Tsinghua students were pleasantly surprised at James Soong's eloquence while speaking of their alma mater yesterday.

"Obviously, Soong's speech on Tsinghua's history and culture was well prepared," said Sheng Hetai, a second-year postgraduate student in civil engineering. "To some extent, it was a tailor-made address for Tsinghua."

"He showed outstanding skill in talking about Mr Science here in Tsinghua," Sheng added.

Concepts of democracy and science were introduced to China during the early 20th century, each personified as Mr De and Mr Sai.

Tsinghua University was considered one of the important bases for Mr Sai while Peking University was considered the cradle of Mr De.

Meng Tiezhu, a second-year postgraduate in physics, didn't get chance to get in the speech hall, but watched the speech from a big screen in the university library.

If he had the chance, he said, he would have asked Soong "what steps would you take in relieving cross-Straits strains if your People First Party were the ruling party."

Long Shaopeng, a freshman in construction studies, said he hopes exchanges between mainland students and those from Taiwan can be increased in the wake of Soong's visit.

"Exchanges in academic and learning fields should take the lead before spreading into other areas so there is further co-operation and dialogue," he said after listening to the speech.

He believes science and art should be shared by humans without the hindrances, whether they are geographic, economic or political.

Chen Xichun, another classmate, offered his opinion on the Soong speech.

"It was beyond my expectations that Soong would know so much about traditional Chinese and Tsinghua culture," he said.

(China Daily 05/12/2005 page5)