A delegation of the new senior management team of the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), headed by its fourth rector, the Rev. Prof. Stephen Morgan, visited the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Macau on Friday, “with the aim to greet and present the future development plans of USJ in Macau,” the Catholic tertiary education institution said in a statement received by The Macau Post Daily yesterday. 

The new team was welcomed by Deputy Commissioner Wang Dong. 

According to the statement, Prof. Morgan told his hosts that “USJ is in, of and for Macau, China.” 

The statement said that the private university, which is co-owned by the local Catholic diocese and the Catholic University in Lisbon, will continue its role as a platform to serve Macau’s role as a platform for economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in conjunction with the central government’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), apart from supporting the local government’s Greater Bay Area (GBA) initiatives.  

According to the statement, Deputy Commissioner Wang expressed her appreciation for the concept that “USJ is in, of and for Macau, China.” Wang also said that the Foreign Ministry Commission in Macau will “actively support” the university’s activities within the ambit of Macau’s role as a centre and platform for international relations. 

The statement pointed out that USJ has “cultivated the talents” of over 7,500 students in different fields over the past 24 years. 

USJ is based on a purpose-built campus in Ilha Verde. 

Prof. Lidia Zhou (from left to right), head of the USJ Department of Languages and Culture; Prof. Jenny Lao-Philips, dean of the Faculty of Business and Law; USJ Vice Rector Prof. Zhang Shuguang; USJ Rector Rev. Prof. Stephen Morgan; Wang Dong, deputy commissioner of the Foreign Ministry in Macau; USJ Vice Rector Prof. Keith Morrison; USJ Vice Rector Prof. Álvaro Barbosa; and Zheng Xinyou, director of the Foreign Ministry Commission’s Department of Public Diplomacy and Information, pose in the lobby of the Foreign Ministry Commission building in Zape on Friday. Photo: USJ