Obama and Hu Talk About China-US Relations

Read Full Article in China Daily:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/09/content_7187311.htm

Chinese President Hu Jintao and US president-elect Barack Obama Saturday discussed in a telephone conversation relations between China and the United States and major international issues of common concern, including the ongoing global financial crisis.
In the telephone conversation, Hu expressed appreciation to Obama for emphasizing in his election campaign speeches the great importance of China-US relations, and for advocating the strengthening of China-US cooperation in jointly responding to global challenges and in sharing global development opportunities.

International Basket Brigade

We are already planning the Fifth Annual 21st Century China Symposium. But during the holiday season I work with the Tolny Robbins Foundation as thei International Coordinator. We help families all over the world during the holiday season to have a better life. we do this by letting people know we care and that their situation can and will improve. We also distribute hoiliday gift baskets filled with love.

There is nothing like the feeling of helping those less fortunate, and then seeing their lives turn around. Give with passion.

Happy Holidays,

Professor Don Eads

For more info:

http://tonyrobbinsibb.ning.com/

Hawaii Podcamp: Oct. 24-25

I am playing songs from my new CD on Friday at Noon and Saturday at 8:15-9 AM. Be sure to tune in via computer and/or come by the Hawaii Convention Center. This is going to be an awesome annual event and I am humbled to be part of the first one. Hoku, my 15 year old son, is helping out, too, while also going to college full-time.

The 5th Annual 21st Century China Symposium is already in the planning stages, and we are excited. It will be during the month of July 2009.

I am now at East West Center and will return to Beijing over the Christmas holidays. Mahalo to everyone for their support and aloha, especially my Chinese friends at Tsing-hua and Peking University, as well as Nankai. When I am home in Hawaii I miss China every day because of all of the wonderful friends, students, and business partners we have.

Mayor Kim is doing good

Mayor Harry Kim recently had a heart attack, and was flown to Queens on Oahu for treatment. He is doing well and appreciates everyone's aloha. He is one of the long-term supporters of our 21st Century China Symposium and we wish him all the best as he recovers. He would make a great Governor for the Aloha State!!

Mayor Harry Kim Sends His Aloha

The Mayor was busy with the new Federal task force on the effect of the vog, and he did not feel well by Friday evening. This is the only event he has ever missed with our group. I hope you can all appreciate that he wanted to be there. Mahalo, Harry, for all of your support. And again, I am sorry he could not make it.

Reflections on the Fourth 21st Century China Symposium

Well, there is always a lag between what actually happens and how you plan it. However, the most amazing part of this whole larger and growing community is how some people tend to arrive by "accident." On Saturday, I spent time with a friend and his wife who happens to be in the Parliament of New Zealand just before the symposium began. Afterwards, I ran into several people who did not attend the symposium but had a lot on their minds about China. The same thing happens nearly every day in my world. It is a subject whose time has come, or perhaps, is long overdue in the American psyche. Surely we realize how important this mission is.

Be sure to stay tuned, because I will post the symposium topics and discussion threads with links here soon. Right now, I am taking a break for a few days. Sand, surf, and other things are occupying my thoughts. I hope everyone understands. Hoku and I are looking for a temporary vacation retreat, if you know of one, for a little while before heading out to Oahu and Beijing for the Olympics.
Mahalo,

Don

Saturday Update: Meet at UCB 330 at 1:30 PM

Please let everyone know about this change. After all, the Coconut Wireless works great in Hawaii nei. We will send out emails and pass this information along at Borders, too.

UCB (University Classroom Building) is the new building straight ahead on the left as you enter the Main Entrance to campus from Kawili. We will have someone posted at the Library Lanai also.

Go to the middle of the building and take the elevator to the third floor. The room is on the walkway straight ahead. Be there at 1:30, or at least before 2 PM when Bob Jacobson is scheduled to speak.

UH President David McClain sends his aloha...

David has just received an outstanding rating from the Board of Regents. His assistant, Eva, emailed me, saying that he regrets he will not be able to attend this year's 21st Century China Symposium, as he is traveling on the Mainland at this time. But he supports the event and sends his best wishes for a successful symposium.

