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<\/a><\/p>\nBy Michel Rose<\/p>\n
GUANGHZOU, China (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron was given a rock star welcome by Chinese students at an elite university in Guangzhou where he took questions and hailed critical thinking in a country with tight media and political control.<\/p>\n
On the final leg of a three-day visit to China, Macron travelled south to Guangzhou, a coastal port city which his office said symbolised China’s openness to the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the verdant campus of Sun Yat-sen university, excited students screamed Macron’s name, grabbed him to shake his hand and took pictures with their mobile phones as he made his way to the gymnasium for a question-and-answer session.<\/p>\n
In opening remarks, Macron repeated the message of firmness against Russia he had conveyed to Chinese President Xi Jinping the day before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s a country that decides to colonise its neighbour, to breach the rules, to deploy weapons and to invade,” Macron said, drawing applause.<\/p>\n
‘FREE AND EMANCIPATED INDIVIDUAL’<\/p>\n
Asked by a nuclear physics student what he thought were the skills needed for a bright future, Macron cited knowledge, critical thinking and self-confidence.<\/p>\n
“Critical thinking is just as important as access to knowledge. That’s what makes you a free and emancipated individual,” he told the crowd of about 1,000 students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without critical thinking, an individual “would not know what to do with knowledge and would simply be the victim of propaganda,” Macron added.<\/p>\n
Taking three questions before being told he needed to rejoin Xi, Macron was also asked what he thought of the popular new chatbot ChatGPT and artificial intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He replied there was no point being afraid of it but that the world should make sure it is not used by governments to increase their control over society.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The students listened attentively to Macron and clapped his answers. While they asked questions in French, he quipped that he would be hard-pressed to respond in Chinese. <\/p>\n
“It was very important for students. \u00a0The president said: if you have knowledge without critical thinking, you can’t be yourself,” said one 20-year old French student, who gave his name as Victor, after the session.<\/p>\n
\n(Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)<\/p>\n
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