Lecture by Prof. Tang Yongsheng from PLA National Defence University successfully held amidst the seventh National Security Education Day organized by SPSIR

On April 15, 2022, hosted by the Institute for China & World Studies / the School of Political Science & International Relations (SPSIR) of Tongji University, the 47th lecture of Tongji Serial Lectures on Social Sciences was successfully held online. On the occasion of the seventh National Security Education Day, Professor Tang Yongsheng, Vice-Dean of the National Security College at China People's Liberation Army National Defence University, Major General of the Army, and a member of the National Security Discipline Review Group of the Academic Degrees Office of the State Council, was specially invited to deliver a lecture on "Pursuing a Holistic View of National Security, Taking a National Security Road with Chinese Characteristics". More than 140 students and teachers of Tongji University attended the online lecture, which was moderated by Dean Men Honghua, a distinguished professor of the Changjiang Scholars Program of the Ministry of Education.

Focusing on the importance of pursuing a holistic view of national security, Prof. Tang delivered his lecture from three aspects: "the conditions of the times when the holistic view of national security was proposed", "the core principles of the holistic view of national security", and "the practical requirements for the holistic view of national security". He emphasized that the proposal of the view has provided an ideological guidance for comprehensively carrying out the work on national security, created a new situation of national security on the new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, and provided scientific and basic guidelines for taking a national security road with Chinese characteristics. Prof. Tang firstly expounded the conditions of the times and historical inevitability of the holistic view of national security from the three perspectives of the changing world situation, the profound changes at home, and the national security thought. Secondly, he analyzed the core principles of the security view from six aspects: "clarifying the mission, fulfilling the purpose, highlighting the fundamentals, establishing the guidelines, reinforcing the rationale, and blazing a trail". Finally, based on the systematic interpretation of the National Security Strategy (2021-2025), he illustrated the practical requirements for maintaining national security and pursuing the holistic view of national security under the new situation.

During this lecture, Prof. Tang also had a thought-provoking and realistic interaction with Tongji students and teachers. He gave wonderful answers on a number of questions about military security, the Taiwan issue, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, people's security, national security research methods, the discourse power in international security governance and other issues.

Dean Men concluded the lecture by pointing out that China has always attached importance to national security, and this can be often seen in Chinese classics. At this particular time when our country is stable and the world is in turmoil, it is crucial and important to explore the way to safeguard national security. Major General Tang gave an in-depth analysis of the importance of grand strategic thinking from a philosophical point of view, showcasing both his observations of the history and his assessment of the reality as well as his problem-solving skills; he made a rational and dialectical analysis of the changes facing the world and stressed the importance of making a correct assessment of the situation; he unscrambled the profound changes in the world situation from the perspective of security, gave a systematic analysis of the innovation in the holistic view of national security and national security thought in combination with the changes and development of China, comprehensively interpreted the direction of the Outline of National Security Strategy of China, and discussed how to perfect security thought and concept. This lecture has fully demonstrated the aspirations of Prof. Tang, as a soldier scholar with a global vision, to study and tackle the most critical security issues of the country. It has enabled us to feel the power of national security and gain a deeper understanding of how to safeguard national security.