Beijing University lecture cites parallels between Rizal, Sun Yat-sen

A Philippine civic leader discussed the parallel lives of Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal and Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen at a recent lecture in Beijing University in China.   At a lecture at the Beijing University on November 29, Teresita Ang-See cited the contacts and mutual support between Filipino and Chinese revolutionaries during their respective nationalist struggles at the turn of the 20th century. Some 100 participants attended the lecture jointly organized by the Philippine Embassy and the Department of Southeast Asian Studies of Peking University to commemorate Rizal's 150th birth anniversary.   The lecture also marked the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai revolution, which ousted the Qing (Manchu) dynasty.   "Ms. Ang See also discussed the parallel lives of Dr. Jose Rizal and Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who were central characters of the revolutions in the Philippines and China that set aflame the nationalist stirrings in Asia at a time when many countries in the region were under colonial powers," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.   Ang-See talked about how the Filipino revolutionary movement against Spanish colonial rule, and later against the Americans, inspired Chinese revolutionaries as they fought the Manchu imperial government and colonial powers carving up China.   She cited historical documents that reveal the deep appreciation of the Xinhai revolutionaries for the material and manpower support extended to them by the Filipino Katipuneros when they were needed the most.   "Historical references point to the contacts between the personalities of the two nationalist revolutions that established the Philippines as Asia's first Republic and ushered birth of modern China," the DFA said. Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba Laguna. He was executed by firing squad on December 30, 1896 after he was found guilty of rebellion, sedition, and forming an illegal association. On the other hand, Sun Yat-sen (12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925) was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. Instrumental in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty during the Xinhai Revolution, Sun Yat-sen e is referred to as "Father of the Nation."  - VVP, GMA News