Defining Chinese Modernity: Information, Economy & Environment

Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute with
Co-Sponsors the Center for Chinese Legal Studies at CLS and
The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Hosts 4th Annual China Symposium

Press Contact: Caroline Batten
Phone: (212) 854-6916
Email: [email protected]

Rapid expansion of the Chinese economy is associated with transformations in Chinese society, governance, urban infrastructure, media, and environmental practices. How this continuously ambitious and often startling set of changes can lead to sustainable and beneficial growth has become a matter of importance for China and across the world. This year, the China Symposium will explore how a modern China is defining itself and how it is being defined under the scrutiny of ever-increasing global attention.

WHAT:          Fourth Annual China Symposium: “Defining Chinese Modernity: Information, Economy and Environment”

WHERE:       Columbia University, International Affairs Building, 420 West 118th Street, Altschul Auditorium, 4th floor. Via subway: #1 train to 116 Street (Broadway)/Columbia University.

SPEAKER:    The Honorable C.H. Tung, former Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR

Reservations required by 4/21/08; please email Caroline Batten at [email protected].

Press check-in begins at 8:15 a.m. on April 25. We ask that members of the press/media provide business cards at check-in and prominently display their credentials. Please make any requests for photography/video/audio recording at the time of email registration.

9:30–10:15 a.m.: Keynote address by the Honorable C.H. Tung, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR

10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.: “Regulating Economy and Society” with Mark Cohen, Intellectual Property Rights Attaché, American Embassy, Beijing; Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China; Xiaobo Lü, Professor of Political Science, Barnard College; Dali Yang, Director, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore; moderated by Madeleine Zelin, Professor of History and East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University

1:30–3:00 p.m.: “Environment and Quality of Life” with Joseph Kahn, Deputy Foreign Editor, New York Times; Orville Schell, Director, Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society; Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Professor of History, UC Irvine; moderated by Steven A. Cohen, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Earth Institute at Columbia University

3:15–4:45 p.m.: “Covering China—The Battle for the Story” with Jeremy Goldkorn, Founding Editor and Publisher, Danwei.org; Aryeh Neier, President, Open Society Institute; Xiao Qiang, Director, China Internet Project, UC Berkeley; Ye Weiqiang, Senior Editor, CAIJING magazine; moderated by Benjamin Liebman, Director, Center for Chinese Legal Studies, Columbia Law School

4:45–5:00 p.m.: Closing remarks by Myron L. Cohen, Director, Weatherhead East Asian Institute

The Annual China Symposium began in 2005 when the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, along with several co-sponsoring organizations, presented the first international symposium featuring the world’s leading experts on contemporary China. With an aim to educate the public on the global and domestic impacts of China’s economic emergence, the China Symposium highlights a current and pertinent issue in today’s China, which is then explored through the lens of specific panels consisting of exemplary representatives from the international business, nonprofit, academic, and public policy communities. Past titles include “China’s Economic Emergence: Progress, Pitfalls and Implications at Home and Abroad,” “Feeding the Giant: The Global and Domestic Impact of China’s Energy Needs” and “Becoming a Stakeholder: China in International Affairs.”

Since its establishment in 1949, Columbia University's East Asian Institute has been a major center for research, teaching, and publishing on modern and contemporary Asia Pacific activities, covering China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Korean peninsula, and the countries of Southeast Asia. The Institute is affiliated with Columbia's Schools of Business, Law, International and Public Affairs, and Arts and Sciences, bringing together over 50 full-time faculty, a diverse group of visiting scholars and professionals, and more than 250 students from the United States and abroad.

Established in 1983, the Center for Chinese Legal Studies at Columbia Law School serves as the focal point for China-related curricular, extracurricular and exchange activities that attract students and scholars from all over the world to Columbia Law School. The Center hosts one of the largest concentrations outside Asia of students and scholars studying the law of China.

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, and criminal law. The Law School offers J.D., J.S.D. and LL.M. degree programs to a diverse student body.