China, Korea and Japan:
The evolving relationship
In November 2005 GAI hosted a 2 day workshop on the
evolving relationship between China, Japan and Korea
co-sponsored by the Australia Pacific Futures Research
Network. A number of international speakers contributed
to the discussion aimed at examining the heightened
tensions between the People’s Republic of China and South
Korea on the one hand, and Japan on the other through
a set of multidisciplinary lenses. The workshop featured
scholars and commentators from the disciplines of history,
anthropology and sociology, political science, economics,
and international relations. All of the participants have a
strong background in the national and regional affairs of
Northeast Asia.
The workshop was both timely and significant for a number
of reasons. First, the rising tensions between China,
Korea, and Japan are of immense importance for regional
and international politics. They also are of considerable
significance to Australia’s relationship with each of these
countries, and Australia’s role and identity in the broader AsiaPacific region.
Secondly, one of the workshop’s major objectives was to
move beyond examining the contemporary situation only
from an international relations perspective by locating the
current tensions in a broader historical and cultural context.
Doing so produced fresh insights into the dynamics of
Northeast Asia’s often tense political relations.
Thirdly, because the workshop featured speakers and
participants from the broader Asia-Pacific region, it provided
a unique forum for scholars from North East Asia and Hong
Kong, Australia, and New Zealand to articulate and present a
variety of view points on the nature, origins, and reasoning
behind Northeast Asia’s sensitive political relations. Moreover,
the workshop provided, in addition to a better understanding
of the region’s political landscape, some direction toward
how existing tensions might be eased.
There were a number key themes coming out of the workshop.
These included the impact of popular perceptions on foreign
policy, competition for regional and cultural leadership,
perceptions of cultural superiority and inferiority and the
dynamic of competitive victimhood. Themes around how
history is being used in terms of guilt, status and dignity and
the question of what visions do China, Japan and Korea have for
each other for the future also arose.
Workshop participant and guest speaker, Professor Jian
Yang from the University of Auckland, also presented a well
attended seminar at the Griffith Asia Institute prior to the
workshop on Putting People First: Human Security in China.
Conference participants included (from left to right): Dr Kaye
Broadbent, Ms Kamie Koh, Dr Barbara Hartley, Dr Rumi Sakamoto
and Dr Donna Weeks.
Workshop convenors, Dr Michael Heazle and Professor Nick
Knight are currently working on an edited volume emanating
from the papers presented at the workshop.
PAGE 2
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE NEWSLETTER
Editorial
If the years after 1997 ushered in
what Allan Gyngell refers to as the
“transmillenial age” — an uncertain period
of transition and instability that followed
the optimistic post-Cold War years
— a major question in 2006 is whether
we are leaving behind those concerns
and entering a new and reshaped set
of international and regional concerns.
In a general sense, the Asian Financial
Crisis and the 9/11 attacks refocused
attention on security and governance.
The years since have seen the United
States increasingly focused on the Middle
East and have brought to light China’s
increasingly gravitational influence on
regional events, as well as the looming
influence of India. If these are the trends
of the years ahead, there will be much for
the Griffith Asia Institute to do.
In institutional terms, this year will be a
significant one for the Griffith Asia Institute.
It will see the relocation of the Institute
to new premises on the Nathan campus,
which will provide the room necessary
for our expanding operations. We will also
be developing our new strategic research
program on Security, Democracy and Public
Policy in partnership with the Centre for
Governance and Public Policy.
We will also be maintaining the momentum
of successful new initiatives trialled during
2005. These include the Perspectives: Asia
series, in partnership with the Queensland Art
Gallery, and the Regional Outlook papers. We
are also delighted to be hosting two important
international conferences this year: one on
China’s policies towards Xinjiang and Central
Asia; and another titled “The Other Special
Relationship: Australia-United States Relations
Griffith Asia Institute newsletter
is the newsletter of the Griffith Asia Insitute
Professor Michael Wesley,
Director, Griffith Asia Institute.
in the Twenty-First Century”.
The contents of this newsletter show what
a busy and successful year 2005 was for
the GAI. We look forward to an even more
productive and rewarding 2006.
Griffith Asia Institute
Advisory Council Members
Professor Steve FitzGerald – Chair, GAI Advisory Council
Griffith University
Nathan campus
Brisbane Qld 4111 Australia
Mr Kevin Bianchi – Chairman of Council, Acacia Ridge Ward Office
www.griffith.edu.au/asiainstitute
The Honourable Mr Gary Hardgrave, MP – Minister Assisting the Prime
Minister , Minister for Vocational and Technical Education
If you would like your Asia Pacific-related activities to be featured in this
newsletter, please contact the publisher:
Mr James Jarvis – Associate Director, ABN-AMRO Morgans
Mr David Nelson – CEO Intergen (Australia) Pty Ltd
Mrs Meegan Thorley, Manager
Telephone: 61 7 3735 7624
Facsimile: 61 7 3735 3731
Email:
Professor Ian O’Connor – Vice Chancellor, Griffith University
Ms Annmaree O’Keeffe – Deputy Director General, AusAID
[email protected]
Professor Michael Powell – Pro Vice Chancellor Business, Griffith University
or Professor Michael Wesley, Director
Telephone 61 7 3875 5143
Facsimile: 61 7 3875 3731
Email:
[email protected]
Ms Anna Reynolds – Editor “Inside Mail”, Courier Mail
The Honourable Mr Kevin Rudd, MP – Shadow Minister for Foreign
Affairs, International Security and Trade
Professor Pat Weller – Centre for Governance and Public Policy
Griffith University
IN THIS ISSUE
• EVENTS
• DIARY DATES
• PARTNERSHIPS
• RESEARCH
• PUBLICATIONS
Professor Michael Wesley – Director, Griffith Asia Institute,
Griffith University
Summer/Autumn 2006
Perspectives: Asia
Monthly seminars held in conjunction with the Queensland Art
Gallery have continued to be a success and bring to the fore
topical issues regarding the region.
September saw Professor Greg Fealy from the Research School
of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University
discuss Jemaah Islamiah and the future of Indonesia’s democracy.
