Asiatica Association

G8/G7 summits held in Italy are prone to accidents despite the relatively low interest of international society: Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira died shortly before the 1980 Venice Summit, prompting Japan to send an acting prime minister, and the 1994 Naples Summit was held just after the death of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. This year's summit in L'Aquila in central Italy was also plagued by an accident - riots in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

Chinese President Hu Jintao hurried home, resulting in the absence of the central player in the summit's limelight. In other words, a primary theme of the G8 summit - whether China is really trustworthy - was revealed. However, the Uighur issue was totally skipped, not even mentioned in the Declaration. This is in stark contrast to the 1989 Paris Summit, which issued a political declaration after harshly condemning China for the killings of pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square. Even the torch relay before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing drew harsh international criticism due to China's handling of the unrest in Tibet.

We have just received (on surface mail) the Newsletter for Research in Chinese Studies, 110 (May 2009 - vol. 28, no. 2), a hard copy quarterly published by the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS).

It is written in Chinese with subtitles in English. It contains articles, interviews, and regular updates on the happenings in the worldwide community of Chinese studies.

This issue includes: Special Feature (Rationale and Plans for National Central Library's 2009 Year of Service) Summary of Research (papers by Yang Wei-chen, Wei Lei and Wang Baosheng, Kang Kai-lin), Researchers of Chinese Studies Scholars (paper by Liu Ruomei); International Sinology (paper by Jack W. Chen); Book Review; Introduction of Materials; Conference Reports; News from Academia.

This is the complete catalog of the publications of the Center for Chinese Studies (in Chinese).

We have just received the Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, a research publication on Sinology written in English. It is published by the Academy of East Asian Studies of Sungkyun University.

This issue includes a special session, edited by Miyajima Hiroshi, on the topic “The nationalistic and Global Progress of East Asia in 1919 (three papers). It also includes three articles, “American Media Coverage of the Assassination of Durham White Stevens”, by Brandon Palmer; “Proletarian-Amateur Theatre: Political Performativity and its Memory”, by Seung-hee Lee; and Anti-Christian Ideas and National Ideology: Inoue Enryo…” by Kiri Paramore, and a book review.

We have just received the Journal of Confucian Philosophy and Culture, vol. 11/ February 2009. All the papers are in Korean but they include a summary in English.

Papers: The tendency and Analysis of Recent Korean Confucianism Studying; Korean Confucianism Studies in China; Research of Japanese Confucianism Studies in China; Zhou Gong as a Prince Regent...; A Reflection on the Essence of Xun Zi's Theory of Human Nature; A Study on the Thought on Nature and Human Nature in Zuozhuan; A Philosophical Study on Political Culture in the Han Period Seen Through Dong Zhong-Shu's...; Zhu Xi and Neo-Confucianism; On the Debate of WujiTaiji between Zhu Xi and Lu Brothers; Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan Ideological Differences and Huizhou Scholars...; Liu Jishan' Doctrine of Good and Evil in His Pre-Modern Consciousness.

We have just received the Newsletter for Research in Chinese Studies, 108 (vol. 27, no. 4), a hard copy quarterly published by the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS). Papers, reviews and Sinology news from Academia are written in Chinese.

Today we received a research publication on Sinology written in English only. It is the Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, published by the Academy of East Asian Studies of Sungkyun University. Remarkable the paper "The Global War on Terrorism as Meta-Narrative: An Alternative Reading of Recent Chinese History", by Michael Schoenhals.

A few days ago we have received the Newsletter for Research in Chinese Studies, 107 (vol. 27, no. 3), a hard copy quarterly published by the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS).