Analysis
TAIWAN: A NEW NATION?
by J. Bruce Jacobs, Professor of Asian Languages and
Studies, Monash University Bruce.Jacobs@arts.Monash.edu.au
One of the Asian good news stories is Taiwan’s democratisation.
Following Japan’s defeat in 1945, Taiwan was transferred to China, then
under Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist Party (Kuomintang). Even though
many Taiwanese welcomed the Chinese, Chiang Kai-shek and his henchmen plundered
‘Treasure Island’ and discriminated against local Taiwanese, viewing
them as partially Japanese owing to Japan’s fifty-year colonial rule
over the island (1895-1945).
The discrimination and prejudice against Taiwanese led to
the February 28 1947 uprising and the Chinese killing of 20,000 Taiwanese.
Though not publicly discussed until the mid 1990s, the uprising and its repression
caused a huge divide between the native Taiwanese and the Chinese mainlanders
who came in after 1945. With the rise of the Chinese Communists, the Chiang
Kai-shek government fled to Taiwan in late 1949 where they remained protected
by the Seventh Fleet of the United States following the start of the Korean
War in mid-1950.
Chiang Kai-shek and his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, established
a Chinese ‘colonial regime’ on Taiwan. During their rule from
1949 to 1988, ‘mainlanders’, while only fifteen per cent of the
population on the island, always held a majority in two key bodies, the cabinet
and the Nationalist Party’s Central Standing Committee. No Taiwanese
became premier or foreign minister. Only with President Chiang Ching-kuo’s
death in 1988, did a Taiwanese, Lee Teng-hui, become president. Lee had to
work very hard to overcome ‘mainlander’ control. Finally, in 1996,
he won the first popular election for president. The key breakthrough took
place in 2000 when Chen Shui-bian, the candidate of the then opposition Democratic
Progressive Party, defeated the divided Nationalist Party. This led to a peaceful
transfer of power, perhaps the most significant indicator of true democracy.
President Chen faced many difficulties, including having only a minority of
seats in the legislature, a bureaucracy that had become attuned to 55 years
of Nationalist rule, and a military whose loyalty to the government—as
opposed to the Nationalist Party—was in doubt. In 2004, President Chen
won re-election over a unified opposition by a slim margin of 0.228 per cent
but has since had to face demonstrations and protests from the former rulers.
As part of this democratisation, the self-identification
of Taiwanese has changed significantly. In 1992, more than a quarter of the
population called themselves ‘Chinese’ while only about one-sixth
identified as ‘Taiwanese’. Some forty per cent identified as both
‘Taiwanese and Chinese’. At the end of 2005, the number identifying
as ‘Chinese’ had dropped to one-sixteenth while the number of
‘Taiwanese’ is now well over forty per cent and the number who
self-describe as ‘both Taiwanese and Chinese’ has remained roughly
the same. This reflects a major shift in Taiwan’s culture that resembles
a similar modification in Australian culture. Once Australians talked about
‘going home’ to Britain even if they had never been there. Similarly,
residents of Taiwan used to talk about a Chinese ‘homeland’. People
do not talk like that anymore in either place.
In Taiwan, these changes came from the lifting of the Nationalists’
repression of Taiwanese identity and from the hostility of the Chinese Communist
regime to Taiwan’s elected governments. The Chinese threats of war have
also backfired and consolidated the strong feeling in Taiwan that the island
is a separate, sovereign state.
THE PENDULUM’S UPWARD SWING: Reassessing Australia’s
Relations with India
by Shankari Sundararaman changee10@hotmail.com,
Associate Professor, Centre for South, Central, Southeast Asian and Southwest
Pacific Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
The pendulum is currently on an upward swing in Australia-India
relations. While the law of physics may state otherwise, there is a hope in
both governments that this trend is here to stay. Having moved forward from
its lowest point in the aftermath of the 1998 Indian nuclear tests, there
are several indicators that underpin this optimism. These were evident during
Prime Minister Howard’s India visit in March 2006.
The first is in the realm of economic ties. The volume of
trade between the two countries in 1989-90 stood at roughly AUD$860 million,
with Australian exports to India amounting to approximately AUD$590 million.
