THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

　　MESSAGE TO THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF PEKING UNIVERSITY

　　Beij jing, 4 May 1998

　　It gives me great pleasure to extend my warmest greetings to students and faculty on the occasion of Peking University 100th anniversary.

　　Yours is a prestigious centre of learning, which has long wielded immense influence on the scientific and cultural life in China. Many outstanding scholars have gone on from here to make important contributions to higher education, global awareness and the advancement of society.

　　Such contributions were never more crucial than they are today. To realize the full potential of the United Nations in addressing the challenges of an increasingly complex world, we must bring to the task both a political and an intellectual commitment. At this time of profound change, institutions such as yours take on increased importance in world affairs. They help to uncover the dimensions of change; they construct an intellectual platform upon which a better future can be built. I therefore commend the University initiative to host a Forum devoted to the theme of higher education in the next millennium.

　　Inspired by the intellectual and spiritual level of thinking that has for so long been sustained by this great seat of learning, I know that you will continue to use your knowledge, vision and powers of analysis to help address the issues of our times. Therein lies a source of hope that humanity will prosper, and that the objectives upon which the United Nations was founded will come closer to being achieved.

　　Kofi A.Annan

　　在北京大學(xué)百年校慶之際,我謹向貴校師生致以最熱烈的敬意,并為此深感榮幸。

　　北京大學(xué)是一個名聲顯赫的學(xué)術(shù)中心，長期以來，她對中國的科學(xué)、文化生活產(chǎn)生了巨大影響。眾多杰出學(xué)者正是從北大起步進而對高等教育、全球意識、以及社會進步做出了重大貢獻。這種貢獻從未像今天這樣重要。為了充分發(fā)揮聯(lián)合國的潛能，應(yīng)對日益復(fù)雜的世界所面臨的種種挑戰(zhàn)，我們必須承擔(dān)政治的責(zé)任和知識的責(zé)任，以完成這個任務(wù)。在此深刻變革之際，像貴校這樣的機構(gòu)在世界事物中日益顯現(xiàn)重要位置，它們有助于顯示變革的重要性，并同時創(chuàng)立了建設(shè)美好明天的知識平臺。為此，我贊賞貴校主辦以二十一世紀高等教育為主題的論壇的主動性。

　　由于深受貴校這一偉大學(xué)術(shù)基地長期以來所保持的學(xué)術(shù)水準和所承載的思想內(nèi)涵之激勵，我相信，你們將繼續(xù)運用你們的學(xué)識、遠見以及分析能力去幫助解決我們這個時代的各種問題，人類繁榮的希望之源存在于此，成立聯(lián)合國的目標越來越接近的希望之源也存在于此。