Professor Fealy looked at the rise of JI since the Suharto
government and the existence and activities of different types of
terrorist groups including those who promote the use of suicide
bombings. Professor Fealy commented on the perceptions of the
Indonesians about JI compared to those of Australians and noted
that despite recent terrorist attacks, the Indonesian public were
predominantly more concerned with basic health issues such as
clean drinking water. Based on these different perceptions and
other priority issues, Professor Fealy concluded that despite recent
events in Indonesia, his view was that terrorist activities did not
yet present a great threat to its democracy.
A full house came to listen to world-famous Indonesian poet and
dramatist Rendra (quoted below) talk about Indonesian perceptions
of Australia. With a reputation for speaking his mind, Rendra was
imprisoned by the Suharto regime and banned from performing
for much of the 1980s. Rendra has been widely recognised for his
contribution to human rights and social justice issues in Indonesia.
In his talk, Rendra said that Australians were popular foreigners in
the eyes of the Indonesians and went on to discuss the impact of
various events on Australian-Indonesian relations.
PAGE 3
Sean Dorney and Julie Ewington from
the QAG at the Perspectives:Asia
presentation Nov 2005
Mr Sean Dorney, Pacific
correspondent with the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation, gave an
insightful talk on our Melanesian
Neighbours. One of the ABC’s
most experienced and respected
correspondents, he is an acknowledged authority on Papua New
Guinea and is the author of two books on PNG affairs. Discussions
focused around the Melanesian Spearhead Group of countries
including Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New
Caledonia and Fiji. Mr Dorney touched on their peculiarities and
democracies as well as the problems with corruption and wastage,
violent crime and AIDS. The discussion concluded by asking the
question of what Australia can do for its Melanesian neighbours
with one suggestion being our government look at developing
short term working visas for Melanesians to encourage labour
mobility.
In February 2006 Mr Carillo Gantner AO, President of the Myer
Foundation, addressed an audience that included teachers and
students, on the topic of Asia Literacy in Australian Schools. The
former Chair of the Asia Education Foundation, University of
Melbourne, commented that in light of the many international
issues that impact upon us now and in the future, studies of Asia
should be included in the curricula for all children from preschool
years and up. This includes both language and cultural skills. Mr
Gantner went on to say that issues such as job growth, and
national security including health issues are all global concerns
that require an understanding of the environment in which we live.
The teaching of Asian studies is and should be a national priority
according to Mr Gantner. The Asia Education Foundation works
in partnership with each of the State Education departments to
develop an “Access Asia Series” to help promote Asia education.
Mr Ganter advised that after reducing their level of support, the
Government is now refocusing its efforts. In December 2005
the Minister for Education released a new National Statement to
engage young Australians to learn about Asia in Australian schools.
Access Asia Student Day
Griffith Asia Institute members participated in an “Access Asia” Student Day, an initiative of Education Queensland, in November 2005
held at the Queensland Conservatorium, South Bank.
Students were introduced to the question about Why is thinking about Asia important? Guest speakers, including GAI Director, Professor
Michael Wesley, went on to speak on topics including democracy in Asia, law and human rights in Asia, film and culture and Images of Australia
in Asia to an audience of over 250 year 9 and 10 school students and teachers from approximately 20 State, independent and catholic schools.
The “Access Asia” day is sponsored by Education Queensland and is part of the Celebrating Democracy Week activities for Studies of Society
and Environment students.
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE
PAGE 4
Kevin Rudd –
public lecture
The Possibility of Civil War in
Iraq and the Foreign Policy
Implications for Australia was
the topic of a public lecture
delivered by The Honourable Mr
Kevin Rudd MP, Shadow Minister
for Foreign Affairs, Trade and
International Security in October
2005 at the Queensland Conservatorium.
Mr Rudd talked about the Australian Government’s policy on Iraq and
the future of Australia’s military deployment. The question of why
Australia – Asia relations
In November 2005 GAI hosted the inaugural meeting of the Asia
Pacific Futures Research Network’s (APFRN) Australia-Asia Node.
This meeting incorporated scholars from around Australia who study
Australia’s relations with its region. Objectives of the meeting included:
·
·
·
·
Exploring the current state of the sub-discipline, including whether
or not the full range of important issues in Australia-Asia relations
are currently being addressed by Australia-Asia scholars;
Defining the activities of the APFRN Australia-Asia Node over
the next five years including research training, partnerships and
research programs;
Exploring new ways of fostering collaborative research as well as
partnerships with government, business and industry;
To explore ways of nurturing new generations of
expert Australia-Asia researchers through research training
incentives and collaboration with experienced researchers.
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE NEWSLETTER
the Howard Government took Australia to war was examined and the
progress to date against the Government’s war objectives. Mr Rudd
went on to discuss Iraq’s political and security prospects including the
issue of training and preparedness of the Iraqi security forces.
The lecture concluded by asking what all of this means for Australia
and posing a number of questions to the Howard Government. These
included: Has the situation improved in Iraq? What are the prospects of
Civil War, particularly between the Sunni and Shia in Al Muthanna? What
is the threat to Australian troops in Al Muthanna from foreign jihadists
arriving into Iraq from Saudi Arabia? What is the criteria and timing for
the withdrawal of US troops and the Australian military? What is the
impact of our involvement in Iraq on Australia and Australian interests as
an al-Qaeda terrorist group?
A full lecture script of Mr Rudd’s speech is available on the GAI website.
Participants proposed a number of priorities for the Node incorporating:
·
·
·
Establishing an effective networking of scholars including the
hosting of an annual conference;
Linking the Node with non-academic institutions and interested
individuals; and
Creating a web-based research resource in the form of a web
journal on Australia-Asia Pacific relations to create both
publishing and publicity opportunities for emerging scholars, the
APFRN and the Node.
The APFRN is a research network, established by the Australian
Research Council. The APFRN aims to foster collaborative research
and to co-ordinate inter-disciplinary and inter-regional research
conferences and workshops. The APFRN has seven nodes, each
supported financially and administratively by a university. Each node
has the responsibility for rallying a constituency of scholars and
linking them with their expertise with other nodes and with Australian
professionals whose work takes them to the Asia-Pacific region.
