Talking Points, May 28 - June 11, 2008

Talking Points
May 28 - June 11, 2008

Ma Ying-jeou was inaugurated as Taiwan’s new president last week and today Wu Poh-hsiung, the chair of Ma’s Kuomintang (Nationalist) party, met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing. This is the highest level contact across the Taiwan strait since the Communists took control of the mainland in 1949 and follows an earlier meeting Hu had with Ma’s vice-president Vincent Siew. After today’s meeting, Chinese authorities invited Taiwan officials to meet in Beijing in June to discuss direct charter airline flights across the strait and permitting tourists from the mainland to go to Taiwan. These are small steps, but are significant since they come after years of leaders of the two governments not talking to each other and instead antagonizing each other through public pronouncements. Click here to read about Ma’s election and here to read his inaugural address.

Another inspiration for the warmer cross-strait climate is the generosity displayed toward those struggling with the monumental tasks associated with post-Sichuan earthquake reconstruction. Taiwanese groups quickly dispatched rescue and relief specialists and people in Taiwan donated $40 million. Ma and his wife joined in the effort, answering phones during a fund drive. The Taiwan government donated another $26 million.

This Saturday, the USC Chinese Students and Scholars Association is holding a piano recital to benefit victims of the May 12^th earthquake. The program will feature solo piano works by Bach, Copland, Liszt, Medtner, Scriabin and Villa-Lobos. Performers include USC students Shishi He, Katherine Lin, Nicolas Gerpe, Jane Lee, Hedy Lee, Bethany Campbell, Kathryn Norring, and Jackie Tu. All funds raised will be given to the American Red Cross for the earthquake relief effort. The suggested contribution is $5-10 for students and $25 for the general public. The recital is at 3 pm in the Alfred Newman Recital Hall on the USC campus. Professor Bernadene Blaha is overseeing the performance. She can be reached at berni88@mac.com or (626) 833-6779.

The Discovery Channel will be launching a new series The People’s Republic of Capitalism in mid-July. Ted Koppel is the lead reporter on the series. On June 17, USCI will host an advance screening of the first episode in the series. Series producers will be on hand to discuss the year-long effort to produce the series. Details on this event and on others, including the China Undisciplined graduate student conference at UCLA are available below and in the calendar section of our website.

K-12 teachers living 30 miles or more from USC are invited to apply for our Summer Residential Institute from July 28-31 and August 4-7. USCI provides free housing and tuition for this seminar. This residential program aims to serve teachers who live too far away to participate in one of the four East Asia and New Media seminars we offer during the academic year. Teachers completing seminar requirements earn a stipend, receive teaching materials, and become eligible for continuing education units and a subsidized summer study tour to East Asia. Teachers interested in these programs can learn more at the K-12 curriculum section of our website.

As always, we encourage you to share Talking Points with friends and colleagues. They can subscribe at http://china.usc.edu/Subscribe.aspx.

Best wishes,
The USC U.S.-China Institute
http://china.usc.edu

USC Events

06/17/2008: The People’s Republic of Capitalism
USC Lucas 108, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Cost: Free
Time: 7:00PM - 9:00PM
The US-China Institute will screen a portion from the series and producers will answer questions from the audience.

07/28/2008 - 08/07/2008: 2008 Summer Residential Seminar at USC
USC, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Currently accepting applications
For more information please contact Miranda Ko at  mirandak@usc.edu.
An intensive nine-day equivalent of our "East Asia and New Media in My Classroom" professional development seminar for K-12 teachers employed outside of the greater Los Angeles area.

California Events

05/28/2008: Dating but Not Married: Southeast Asian Security Responses to the Rise of China
Stanford University
Okimoto Conference Room, Encina Hall East, 3rd Floor
Cost: Free
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
This seminar will explore some of the nuances in Southeast Asian "hedging" strategies.
 
05/28/2008: Collecting Contemporary Chinese Art
Stanford University
Philippines Room, Encina Hall, 3rd Floor , Stanford, CA
Cost: Free
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM
A talk by Rebecca Morse (Assistant Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) 
 
05/30/2008: The May 2008 US-China Insurance Dialogues
Stanford University
Philippines Room, Encina Hall, 3rd Floor , Stanford, CA
Cost: Free
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM
John Morrison will give an overview of Sino-US cooperation on social insurance regulation with a focus on health policy, as one window into Sino-US relations on the verge of the Olympics.

05/30/2008: Hollywood Chinese (2007)
Select Southland Theaters
Opening May 30, 2008
Hollywood Chinese is a multi-faceted look at American cinema through the lens of the Chinese American experience. 

05/30/2008-05/31/2008: China Undisciplined
UCLA 11381 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: Free
Phone: (310) 825-8683
An interdisciplinary graduate student conference celebrating the creative spaces that arise in the (de)construction of "China" 

05/31/2008: Spring Festival of World Music and Jazz 2008 - China and Near East
UCLA Schoenberg Hall
Time: 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Department of Ethnomusicology presents a series of concerts featuring world music.

North America Events: 

05/19/2008 - 05/30/2008: China Institute
Honolulu, Hawaii
This two-week institute on China will focus on Chinese philosophy, history and cultural traditions and contemporary issues concerning the environment, politics and socio-economic development. 

Exhibitions: .   

03/06/2008 - 07/27/2008: Chinaman's Chance: Views of the Chinese American Experience
Pacific Asia Museum
46 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena , CA 91101
Cost: $7 for adults, $5 for students/seniors
While the experience of being of Chinese heritage and living in America is unique to each individual, this exhibition will investigate the similarities and dissimilarities of these experiences. 

01/29/2008 - 09/07/2008: The Shape of Things: Chinese and Japanese Art from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Avenue , New York, New York
Cost: Free
Phone: 212-517-ASIA
This exhibition of ceramics, metalworks, sculpture, and painting demonstrates that a depth of information can be revealed through the careful observation and study of the form of an object.

05/18/2008 - 10/12/2008: Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of the First Emperor
Bowers Museum
Address: 2002 N. Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92706
Phone: 714-567-3600
This summer exhibit at Bowers Museum showcases the famous terra cotta warriors buried with the First Emperor of China.

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