Talking Points, March 17 -31, 2010

Talking Points
March 10 - 24, 2010

A small earthquake jostled Los Angeles Tuesday morning. The 4.4 magnitude quake caused little damage, but reminded us that we too are subject to the threats posed by geological forces. A 6.6 quake (2,000 times stronger than the Los Angeles quake) struck off the coast north of Tokyo on Sunday. Sumatra in Indonesia suffered a 6.8 quake on March 5. Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan was hit by a 6.4 quake (1,000 times stronger than LA’s) on March 4. It damaged buildings, took out a bridge, and disrupted electrical and train service. On February 27, a 8.8 quake (almost 4 million times stronger than LA’s) struck just off the Chilean coast, taking nearly 500 lives and causing $30 billion in damages. A 6.7 aftershock struck Chile late Monday. Most of the world’s earthquakes occur on the Pacific Rim, though the devastating 2008 Sichuan (7.9 magnitude, 69,000 killed) and 2010 Haiti (7.0 magnitude, perhaps 200,000 killed) quakes show that other areas are vulnerable as well and that preparing for disaster must begin with building design and code enforcement.

Below are two US Geological Survey maps. The first illustrates the average number of quakes in a year above magnitude 5. They are concentrated on the Pacific Rim, where South Asia meets East Asia, and the Meditteranean. The second map shows earthquakes occurring in the twenty-four hours up to about 2 am (US PDT) this morning.
 

Top: Average number of magnitude 5 and greater earthquakes per year. Bottom: Earthquakes in the last 24 hours. Both from the United States Geological Survey.

Trade, Taiwan, and human rights – three perennial issues in the US-China relationship – were in the headlines again this week. On Saturday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao blamed the US for the problems and said it therefore needed to take concrete steps to resolve them. He argued, “It's better to have dialogue rather than confrontation, cooperation rather than containment and partnership rather than rivalry.”

The recession sharply reduced trade between the US and China last year. In 2009, the two countries exchanged goods worth $366 billion, down from $408 billion in 2008. The decline was entirely due to lower demand in the US for Chinese products. US exports to China were roughly $69 billion in both years. Demand for Chinese exports is picking up in the US, Europe, and elsewhere. According to the Chinese government, exports have risen three months in a row. In February, China’s exports were up a stunning 46% over a year ago.

Some in the US argue that China’s government is keeping its currency artificially weak in order to drive exports. In recent months, the loudest American voice on the subject has been Nobel Laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. On Monday, he argued that China’s currency policy “seriously damages the rest of the world,” that the US Treasury needs to break with standard policy and formally assert that China manipulates its currency to the detriment of the US, and that Washington should consider imposing a temporary surcharge on goods imported from China. On Tuesday, five US senators introduced legislation to make it easier for the US government to take such action. While candidate Obama insisted that China kept the value of the renminbi artificially low (click here to watch speech excerpts, also on YouTube), as president he has thus far elected to not push hard on the issue in public. For example, last Thursday he said, “For too long, America served as the consumer engine for the entire world…. Countries with external surpluses need to boost consumption and domestic demand. And as I’ve said before, China moving to a more market-oriented exchange rate will make an essential contribution to that global rebalancing effort.”

Some argue that this focus on China’s currency is misplaced and that increasing its value will not produce export-oriented jobs in the US. Chinese officials, however, do not take this approach. They have uniformly rejected the claim that China’s currency is undervalued and have condemned those who say it is for “politicizing” the issue. Premier Wen, for example said on Saturday, "We are opposed to countries pointing fingers at each other or taking strong measures to force other countries to appreciate their currencies.”

The Premier also repeated the complaint that US arms sales to Taiwan infringed on its sovereignty, but devoted more energy to making the case that closer trade ties with the mainland was in Taiwan’s interest. This echoed the position of Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration which is pushing for a free trade agreement with Beijing. Ma argues that such an agreement is important not only to improving ties with Taiwan’s number one trade partner, but is a necessary step to getting a future agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Taiwan’s opposition parties argue that a free trade deal with China may harm Taiwan’s farmers and others and that any agreement should be dependent on approval by Taiwan’s legislature or by voters through a referendum. A Taiwan Foreign Ministry delegation visited USC recently to discuss these and other issues. Video of the lead presentation is available at the USCI website. A recent edition of Talking Points focused on Taiwan’s growing trade with China.

Last week closed with the annual human rights reports duel. For years, China’s government rejected discussion of human rights conditions in China as unwelcome meddling in the country’s internal affairs. That changed a few years ago and now China’s government responds to the annual US State Department report on human rights in China with a report of its own on human rights in the US. The complete reports (from the US, from China, along with government reports and budget plans from the National People’s Congress) are available in the documents section of the USCI website.

In the press briefing for the US report, Asst. Sec. of State Michael Posner worried that China’s government was cracking down on lawyers taking up public interest, environmental, and human rights cases as well as tightening restrictions on non-governmental organizations and the media. The Chinese report highlighted the overrepresentation of ethnic minorities in prisons and on poverty roles, the underrepresentation of women in Congress and boardrooms. It also focused on cases of police brutality and National Security Administration surveillance.

Our next workshop for teachers is Saturday, May 1 and focuses on human rights in Asia. Please write to asiak12@usc.edu to sign up.

