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<TD width=710><SPAN class=head><FONT face=Arial color=#cc3300 size=6>Asian
Currents</FONT></SPAN> <BR><STRONG><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=head2>The
Asian Studies Association of Australia's
e-bulletin</SPAN><BR></FONT></STRONG><EM>Maximising Australia's Asian
Knowledge </EM></TD>
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<SPAN class=head3><FONT size=2>August 2008 | ISSN 1449-4418 | <</FONT><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/asian-currents.html"><FONT
size=2>http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/asian-currents.html</FONT></A><FONT
size=2>></FONT></SPAN> for the plain copy (no images) of this issue please
click <A href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.htm">here</A>
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<TD vAlign=top><!-- =================================== Contents ============================= -->
<P><STRONG>Sponsored by ARC Asia Pacific Futures Research Network</STRONG>
<A href="http://www.sueztosuva.org.au/">http://www.sueztosuva.org.au</A>
</P>
<P>In this issue:</P>
<DIV id=menu>
<UL class=contents>
<LI><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.html#2"><FONT
color=#cc3300>Analysis: </FONT></A>
<UL>
<LI><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.html#2a"><FONT
color=#cc3300>THE BEIJING OLYMPICS: CHALLENGING TIMES</FONT></A>
<LI><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.html#2b"><FONT
color=#cc3300>CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS</FONT></A> </LI></UL>
<LI><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.html#3"><FONT
color=#cc3300>Profile</FONT></A>
<LI><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.html#4"><FONT
color=#cc3300>Student of the month</FONT></A>
<LI><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.html#5"><FONT
color=#cc3300>Website of the month</FONT></A>
<LI><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.html#6"><FONT
color=#cc3300>Recent publication of interest</FONT></A>
<LI><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.html#7"><FONT
color=#cc3300>Did you know?</FONT></A>
<LI><A
href="http://iceaps.anu.edu.au/ac/asian-currents-08-08.html#8"><FONT
color=#cc3300>Diary dates</FONT></A> </LI></UL></DIV><!-- =================================== Body ================================= --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
<H2><A name=2a>THE BEIJING OLYMPICS: Challenging Times</A></H2>
<P>by <STRONG>Tim Lindenmayer</STRONG> <A
href="mailto:tim.lindenmayer@gmail.com">tim.lindenmayer@gmail.com</A> who
recently completed his Honours year at Monash University and is interpreting at
the Games</P>
<DIV class=content>
<P align=justify>2008 has been a big year for China. After the winter snowstorms
and the devastating Sichuan earthquake, in August this year China was put under
unprecedented global attention and scrutiny, during arguably the most
significant event in its recent history – the Olympic Games.</P>
<P align=justify>I arrived in Beijing a week before the opening ceremony in
order to re-familiarise myself with the city. I found that astounding
developments had occurred since my last visit a year ago.China has spent some
$40 billion in its Olympic preparations, including constructing the world’s
largest airport terminal, installing 19 new Olympic venues and expanding its
underground system by an extra 100kms of subway and light rail lines. Throughout
Beijing, thousands of the city’s glossy new buildings are on display, while the
old ones have been restored, repainted and plastered with bold welcome banners
and colourful Olympic murals. New parklands and reserves have been established
throughout the city, while millions of flowerbeds and pot plants were shipped in
from the countryside. Pristine taxis and tidy new buses travel between major
sites around the city, where troupes of uniformed ‘foreigner-helpers’ are
stationed, waiting to welcome and direct their Olympic guests.</P>
<P align=justify>These are the images Beijing wanted to display. A friendly,
open, naturally cosmopolitan city, embodying the very slogan of the Beijing
Olympics: “One World, One Dream”. However, this official catchphrase –seen
throughout Beijing, carved into rock, spelled out in elaborate garden designs
and flashing on fluorescent billboards –smacks of irony. Indeed, the “Harmony
Games” propaganda the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has striven so hard to
present, obscures the grimmer side of China’s remarkable Olympic
preparations.</P>
<P align=justify>Before the Games, migrant workers, beggars, prostitutes,
disabled people and other unsightly subjects were forced out of the city in a
rigorous government crackdown. Beijing spared no effort to remove anyone that
might cause a nuisance or reflect poorly on the government and the nation.</P>
<P align=justify>Public awareness campaigns battled against spitting, swearing,
queue-jumping, littering, smoking and ‘Chinglish’ street signs. Directions were
given on how to act and what to say in the presence of foreigners. Some of my
Chinese friends who volunteered to don the ‘foreign-helper’ outfit were
instructed on how to respond if confronted by a foreigner with a thorny
question: ‘Tibet?’ – ‘No opinion.’ ‘Politics?’ – ‘All good/ uninterested.’</P>
<P align=justify>Beijing’s pre-Olympic behaviour, as well as long-standing
issues such as human rights abuses, pollution, political and religious