For the year 2004-05 it stood at about AUD$7.5 billion. Since 2000 India has
emerged as Australia’s sixth largest market for exports. While Australia
still enjoys a trade surplus with India to the tune of AUD$3.6 billion, there
is scope for greater two-way trade, with estimates of a rise in the volume
of trade to about AUD$16 billion by 2010. During the recent visit six bilateral
agreements were signed: an air services agreement; a trade and economic framework;
MOUs on customs cooperation, defence cooperation and biotechnology; and a
letter of intent to set up a strategic research fund. These agreements target
areas of common and emerging interests. In addition, Australia is becoming
a favourite destination for Indian students, and India a source of the skilled
workers needed in Australia.
The second indicator relates to the growing security ties
between the two. Prime Minister Howard’s visit coincided with the attack
on the Sankatmochan temple at Varanasi, a sacred place of worship for Hindus.
In Howard’s response to the incident, he underlined his tough position
on terrorism and mentioned the August 2003 MOU signed between India and Australia
on combating terrorism. Given that Australia and India have common linkages
in Southeast Asia, there is scope for a more regional approach to fighting
terrorism.
The third key issue is the sale of uranium to India. In March
2006, the Indo-US nuclear deal established the separation of India’s
civilian and military capabilities. It also assured India’s compliance
with international inspections of its civilian facilities used for the peaceful
purpose of securing energy requirements. Within this context India had hoped
for the sale of uranium from Australia, which has over 40 per cent of the
world’s accessible uranium resources. While Australia has publicly stated
that India’s non-proliferation record has been impeccable and has supported
the Indo-US deal at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting at Vienna recently,
there has been reluctance to sell to India while it remains outside the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Despite opposition within Australia to selling
uranium to China and not to India, the Howard government has remained firm
on its decision. In India, many are asking whether signing the NPT actually
ensures non-proliferation. Perhaps an answer to this question will determine
whether the pendulum will follow the law of physics or not.
Links:
Profile
This month we profile Dr Cynthia vanden Driesen
(c.vanden_driesen@ecu.edu.au
), Senior Lecturer in International, Cultural and Community Studies at Edith
Cowan University and Australian President of the Association for the Study
of Australasia http://www.mla.iitkgp.ernet.in/~aasa/
. The proceedings of the Association’s latest conference are published
as DIASPORA: The Australasian Experience (Prestige Books, New Delhi; see http://www.asc.uq.edu.au/crossings/11_1/Diaspora.doc
).
Q: When did you become interested in Asia
and why?
A: I was born in Sri Lanka so I am naturally connected to
Asia though I have lived and worked in Australia for decades and am an Australian
citizen. I teach Indian literature in English and have published a book on
the work of the distinguished Indian writer, R K Narayan.
Q: What are your current preoccupations?
A: My interest and that of the Association for the Study
of Australasia (also known as ASAA) has synergies with the Asian Studies Association
of Australia. Where your main aim is disseminating understanding of Asia in
Australia, ours concentrates on improving understanding of Australian culture
in Asian countries. There is a degree of urgency to our program, because economic
stringencies in most Asian countries militate against their acquiring a knowledge
of Australia without active promotion of that interest on the Australian side.
Moreover, most Asians do not perceive anything distinctive
about Australian culture. It is too often melded with an image of British
or American culture. The former is familiar in many regions because of the
history of British rule; American culture and media now dominate the airwaves.
Realising this, Canada is making noticeable headway through investing generously
in cultural exchanges.
Prime Minister Howard has offered AUD25 million to an Australian
university which will promote American studies. This is a tragic and very
public example of how little the Asian connection really matters. One fraction
of that sum invested in promoting the Australian image in Asia would pay huge
dividends in terms of intercultural understanding within our region but not
one word of protest has been raised publicly about this neglect.
Q: How do these fit into the contemporary
scene?
A: Many Australian statesmen, diplomats and academics talk
of the importance of engagement with the countries of our own neighbourhood.
