On the afternoon of April 28, 2026, the Center for American Studies (CAS) at Fudan University hosted a lecture by Paul Evans, Professor Emeritus at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, on "John Fairbank and the American Understanding of Contemporary China and Its Lessons." The lecture was chaired by Professor Wu Xinbo, Dean of the Institute of International Studies and Director of the CAS, and drew nearly twenty faculty and students from Fudan and beyond.

Fairbank, Professor Evans observed, was a world-renowned American scholar of Chinese history whose scholarly life offers four lessons for today's field of area studies. First, he insisted on approaching China with empathy — entering the Chinese context and understanding Chinese society from the inside out, rather than from the outside in. Second, he acknowledged the cultural differences between China and the United States but did not believe in a "clash of civilizations." Third, he stressed that the two countries must coexist peacefully. Fourth, in his later years, Fairbank came to recognize that China and the United States should cooperate on major questions bearing on human survival, such as protecting the Earth's environment and global public health.