World Association for Sustainable
Development (WASD) Conference
Dr Moazzem Hossain presented a paper in the third international conference on
“Bridging the Divide: The Role of Technology and Trade” of the UK based World
Association for Sustainable Development (WASD) held at College of Business and
Economics, University of the United Arab Emirates, Al-Ain, UAE on 21-23 November
2005. Dr Hossain’s paper entitled, “IT Outsourcing Destination: Quantifying Australia’s
Competitive Edge through Benchmarking” was one of the refereed articles published in
the proceedings of the conference. Professor Thomas C Schelling of the University of
Maryland presented the keynote speech in the conference. Professor Schelling shared
the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005. The theme of the keynote speech was “global
climate change and the developing nations”. Dr Hossain is also on the executive board
of the WASD and has acted as one of the track chairs of the conference.
Dr Moazzem Hossain and other executives of the WASD
with Professor Tom Schelling at the conference.
Summer/Autumn 2006
PAGE 5
Griffith University playing a key role in the 2005 Shanghai
International Forum on Healthy Cities
The 2005 Shanghai International Forum
on Healthy Cities on 20-23 November
at the Shanghai Pudong International
Convention Centre which originally
planned for a modest 100 attendees
attracted over 400 participants from
around the world. Government officials,
including the Minister of Health of China
Mr Gao Qiang and WHO representatives,
world class experts in healthy cities,
health promotion, environmental health,
urban planning, and representatives from
healthy cities and communities attended
the Forum. Queensland had a strong
presence there with display booths from
Queensland Health and Griffith University,
and of its delegation of 11 members, five
were from Griffith University, including
the Vice Chancellor Prof Ian O’Connor,
leader of the Queensland delegation.
Coordinated by the Shanghai Municipal
Health Promotion Committee, the
conference was hosted by the Shanghai
Municipal Government and the WHO Kobe
Collaborating Centre, and supported by
Queensland Health. Behind the scenes,
Griffith University, through the work of
Professor Cordia Chu, Director of the Centre
for Environment and Population Health,
played a key role in helping the conference
from conception to fruition, and in facilitating
the links between the Shanghai Municipal
Government and Queensland, particularly
Queensland Health.
The fact that Queensland Health was invited
to be the major supporter of the Shanghai
Forum is a reflection of long standing
and friendly sisterly relationship between
Queensland Health, the Shanghai Health
Bureau, the Shanghai Health Education
Institute, and Griffith University. This
close relationship with Shanghai began in
the early nineties when Professor Cordia
Chu began work as a WHO consultant
advising the Shanghai Health Education
Institute on workplace health promotion
which culminated in the signing of an MOU
between Griffith University, the WHO
Collaborating Centre for Health Promotion,
and the Shanghai Health Education Institute
to develop a Healthy Cities agenda in 2004.
This led to a visit to Griffith University by
a Shanghai Delegation led by Vice Mayor,
Hon Yang Xiaodu and the collaboration with
the Shanghai Municipal Health Promotion
Committee in planning this Shanghai Healthy
Cities International Forum.
The theme of the Shanghai Forum was
“Healthy City, Healthier Life” and the four
sub-themes were:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Global trend of Healthy Cities
development;
Healthy public policy and equity in
health;
Multi-sectoral cooperation and
community participation;
Experiences in building healthy
communities and healthy settings.
This was the first time a mega city of such
great importance as Shanghai has hosted
an international conference on healthy cities
to share its vision and experience with the
world. There are a few medium and small
sized Healthy Cities in China, but Shanghai
is the first mega-city to commit to such a
huge undertaking. Its success in achieving
Healthy City status will be a wonderful
inspiration for other mega-cities in China and
around the world.
Mr Gao Quiang, Minister of Health, China,
in his opening speech praised Shanghai
for leading the way in the healthy cities
initiatives and declared that this should be
the future direction for all cities of China.
Griffith University’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Ian
O’Connor, delivered a keynote speech on
“The Significance of Healthy Cities of Our
Time” in which he explained the importance
of healthy cities approach by highlighting
key global challenges in the context of
globalization and intensifying threats to
environment and health. Professor Cordia
Chu also presented a key speech on
Griffith University Vice Chancellor Ian O’Connor
exchanges gift with Deputy Mayor Ymang Xiaodu in
on his recent visit to Brisbane.
community participation and healthy cities.
The international Healthy Cities movement
was initiated by the World Health
Organisation as a means to support health
promotion and environmental sustainability.
It promotes the idea that health should be an
integral part of urban planning, management
and development. This involves the
collaboration of many different sectors and
departments and the community in planning
and decision-making about matters that
impact on population health and the quality
of life of residents in local government areas.
The healthy cities movement began in
Europe with 11 cities in 1986 and has
become a worldwide movement with over
10,000 cities and communities committed
to the process. In the Asia-Pacific region,
healthy cities has grown in popularity in
recent years and Griffith University’s Centre
for Environment and Population Health has
been a key player in facilitating the regional
development of, and links between, healthy
cities in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Macao,
Taiwan, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Queensland, in particular, since 1996, Peter
Davey, Deputy Director of the Centre
for Environment and Population Health,
has initiated the Healthy Cities program in
Queensland and founded the Queensland
Healthy City and Shire Network. Queensland
has now eighteen local governments
involved and with the planning process
currently covering over half the state’s
population.
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE
PAGE 6
Diary dates
Perspectives Asia Seminar Series 2006
The series of free public seminars hosted jointly by the Griffith Asia
Institute and the Queensland Art Gallery will continue in 2006 with
tentative dates in April and May and a confirmed seminar in July. For
updates to the program please check the GAI website.
