Global power shifts: Implications for Europe and Asia
-
Elisabeth-Herz-Kremenak-Saal
Plenary
/
in englischer SpracheIn terms of its expanding economic, military, development policy and diplomatic interests, China’s hegemony is now reaching global dimensions. To what extent does this dynamic replace the standing and influence of the United States? What opportunities and risks arise henceforth for Europe and Asia and does the new Silk Road play a relevant role?
| |||||
| |||||
| |||||
| |||||
|
Dr. Karin KNEISSL
Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, Vienna
| On 18 December 2017, Dr Karin Kneissl was appointed Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria. Karin Kneissl was born in 1965 in Vienna. She studied law and Arab studies at the University of Vienna. She also studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Amman, the University of Urbino and was a Fulbright scholar at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Karin Kneissl is also a graduate of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in Paris. From 1990 to 1998 Karin Kneissl held a number of posts in the Austrian diplomatic service, including in the cabinet of then foreign minister Dr Alois Mock, in the Office of International Law and at the Austrian embassies in Paris and Madrid. Since 1998 Karin Kneissl has worked as an independent lecturer in the areas of international law, Middle Eastern history and the energy market at various universities, including the University of Vienna; the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna; the European Business School in the Rheingau, Germany; the International Centre for Human Sciences in Byblos, Lebanon; Saint-Joseph University in Beirut; as well as at the Austrian Armed Forces National Defence Academy, Vienna and Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria. Karin Kneissl has also worked since 1998 as an independent commentator and correspondent for numerous German and English-speaking print media, as well as for the Austrian state broadcaster ORF. She has authored a large number of books and publications. Karin Kneissl is co-founder and vice president of Whistleblowing Austria as well as vice president of the Society for Politico-Strategic Studies, STRATEG. She has worked in local politics in her home community of Seibersdorf and plays an active role in numerous non-profit organisations in Austria and Lebanon. Karin Kneissl speaks various foreign languages: Arabic, English, French, Hebrew (basic), Italian, Hungarian (basic) and Spanish. |
Yong LI
Director General, UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna
| LI Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), has had an extensive career as a senior economic and financial policy-maker. As Vice-Minister of Finance of the People’s Republic of China and member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank for a decade, Mr. Li was involved in setting and harmonizing fiscal, monetary and industrial policies, and in supporting sound economic growth in China. He pushed forward financial sector reform, and prompted major financial institutions to establish corporate governance, deal with toxic assets and strengthen risk management. Mr. Li gave great importance to fiscal and financial measures in favor of agricultural development and SMEs, the cornerstones for creating economic opportunities, reducing poverty and promoting gender equality. He played a key role in China’s cooperation with multilateral development organizations, such as the World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank. |
Dr.iur. Hans-Dietmar SCHWEISGUT
Ambassador of the European Union to the People's Republic of China and Mongolia, Beijing
| 1974 | Graduation, Law Faculty (Dr. Jur.), Innsbruck University |
| 1975 | MCL, SMU, Dallas, USA |
| 1975-1977 | Postgraduate studies, Diplomatische Akademie Wien (Diplomatic Academy Vienna) |
| 1977 | Joins the Austrian diplomatic service |
| 1979-1983 | Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations, New York |
| 1983-1984 | Head of the office, State Secretary for Economic Coordination in the Austrian Federal Chancellery |
| 1984-1986 | Secretary and later head of the office to the Federal Minister for Public Economy and Transport of Austria |
| 1986-1987 | Economic advisor to the Austrian Federal Minister of Finance |
| 1987-1991 | Minister at the Austrian Embassy, Tokyo |
| 1991-1999 | Director General for Economic Integration and Customs of the Federal Ministry of Finance, responsible for economic and monetary policy, international affairs, including the International Financial |
| Institutions, European Integration, Customs and excise taxes | |
| 1999-2003 | Ambassador of Austria to Japan |
| 2003-2007 | Ambassador of Austria to the People's Republic of China |
| 2007 -2010 | Permanent Representative of Austria to the European Union in Brussels |
| 2011 -2014 | Ambassador of the European Union to Japan |
Hailong WU
Ambassador; President, Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, Beijing
| 1978-1981 | Staff member, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). |
| 1981-1986 | Attaché and later Third Secretary, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). |
| 1986-1988 | Third Secretary, and later Second Secretary, of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA. |
| 1988-1992 | Second Secretary, and later First Secretary, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations. |
| 1992-1996 | First Secretary, and later the Deputy Division Director, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA. |
| 1996-1999 | Counselor, Chinese Embassy in the State of Israel. |
| 1999-2001 | Deputy Director-General, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA. |
| 2001-2004 | Deputy Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. |
| 2004-2006 | Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). |
| 2006-2009 | Director-General, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA. |
| 2009-2011 | Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs. |
| 2011-2014 | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Head of the Mission of the People's Republic of China to the European Union. |
| 2014-2016 | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland. |
| Since 2016 President, Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs |
Sebastian RAMSPECK
Brussels bureau chief and TV correspondent, SRF - Swiss Radio and Television, Brussels
| Sebastian Ramspeck, a Swiss national, was born in Zurich. He studied international relations at the Graduate Institute in Geneva and European law at Zurich University. He is also a graduate of the Henri Nannen School of Journalism in Hamburg. Mr Ramspeck started his professional career in the Swiss federal administration in Berne, namely in the Ministry for Economic Affairs and in the Office of the Swiss Intelligence Services Coordinator. As a journalist, Mr Ramspeck has worked for various media companies in Switzerland and abroad, i.e. for the German newsmagazine "Spiegel" as a business correspondent in Düsseldorf. Since 2014, Sebastian Ramspeck is Brussels bureau chief and TV correspondent for Switzerland’s major national broadcaster "SRF". |
