The Graduate Institute of Russian Studies (GIRS) hosted a one-day forum to discuss the current situations of Russian interior policies and diplomacy last Friday, March 11th at Ching Sheng Building. The institute invited the deputy director from the Moscow -Taipei Office Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission in Taipei to open the forum, which included several renowned scholars in this field who came for presentations and discussion sessions. The director of the GIRS, Vladimir Maliavin, was there to give an opening speech on his perspectives over Russian affairs. He and the Russian representative were both hopeful that with such an open forum, more open discussions on Russian could snowball. The closing ceremony was presided by Dean Tai Wan-chin of the College of International Studies.

In terms of Russian interior policies, Professor Maliavin believes that Russia will continue to evolve towards true democracy, which is very beneficial to any future Taiwan-Russia cooperation. Therefore, he said that Taiwan should carry on in supporting and investing in Russia if we want to be one of their significant partners when that day arrives.

Numerous professors from the Russian Department, GIRS and the College of International Studies attended the presentations and discussions. Professor Maliavin acted as the moderator at the final concluding discussion session. (Ying-hsueh Hu)