AIDS – Asia Pacific’s Time Bomb, Ms Annmaree O’Keeffe, Australia’s
Special Representative on HIV/AIDS, AusAID
27 July 2006
Workshops
Central Asia and Xinjiang into the 21st Century (Comfort Inn
Robertson Gardens)
26-27 June 2006
The workshop on Central Asia and Xinjiang into the Tweny-first
Century, which will be held in June 2006, will analyse the changing
and increasing importance of the Central Asian region in the
contemporary world, especially following the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991 and the American-led global “war on terror” since
2001. While the workshop will focus on the present, it will also give
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE NEWSLETTER
attention to the important impact of the past and speculate on the
future. Participants will include some of the leading authorities from
Central Asia itself, the United States, Britain and Australia.
Conferences
The Other Special Relationship: The US and Australia at the Start of
the 21st Century.
3-4 July – Griffith University, Brisbane
5 July – Australian National University, Canberra
This conference examines both US and Australian foreign policy and
the special relationship canvassing political and legal aspects; security
and defence; and economic and business aspects. It follows on from
the first part of the conference kicked off at Dickinson College,
Carlisle Pennsylvania on 20 and 21 March 2006. Participants will
include leading experts from Australian and the US from industry,
academia and government.
Research Seminars
Griffith Asia Institute will continue to host its series of weekly research
seminars to be held in Room 1.22 of the Macrossan Building (N16) at
Griffith University’s Nathan Campus. Seminars are held from 12.301.50pm. For an update of topics and speakers refer to the GAI website.
Asia Pacific New Writing Partnership
Griffith Asia Institute is one of the homes for a new initiative
formed to nurture and promote creative writing in Asia and the
Pacific.
The Asia Pacific New Writing Partnership has been seed-funded by
Griffith University, with additional support from the New Writing
Centre at the University of Technology Sydney and Copyright Agency
Limited (CAL), an Australian copyright management company. The
Partnership, still being developed, will be a collaboration of universities,
literary organizations and publishing ventures interested in supporting
new writing by Australian, Asian and Pacific authors whose work
crosses cultures and engages a readership beyond their own countries.
The Partnership is particularly interested in the role of literature in
breaking down cultural barriers. It supports diverse writing and cultural
expression through literature and the translation and dissemination of
the area’s texts as widely as possible.
The Partnership’s first activities in 2006 are literary festival panels,
funded by CAL, featuring Asian and Australian writers. The first of
these, called ‘Making Waves in Asian Literature’ is at the Man Hong
Kong International Literary Festival in March. The session is a double
bill, beginning with Tarun Tejpal, iconoclastic Indian journalist, talking
about his novel, The Alchemy of Desire with the head of Picador
Asia, one of the few main-stream publishing houses actively looking
for manuscripts set in Asia. In part two, Asia Pacific New Writing
Partnership founder, Jane Camens, focuses on new writing from
southeast Asia in conversation with Filipino poet-author Krip Yuson,
taboo-busting Indonesia author Ayu Utami and new novelist Chris Tao,
whose work spans Hong Kong and the Himalayas. Australian writers
Jane will interview at the festival are Doris Pilkington (Rabbit-Proof
Fence) and Brian Castro (Shanghai Dancing and, most recently, The
Garden Book).
Also with CAL funding, the Partnership will host panels at the 2006
festivals in Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin.
Other universities collaborating in the venture include the University
of East Anglia, Britain’s senior creative writing program, De La Salle
University in Manila which has an active writing program, the University
of the South Pacific, as well as senior faculty of the International
Writing Program of North America’s leading writing school, the
University of Iowa. Local writing centres, including the Literary Centre
in Singapore, are also becoming involved.
The Asia Pacific New Writing Partnership seeks to inspire a range of
different events throughout the region, including seminars, writing
workshops, and conferences, that provide opportunities for local and
international interactions between new and established writers. The
gatherings will encourage the participation of publishers, editors,
translators and literary agents interested in writing from the region.
The Partnership is keen to support polyphonic narrative and translation.
Summer/Autumn 2006
The Asia Pacific New Writing Partnership is modelled on a
collaboration in Britain, the New Writing Partnership, an initiative
formed between the University of East Anglia, the British Arts
Council and local councils. The Asia Pacific initiative differs
from its UK counterpart in that it is focused on this region and
also will conduct research on new writing from the region.
This research will include, among other areas, the influences
of writing from Asia and the Pacific on contemporary western
literature and, influences of westers literature on literature
PAGE 7
emerging writing from Asia and the Pacific.
The Partnership seeks to develop more avenues for emerging writers
from the region to learn the craft and will work with universities to
develop courses, such as summer programs and low residency MFAs.
Universities and literary organizations around the region interested
in this initiative should contact APNWP founder Jane Camens, at
[email protected] or Dr Catherine Cole at the University of
Technology in Sydney: [email protected]
A new era of partnership –
Griffith University and Peking
University MOU signing in Beijing
On November 18, 2005, Griffith University Vice Chancellor
Professor Ian O’Connor and Vice President of Peking University
Professor Lin Jianhua signed an MOU for the establishment of a
joint academic and learning centre between the two universities.
The signing ceremony took place in Peking University’s beautiful
historic Lin Hu Xuan Building. It began with a warm and friendly
dialogue between the two leaders, with many others in attendance.
This was followed by the signing of the MOU and finished with
a champagne toast. The classic surrounds added to the exciting,
celebrative atmosphere a sense of history and mission.
The creation of this inter-university collaborating centre is supported
by the GU Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Funds and facilitated by
the GU International Centre. Prior to this MOU, there have been
agreements to establish joint programs between GU and PU in
Complementary Medicine, a Joint Master of Sciences in Public
Health and a Master of Applied Linguistics in Education.
These joint programs are the result of a long, continuous working
relationship between academic staff of the two universities.
Cooperation in the areas of reproductive health and public health
began in 1992 when Professor Qu Chuanyan, of the Women
and Children’s Health Research Centre in the then Beijing Medical
University, joined hands with Professor Cordia Chu, Griffith
University to facilitate a nation-wide All-China Women’s Federation
reproductive health project, funded by the Ford Foundation.
