Talking Points, December 5 - 19, 2007

For thirty years, at least one aspect of U.S. presidential campaigns has been fairly consistent. Challengers criticize Chinese practices and complain that the incumbent has adhered to deeply flawed policies toward China. In 1976, for example, candidate Ronald Reagan argued Pres. Gerald Ford had not sufficiently advanced U.S.-China ties, but in 1978 candidate Reagan questioned why Pres. Jimmy Carter was “rushing” to establish diplomatic ties. In 1992, candidate Bill Clinton condemned Pres. George H.W. Bush for coddling the “butchers of Beijing.” Candidate George W. Bush argued China was a competitor, not a strategic partner as Pres. Clinton had suggested. In Iowa yesterday, seven of the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination answered questions on U.S.-China relations. You can read excerpts from that discussion at US-China Today’s daily update page for Dec. 4. The Republican candidates have not yet engaged in such a discussion, but we’ll present their views from individual speeches next week.

12/06/2007: “Second Lawyers, First Principles”: Lawyers, Rice-Roots Legal Workers, and the Battle Over Legal Professionalism in China
USC University Club, Banquet Room
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Cost: Free
Time: 3:30PM - 5:30PM
William Alford examines the rise, decline, and uncertain future of the rice-roots legal worker.

 

12/07/2007 - 12/08/2007: Competitive Regionalism Conference
USC Davidson Conference Room
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Cost: Free with RSVP
The conference offers an original interpretation of this FTA frenzy by focusing on the competition and rivalry as the central elements in the on-going process.

12/10/2007: Environmental and Development Policy in China: Is Harmonization Possible?
Ralph and Goldy Lewis Hall, Room 101
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM, Reception to follow
Ralph and Goldy Lewis Hall, Room 101
RSVP to Leah Oliver (lcoliver@usc.edu)
A panel discusses China's unprecedented economic growth along with its significant enviornmental costs.

12/10/2007 - 12/15/2007: International Forum on Disability and Development: Caring, Participation and Action
Peking University Institute of Population Research
Beijing, China
Cost: U.S.$350-U.S.$550
The issues faced by people with disabilities and their needs are integral to the process of building a harmonious society, as well as the improvement of human rights in China. Experts gather in Beijing for learning and discussion.

California Events 

12/05/2007: Across the Tibetan Plateau - Ecosystems, Wildlife and Conservation
Haydn Williams Conference Room, The Asia Foundation
465 California Street, 8th Floor , San Francisco, CA
Free, Pre-registration required
Time: 5:30PM - 8:00PM
The collection of photographs tell the story of how the Tibetan people are conserving their lands for future generations.

12/05/2007: Entering into Business in China Terminating a Business Relationship in China: Video Conference with Hong Kong
555 West 5th Street, Suite 3500
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Cost: Free
Time: 5:00PM - 8:00PM
A virtual meeting on joint venture and intellectual property issues for American companies in doing business with Hong Kong and China, learning how to conduct due diligence on prospect partner.
 
12/06/2007: Publishing in China Quarterly
UC Berkeley, IEAS Conference, Room 2223 Fulton Street 6th Floor
Berkeley, CA
Cost: Free
Time: 4:00 PM
Julia Straus will discuss the operations and expectations for "The China Quarterly."  

12/07/2007 - 12/08/2007: China's Environment: What do we know, and how do we know it?
University of California, Berkeley
Time: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
The conference will focus on the scientific as well as social, political, economic, and cultural problems that have to do with China's environment.

 

12/08/2007: “Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art” with Terese Tse Bartholomew
Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA
Cost: Free with Admission
To R.S.V.P., call (626) 449-2742, ext. 31. Space is limited.
Time: 10:30am-12noon
Terese Tse Bartholomew explores the rich iconography and hidden messages of rank badge embroidery.
 
12/08/2007: Woodblock Prints in China: Traditions and Modernizations
Dorothy Collins Brown Auditorium
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Cost: Free
Time: 2:00PM - 4:00PM
LACMA hosts USC's Xiaobing Tang as he explores modern woodblock prints in China.  
 
12/12/2007: Commerce & Classics: Sino-Japanese Exchanges in the Eighteenth Century
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
11377 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Cost: Free
Time: 4:00PM - 5:30PM
Benjamin Elman gives a talk on the intellectual impact of late imperial Chinese classicism, medicine and science in Tokugawa Japan by way of reconsidering early modern Sino-Japanese cultural history, 1700-1850. 

North America: .

12/05/2007: Humiliation and Modernity: Reflections on Pan-Asian and Pan-Islamic Discourses
Princeton University
Address: 309 Frist Campus Center, Princeton, New Jersey 08544
Cost: Free
Time: 4:30PM
Cemil Aydin discusses the two crucial aspects of Pan-Asian and Pan-Islamic thought in contemporary East Asia and the Muslim world. 

 

12/11/2007: Taiwan’s Upcoming Elections
The Lindner Family Commons
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 602
Washington , DC 20052
Time: 2:00 - 5:00 pm
A roundtable presented by The Sigur Center's Taiwan Education and Research Program

Exhibitions:

09/17/2007 - 12/21/2007: Forces: Paintings & Calligraphy 
IEAS Conference Room
2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94720-2318
Cost: Free
The UCB Center for Chinese Studies presents an exhibition by Lampo Leong.

09/06/2007 - 01/20/2008: Zhang Huan: Altered States
2nd Floor Starr & Ross Galleries
Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Ave, New York, NY
Phone: 212-517-ASIA
This exhibition is the first ever museum retrospective of Zhang Huan, encompassing major works produced over the past 15 years in Beijing, New York, and Shanghai.

 

10/04/2007 - 02/08/2008: From the Abundant Pharmacy: Traditional Chinese Medicine in LA's Chinatown
The California Endowment’s Center for Healthy Communities: Big Sur Education Gallery
1000 N. Alameda Street , Los Angeles, CA 90012
Cost: Free
Time: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM; Monday thru Friday
The exhibition features historical and contemporary photographs and videos of selected stores and herbalists.

11/06/2007 - 02/10/2008: China on Paper: European and Chinese Works from the Late Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century
Research Institute Exhibition Gallery, Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: Free
Illustrated books, prints, and maps from the special collections of the Research Library tell the fascinating story of mutual interest and collaborative works produced by Chinese and Europeans from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth century.

11/10/2007 - 02/17/2008: Everyday Luxury: Chinese Silks of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
1130 State Street , Santa Barbara, CA 93101
The exhibition features a collection of Chinese costumes and textiles from the last three hundred years. 

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