repression and Beijing’s unscrupulous support of various pariah regimes, have
ignited legitimate protest from both within and outside of China. Nevertheless,
the constant criticism China has recently received in the Western media also
seems to reflect certain censoriousness among Western observers. China-bashing
has become the norm for Western journalists.</P>
<P align=justify>While the Olympics inevitably and rightly calls attention to
the serious shortcomings of the Chinese government, the Games should also be
remembered for what they symbolise for China – the culmination of three decades
of impressive growth and a milestone in China’s rapid emergence as a global
power.</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>Links:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>
<DIV align=justify>See also Tracy Smart’s recent essay, <EM>The human rights
Olympics: Beijing 2008 and China's security dilemma</EM> <A
href="http://www.globalcollab.org/Nautilus/australia/apsnet/policy-forum/2008/beijing-olympics/?searchterm=China%20">http://www.globalcollab.org/Nautilus/australia/apsnet/policy-forum/2008/beijing-olympics/?searchterm=China</A></DIV></LI></UL>
<UL>
<LI>
<DIV align=left>And for a German perspective, see an article in Spiegel
magazine, <EM>Was Beijing 2008 a Mistake? </EM><A
href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,571365,00.html">http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,571365,00.html</A></DIV></LI></UL></DIV>
<DIV class=content align=justify>
<P> </P>
<H2><A name=2b>CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS: the election of President Ma
Ying-jeou</A></H2>
<P align=justify>by <STRONG>Bruce Jacobs</STRONG>, Professor of Asian Languages
and Studies, Monash University, <A
href="mailto:Bruce.Jacobs@arts.Monash.edu.au">Bruce.Jacobs@arts.Monash.edu.au</A>,
offers a glimpse into one part of Chinese history that received little attention
during the Olympic opening ceremony</P>
<P align=justify>Chinese claims to Taiwan are very recent. In his famous 16 July
1936 interview with Edgar Snow, Chairman Mao Zedong clearly stated that Taiwan
should be independent (Snow 1961:96). A recent study by Alan Wachman (2007)
demonstrates that neither the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) nor the
Chinese Communist Party claimed Taiwan as a part of China until 1942. In fact,
the only Han Chinese government ever to control Taiwan from the Chinese mainland
did so during the Civil War of 1945-1949, perhaps the saddest period of Taiwan’s
entire history.</P>
<P>During their two centuries (1683-1895) of rule, the Manchus made clear they
never exercised sovereignty in Taiwan’s aboriginal highlands. They also
administered Taiwan differently from China, another colony in their huge
multi-ethnic empire. The Manchus ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895. From the time
the Chinese Nationalists took over in October 1945, Chiang Kai-shek and his son,
Chiang Ching-kuo, systematically discriminated against Taiwanese while
emphasising the Chinese nature of their regime. For example, although
mainlanders accounted for only 15 per cent of Taiwan’s population, they always
held a majority of seats in the party’s Central Standing Committee and in the
government’s cabinet.</P>
<P>This situation changed when Vice-President Lee Teng-hui succeeded President
Chiang Chiang-kuo upon the latter’s death in January 1988. Under Lee Teng-hui
(1988-2000) and President Chen Shui-bian (2000-2008), Taiwan democratised and
the discrimination against Taiwanese ended. The Chinese reaction was to refuse
to speak to the Taiwan government. China aimed more and more missiles at Taiwan
until the number reached 1,400 earlier this year. The Anti-Secession law, passed
by the Chinese National People’s Congress in 2005, formally threatened Taiwan
with “non-peaceful” measures.</P>
<P>When he ran for president in 2008, Ma Ying-jeou, the Nationalist nominee,
repeatedly emphasised his identity with Taiwan. Though born in Hong Kong, he
stressed that his parents had conceived him in Taiwan. He also noted that Taiwan
was an independent and sovereign country.</P>
<P>Taiwan’s voters gave Ma a landslide victory primarily because the previous
government appeared inefficient and because economic growth had slowed. Ma
argued that more integration of the Taiwan economy with China would be
advantageous. After his inauguration, Ma also pushed hard for better relations
with China. Although the frameworks had been established under Chen Shui-bian,
the Chinese had refused to finalise these agreements in an effort to help the
presidential candidacy of Ma. This support from the mainland saw Ma’s promise of
direct weekend charter flights from China come to fruition on 4 July 2008. The
Taiwan government established a limit of 3,000 Chinese tourists per day and
expected earnings from this tourism to be about A$2 billion per year but the
fountain of wealth has yet to materialise. In the month since Chinese tourists
were welcomed, fewer than 300 a day have arrived and these have spent
considerably less than expected.</P>
<P>The Ma government has strived to show the Chinese that it is “friendly.” The
Chinese response to this effort remains unclear, with considerable infighting
apparent over the Taiwan issue.</P>
<P>In the context of the Olympics, the official Chinese media often uses a term
for Taiwan that implies it is part of China, despite the 1989 agreement of
Taiwan and China on how to translate the term ‘Chinese Taipei’ into Chinese.