For that engagement to be fruitful we must ensure our values and ways of seeing
the world are understood by our neighbours. Indeed just the realisation that
an Australian is not an Englishman or an American could help promote understanding
of Australian motives in interventions such as the campaign in East Timor
or the protection extended to the West Papuan refugees. This could take the
edge off the tensions that periodically surface between Australia and her
Asian neighbours and actually enlarge the possibilities for Australia to play
a crucial role in the region.
Q: What are your hopes for Asian studies
in Australia?
A: There needs to be a more coordinated approach to the promotion
of Asian studies here and of Australian studies in Asia. The impact of the
excellent work being done by non-governmental Asia-focused bodies such as
Asialink, the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre, and your ASAA, could be maximized
by more corporate and governmental support for Australian studies in Asia.
Government-funded bilateral councils are doing good work
(with modest budgets) in some of the major countries of the Asia-Pacific region,
particularly in China, although Korea needs to become much more of a focus.
In India the Australia-India Council has been extremely supportive of our
work but considering the enormous size of these regions, there is a great
deal more to be done. Surprisingly little is happening in South Asian countries
such as Sri Lanka, in Malaysia and even in Singapore to foster the growth
of Australian Studies. Certainly, our association struggles to find the funding
for conferences and other projects to keep interest in Australia alive
We should be setting up Australian Studies centres wherever
an opportunity emerges. There needs to be substantial funding invested in
developing a program for Australia similar to the British Council, the United
States Information Service or the Canada Council. Without such a body, Australia
will remain a hazy undefined image in the perception of most Asians. Unhappily,
to this day the only salient fact in most Asians’ knowledge of Australia
is the ‘White Australia’ policy. This is surely the saddest reflection
on how our Asian neighbours still see us.
Researcher of the month
Shumei Hou (shumei.hou@uts.edu.au)
is a PhD student at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). She received
an Australian Postgraduate Award in 2005. Her dissertation examines administrative
law reform in China, with a focus on what is required for China to comply
with its WTO commitments. While China has successfully implemented many of
these commitments, including reviewing hundreds of trade-related laws and
regulations and making the required tariff reductions, Shumei’s research
has identified some of the problems still to be tackled. These include:
• the lack of independent judicial review
• the absence of transparency in decision making,
• practices of discrimination and favouritism, and
• the lack of uniform administration in the Chinese legal system.
Shumei brings to her research impressive credentials as a
lawyer and university lecturer. Before coming to Australia, she practiced
law in China for 15 years. She also taught comparative law at the Henan Province
University of Political Science and Law, where she received a ‘Best
Lecturer’ award from the Chinese Ministry of Education and published
extensively on the administrative law system in China.
She came to Australia in 2000, on a Chinese Government scholarship
and worked as a visiting academic at the law school of UTS, while also working
on a Master of Law degree, which she completed in 2003. The major attraction
for Shumei of settling in Australia was to gain exposure to the practice of
common law through her endeavours in the world of academia and of work: she
is currently combining her research with employment as an adviser to a major
Chinese mining company (www.shenhuo.com).
Website of the month
http://www.siiaonline.org/seapsnet
The Southeast Asia Peace and Security Network (SEAPSNet) is a non-governmental
information network aimed at bringing together development and security experts
on Southeast Asia to share their analysis, explore ideas and promote dialogue
on conflict prevention, peaceful development and region-building in Southeast
Asia. It offers a news service that is updated twice weekly by the Singapore
Institute of International Affairs and provides summaries of news reports
and analysis taken from newspapers in the region. The focus is on peace and
security issues particularly those related to terrorism and regional cooperation.
Recent article of interest
LESSONS FROM EAST TIMOR: EMERGENCY, SOVEREIGNTY, SELF-DETERMINATION.
Ian Hunter from the Centre for the History of European Discourses, University
of Queensland, examines the problematic nature of the relation between democratic
‘self-determination’ and the exercise of state sovereignty from
Xanana Gusmao’s declaration of a state of emergency and assumption of
sole direction of the
country’s armed forces and police, with the power to restrict freedom
of
assembly and movement on 30 May. See http://www.sisr.net/apo/hunter.pdf
Did you know?