Since then, there has been a range of exchange activities including:
a joint publication by a team led by PU Professor Li Liming, the
Chinese edition of Ecological Public Health edited by Cordia Chu,
research traineeships for PU’s health staff at GU, joint research
project with Professor Jie Ding, PU First Hospital to explore Chinese
herbal medicine for the improvement of kidney functions, and the
co-coordination of international conferences on complementary
medicine in Adelaide and in Brisbane, etc.
Signing ceremony, from Left to right: Cordia Chu, Thomas Toh, Professor Ian
O’Connor , Lin Jian Hua and Zheng Xia Oying.
In Education, a proposal for collaborative ventures in the professional
development of China’s English language teachers followed a meeting in
2004 between Associate Professor Brendan Bartlett and Dr Gary Birch
of the Faculty of Education with Professor Dong Zhe, Dean, Department
of International Cooperation, Peking University, and his colleagues
Professor Cheng Zhao-xiang, Dean, College of Foreign Languages and
Professor Liu Shu-sheng, Associate Dean, College of Foreign Languages.
This work has developed as joint planning for the cooperative
implementation of the Masters program in 2006. Along with
establishing an International Collaborative Centre for Development,
Environment and Population Health (IcDEPH) by the GU Centre for
Environment and Population Health (CEPH) and the PU Institute of
Population Research (IPU), this will provide the initial focus for the MOU.
The joint Centre is the result of a long association between CEPH
Director, Professor Cordia Chu, and IPU Director, Professor Xiaoying
Zheng. They and their teams will work together in the following areas:
·
·
·
·
Environment and population health
Gender, sexual and reproductive health
Population health training and research, and
Impact assessment and evaluation
Both Professor Ian O’Connor and Professor Lin Jianhua expressed
their strong support for the IcDEPH and looked forward to the
opening of the collaborating Centres in both universities in Australia
and in China in the near future.
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE
PAGE 8
GAI Research Programs
Identity Program
The ‘Identity’ group within the Griffith Asia Institute brings together
Asian specialists working in the disciplines of anthropology,
sociology, history, and political science. Its research focuses on the
ways in which identity emerges on the basis of religion, nationalism,
ideology, and culture, and the way in which identity issues impact
on contemporary politics and international affairs in East and
Southeast Asia. Examples of research being carried out within the
Identity group are the significance of Islam in Asia, the ideology of
the Chinese Communist Party, the cultural basis of Sino-Japanese
tensions, the rise and impact of nationalism in regional affairs, and
the impact of globalisation on Asian cultures.
Political and Economic Change Program
The economic and political change group seeks to relate current
debates on the benefits and costs of globalisation to current and
prospective economic and political developments in the Asia Pacific
region and beyond. Through a series of workshops and internationally
networked research teams, the group has focused on – and will
continue to focus – such topical issues as global neoliberalism, US-led
external intervensionism, the global democratisation agenda, debates
about global governance and the troubled relationship between Islam
and the West in the post 9/11 era. These issues are bound together by
the grand theme of the constant tension between the homogenising
impulse of globalisation and the resilience of nation-states.
Security Program
The Security program ran the highly successful “Energy Security
in Asia” conference and workshop in August-September 2005,
sponsored by the ARC’s Asia Pacific Research Network. The papers
from that workshop will be published as an edited volume in 2006
by RoutledgeCurzon.
In the coming year, the program’s main efforts will be directed towards
a major international conference, “The Other Special Relationship:
Australia-United States Relations in the Twenty-First Century”, in
partnership with The United States Army War College, Dickinson
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE NEWSLETTER
College Pennsylvania, and the Australian National University. With
conference sessions held in Washington DC and Carlisle, Pennsylvania in
March 2006 and in Brisbane and Canberra in July 2006.
New strategic research program in 2006:
Under the title “Security, Democracy and Public Policy in the Asia
Pacific Region”, GAI will be working in close collaboration with the
Centre for Governance and Public Policy on targeted research themes
in this area. These themes include:
1. Managing Dissent in the Asia Pacific – this theme aims to examine
issues related to political, economic and social order and transitions. It
directs attention to social, religious and communal trends and tensions,
transitions to democracy and market economy, issues of transitional
justice, failed states, and individual and collective rights.
2. Resources Security in Asia Pacific – this theme examines how
growing scarcity of resources – from energy to water to fish stocks
– will affect the region, not only in terms of conflict and competition,
but also in relation to collaborative solutions.
3. Public Health – Challenges and Responses – this theme examines
the vulnerability of Asia Pacific societies to health pandemics, ranging
from HIV-AIDS to avian influenza, as well as the associated issues of
management of health risks, and the production and marketing of
relevant pharmaceuticals. This theme will enable us to also draw on
Griffith’s specialists in public health and the health sciences.
4. Transnational governance – this theme examines how ideas on the
structuring of societies, polities and economic systems are transmitted
(or not transmitted) across borders in the Asia Pacific. It will focus on
different inter-governmental and non-governmental networks and
organisations and how they transmit or fail to transmit ideas and models.
5. Regionalism in the Asia Pacific – this theme aims to research the
development of East Asian regionalism, and how it is shaped by forces
such as the growing regional roles of China and India and US policy
towards the region. It also aims to examine the development (or nondevelopment) of feelings of “regional belonging” among Asia Pacific
societies, the role of national antagonisms (for example the workshop on
national tensions among China, Japan and Korea), and the development
of cultural influence (e.g. Japanese pop culture; Chinese cinema).
Australian Research Council Grants
GAI members were successful in securing a number of Australian
Research Council discovery grants for funding to commence in 2006.
These include:
GAI Affiliate member Professor Greg Bamber; Professor RD Lansbury;
ProfessorTA Kochan and the project The Role of Employment Relations in
the Competitive Strategies of Low Cost Airlines in Australia.
GAI Research Fellow Dr Michael Heazle and the project Global Warming,
Iraq, and the Washington Consensus: Three Case Studies on the Role of
Specialist Advice in Policy Making.
GAI member Associate Professor Leong Liew; Associate Professor PA
Creed; Professor CM Chu and the project Risk and Heterogeneity: AIDS
and SARS Policymaking in China.
