EU-China Academic Network
Relations between China and European Union Member States have expanded rapidly in recent years. The European Commission's announcement in 1995, of a major policy initiative in the form of its 'China Communication', highlighted tile increasing significance of China in Europe's future external relations. The establishment of the EU-China Academic Network is not unrelated to this initiative and to subsequent related developments that have flowed from it.
By ROBERT ASH
As relations between China and EU Member States expand, so European governments, industries and service sectors are having to confront a wide range of issues relating to China. Although academic and professional research communities in Europe are uniquely placed to address these issues, few formal institutional frameworks have existed in the past to bring such communities together. Through the institution of a programme of meetings formal and informal and publications, the Network was established in order to provide a framework in which European specialists can share their knowledge, discuss on-going research and exchange views with government policy-makers and representatives of corporate business mid other professional bodies.Such is tile background to the establishment, in 1997, of the EU-China Academic Network (ECAN). Its primary purpose is to bring together, physically and intellectually, the diverse community of specialists on contemporary China working in EU Member States. Among the broad goals which ECAN seeks to fulfil are the following: to foster a community among EU specialists on contemporary China in universities and research institutions; to share research findings on China's current and future development and to seek ways of stimulating collaborative research, to promote links between academic experts and European policymakers and to promote links and collaboration between European specialists on contemporary China and their counterparts, in North America, Australia and Asia.
ECAN also administers the EU-China Research Fellowship Fund (ECRFF). This Fund offers funding support for European specialists on Contemporary China to visit mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in order to undertake fieldwork or pursue archival research. ECRFF awards are made to outstanding postgraduate students nearing completion of their PhD research or to post-doctoral candidates at an early stage in their academic or academic-related careers. The research proposals of the candidates are expected to reflect work in a social science with special relevance to some aspect of contemporary development in China. ECAN makes available up to twelve awards each year.
ECAN is managed from the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. Its co-ordinator is Professor Robert Ash who oversees the day-to-day work of ECAN with the support of an Executive Committee comprising 'node' institutions of Chinese Studies s in six other EU Member States. These are: Asien-instituttet (University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Center for Pacific Asia Studies (University of Stockholm, Sweden), Centre d'études sur la Chinese moderne et contemporaine (Paris, France), Centro de Estudios de Asia Oriental, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Institut für Asienkunde, (Hamburg, Germany), and Sinological Institute (Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands).
In addition to these founding collaborative institutions, Institutional Membership has recently been extended to institutions Belgium, Finland, Greece, and Portugal. As well as the core institutions mentioned above, in any given country, other institutions may join ECAN as Associate Members.
Workshops
In pursuit of its stated goals, ECAN organizes two small-scale Policy Workshops each year. Participation in these Workshops is by invitation and comprises academic specialists, as well as policy-makers front individual governments of EU Member States and die European Commission, and other professional representatives with an active involvement in China. 'Me meetings are designed to establish closer links between EU specialists on Contemporary China, while also making the most recent research and work-in-progress more readily available to European policy makers. The five Workshops that have so far been held have addressed a wide range of political, social, legal, economic, and environmental developments in China. The most recent meeting was held in Stockholm in May 1999. It was hosted by Prof. Thomas Hart of the Center for Pacific-Asia Studies (University of Stockholm) and its title was Assessing the Interface Between Economics and Politics in China. In addition to Thomas Hart, speakers at the Workshop included Dr Kjeld-Erik Brodsgaard (University of Copenhagen), Dr Cyril Lin (St Anthony's College, Oxford University), Prof. Thomas Scharping (University of Cologne), Dr Margot Schüller (Institut für Asienkunde) and Prof. Robert Ash (SOAS).
ECAN also holds an annual international conference, which is hosted by an ECAN Member Institution and field at a different location within the EU. In 1998 and 1999, these meetings were held in London and Madrid, in each case, they brought together senior academics and other figures from the United States, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, as well as from within Europe. Speakers from major international organizations, such as the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization and International Energy Agency, have also taken part in ECAN Annual Conferences. At the time of writing, preparations are well advanced for ECAN's Third ECAN Conference, which will be held in Copenhagen during 10-11 February 2000 and co-hosted by the Asien-Instituttet (University of Copenhagen) and the Research Institute of the Danish Foreign Ministry (DU PI). The Conference will address questions relating to China's relations with bordering countries and regions, as well as its changing global role in the context of Post-Kosovo geo-politics.
Preparations are also under way for a Policy Workshop on China's Information Revolution, with particular Reference to the Telecommunications Industry, which will take place in Helsinki in May and be hosted by the University of Turku.
It has been agreed that die proceedings of each ECAN Annual Conference will be published and the first two conference volumes are currently in production with Curzon Press. Where circumstances permit, the proceedings of Policy Workshops will also be made available in book form. To date, one such volume has been published under the title, China's Economic Security (edited by Werner Draguhn ands Robert Ash) (Curzon Press, 1999). *
ECAN is always pleased to receive suggestions about future meetings and topics for discussion. It also welcomes proposals for collaborative research projects across EU Member States, especially those involving a Sino-EU or Sino-European dimensions. These and any other enquiries (for example, relating to membership of ECAN) should be addressed to Robert Ash or Liselot Hertel at the following address:
ECAN
SOAS, University of London
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London, WC I H OXG
United Kingdom
Tel.: +44-171-637 6130
Fax: +44-171-6913422 /+44-171-323 6277
E-mail: ecan@soas.ac.uk