Uptake of the Internet in the Asia Pacific is rapid. According
to March 2006 statistics, Chinese language now represents 14.1 per cent of
all Internet communication and media use, Japanese 9.6 per cent and Korean,
at 4.1 per cent, has more users than does French. At 35.8 per cent and falling,
English use is now a minority in terms of overall online language use. However,
communications and media scholarship, especially in the Anglophone world,
has not yet registered the deep ramifications of this shift and the challenges
it poses to the concepts, methods, assumptions, and frameworks used to study
the Internet.
To address this the Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation
Studies (CAPSTRANS) at the University of Wollongong, with the support of the
Asia-Pacific Futures Research Network (APFRN), is holding a workshop on 25
September and 26 September 2006 to be led by four leading Internet experts
working on Asia/Pacific issues. CAPSTRANS is calling for applications from
PhD students and early career researchers at Australian universities to participate
in the workshop. Participants will be asked to submit a 4000-word paper. For
more information on how to apply, contact Mark McLelland (markmc@uow.edu.au).
CLOSING DATE 30 June 2006.
Diary dates
16TH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE
ASIAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA (ASAA) ON “ASIA RECONSTRUCTED”,
26-29 June, 2006, University of Wollongong. The deadline for
the call for papers has been extended until Wednesday 1 March 2006. Please
email abstracts and brief profile information to Margaret Hanlon at meh43@uow.edu.au
Themes of the conference include: the critique of development; governance
and citizenship; labour and social Transformation; the clash of fundamentalisms;
national and transnational legal issues; the role of technology; new and old
Arts; Asia and world history; post-colonialism; Australia-South Asia links.
The program will be posted on the ASAA conference web site by March 2006,
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/conferences/asaa/
ZEN MIND, ZEN BRUSH 15 June–13 August, Sydney.
Japanese ink painting from the Gitter—Yelen Collection. Art Gallery
of NSW, http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
JAPAN: Peace Keeping and Peace Building, 4 July,
Sydney. As part of the 2006 Australia-Japan Year of Exchange, Macquarie
University and the Japan Foundation, Sydney are presenting four forums examining
the regional contributions of the two countries. The next forum will feature
Kenji Isezaki, former District Administrator as part of the UN Transitional
Administration in East Timor and General Peter Cosgrove, former Commander
of INTERFET forces in East Timor. Venue: the Japan Foundation Gallery, Level
1 Chifley Plaza, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. To register see http://www.asianlang.mq.edu.au/japanese/jaf/registration.htm
or contact Sumiyo Mimori 02 9850 6891 sumiyo.mimori@humn.mq.edu.au
TAIWAN - A Country Seeks its Rightful Destination,
7 July, Melbourne. The Melbourne Chinese Studies Group will host
Mr. Samuel Kuo, Acting Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Office in Melbourne, who will discuss Taiwan's democracy and its participation
in the global community. 6pm at Jenny Florence Room, 3rd Floor, Ross House,
247 Flinders Lane $2 entrance. CONTACT: Helene Chung Martin hchungma@bigpond.net.au
INDIA'S MOST DYSFUNCTIONAL DYNASTY? 11 July 2006,
Canberra.
Asia Bookroom is hosting an evening with author and journalist, John Zubrzycki.
John will be speaking about Mukarram Jah the subject of his new book The Last
Nizam: An Indian Prince in the Australian Outback. 6 - 8pm, Tuesday July 11,
2006, Asia Bookroom, Lawry Place, Macquarie RSVP: By Monday July 10 for catering
and seating purposes books@AsiaBookroom.com
02-6251 5191.
THE BOY and the BAMBOO FLUTE, 18-21 July, Adelaide.