GAI Director Professor Michael Wesley; Professor WT Tow; Dr BM
O’Connor and the project The Politics of Alliance Affinity.
Summer/Autumn 2006
PAGE 9
Recent Publications from Griffith Asia Institute members
Nick Knight
Knight, Marxist Philosophy in China: From Qu
Qiubai to Mao Zedong, 1923-1945 (Dordrecht:
Springer, 2005).
This book examines the introduction of Marxist
philosophy to China from the early 1920s to the
mid 1940s. It does this through an examination
of the philosophical activities and writings of
four Chinese Marxist philosophers. These are Qu
Qiubai, Ai Siqi, Li Da and Mao Zedong. The book sets the philosophical
writings of these philosophers in the context of the development
of Marxist philosophy internationally, and examines particularly the
influence on these philosophers of Soviet Marxist philosophy. It argues
that these Chinese Marxist philosophers’ interpretations of Marxist
philosophy were quite orthodox when judged by the standards of
contemporary Soviet Marxism. The book explores core themes in
Marxist philosophy in China, including the dilemma of determinism,
and investigates the way in which these Chinese Marxist philosophers
sought a formula for the ‘Sinification’ of Marxist philosophy that
both retained the universal dimensions of Marxism and allowed its
application to the Chinese context. The book concludes with analysis of
the role of the Yanan New Philosophy Association in developing from
Soviet Marxist philosophy the philosophical dimension of Mao Zedong
Thought, the official ideology of the Chinese Communist Party after
1945.
Herman Gorter and the origins of Marxism in China, China Information,
Volume XIX, No. 3 (November 2005), pp. 381-412.
Until 1921, the texts on Marxism to reach the Chinese Communist
movement were dominated by an economic determinist interpretation of
the materialist conception of history. Many Chinese converts to Marxism
considered that belief in ‘orthodox’ Marxism necessitated belief in its
economic determinism. In 1921, with the publication in China of the
famous Dutch Marxist Herman Gorter’s An Explanation of the Materialist
Conception of History, it became evident that there were alternatives to
economic determinism that could also claim to be “orthodox” Marxism.
Gorter’s flexible and multifaceted perspective on Marxism allowed
that many factors can influence “historical evolution,” and that they
can interact in ways specific to particular historical contexts. Gorter
emphasised the political and ideological struggles of the working class as
central to the success of revolution. He nevertheless insisted, following
Engels, that the economic factor was ultimately dominant. Gorter’s ideas
were well received by Chinese Marxists, particularly his Chinese translator
Li Da, who amplified the influence of Gorter’s Marxism in his own prolific
essays on the materialist conception of history. It is possible that Mao
Zedong was influenced by Gorter’s ideas, either directly or indirectly via
the writings of Li Da, and the evidence for this is evaluated.
Dr Andi Riege has a forthcoming paper:
Riege, Andreas and Lindsay, Nicholas (Forthcoming in 2006), Knowledge
Management in the Public Sector: Stakholder Partnerships in the Public
Policy Development, Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 10, no. 2.
The paper highlights the need for more effective government and
stakeholder partnerships to develop better public policy, including
providing governments with cost effective avenues to knowledge and
expertise, and facilitating greater public accountability. The authors
suggest several processes that can facilitate more transparent and
effective two-way knowledge transfers between public organisations
and stakeholders, which are fundamental for establishing successful
partnerships. The paper suggests that some existing process
frameworks can provide a good starting point to capturing knowledge
about stakeholders highlighting how stakeholders interact with policy
development processes. The reviewed literature and ideas proposed
herein classify stakeholders from a number of different perspectives
and attempt to provide some practical assistance to governments in
developing more effective and strategically guided stakeholder policy
partnerships, including more effective use of resources and improved
knowledge transfer. Such frameworks need to be viewed as being
dynamic and stakeholder classifications need to be monitored continually
Professor Tony Makin presented an invited seminar on the topic “Could
Inflated Public Debt in ASEAN Spark Another Financial Crisis?” at the
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National
University on 15 November 2005.
Tony has also had the following journal articles accepted for publication:
1) Fiscal Risk in ASEAN Agenda, 12(3)2005, pp. 227-238.
2) Public Debt Sustainability and its Macroeconomic Implications in
ASEAN-4 ASEAN Economic Bulletin 22(3), 2005.
This article examines public debt levels in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand
and the Philippines (the ASEAN-4) which significantly exceed preAsian crisis levels due to persistently large fiscal deficits and bank recapitalisation measures. It derives key formulae and presents graphical
techniques for understanding and assessing the sustainability of public
debt and its macroeconomic significance. Using recent data, it shows
that central government public debt levels have recently stabilised in the
ASEAN-4 under prevailing macroeconomic conditions and fiscal settings.
It is argued that the Philippines and Indonesia still require substantially
higher primary surpluses to reduce their public debt to GDP ratios to
internationally recommended levels over the medium term to minimise
the risk of another financial crisis.
3) Why Still Worry About the Capital Account Surplus? Policy 21(4),
pp 17-21.
Tony has also had his research on the economic policy significance of
current account imbalances cited in the federal Senate (Commonwealth
Hansard, Senate Economics Committee, October 13) and in research by
federal Treasury economists. His comments on the economic resurgence
of Japan were reported in the The Courier Mail on January 28.
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE
PAGE 10
Dr Anthony van Fossen recently published a book entitled South
Pacific Futures: Oceania Toward 2050 (Brisbane: Foundation for
Development Cooperation). It is a comprehensive overview of
forecasts about the future of the Pacific Islands over the next half
century. As such, it provides essential background for policy and
decision-makers in government, and the private sector, and invites
substantial re-examination of assumptions under-pinning current
development strategies.
The book presents a wonderful and enlightening kaleidoscope of
views on Pacific futures. It systematically blends detailed knowledge
of a range of contemporary issues facing Pacific states – population,
environment, politics, economy, aid, tourism, culture, media and
information technology – with an examination of alternative
scenarios for the future.
Will Pacifc Island Countries meet the challenge of globalization or face
doomsday as failed, failing, or fragile states?