And, notwithstanding many statements by Ma Ying-jeou that no peace agreement
would be possible without the removal of the missiles aimed at Taiwan, not one
missile has been removed.<BR></P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>References</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>
<DIV align=left>Snow, Edgar (1961). <EM>Red Star Over China</EM> (New York:
Grove Press, Black Cat Edition). This version reprinted the original 1938
edition.</DIV></LI></UL>
<DIV align=left>
<UL>
<LI>Wachman, Alan M. (2007). <EM>Why Taiwan? Geostrategic Rationales for
China’s Territorial Integrity</EM> (Stanford: Stanford University Press.)
</LI></UL><STRONG>Links:</STRONG>
<UL>
<LI>Dreyer, Edward L. (2008). 'The Myth of "One China."' In Peter C.Y. Chow
(ed), <EM>The "One China" Dilemma</EM> (New York: Palgrave Macmillan), pp.
19-36. </LI></UL>
<UL>
<LI>Jacobs, J. Bruce (2008). 'Taiwan's Colonial History and Postcolonial
Nationalism.' <EM>In ibid</EM>, pp. 37-56. <A
href="mailto:orders@palgrave.com">orders@palgrave.com</A> </LI></UL>
<UL>
<LI>CIA World Factbook: Taiwan: <A
href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tw.html">https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tw.html</A>
</LI></UL></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=content align=justify></DIV>
<DIV class=content>
<DIV align=justify><!-- ================================ Item ends =============================== --><!-- ================================ Item begins ============================= --></DIV>
<H1 class=headline><A name=3></A>Profile</H1>
<P>This month we profile <STRONG>Professor Tim Lindsey</STRONG>, Federation
Fellow, Director, Asian Law Centre Director, Centre for Islamic Law &
Society, Faculty of Law, The University of Melbourne <A
href="mailto:t.lindsey@unimelb.edu.au%20">t.lindsey@unimelb.edu.au </A></P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>Q: When did you become interested in Asia and
why?</STRONG> <BR><STRONG>A:</STRONG> I was lucky enough to be a schoolboy when
Asian studies were booming. It was the 70s and Australia has just begun to wake
up to the fact that it was located squarely at the southern end of Asia, not
floating somewhere in mid-Atlantic between England and the US (even if that is
where the national mental map usually places us). All over Australia, schools
and universities were busy building Asian studies and I was direct beneficiary
of this – admittedly, with some prodding from Mum and Dad, who at the critical
moment expressed disgust that I might even consider a European language! The
watershed moment for me came with a school home-stay. Immersion in the life of
small central Javanese town – and living with some of the nicest people I have
ever met – turned Indonesia from a subject of study to a life-long obsession.
