Topic:

China's New Left and its Implications for Reform

Speaker:

Dr. Li He

Visiting Senior Research Fellow, EAI, NUS

Professor, Merrimack College, USA

Date:

Friday, 29 August 2008, 3:30pm-5:00pm

Venue:

EAI Conference Room

NUS Bukit Timah Campus

469A Bukit Timah Road

Tower Block #06-01

Singapore 259770

Abstract:

As the Chinese Communist Party prepares to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the reform and opening-up policy, China's state ideology is confronted with challenges from various schools of thought. One of them is the "New Left." The New Left scholars are capturing public attention and setting the tone for political debates through their articles in journals and cyberspace. The New left is characterized by an emphasis on government power to redress the problems of injustice and other negative effects of privatization, marketization, and globalization. This seminar will discuss the following questions:  What is the New Left? How and when did the New Left emerge in China? What are the major debates between the liberals and the New Left? To what extent have the New Leftists affected China’s economic reforms and what change might they bring to the political climate?

About the Speaker:

Dr. Li He is Professor of Political Science at Merrimack College, Massachusetts, United States. Currently he is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at EAI. Dr. Li is the author of From Revolution to Reform: A Comparative Study of China and Mexico (2004) and Sino-Latin American Economic Relations (1991). Li has published articles in journals such as Journal of Strategic Studies, Problems of Post-Communism, Policy Studies, Asian Perspectives, Historian, Asian Affairs, Journal of Chinese Political Science, as well as chapters in several edited volumes.

Topic:

The Road to Democracy: The Taiwan Experience

Speaker:

Dr. Shin Chueiling

Associate Professor, Department of Political Economy

National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan

Date:

Monday, 1 September 2008, 3:30pm-5:00pm

Venue:

EAI Conference Room

NUS Bukit Timah Campus

469A Bukit Timah Road

Tower Block #06-01

Singapore 259770

Abstract:

Moving from authoritarian rule to democracy in less than two decades, Taiwan tells more than a story of regime transformation; it is a tale of change. It is a story of dealing with internal and external challenges, responding to expected and unexpected crises, and searching for the best possible solutions. Nevertheless, most of its people do not seem to regret taking this path of democracy, and are prepared to face countless challenges ahead. So, what has the country learnt, paid for, and/or achieved from its 20 years of democracy? How could the current leadership work to cope with the problems ensuing from its political development? Despite its frustration or achievement, this young, yet developing and fruitful democracy, has lots to share with its Asian neighbours.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Shin is currently associate professor at the Department of Political Economy, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan. She was formally international news editor of Taiwan Times, and European Correspondent for China TV (Taiwan) in London. She earned her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies and Political Science, University of Birmingham, UK, in 1999. Shin's research interests include international human rights politics, transnational civil movement, and international relations theory.

Topic:

Direct Subsidies vs. Social Insurance in Chinese Health Reform

Speaker:

Dr. Ǻke G. Blomqvist

Research Associate, EAI

Professorial Fellow, Department of Economics, NUS

Date:

Friday, 5 September 2008, 3:30pm-5:00pm

Venue:

EAI Conference Room

NUS Bukit Timah Campus

469A Bukit Timah Road

Tower Block #06-01

Singapore 259770

Abstract:

In China today it is widely recognized that there is too little risk pooling in the financing of health care, as patient out-of-pocket payment still accounts for over half of total health care spending and high health care expenditure is a common reason why families fall into poverty. There is, however, a sharp difference between those who think that better risk pooling should be accomplished indirectly, through highly subsidized health services in state-owned and managed clinics, or directly, through a system where patients are charged the full cost of health services but are partially reimbursed through an expanded set of social insurance plans. In this seminar, the speaker argues that there are good reasons for an approach that combines elements of both these models. In particular, the speaker suggests that state subsidies to health services clinics should be channeled through the same county and municipal agencies that are charged with managing the social insurance plans, and that these agencies should act as government-sponsored managed-care insurance plans, perhaps in competition with private insurers.

About the Speaker:

Ǻke G. Blomqvist was educated in Sweden and the U.S. In 2002 he moved from the University of Western Ontario in Canada to the National University of Singapore where he now is a Professorial Fellow in the Economics Department and a Research Associate at EAI. He has taught and conducted research on development economics and health economics; his work in the latter area includes many articles in leading field journals as well as monographs and book chapters on health policy in Canada and, more recently, China.