China grants Costa Rican president honorary doctorate

Visting Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis is granted Honorary Doctorate in Law by Renmin University of China on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015. RUC President Chen Yulu symbolically turns the tassel for Solis. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis received an honorary Doctorate in Law from the prestigious Renmin University of China on Tuesday, while on his first visit to China since taking office in May 2014.

RUC President Chen Yulu turned the tassels for President Solis in the symbolic academic ritual of a degree awarding ceremony, presenting him with the degree certificate approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education in the presence of selected faculty members and students along with diplomats from both countries. Solis was also appointed honorary consultant to RUC's Latin American Research Center.

Referring to Solis as "now a family member of RUC," Dr. Chen said he anticipated Solis would contribute further to the exchange between RUC and universities in Costa Rica.

Solis, who has been a scholar teaching history and politics at the University of Costa Rica for the past three decades, responded by saying that receiving the honorary degree signifies that academic cooperation between the two countries is deepening, and that he pledged to promote research on how to bring China and Latin America closer in order to seek common prosperity for both sides.

Solis acknowledged the current anti-corruption campaign in China, saying it was "very courageous" for President Xi Jinping to first admit that corruption exists in the country before taking measures to find the sources of corruption and the responsible parties. By contrast, "many people and even many politicians keep ignoring corruption," said Solis, emphasizing that acknowledgement is as important as punishment in anti-corruption campaigns.

"You also have to punish, because the rule of law has to prevail. You have to make the law function, otherwise the state does not operate well," Solis said.