Later, when my PhD in Indonesian history, a biographical study, was published as
‘The Romance of K’tut Tantri and Indonesia’, I realised that if substituted my
own name in the title it would be a good description of what the archipelago had
done to me.</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>Q: What are your current preoccupations? And how do
these fit into the contemporary scene? <BR></STRONG><STRONG>A:</STRONG> Later, I
was lucky enough to combine my training as a lawyer with my preoccupation with
our northern neighbour and emerge as a specialist in Indonesian law. This was an
area of expertise often dismissed as an eccentric niche until Australians began
to realise that sharing borders means sharing problems. The Bali bombings, the
Corby case and the Bali Nine trials reminded Australia that, like it or not,
Indonesia is now part of the Australian experience.<STRONG>
</STRONG>Unfortunately, they also showed that we have a lot of work ahead if we
are to make the most of the extraordinary opportunities geography offers us:
most Australians haven’t noticed that the post-Soeharto Indonesian democracy is
in many ways a completely a new state.</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>Q: What are your hopes for Asian Studies in
Australia?<BR>A:</STRONG> We urgently need to build better understanding of each
other’s systems and create a more effective institutional infrastructure for
cooperation across the Arafura Sea. Sadly, this won’t be easy. It has been a
great honour to me to be able work on second-string bilateral diplomacy for over
a decade through membership of the Australia Indonesia Institute, but the grim
reality is that Indonesian studies – like Asian studies more generally – is in
catastrophic decline across Australia. It seems incredible to me that we now
have fewer Indonesian courses and fewer students than in the 1970s (and thus
fewer young people offered the opportunities I was lucky enough to have). The
dumbing-down of Australian Asia literacy as we enter the Asian century is a
national tragedy that will have dire consequences for decades to come. It is way
past time for government to realise that the national interest – whether it be
strategic and security concerns, trade policy and the imperatives of
globalisation, or cultural and social enrichment – demand a major investment in
Asia skills. We urgently need a reinstatement and expansion of the NALSAS
(National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools) scheme, which stood
at $130 million per annum when Mr Howard axed it. Mr Rudd, the $64 million over
3 years you’ve promised won’t even come close! </P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>Links:</STRONG><BR><BR>NALSAS: <A
href="http://www1.curriculum.edu.au/nalsas/about.htm">http://www1.curriculum.edu.au/nalsas/about.htm</A></P>
<P align=justify><!-- ================================ Item ends =============================== --><!-- ================================ Item begins ============================= --></P>
<H1 class=headline><A name=4></A>Student of the month</H1>
<P align=justify>As an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore
(NUS), <STRONG>Ashvin Parameswaran</STRONG> had no intention of studying about
Asia. His interest in political science theory was cut short when he
unexpectedly received a failing grade at the end of his first semester. Six
months later, the university realised that his failing grade was the result of a
computer error and awarded him his actual grade – a high distinction. </P>
<P align=justify>By then, however, the newly established South Asian Studies
Program had captured his undivided attention. Headed by Professor Peter Reeves,
a highly respected South Asianist from Australia, this program introduced Ashvin
to the great diversity in the region. It also taught him two important lessons
that remain fundamental to his development as a researcher and teacher.</P>
<P align=justify>First, never be afraid of doing original research. At NUS, then
doing his honours in anthropology at Curtin University of Technology, and now
his PhD at the Australian National University (ANU), Ashvin has engaged in
fieldwork in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia.<STRONG> </STRONG>His
research on diverse topics – including religion, caste, tourism, business, and
education – have resulted in the publication of nine refereed journal
articles.</P>
<P align=justify>Second, recognise and nurture the potential of students. A
succession of dedicated teachers and mentors at all three of the institutions
mentioned above have been crucial to shaping Ashvin’s thinking about Asia. They
have also instilled in him the sense that teaching well is an important
professional responsibility. With McComas Taylor at the ANU, Ashvin has
designed, lectured, and tutored in three different courses – on epics, religion,
and independence – related to South Asia. In the process he has also been
nominated for a number of teaching awards.</P>
<P align=justify>After completing his dissertation in the next six months,
Ashvin hopes to begin a new project examining the role of science in Indian new
religious movements. This project will combine an intellectual history approach
with ethnographic fieldwork methods. </P>
<P align=justify><!-- ================================ Item ends =============================== --><!-- ================================ Item begins ============================= --></P>
<H1 class=headline><A name=5></A>Website of the month</H1>
<P align=justify><STRONG><A
href="http://www.eaber.org/">http://www.eaber.org</A></STRONG></P>
<P align=justify>The East Asian Bureau of Economic Research is a forum for
high-quality economic research focussing on issues facing the economies of East
Asia. It comprises representatives from Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia.
One of its later offerings is an article, <EM>Financing Higher Education in East
Asia</EM> by Bruce Chapman and Peter Drysdale.</P>
<P align=justify><!-- ================================ Item ends =============================== --><!-- ================================ Item begins ============================= --></P>
<H1 class=headline><A name=6></A>Recent publication of interest</H1>
<P align=justify><EM>Doha's demise by Mark Thirlwell/The Interpreter</EM>, Lowy
Institute. This blog was posted on 4 August and considers the recent failure in
world trade talks and outlines the three important sets of issues that have been
raised by this latest collapse in negotiations. Thirlwell says the immediate
cause of the breakdown seems to have been failure to reach agreement on the
operation of a so-called special safeguard mechanism for developing countries.
This would have allowed them to raise agricultural tariffs in response to sharp
movements in prices or imports. See <A
href="http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2008/07/Doha%e2%80%99s-demise.aspx">http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2008/07/Doha%e2%80%99s-demise.aspx</A></P><!-- ================================ Item ends =============================== --><!-- ================================ Item begins ============================= -->
<H1 class=headline><A name=7></A>Did you know?</H1>
<P align=justify>The 2008 Ramon Magsaysay awardees have been announced: </P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>Grace Padaca</STRONG> is recognised for empowering
voters in the Philippines. <STRONG>Therdchai Jivacate</STRONG> is honoured for
his dedicated efforts in Thailand to provide inexpensive, practical and
comfortable artificial limbs even to the poorest amputees. The <STRONG>Center
for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD
MRI)</STRONG>, from the Philippines, received a public service award for their
successful adaptation of microfinance in the Philippines, providing
self-sustaining and comprehensive services for half a million poor women and
their families. <STRONG>Prakash Amte and Mandakini Amte</STRONG>, from India,
are being recognised for enhancing the capacity of the tribal Madia Gonds to
adapt positively in today's India. <STRONG>Ahmad Syafii Maarif</STRONG>, from
Indonesia, is honoured for guiding Muslims to embrace tolerance and pluralism.
<STRONG>Akio Ishii</STRONG>, from Japan, is recognised for his principled career
as a publisher, placing discrimination, human rights, and other difficult
subjects squarely in Japan's public discourse. <STRONG>Ananda
Galappatti</STRONG>, from Sri Lanka, receives the award for emergent leadership
in bringing effective psychosocial services to survivors of war and natural
disasters in Sri Lanka. </P>
<P align=justify>The Magsaysay Award was created in 1957 to commemorate late
president of the Philippines and to perpetuate his example of integrity in
government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a
democratic society.<A
href="http://www.rmaf.org.ph%20/">http://www.rmaf.org.ph</A></P>
<P align=justify><!-- ================================ Item ends =============================== --><!-- ================================ Item begins ============================= --></P>
<H1 class=headline><A name=8></A>Diary dates </H1>
<P align=justify><STRONG>PICTURE PARADISE - THE FIRST CENTURY OF ASIA-PACIFIC
PHOTOGRAPHY 1840s-1940s 11 July - 9 November, Canberra.</STRONG> This exhibition
is the first survey of the history of photography from India and Sri Lanka
through Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific to the west coast of North
America National Gallery of Australia Parkes Place, Parkes, Canberra. <A
href="http://nla.gov.au/pict/photofestival.html">http://nla.gov.au/pict/photofestival.html.</A></P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>INAUGURAL AUS - CSCAP FORUM 4 & 5 September,
Melbourne.</STRONG> Supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Asialink is proud to host the inaugural AUS - CSCAP National Security and
Regional Issues Forum with the Hon Stephen Smith, Minister for Foreign Affairs,
as keynote speaker and other panellists from government, business and academia,
panels will include: security aspects of resource ownership in Australia;
contesting security architectures in Asia; promoting nuclear non-proliferation;
the state of the "War on Terror"; Indonesia: security issues update To register
your interest in attending this Forum, please contact Bernadine Fernandez by
email at <A
href="mailto:b.fernandez@asialink.unimelb.edu.au">b.fernandez@asialink.unimelb.edu.au.</A></P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>XINRAN XUE - CHINA WITNESS: VOICES FROM A SILENT
GENERATION, 13 September, Canberra.</STRONG> China Witness is the personal
testimony of a generation whose stories have not yet been told. Here the
grandparents and great-grandparents of today sum up in their own words for the
first and perhaps the last time the vast changes that have overtaken Chinas
people over a century. Saturday 13 September at 4pm; Asia Bookroom, Lawry Place,
Macquarie RSVP: Friday 12 September to 6251 5191 or <A
href="mailto:books@AsiaBookroom.com">books@AsiaBookroom.com</A>.</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>OzASIA 14-28 September Adelaide.</STRONG> The OzAsia
Festival showcases and explores Australia’s increasing cultural interaction with
our northern neighbours. <A
href="http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/ozasia/">http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/ozasia/</A>.</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>EPHEMERAL BUT ETERNAL WORDS: Observations on
Contemporary Japanese Calligraphy 15 September, Sydney.</STRONG> Dr Fuyubi
Nakamura, Postdoctoral Fellow, Research School of Humanities, Australian
National University will talk about the search by contemporary calligraphers for
a role and place for their art. 5.15 pm to 7pm The Refectory, Main Quadrangle,
University of Sydney <A
href="http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml">http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml</A>.