·
·
·
·
Will a new spirit among the people of Oceania lead to their
empowerment in the global community?
Will the South Pacific become even more trapped in webs of
dependency?
Will migration and aid integrate the islands into the Pacific Rim
on terms agreeable to all?
Will Islanders have to make crucial ethical decisions in the fact
of the growing Asianisation of their region?
These are the questions defining the five scenarios that the book
examines.
Michael Heazle, GAI Research Fellow, has a number of recent and
forthcoming publications inlcuding the journal article Lessons in
precaution: the International Whaling Commission experience with
precautionary management, Marine Policy, (in press, accepted June 30,
2005), and the media article Bamboo Splinters, The Courier Mail, April
21 2005. (op-ed). The following books are also forthcoming:
Scientific Uncertainty and the Politics of Whaling (Seattle:University of
Washington Press, July 2006).
Michael Heazle examines how International Whaling Commission (IWC)
policy dramatically shifted from furthering the interests of whaling
nations to eventually banning all commercial whaling. Focusing on the
internal workings of a single organization, Heazle explores the impact of
political and economic imperatives on the production and interpretation
of scientific research and advice.
Central to his work are the epistemological problems encountered in the
production of “truth.” Science does not produce incontestable facts that
can be expected to lead to consensus decisions; rather, the problematic
nature of “knowledge” allows for various interpretations of data
depending on the interests of those at the table. It is precisely the nature
of scientific knowledge, Heazle argues, that has made uncertainty a tool
in the service of political objectives. When scientific advice to whaling
nations could not with absolute certainty declare whaling practices a
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE NEWSLETTER
threat to stocks, those IWC members with substantial investments of
political and economic capital used this uncertainty to reject a reduction
in quotas. As perceptions of whaling changed— with the collapse of
Antarctic whaling, further diminishing economic returns, and public
opinion turning against commercial whaling—uncertainty switched sides.
Nonwhaling members in the IWC, a majority by the late 1970s, claimed
that because scientific data could not prove that commercial whaling was
sustainable, hunting should stop. Uncertainty was used to protect the
resource rather than the industry.
That science cannot be an impartial determinant in policy-making
decisions does not render it useless. Far from it. But Heazle’s analysis
does suggest that without understanding the role of scientific
uncertainty—and the political purposes for which it is used—international
cooperation on wildlife management and broader issues will continue to
bog down in arguments over whose science is correct.
Michael Heazle and Iyanatul Islam (eds), Beyond the Iraq War: The
Promises and Pitfalls of External Interventionism (London: Edward Elgar,
forthcoming 2006), includes introduction and one single authored chpt
Covering (up) Islam part III: terrorism and the US intervention in Iraq.
Proposed collection of essays on:
Beyond the Iraq war: the promises, pitfalls and perils of external
interventionism
Editors: Michael Heazle and Iyanatul Islam
Professor Michael Wesley, Griffith Asia Institute [Essay 1]
Major General John Hartley, (Ret.), Australian Defence Forces [Essay 2]
Lt. Colonel Craig McConaghy and Lt. Colonel Paul Muggleton, Military
Law Centre [Essay 3]
Dr Michael Heazle, Griffith Asia Institute [Essay 4]
Anthony Bubalo, Lowy Institute [Essay 5]
Professor Iyanatul Islam, Griffith Asia Institute [Essay 6]
Professor Ross Buckley, Bond University [Essay 7]
Professor Amin Saikal, Australia National University [Essay 8]
Contributors:Professor Ira Chernus, University of Colarado at Boulder
[Essay 9]
The background to these essays is that external interventionism is based
on the belief that powerful Western democracies can provide a catalyst
for the development of liberal democratic societies in unstable or failing
post-colonial and post-communist states through direct military and
economic intervention in their internal affairs. The Bush administration
and its allies have self-consciously cast the Iraq war as a test-case for the
merits of the external interventionism paradigm, and are, subsequently,
openly challenging the “sovereignty first” approach to international
relations that was, at least in theory, the cornerstone of inter-state
relations for most of the twentieth century.
Summer/Autumn 2006
As the ongoing debate over the legality and justifications of
the US-led invasion of Iraq has demonstrated, supporters of US
interventionism believe there is little point in arguing over what has
already occurred, in particular whether the invasion of Iraq was right
or wrong. One should instead, according to this view, look ahead
and judge the US intervention in Iraq on the basis of its ability to
transform Iraq into a peaceful and prosperous entity, a development
that will, in turn, inspire other Arab-Muslim societies in the region to
democratise themselves and build free market economies. The ethos
of external interventionism – as promoted and practiced by the Bush
administration – is based on a particular ideological view of the postCold War environment and how it should evolve. That is, that in the
post-Cold War era, there is only ‘a single sustainable model for national
success: freedom, democracy, and free enterprise’ [National Security
Strategy of the United States of America, 2002].
It is always possible to dismiss external interventionism as no more
than a dubious rationale for misguided imperial adventures in the name
of freedom and democracy. But the problem with this rather cynical
disposition is that it can lead one into a cul de sac of predetermined
conclusions that are too superficial to contribute much to our
understanding of what interventionism represents, and, importantly,
the outcomes its implementation is likely to produce. The editors
and contributors to this volume believe it is more useful to analyse,
as dispassionately as possible, the politics and economics of external
interventionism in order to comprehend the promises, pitfalls and perils
of such an enterprise. A complex combination of factors lies behind
interventionist-inspired urges to intervene in the domestic affairs of
post-colonial and post-communist states diagnosed as “democracy
deficient”, ranging from enlightened self-interest and commitments
to freedom and democracy to more contentious propositions claiming
that ‘failed’ states in the developing world in general - and the Middle
East in particular - pose an unacceptable security threat to Western
democracies.
The proposed collection of essays included here have their genesis
in a February 2005 conference hosted by the Griffith Asia Institute,
attended by internationally recognised scholars and senior members
from the Australian defence establishment, which used post-Saddam
Iraq as a prism for re-examining the external interventionism paradigm
and its implications. The conference – and the essays that evolved
from it – therefore, examine the Iraq war and its global ramifications
as a test-case of the US-led paradigm of societal transformation
through external intervention.
