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SCMP Reporter

Beijing University celebrates its centenary today with more than 50,000 former students and 140 presidents of other seats of learning in the world gathering in the capital for state-sponsored festivities.

 A grand ceremony was due to be held at the Great Hall of the People, at which President Jiang Zemin would deliver a key speech.

 Tonight, there will be a gala performance at Jingyuan - Beijing University's once-famous corner for open debates - which will be televised nationwide.

 Yesterday, a bronze statute of Yan Fu, the university's first president, was unveiled in Jingyuan and the cornerstone of a new two-storey history museum was placed near Weiming Lake.

 China News Service said an 800-member Guangdong delegation, including alumni from Hong Kong, had arrived and the campus was 'packed with people'. Scholars attended four conferences on topics varying from micro-electronics to chemistry.

 A festive mood was apparent on the campus. Buildings were decorated with colourful banners and 10,000 tulips had been shipped in from Yunnan province.

 A new library had been opened and a clock set up to count down the anniversary.

 Among the guests were Professor Lee Yuan-tse, president of Taiwan's Academia Sinica, who dismissed criticism on the island that hostility between it and the mainland made his presence inappropriate.

 Xinhua yesterday released a lengthy article praising Mr Jiang over his 'concern' for the university.

 It repeated the President's call - made on his visit to the university last week - that students should practise patriotism and work harder. Democracy and progressiveness - two of the university's traditional spirits - were glaringly missing in Mr Jiang's message to students.

 Both the university and state media have emphasised the contributions the institution has made to China's socialist tradition.

 A Beijing-based former student said: 'The party will dictate what image the world will see. But the June 4 movement will not be far from the minds of anyone there, even the most patriotic alumni.

 'People from the university intimately know its history. It would be unrealistic to expect their views about what the anniversary means to fit the Government's.'  Dissident Wang Dan, exiled to the United States last month, studied history at the university before he was arrested for leading the 1989 democracy movement.



Academic VIPs for 100-year milestone