</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>INDONESIA UPDATE 2008, 19-20 September,
Canberra.</STRONG> Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state. More
than half its share of the earth's surface is sea, and the marine frontier
presents Indonesia with economic opportunity and political and strategic
challenges. This conference examines Indonesia's response to that challenge.
Presentations will address maritime boundaries and security, marine safety,
inter-island shipping, the development of the archipelagic concept in
international law, marine conservation, Indonesian sea-farers, illegal fishing,
and the place of the sea in national and regional identity. See <A
href="http://rspas.anu.edu.au/economics/ip/IU08">http://rspas.anu.edu.au/economics/ip/IU08.</A></P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>A YEAR IN TIBET, 24 September, Canberra.</STRONG> Sun
Shuyun, author of 'The Long March' and 'Ten Thousand Miles without a Cloud'
explores in intimate detail the lives of a shaman and his family, three monks, a
village doctor, a Party worker, a hotel manager, a builder and a rickshaw
driver. Through them she captures the Tensions between Chinese and Tibetans,
between an ancient and an alien culture, between faith and science, tradition
and modernity. 6pm, Asia Bookroom, Lawry Place, Macquarie, RSVP by Tuesday 23
September to 6251 5191 or <A
href="mailto:books@AsiaBookroom.com">books@AsiaBookroom.com</A>.</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>CHALLENGES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE & PROMOTION OF CIVIL
SOCIETY IN THE PHILIPPINES 26 September, Sydney.</STRONG> Mayor Jesse Robredo,
Naga City, Philippines will present this seminar in the Asian Studies Lecture
Series @ Sydney University from 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm Education Seminar Room 325,
Education Building, Manning Road <A
href="http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml">http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml.</A></P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>TRANSITION AND INTERCHANGE Ninth Women in Asia
Conference, 29 September-1 October 2008, Brisbane.</STRONG> The University of
Queensland is hosting the ninth Women in Asia (WIA) Conference, to be held from
29 September–1 October, 2008. Call for Papers: Contributions are invited from
various disciplines on a large number of themes concerning the lives of women in
Asia. Participants are encouraged to submit proposals for panels (with 3-4
papers per panel). Individual proposals are also welcome. <A
href="http://www.freewebs.com/womeninasia">http://www.freewebs.com/womeninasia.</A></P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>ARTSingapore, 9-13 October 2008, Singapore.</STRONG>
This contemporary visual art fair is both a trade and consumer fair, and thus a
platform for art dealers and galleries to network and foster business
relationships, and for art collectors to acquire new works <A
href="http://www.artsingapore.net/index-as.html">http://www.artsingapore.net/index-as.html</A>.</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>OPEN HANDS, CROSSED FINGERS, POLITE SMILES AND FURROWED
BROWS: The Tokyo-Beijing-Washington Strategic Triangle and the Future of East
Asian Regionalism 14 October, Sydney.</STRONG> Dr Malcolm Cook, Lowy Institute
and Professor Rodney Tiffen, Asia Pacific Program, Sydney University will
discuss this subject from 4:30 – 6:00 pm Education Seminar Room 459 as part of
the Asian Studies Lecture Series @ Sydney University <A
href="http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml">http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml.</A>
</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>AUSTRALIAN MEDIA AND INDONESIA, 29 October,
Sydney.</STRONG> Professors Rodney Tiffen and Adrian Vickers present this
seminar at 4:30 – 6:00 pm Education Seminar Room 325 as part of the Asian
Studies Lecture Series @ Sydney University <A
href="http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml">http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml.</A>
</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>RESEARCHING THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC, 5
November, Sydney.</STRONG> Professors Adrian Vickers and Elspeth Probyn discuss
this issue from 4:30 – 6:00 pm at Education Seminar Room 325 as part of the
Asian Studies Lecture Series @ Sydney University <A
href="http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml">http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/asianstudies/news/index.shtml</A>.
