Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Asienkunde e.V.

GERMAN ASSOCIATION FOR ASIAN STUDIES, HAMBURG

Asia is a focal point in world politics. More than half of the world
population lives there, a major part of it in poverty. Yet Asia is the most
dynamic growth region of the world at present. Securing world peace, a
process which takes into account human dignity as well as the conservation
of nature, can only be attained with the co-operation of the states and
societies of the Asia-Pacific region.
The dialogue and co-operation with Asia must be extended and intensified in
the fields of politics, business, science, technology, and culture. The
Asia Concept (Asien-Konzept) of the Federal Republic of Germany takes all
this into account. The economic dynamism of the Asia-Pacific region offers
great opportunities to the German business. The establishment of the
Asia-Pacific Committee of the German Business Association is one answer to
this great challenge.
Research into the politics and the economies, the cultural and social
structures, the driving forces behind and obstacles to the context of
change in Asia will also be increasingly important in the future. Since its
foundation the German Association for Asian Studies has devoted itself to
this very task. 

By Gnter Schucher

The goals of the German Association for Asian Studies are as follows: to
support scientific studies of contemporary Asian affairs and to inform a
wider public about the area; to increase scholarly activities and to
stimulate the exchange of experience and knowledge about Asia; to promote 
co-operation among individuals and institutions interested in Asian affairs
and working in the field of politics, business, culture, and science, both
on national and international levels.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE GAAS
The German Association for Asian Studies was founded in Bonn in March 1967.
Its initial aim was to attempt to contribute to an interpretation of East
Asia based on scholarly methods,  by combining traditional subjects like
Sinology and Japanology with the disciplines and issues in the Social
Sciences. It was hoped that the increased participation of the Federal
Republic of Germany in the exchange of ideas about and with East Asia would
be achieved through the bringing together of a widely representative circle
of people from political, business, and cultural life. The GAAS organized
conferences and lectures and produced publications providing information.
Thanks to a close co-operation with the Volkswagenwerk Foundation, many
activities were  carried out during the first years. Research projects
within the scope of corresponding focal points of research of the
Foundation were examined by experts and then approved, special grants for
East Asia were awarded, and intensive courses in Chinese and Japanese
given. In addition to this, the GAAS organized conferences and published
the "Mitteilungen der Koordinierungsstelle fr  gegenwartsbezogene
Ostasienforschung" (Bulletin of the Co-ordination Office for Research on
Contemporary East Asia). While, it kept its members informed, it also
disseminated information on East Asia in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The financing of the GAAS by the VW-Foundation ceased in June 1976. Since
then, the GAAS has been self-financing. It is one of the few institutions
of its type in Germany that is financed solely by its own contributions and
donations, without recourse to any money from public funds. If there were
any doubts about the meaningful continuance of the GAAS, the chairman of
the board of directors, Dr. Wolfgang Franke, dispelled such doubts at the
meeting of the members in April 1977 by pointing out the common problems
and tasks to by tackled by Asian Studies.
The widening function of the GAAS was underlined in 1977 by expanding its
activities to include Southeast Asian studies. Four years later, in April
1981, Southeast Asian Studies were added to the scope of the GAAS. Since
then, the German Association for Asian Studies has offered all scholars
specializing on Asia - and not just them - the possibility for
communicating their knowledge to a public interested in Asia. The scholars
have been the strongest group among the members from the beginning, but
writers, journalists, diplomats, economists and others who are interested
in Asia, are also members of the GAAS. Following Prof. Franke, the GAAS has
been headed by Dr. Hermann Schmitt-Vockenhausen, the former ambassador
Gnter Diehl, and now by Hans Klein, Vice-President of the German Bundestag
(Lower House of the German Parliament).

