Wilson Center: China Army Upgrade‘Bears Watching’

A special report of Washington’s Woodrow Wilson Center on the modernization of communist China’s “People’s Liberation” Army concludes that while this program “bears watching”, the American military—assuming it also continues to modernize—will be able to “maintain its lead in overall capability.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army: Should the United States be Worried is edited by Mark Mohr of the center’s Asia Program. Contributor Litai Xue of Stanford University emphasizes communist party control of the military and describes a 1969 case study where the country went “on full nuclear alert—without much organizational control.” Bernard Cole of the National War College says the “primary concern of the Chinese navy is Taiwan,” but “downplays” the idea that China intends to compete with the U.S. Navy “to defend sea lines of communication.”  Retired U.S. Army General Dennis Blasko notes that Chinese military planners “themselves” say the army’s modernization will not be completed until 2020” (which may sound like a long time, but is only 13 years).  And Kristen Gunness of the CNA Corporation details the “problems that Chinese civil society is creating for the military,” including that as the population ages, more pressure is on the military budget to pay for a growing number of retirees.

DC Area TV Channels Showing Indonesian Program

Gado Indonesia, A monthly half-hour television program about that country, is being shown by various TV channels in the Washington area.  Produced by the Embassy of Indonesia and Balak Satu Entertainment, the program presents films on various aspects of Indonesian culture, such as music, food, tourism and lifestyles.  Indonesia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, said the program presents “the diversity of our country...and the face of modern Indonesia to the American people.”  The program can be seen can be seen once a week on Fairfax Public Access (FPA) Channels 10, 22 and 37; Arlington Independent Media (AIM) channel 69; and MHZ Networks, which include Washington DC and Montgomery County Television (MCT) Channels 19 and 20.  For more information, call 202/775-5200 or email information@embassy of Indonesia.org.

Taiwan, Korea Scholars Discuss

East Asian Immigration, Globalization

The Wilson Center Asia Program and George Washington University recently co-sponsored a seminar which explored globalization and migration in East Asia, reports the center newsletter Centerpoint.  Speakers discussed urban immigration gateways, short-term labor migration and why state control of illegal migrant workers has frequently failed.  National Taiwan University’s Lan Pei-chia explained that country’s migrant “guest worker” program, under which illegal immigrants often enjoy advantages not available to legal migrants trapped in “legal servitude” under temporary contracts. Colorado State University’s Joon Kim described how successful collaboration of foreign workers with civil society led to foreign worker protection legislation in South Korea. 

Pros, Cons of Japan’s Urbanization Discussed

In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, visiting Europeans criticized the way Japan was “modernizing” its cities, but today the country is considered a world leader in architectural design, said Carola Hein of Bryn Mawr College at a recent program on Japanese urbanization of the Wilson Center’s Asia Program.  At the event, Ronald Vogel of the University of Louisville described Japan as “among the most densely urbanized nations of the world:’ of Japan’s 47 prefectures, Mr. Vogel said, only seven have a population of less than one million.  Boston University’s Merry White examined the popularity of coffee houses in Japan’s urban areas, which she said represent a “third space” in addition to home and office.  And Theodore Gilman of Harvard University presented a case study of Omuta, where efforts to “reinvent” this western Japanese city after the coal industry collapse ailed.  (For more information about this or the preceding item in this column, see centerpoint@wilsoncenter.org. 

Southeast Asia Ceramic Exhibit Opens at Sackler

Approximately 200 “diverse and visually striking” ceramic vessels from Southeast Asia went on long-term view April 1 at the Smithsonian Institution’s Sackler Gallery.  The exhibition, “Taking Shape: Ceramics in Southeast Asia” will be on display until the end of the year.  The clay pots and jars, the gallery says, “form the most enduring record of human activity in this part of the world, during the prehistoric period to the present.”  The vessels are from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, and Chinese bowls and jars exported to Southeast Asia. 

Korean Art, History Gallery to Open in May

Another part of the Smithsonian, the National  Museum of Natural History, is creating a gallery dedicated to the traditional arts and history of Korea, reports the Washington Post’s Jacqueline Trescott.  The gallery is supported by a $1.25 million gift for a decade-long exploration of Korean life and culture from the Korean Foundation, she wrote, and is scheduled to open in May.  It will have as many as 4,000 artifacts, many from the Smithsonian anthropology department collection.  Anthropologist Paul Michael Taylor, director of the museum’s Asian Cultural History Project, said, “We want to have a series examinations of Asian identities, how they were formed and how the people of Asia have maintained their identities.  For 5,000 years, Korea was one country.  The identity of Korea as a people is quite ancient.  Today Korea is a very modern, dynamic place and that new wave gets a lot of dynamism, richness and symbolism from the past.”

U Md. 1^st Foreign Grad Was Korean, in 1891

The University of Maryland has had what it calls an “enduring and important” relationship with Asia, beginning as early as 1891, when it graduated its first foreign student, Pyon Su, from Korea.  Since then, according to Maryland International, the newsletter of the Office of International Programs, “the international presence on campus has  grown immensely,” with students from Taiwan, South Korea, India and China making up more than half the university’s foreign student population today, and more than five percent of the total UM enrollment.  The largest UM alumni organization, in fact, with more than 800 members, is the Taiwan Alumni Association, led by President W.S. Lin and Vice President Dr. Ming-teh Hsu. To mark the end of its sesquicentennial celebration, the school and the Taiwan Alumni Association last October co-sponsored the “Asia Leadership Forum: Managing Resources for a Safer World,” in Taiwan.