Francis Smith is an Australian former politician and diplomat serving as the 26th and current high commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom since 2023. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP),he was the federal member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Perth from 1993 to 2013,serving in the Rudd and Gillard governments as minister for Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2010,minister for Trade in 2010 and minister for Defence from 2010 to 2013.
Wayne Maxwell Swan is an Australian politician serving as the 25th and current National President of the Labor Party since 2018,previously serving as the 14th deputy prime minister of Australia and the deputy leader of the Labor Party from 2010 to 2013,and the treasurer of Australia from 2007 to 2013.
Stephon Xavier Marbury is an American former professional basketball player who is the head coach for the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). After his freshman year with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets,he was selected as the 4th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks,but was traded shortly thereafter to the Minnesota Timberwolves. A two-time All-Star and two-time member of the All-NBA Team,Marbury played in the NBA from 1996 until 2009. He then played in the CBA until his retirement in 2018.
The Beijing Shougang Ducks,also known as Beijing Shougang or Beijing Ducks,are a professional basketball team based in Beijing,China,which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association. The Shougang Corporation is the club's corporate sponsor while its mascot is a duck.
Mandarin Training Center was established in 1956. This center is a Chinese as a second language institution run by National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in Taipei,Taiwan and located at NTNU Daan Campus. MTC is the oldest and largest facility of its kind in terms of courses offered and students enrolled per year.
Chinese as a foreign or second language is when non-native speakers study Chinese varieties. The increased interest in China from those outside has led to a corresponding interest in the study of Standard Chinese as a foreign language,the official language of mainland China,Taiwan and Singapore. However,the teaching of Chinese both within and outside China is not a recent phenomenon. Westerners began learning different Chinese varieties in the 16th century. Within China,Mandarin became the official language in the early 20th century. Mandarin also became the official language of Taiwan when the Kuomintang took over control from Japan after World War II.
Consular relations between China and Australia were first established in 1909,and diplomatic relations were established in 1941. Australia continued to recognise the Republic of China (ROC) government after it lost the Chinese Civil War and retreated to Taiwan in 1949,but switched recognition to the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 21 December 1972. Chinese Australians have been a significant minority group in the country since the Qing dynasty.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sinology:
Geremie R. Barmé is an Australian sinologist and film-maker on modern and traditional China. He was formerly Director,Australian Centre on China in the World and Chair Professor of Chinese History at Australian National University College of Asia and the Pacific in Canberra.
On 13 February 2008,the Parliament of Australia issued a formal apology to Indigenous Australians for forced removals of Australian Indigenous children from their families by Australian federal and state government agencies. The apology was delivered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd,and is also referred to as the National Apology,or simply The Apology.