</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>VIETNAM UPDATE 2008, Labour in Vietnam, 6-7 November
2008, ANU, Canberra.</STRONG> The 2008 Vietnam Update takes up the timely issue
of labour in Vietnam. It will explore the theme of labour broadly, including
Vietnam's position in regional labour markets; the socialist legacy in the
globalised workplace; everyday working conditions and experiences; the
regulatory framework; the changing industrial relations system; the politics of
labour; the protection of labour rights; and the internationalisation of labour
standards. Convenor: Anita Chan, Contemporary China Centre, Research School of
Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University: <A
href="mailto:anita.chan@anu.edu.au">anita.chan@anu.edu.au</A>.</P>
<P align=justify><STRONG>GLOBALISING RELIGIONS AND CULTURES IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC,
1-5 December 2008, Adelaide.</STRONG> This conference is the 2008 Signature
Event for the Asia-Pacific Futures Research Network. With religion and culture
as the key themes, the conference covers areas central to understanding the
current state, diffusion and evolution of religious beliefs in the Asia-Pacific
as well as their cultural and other consequences. In addition to its academic
conference, the Event features three major public forums, link-ups with
Australian media, side events and tours. The culminating event, the conference
banquet, will be held under the direction of one of Australia’s most famous
chefs, Simon Bryant. If you wish to attend, give a paper, organise a panel or
know more, please feel free to contact the organisers at the University of
Adelaide via email at: sigevent08@adelaide.edu.au or go to <A
href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/sigevent08/">http://www.adelaide.edu.au/sigevent08/</A>.</P>
<P align=justify><EM>You are welcome to advertise Asia-related events in this
space. Send details to: <A
href="mailto:fbeddie@infinite.net.au">fbeddie@infinite.net.au</A></EM></P><!-- ================================ Item ends =============================== --><!-- ================================ Item begins ============================= -->
<H1 class=headline align=justify><A name=9></A>Feedback</H1>
<P align=left>What would be useful for you? Human interest stories, profiles of
successful graduates of Asian studies, more news about what's on, moderated
discussions on topical issues? Send your ideas to <EM><A
href="mailto:fbeddie@infinite.net.au">fbeddie@infinite.net.au</A></EM>.</P><!-- ================================ Item ends =============================== --><!-- ================================ Item begins ============================= -->
<H1 class=headline align=justify><A name=10></A>About the ASAA</H1>
<P align=justify>The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) promotes the
study of Asian languages, societies, cultures, and politics in Australia,
supports teaching and research in Asian studies and works towards an
understanding of Asia in the community at large. It publishes the <EM>Asian
Studies Review</EM> journal and holds a biennial conference. ASAA and the Centre
for Language Studies at National University of Singapore also co-publish an
annual supplementary issue of the Centre's fully peer-reviewed electronic
Foreign Language Teaching Journal (e-FLT). See <A
href="http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/">http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg</A><BR><BR>The ASAA
believes there is an urgent need to develop a strategy to preserve, renew and
extend Australian expertise about Asia. It has called on the government to show
national leadership in the promotion of Australia’s Asia knowledge and skills.
See <EM>Maximizing Australia's Asia Knowledge Repositioning and Renewal of a
National Asset</EM> <A
href="http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASAA/asia-knowledge-book-v70.pdf">http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASAA/asia-knowledge-book-v70.pdf</A></P>
<P align=justify><SPAN class=ac><STRONG><FONT color=#cc3300>Asian Currents
</FONT></STRONG></SPAN>is published by the Asian Studies Association of
Australia (ASAA). It is edited by Francesca Beddie. The editorial board consists
of Robert Cribb, ASAA President; Michele Ford, ASAA Secretary; Mina Roces, ASAA
Publications officer; and Lenore Lyons, ASAA Council member.</P></DIV>
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