One of Thomas Gold’s key points in his USC presentation last week was that the US-China relationship is multifaceted and that an enormous variety of exchanges occur every day. Sometimes our focus on the headlines may cause us to miss this. Gold is a UC Berkely sociologist and a member of the USCI board of scholars. He discussed the key role small entrepreneurs play in addressing China’s need to create jobs and reduce poverty. He noted that getting start up capital is often a great challenge for these individuals and drew attention to Wokai, a San Francisco-based non-profit that uses the internet, a Beijing office, and Chinese government sponsored NGOs to make micro-loans to these entrepreneurs (most of whom are women) to help them launch their businesses. Virtual and real communities of Americans and Chinese are forming on an ad hoc basis to support those launching animal husbandry, maintenance, retail, and other businesses. You can read more about microcredit in US-China Today and video of Gold’s presentation will be available at the USCI website next week.

Next week, Philadelphia hosts North America’s largest Asia-focused conference, the annual Association for Asian Studies meeting. We look forward to seeing many of you there. Those headed to the meeting and those who are curious about what will be discussed will find our list of China-centered panels and papers helpful. April will be a busy month at USC. We’ll tell you more about that next week.

Please do share Talking Points with friends and colleagues.

Best wishes,
The USC US-China Institute
china.usc.edu

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Events

Upcoming USC 

04/01/2010: China Watcher-Confessions of a Peking Tom
University of Southern California
Davidson Conference Center, Club A&B, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Time: 4:00PM - 6:00PM
Dr. Richard Baum, a political science professor at UCLA, will speak on his new book.

California 
 

03/11/2010: Analyzing Lineages in Early Tibetan Paintings: Taklung Portraits as a Test Case
UC Berkeley
IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor
Cost: Free
Time: 5:00PM - 6:30PM
UC Berkeley`s Center for Chinese Studies presents a talk by David Jackson on new possibilities of dating in Tibetan art though analysis of guru lineages. 

03/11/2010: Authors on Asia
Pacific Asia Museum
46 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101
Cost: Free for members; $9 general, $7 students and seniors.
Time: 7:00PM
The Pacific Asia Museum presents Dean King, author of Unbound: A True Story of War, Love and Survival. 

03/12/2010: The Great Socialist Transformation: Capitalism without Democracy in China
UC Berkeley
Address: IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor
Cost: Free
Time: 4:00PM - 6:00PM
UC Berkeley`s Center for Chinese Studies presents a talk by Kellee Tsai on the structural impact Chinese entrepreneurs have on Chinese politics. 

03/16/2010: How China`s Leaders Think
Offices of Arnold & Porter - Conference Room
777 S. Figueroa Street, 44th Floor, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: RSVP required.
Time: 5:00PM - 6:30PM
Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn will hold a discussion on his latest book. 

03/16/2010: Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
Plaza Del Sol Performance Hall at CSU Northridge
Plaza del Sol Performance Hall 18111 Nordhof Street, Northridge, California 91330-8393
Cost: General Public: $45, Seniors: $36
Phone: 818-677-2488
Time: 8:00PM - 11:00PM
Professional multiculural touring company performs a fusion of American and Asian dance at CSU Northridge. 

North America
 

03/11/2010: Cultural Crossings: China and Beyond in the Medieval Period
University of Virgina
Campbell Hall 153 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4122
Cost: Free
Time: 5:30PM - 5:00PM
This interdisciplinary conference and digital projects workshop investigates exchanges between China and neighboring cultures during the medieval period.
 
03/15/2010: China, Soft Power and the Rule of Law
Imin Conference Center, Koi Room
1601 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawaii
Cost: Free
Time: 4:00PM
The East-West Center presents a talk with Jerome Cohen on the implications of China`s growing soft power. 

03/18/2010: Waging a Living in China
TBA
Time: 4:30PM - 6:00PM
University of Pennsylvania`s Center for East Asian Studies presents a talk by Maris Gillette on the shift to a market economy has affected porcelain industry workers in Jingdezhen, China. 

03/18/2010: Taiwan Documentary Series: The Pigeon Game & The Butterfly Code
1957 E St NW, Washington, DC
Cost: Members $5; non-members $10
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM
Two documentaries will be screened. 

03/19/2010: Perfect Life
ArcLight Hollywood
Address: 725 Park Avenue, New York
Cost: $7 members; $9 students/seniors; $11 nonmembers. See description for series discount information.
Time: 6:45PM - 8:15PM
Emily Tang`s second feature tells the bleak stories of female migrant workers in China. 

03/24/2010: Exemplary Everymen: Confucian Commoners in Early Medieval China
TBA
Time: 4:30PM
University of Pennsylvania`s Center for East Asian Studies presents a talk by Keith Knapp on the beginnings of a Confucian merchant ethic in fifth-century southern China. 

Exhibitions  

09/22/2009 - 06/30/2010: China`s Great Wall: The Forgotten Story
NYC offices of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York, NY
The Forgotten Story is a series of historically-based photographs of the Great Wall of China. It is a collaboration between Jonathan Ball, a California based photographer, and David Spindler, one of the world`s foremost experts on Great Wall history.

03/28/2010 - 07/25/2010: Secrets of the Silk Road
Bowers Museum
Address: 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California 92706
Cost: Adults/$18 Weekdays; $20 Weekends/ Students & Seniors/$16 Weekdays, $18 Weekends; Children (under six) Free
The Bowers Museum presents an historic exhibition of over 150 objects drawn from the rich collections of the Urumqi Museum and the Institute of Archaeology of Xinjiang reveals surprising details about the people who lived along the ancient Silk Road.

01/01/2010 - 12/31/2010: Ancient Arts of China: A 5000 Year Legacy
Bowers Museum
2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California 92706
Bowers Museum presents a collection that portrays the evolution of Chinese technology, art and culture.

 

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