Dr Larry Crump also has a forthcoming journal article due out in
mid 2006. To be published in the Journal of International Economic
Law (Published by Oxford University Press) the paper is entitled
Global Trade Policy Development in a Two-Track System. The
World Bank identifies two trends within the international trading
system: multilateral negotiations sponsored by GATT/WTO based
on evolving rules grounded in non-discrimination, and bilateral and
regional negotiations between nations that reduce trade barriers on
PAGE 11
a reciprocal and preferential basis. This paper asks how we might
enhance the global trade policy development process through
interaction and coordination between these two trade policy
development systems. It seeks an understanding of the nature of
bilateral trade negotiations so that we can compare bilateral and
WTO-sponsored multilateral processes. In so doing we can observe
how these two systems naturally interact thus enabling us to
consider how that interaction may be better designed to enhance
the international trade policy development system. After examining
current trends in bilateral and regional trade negotiations this paper
considers the opportunities and challenges of a two-track system
for developing trade policy by examining bilateral trade negotiations
conducted by Australia, Singapore and the United States. The paper
concludes with observations that may assist in re-framing the current
debate over bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations and includes
recommendations for the effective management of a two-track trade
policy development system.
A Special Book Launch
in Beijing: Celebrating a
decade of partnership in
reproductive health in China
A book launch on December 9, 2005 at the Haoyuan Jianguo
Garden Hotel in Beijing marked a very special celebration: the
completion of over a decade of research and health promotion
efforts by over fifty researchers and thousands of women
in China. Hosted by the All-China Women’s Federation, the
launch brought together over 80 reproductive health experts,
women studies scholars, researchers, public health and medical
practitioners, publishers, members of the press and international
agency representatives. The occasion attracted such attention
that the Beijing TV channel reported it the next day.
Published by the Zhung-guo Shehui Chupan she (China Society
Publishing Company), the 603 pages book entitled Reproductive
Health Promotion in China: From Needs Assessment to Policy
Formation, was described by the publisher in her speech as the
most outstanding of their books in years. Apart from praising
the high standard of the book content, she was impressed by
the significant contributions demonstrated by the case studies in
improving women’s health particularly in poor areas of China.
The chief editor of the book, Professor Cordia Chu, Director of the
Centre for Environment and Population Health, Griffith University,
delivered a key speech. She explained the history and significance
of the project, and thanked both the Chinese and the Australian
teams for their contributions towards completion of the book.
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE
PAGE 12
GRIFFITH ASIA INSTITUTE NEWSLETTER
Bilingual Griffith Graduate assists with Post-tsunami effort
As an Asian and International Studies student
at Griffith University, Tony Sheldon never
imagined his language skills would one day
become so critical, in his humanitarian role in
tsunami-struck Aceh.
Tony was one of a number of Australian
volunteers who sprang to Aceh’s aid in the
aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day tragedy
that claimed the lives and homes of over
200,000 Acehnese.
Just two weeks after the disaster, he led an
emergency medical response team into Aceh
to co-ordinate relief assistance and security
for Peace Brigades International, the nonprofit organisation he has worked for since
graduation.
Tony’s contribution to Aceh’s reconstruction
still consumes him some 12 months on.
He recently founded “World Assist”, an
international charity working in issues of
human security. He is managing a program to
strengthen Aceh’s judicial sector to assist its
transformation into a viable state following the
end of the conflict with Indonesia.
Recalling the ravaged Acehnese landscape
in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami,
Tony said, “The scene was difficult to
describe. No photos can create the feeling.
Everything was completely flat – where
the city had once stood, with houses and a
market and huge buildings, everything was
now no higher than your shins.
“The scene for 10 kilometres was one of
complete devastation, with a sea of sticks
with flags marking the location of bodies.”
Fluent in Indonesian and Acehnese, Tony
spent close to two months helping the
refugees rebuild their lives. Many were people
he knew personally from his five years doing
security assessment in Aceh.
“My familiarity with the language, dialects,
customs and geography of the area really
helped, having majored in Indonesian
language for three years at university and
Tony Sheldon’s Volunteer work continues
supplemented this by studying conversational
Acehnese,” Tony said.
“I also benefited from the networks I had built
over the years with military and rebel forces
in Aceh. This eased my negotiations with
the various stakeholders to get aid to the
affected areas as quickly as possible.”
In between juggling his responsibilities at
World Assist and Peace Brigades International,
Tony still finds time to pursue a second
degree. He is currently in the final year of his
Bachelor of Law degree at Griffith.
Chinese Deligation from ShenZhen University
On 13 February 2006, the Griffith Asia Institute was pleased to host
a delegation of four members from Shenzhen University’s Centre for
Research on China’s Special Economic Zones, led by its Director Cao
Longqi. Director Cao and Professor Wesley gave presentations of
the Centre and on Griffith Asia Institute, with several others making
shorter contributions.
The special economic zones (SEZ), which are a major phenomenon
of the reform policies, were introduced in 1980 and have had a
profound impact on China’s economic development, especially in the
south. They are therefore well worth study, making the Research
Centre of some significance. Shenzhen, which is just north of Hong
Kong in Guangdong Province, was once a backward village, but
became the first SEZ, as a result of which it became for a while the
most rapidly expanding city in China, both in terms of population and
in terms of economy. Many people live in Hong Kong but work in
Shenzhen and vice versa, and migration is very extensive from other
parts of China, which makes it very difficult to be precise about the
population, but one estimate puts it as high as 10 million in 2006.
Shenzhen has a sister-city relationship with Brisbane.
Visitors from Shenzhen University’s Centre for Research on China’s Special
Economic Zone with Griffith University staff Professor Colin Mackerras and
Professor Nick Knight.
Shenzhen University was established in 1983 and has an exchange
relationship with Griffith University, under which quite a few students
have gone there for study. Past Vice-Chancellors have planted
“friendship trees” in both universities. The delegation was shown the
friendship tree planted outside the Bray Centre at Griffith University,
which has now grown quite high.