Inspired by the folklore and cultural traditions of Vietnam this play is about
the epic adventure of a peasant boy and a princess, who overcome the destructive
power of an evil demon with the aid of a bamboo flute. See http://www.patchtheatre.org.au/bbfa.htm
ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY, 20 July, Canberra and 21 July,
Melbourne. Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia,
will deliver the 2006 Centre for Democratic Institutions address on Thursday
July 20 July at 4pm in the Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra. See http://www.cdi.anu.edu.au
Anwar Ibrahim will also present a 30-40 minute lecture followed by a panel
of commentators including Dr David Wright-Neville (Politics Department, Monash)
and Prof Michael Leigh (Asia Institute, Melbourne University). Venue: 6.00
pm-8.30pm Sidney Myer Asia Centre, Melbourne University. RSVP with subject
heading "Islam and democracy seminar" to Dr Tony Donaldson, tony.donaldson@adm.monash.edu.au
BORNEO IN THE NEW CENTURY, 31 July and 1 August 2006,
Kuching Sarawak. Papers are invited for the Eighth Biennial Conference
of the Borneo Research Council (BRC). These should present original research
in any field relating to Sabah, Brunei, Sarawak, Kalimantan and its surrounding
region. Abstracts, no longer than 100 words, must be submitted by email before
1 May to: Jchin@ieas.unimas.my or James.chin@lycos.com
For more details, see: www.borneoresearchcouncil.org
RECONCILIATION BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA, workshop,
August, Canberra. In August 2006, the Department of International
Relations at Australian National University will host a workshop as the culmination
of online discussion about the best ways to encourage reconciliation between
Japan and China. The objective is to produce concrete and realistic policy
proposals for enhancing security cooperation between the two Asian powers,
especially with respect to their participation in the Six Party Talks on the
North Korean nuclear issue and in the potential East Asian Community. See
www.china-japan-reconciliation.blogspot.com
ASIA-PACIFIC MISSIONARIES: AT HOME AND ABROAD, 2nd
Biennial conference, 25-27 August 2006, Canberra. The conference
will be held at the Coombs Lecture Theatre, Australian National University,
Contact: Dr Ian Welch, ian.welch@anu.edu.au
ASIA-PACIFIC TRIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART, December
2006, Brisbane. The Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT)
will be the opening exhibition at the new Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.
APT 2006 will present the work of over 30 artists from Asia, Australia and
the Pacific. It will feature a performance and cinema program, as well as
a children’s festival. See http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/apt
MEDIA: POLICIES, CULTURES AND FUTURES IN THE ASIA
PACIFIC REGION, 27-29 November, Perth. Call
for papers: deadline 31 July 2006 The organisers of the 2006
Signature Event conference for the Australia Research Council's Asia Pacific
Futures Research Network (APFRN), organised by the Media-Asia Research Group
welcome proposals for individual papers as well as workshops and panels from
government, industry and community groups in addition to the academic community.
See http://www.MediaAsiaConference.humanities.curtin.edu.au.
A limited number of scholarships are available (deadline 30 June).
THE AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
STUDIES NETWORK CONFERENCE 30 November to 2 December 2006, Dunedin.
The conference is entitled ‘Southern Perspectives on Development: Dialogue
or Division?’ is to be held at the University of Otago, Further information
is available from http://www.devnet.org.nz
or contact devnet2006@geography.otago.ac.nz
You are welcome to advertise Asia-related events in this
space. Send details to: fbeddie@ozemail.com.au.
Feedback
What would be useful for you? Human interest stories, profiles
of successful graduates of Asian studies, more news about what's on, moderated
discussions on topical issues? Send your ideas to fbeddie@ozemail.com.au
About the ASAA
The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) promotes
the study of Asian languages, societies, cultures, and politics in Australia,
supports teaching and research in Asian studies and works towards an understanding
of Asia in the community at large. It publishes the Asian Studies Review journal
and holds a biennial conference.
The ASAA believes there is an urgent need to develop a strategy to preserve,
renew and extend Australian expertise about Asia. It has called on the government
to show national leadership in the promotion of Australia’s Asia knowledge
and skills. See Maximizing Australia's Asia Knowledge Repositioning and Renewal
of a National Asset http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASAA/asia-knowledge-book-v70.pdf
Asian Currentsis published by the
Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) http://coombs.anu.edu.au/ASAA/
thanks to a grant from the International Centre of Excellence for Asia Pacific
Studies (ICEAPS) http://iceaps.anu.edu.au.
It is edited by Francesca Beddie. The editorial board consists of Robert Cribb,
ASAA President, John Fitzgerald, Director, ICEAPS, Keith Foulcher, ASAA Secretary,
Mina Roces, ASAA Publications officer, Tamara Jacka, ASAA Council member.
