THE 10TH SINO-EUROPEAN CONFERENCE.
15-16 September, Leiden, The Netherlands.


On 15-16 September, 1993 the Sinological Institute of Leiden
University hosted the 10th Sino-European Conference, which was
organised in cooperation with the Institute of International
Relations (IIR), National Chengchi University, Taipei. The theme
of this year's conference was "China and Europe: Defining a New
Relationship within the Search for a New World Order" and its
objective was to reexamine the relationships between the greater
China region and Europe, both East and West, in the light of the
changing international order. The conference covered both the
Republic of China on Taiwan as well as the People's Republic of
China and addressed their respective relations with Europe as
well as the  their own evolving relations and their consequences.

The conference opened with a keynote address by Dr. Chung-lih Wu,
Deputy Director General of the Information Office of The
Executive Yuan of Taiwan. Dr. Wu discussed some of the major
changes that have taken place in Taiwan during the last decades
and raised five issues, many of which were to recur several times
in discussions later during the conference. The first issue
concerned the shift in Taiwanese politics from a quantitative to
a qualitative perspective. Dr. Wu argued that the quality of life
is gaining importance as a political issue, as appears, for
example, from a growing attention paid to matters like
environmental protection and health insurance. Secondly he
pointed out that Taiwan has changed from an international
economic aid receiver to an aid contributor. The third issue
raised was the transformation of Taiwan from a relatively
isolated and closed society to a more open country, as is evident
from the opening up of new channels of information as well as of
the permission (since 1988) to found political parties. This is
closely related to the next issue, the "silent revolution" as it
is sometimes called: the process of democratization that has
taken place in Taiwan. Finally, Dr. Wu addressed the process of
changing Taiwan's role on the sidelines in the arena of world
politics to that of a player. With this last issue, he was
referring to Taiwan's aim to officially join international
organizations like the United Nations, GATT and the Asian
Development Bank. 
The conference brought together some 40 specialists from Taiwan
and various European countries. Ten papers, divided over two main
themes: (1) the interrelationship between domestic developments
and foreign policy orientation; and (2) interactions between
Europe, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China, were
presented. Each paper was commented upon by a discussant who also
raised the key themes for the debate in the remainder of the
session. The final session was reserved for a round table
discussion, led by Prof. A.J. Saich (Sinological Institute,
Leiden University), on the global context and on key issues that
had emerged during the conference. The discussion was preceded
by short introductions by Prof. K. Radtke (Japanological
Institute, Leiden University) and Dr. Wen-lang LI (Department of
Sociology, Ohio State University). There was only one theme all
participants agreed upon: the capacity of the PRC to surprise the
world and thus the impossibility of predict its future. Themes
and questions raised during this session included:

TAIWAN'S FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY:
- in what direction is its relationship with the PRC evolving?
- what are the domestic and international implications of
Taiwan's aim to join the UN?
- does Taiwan anticipate the institutional changes that are
taking place in the field of           international   politics,
for example the changing role of various UN organs?

PRC'S DOMESTIC SITUATION:
- what kind of political structure will eventually emerge?  
- what are the implications of a growing regionalism?
- does the economic development lead to moral decay?

RELATIONS BETWEEN EUROPE AND EAST ASIA
- what are the implications of the simultaneous development of
large economic blocs, on the    one hand, and localist movements
resulting in fragmentation on the other hand                          


The conference proceedings will be published in book form and in
Issues and Studies, a monthly journal published by the Institute
of International Relations in Taipei.
Next year's Sino-European conference will be held at the
Institute of International Relations in Taipe.


SINO-EUROPEAN CONFERENCE SPONSORING INSTITUTES:

Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi
University, Taipei, ROC

Sinological Institute, Leiden University, The Netherlands

Centre de Recherches et de Documentation sur la Chine
Contemporaine, Paris, France

Centre for International Politics, University of Munich, Germany

Research Unit on Chinese and East Asian Politics, Saar
University, Saarbrcken, Germany

Institute for Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology, University
of Gothenborg, Sweden

Modern Asia Research Centre, The Graduate Institute of
International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland

Centre for Modern Chinese Studies, Oxford, UK

The Oriental Institute, Oxford University, UK