ABSTRACTS - oia - Portland State University

ASPAC Conference 2010
June 18 – 20, 2010 | Portland, OR
very limited set of conceptually drenched arboreal images rather than simply referring in their poetry to any
and every tree that one might encounter in a stroll through a Chinese forest.
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Christian Wirth
Maritime Governance, Nation-Building, and Regional Cooperation in Northeast Asia
High economic growth rates, the revolution in telecommunication, and the end of the Cold War have
brought about rapid and profound changes to the domestic as well as regional environments of Northeast
Asian governments. The maritime sphere, in which increasingly militarized state boundaries delineate
political authority while at the same time economic activities link increasingly interdependent communities
therein, bears significance for the study of regional integration in several respects. This paper looks at how the
Chinese and Japanese governments, in response to processes of globalization, have cooperated in the spheres
of traditional security and maritime governance such as environmental and fishery management since the
mid-1990s. Based on several case studies, the paper seeks to shed light on current dynamics underlying
bilateral and regional cooperation. It assesses transactional processes in these areas in view of the emergence
of norms conducive to the generation of dependable expectations of peaceful change (Adler, Barnett 1998). It
finds that the two governments, despite potentially conflict-generating interests in all areas examined, have
managed their relations in ways that indicate the emergence of norms of regional governance, particularly in
maritime governance. At the same time, the combination of the absence of a third party to monitor
compliance with such norms, the lack of a regional actor able to project a new sense of purpose, the lacunae
of ideas of progress and a vision for the future, and domestic problems of governance results in mixed results
in the traditional security sphere. It is suggested that the lack of mutual trust stems from the shortage of
knowledge, not only about each other’s purpose and intentions but also about each other’s views on society,
politics, economics, and culture. In view of the fragmentation of the once coherent national identities
resulting from the rapid socio-economic changes in recent years, China and Japan generally continue to locate
the history of their nation-states in storylines that emphasize their emergence as independent and unitary
nations with long individual histories, rather than being part of a Northeast Asian region. Some evidence,
such as the strengthening of transnational and international networks, as well as the largely absent use of
coercive power, suggests, however, that these conceptions are about to change in favor of national identities
aligned with a newly imagined Northeast Asian region.
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Zhiwei Xiao
Beautiful Imperialists: A Century of Chinese Cinematic Images of the U.S.
This paper examines the representation of America in the Chinese cinema from the early 20 th century to the
present and traces some important shifts and turns in the Chinese popular imagination about the U.S. It
argues that, with the exception of the Mao years {1949-1976}, and despite the official ideology in the post
Mao era, Americans have largely been casted in the positive light in Chinese films, which provide an
interesting contrast to the way Hollywood has portrayed China and the Chinese on the screen.
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Jiaxin Xie
Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University
The study of Chinese will not just connect American students with the language, but also with the culture,
literature, and rich history of China. SFSU’s goal to provide international experiences, perspectives and
competencies complements the Confucius Institute’s mission to meet the surging demand for Chinese
language instruction at all educational levels. The Institute’s resolution, “Making Chinese language instruction
readily available to anyone who needs or wishes to learn Chinese in Northern California,” reflects our
function as a Research and Service organization at the University, to promote Chinese language and culture
and support local Chinese teaching. We agree to provide programs and services including but not limited to
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