THE JOURNAL ASIEN
The first issue of the journal "ASIEN. German Journal for Politics, Economy
and Culture", appeared in October 1981. The idea of the GAAS was to improve
the dissemination of information on Asia via its own journal and to place a
device by which it could represent itself better at home and abroad at the
disposal of research on Asia.
The journal covers the region comprising the countries of Pakistan and
India in the west to China, Japan, and the South Pacific in the east and it
is concerned with contemporary issues and problems in the region. In his
introduction Gnter Diehl addressed a circle of readers both in and outside
Germany, "who take a lively interest in Asia, in the Asian point of view
and events. Lively in the sense that they take part in our political,
economic, and cultural relations with Asia. Our aims need no further
introduction. We have undertaken to improve knowledge about Asia in this
country. Besides this, we want to offer some German and European opinions
on Asian problems and events".
Meanwhile, ASIEN is in its 14th year of publication. Right now, the 54th
issue of the journal is being prepared. It has a circulation of 1.000. On
an average, every issue consists of 140 pages and contains 4-6 scholarly
articles and conference papers. Compared with other journals on Asia, ASIEN
clearly stands out because of its meticulously detailed information
section. The sections on conference reports and announcements, information,
research projects and research institutes, reviews, new literature,
documentation, lectures and seminars relating to Asian Studies comprise 45%
to 75% of every issue.
The compilation covering lectures and seminars on themes relating to Asia
organized by all the German universities deserve particular mention. The
GAAS points out "with pride" the printing of the compilations in the
"Mitteilungen" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of April 2nd, 1979). In this
part the journal offers about 50 closely printed pages giving a unique
survey on Asian studies in German every term or semester.

LANGUAGE COURSES
In addition to the publication of the journal, the GAAS has concentrated on
organizing intensive languages courses and scholarly meetings. Courses on
Japanese have continued without interruption since the foundation of the
GAAS. At present, three course are offered: for beginners, for advanced
students I and advanced students II. Unfortunately, it has not always been
possible to offer courses in Chinese, but since the autumn of 1993, a
course for the beginners and a course for the advanced students have been
given.

SCHOLARLY CONFERENCES
In co-operation with collegial organizations (Institute for Asian Affairs,
German-Japan Centre in Berlin), the Association for Asian Studies organizes
a scholarly conference every year. On these occasions, it has always chosen
topical themes which are concerned with the whole Asian region. Recent
conferences have had following themes: "Political and Economic
Inter-relation of Population Movements in Asia" (Berlin, April 1991), "Asia
after the End of the Soviet Union: the impact of the disintegration of the
Soviet Superpower on politics, society and economy of the Asian States"
(Berlin, November 1992), "Nationalism and Regional Co-operation in Asia"
(Berlin, May 1993). The conference papers are published by the Institute
for Asian Affairs. Smaller lecture series are also organized by GAAS, just
one example being on the subject "Problems and Perspectives of
International Relations in the Asia-Pacific region" in November 1993, in
the chambers of the "Hamburg Representation" in Bonn.

ASIAN STUDIES AND BUSINESS
The special attention the Asian region has been attracting from business
circles for a number of years has confirmed the need for an organization
like the GAAS and the aptness of the tasks which is has set itself.
However, so far the integration of scholarship and business has not been
optimal. What the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported after the
members' meeting in April 1979 is still valid : "The GAAS finds it
regrettable that the German economy makes so little use of the many
graduates with a good command of their fields of study and the concomitant
languages, who have specialized on East and Southeast Asia. Many of these
experts are unemployed". (April 2nd, 1979). Nonetheless, it is true that
there are many personalities from the business world or from specific firms
among the members of the GAAS. Many businessmen take the opportunity
offered by the intensive language course to prepare themselves for a
posting in Asia. Notwithstanding, the specialized knowledge concentrated
among the members of the GAAS has been too little used for the benefit of
business. A conference that is being prepared in collaboration with the
Institute for Asian Affairs, which is to take place in Bonn in November
1994 and is intitled "Political outline conditions for Economic commitment
in Asia-Pacific region", is a contribution towards taking measures to
remedy the situation.
Another activity aimed in this direction is the drawing up of a list of
training facilities relating to Asia for the steering committee "Intensify
Training and Further Education" of the Asia-Pacific Committee of the German
Business Association.
The increased commitment of German politics and business - supported by the
"Asien -Konzept" of the Federal Republic of Germany - offers new
possibilities to the Association for Asian Studies to step up its tasks. At
the meeting of the board of directors of the GAAS, the chairman, Hans
Klein, stressed that to achieve this purpose it will be necessary to
increase the membership. Membership of the GAAS can be obtained by a
written application. The annual contribution is at least DM 80,- for
ordinary persons and scholarly institutions, for students and spouses of
members DM 40,- and at least DM 150,- for corporate members. This
contribution is deductible from taxable income. Members receive the journal
ASIEN free of charge.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
German Association for Asian Studies
Rothenbaumchaussee 32, D-20148
Hamburg  Germany
Tel: +49-40-445891
Fax: +49-40-4107945.