EVENTS

East Asia became what it appears to be today during the Cold War, ironically through the divide and rivalry in the alleged region between members of the two Blocs/camps led respectively by the United States and the former Soviet Union. And yet, despite its encompassing pressure for compliance, the two superpowers failed to induce a coherent lens on their enemies or even allies, as their bloc ideologies encountered multiple identities, relations, and agencies at different sites. The panel records the intellectual disarray that Cold War studies have rarely revealed in terms of a potentially different meaning for China, contingent upon the relational network in which China was placed. These disconnected narratives on China comprise a harbinger of the implausibility of regionalism in East Asia after the Cold War. Together, the four papers of this panel, each speaking separately within its own relational setting from the margins of bloc networking, allude to a destabilized China-agenda that the Cold War once set out to monopolize. They explore China from the perspectives of a geographical frontier (Inner Asia), ethnic cleavage (Chinese Indonesian), orthodox culture (Confucian historiography), and securitized non-alignment (India versus China), all embedded in the intellectual sensibilities of their sites and temporalities. Their connection is impossible without an ostensibly existential China, as constructed by the Cold War. Even so, such a connection decentralizes the Cold War but contributes to the continuous marginalization that this panel is determined to reverse.

About the Speakers

Harryanto Aryodiguno is Assistant Professor in the International Relations Study Program, President University, Indonesia, and its Director of Professional Development Center. He is also Secretary-General at Indonesia-Taiwan Business Council. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from National Taiwan University. His research fields include International Relations of East Asia, Chinese political thought, comparative epistemologies for thinking in China, relations between Chinese Indonesians and China, Taiwan, and identity politics.

Chih-yu Shih teaches international relations, anthropology of knowledge, and China studies at National Taiwan University. He is a co-editor of On China by India and a board member of the journal Millennial Asia. His research project of the intellectual history of China studies is accessible at http://www.china-studies.taipei

Te-Jung Liao is a PhD student of The Department of Comparative Politics, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. He is also the on-line project director of Research and Educational Center of China Studies and Cross-Taiwan Strait Relations, Department of Political Science, National Taiwan University. He received his master degree from The Graduate Institute of National Development, National Taiwan University. His research interests include International Relations of Inner Asia and Intellectual History of China Studies.

Wei-Chun Liao is a double-degree M.A. student who majors in Political Science and Psychology in National Taiwan University. He has a bachelor's degree in Political Science and History with a minor in Chinese Literature and Philosophy. He serves as the chief coordinator of Saturday Gathering of China and Chinese Affairs, a study group that began in 1991. His current research focuses on the topic of Chinese conservatism and cultural psychology.

Yuzhou Wang is a Chinese Muslim, who believes in Buddhism. He had received education in mainland China before he started his academic career in Taiwan. Simultaneously majoring in History at National Cheng-chi University and politics at National Taiwan University, his M.A. training focuses on China studies, Intellectual History, and Cultural studies. His thesis explores the interrelations between India, Chinese studies, and the academics through a study of the intellectual growth of Prasenjit Duara. In the future, he will work on ‘Asia discourse’ in terms of non-Western international relations theory.

About the Chair

Hemant Adlakha is Associate Professor at the Centre for Chinese & South East Asian Studies, School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is Vice Chairperson and Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies.

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