The Hawaii/China Connection Explored in New Documentary

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080717/LIFE/807170328/1076

A new documentary by a Honolulu-based production company explores the history and future of the Chinese in Hawai'i. While "Finding Sandalwood Mountain" is a complete, un-abridged story of the Chinese in Hawai'i, it appeals to audiences of all backgrounds, said director Greg Andermann.
"What happened here in Hawai'i among Asians who became Americans is very different than what happened on the U.S. Mainland," Andermann said. "So a lot of local people who have seen this film have commented to me — whether they're Japanese, Korean or Filipino — they say, 'This is our story, too.' "
"Finding Sandalwood Mountain" premieres tonight on PBS Hawai'i. The documentary examines the lives, stories and social impact of Hawai'i's Chinese immigrants and their modern-day descendants. Viewers will learn about the heritage and influence of the Chinese people in Hawai'i, how they overcame hardship and discrimination, and succeeded in changing the history of both Hawai'i and China, Andermann said.
The film profiles prominent local Chinese figures: Chun Ah Fong, nicknamed Hawai'i's Chinese merchant prince; Sun Yat Sen, the father of modern China; and Hiram Fong, the first Asian U.S. senator.
"The film presents, in addition to the background of how and why the Chinese came to Hawai'i, the influence Hawai'i's melting pot can have for all nations in their efforts to transcend individual cultures and ethnicities," said Roger K.S. Liu, president of the Hawai'i Chinese History Center.
The documentary is also the first and only one of its kind that examines important population movements of the last two centuries, added Daniel W.Y. Kwok, University of Hawai'i-Manoa professor emeritus of history.
"It tells not only what Chinese have done in and for Hawai'i, but also what Hawai'i has meant in the modern history of China," Kwok said.
The title of the film comes from the phrase that the Chinese have used to refer to Hawai'i — tan siang shang, Mandarin for "sandalwood mountain" — because Hawai'i was the source of most of the sandalwood that came to China, Andermann explained.
"It was the mythical, distant land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that offered opportunities," he said.
Making the documentary was a five-year process that "was like a labor of love," Andermann said. The project involved a lot of traveling between China and Hawai'i, doing hours of interviews and research, and collecting video footage, archived photos and memorabilia from various sources.
"When we started to do this, we originally thought we were just going to tell the stories of the Chinese in Hawai'i as seen through the eyes of ... the people who remembered the tales that their grandparents and parents told them," Andermann said.
"When we started to go deeper, we found that there were a lot of unanswered questions: Why had they come from China? What was the situation back in China? What did they find when they got here? We really wanted to find out ... and we realized we needed to tell the whole story."
It was produced by Andermann and his wife, Fawn, a native of Shanghai, through their production company, A2Media. The couple worked in cooperation with the Hawai'i Chinese History Center and the China Light Media Foundation, a Hawai'i-based humanitarian nonprofit organization. Most funding for the independent film came from grass-roots efforts within the local Chinese community.
"Finding Sandalwood Mountain" is much more than a history piece, Andermann noted.
"I believe the film is an impetus to look at where Hawai'i can go with China in the future, because China is clearly going to be the nation of the century," he said. ... "If you look at the amount of investment, amount of money, amount of activity in China, it supersedes the rest of the world, and so China is positioning itself to be the economic leader of the world."
If that's the case, Hawai'i needs to get ready, Andermann said. "And part of that is becoming culturally sensitive, part of that is learning some basic Mandarin, part of that is understanding and appreciating the history of the Chinese here."

Borders: Friday, July 18

Be sure to come to the opening of the 2008 21st Century China Symposium at Borders/Starbucks in Hilo. We will provide up to the minute details of how the
Symposium will proceed on Saturday and Sunday. Your feedback is welcome in advance.

One thing we are changing is the Banquet. Most people enjoy the potluck we have done every year, so we will do that again this year. On Sunday, we can all pitch in and buy pizza (our favorite pizza is usually from Big Island Pizza) while we enjoy the music. You may also bring along potluck dishes to share. We will have more chances this year for small group discussion. I just received word from Barack Obama that he would love to attend but his schedule will not permit it. Rumor is that he will come home to Hawaii in August, but we are working on details for him to possibly appear at a future symposium.

One thing is sure: this will be the best 21st Century China Symposium yet. I encourage you to come to Bob Jacobson's presentation. Most people do not realize that he has traveled to China many times and hi8s insights are fresh.
Email me at: professor.eads@gmail.com

with questions, comments, suggestions, etc.

See you Friday night!!
Aloha,

Don

Update on Events Schedule for 21st Century China Symposium

Borders/Starbucks by Walmart, Ross, Island Naturals in Hilo
Friday, July 18, 5:30-8:00 PM
Mayor Harry Kim will speak at 6 PM
6:45 PM-8:30 PM
There will be a Symposium overview and informal discussion
presented by Don Eads
Mahalo to Borders and Starbucks for their support!

Saturday, July 19, 2-6 PM
UH Hilo
At 2 PM, Hawaii County Councilman Bob Jacobson will speak about his many trips
to China and the exciting future of China-Hawaii relations. Library Lanai area
3:15-3:30 BREAK
3:30-4:45 PM Don Eads will present an overview of the 2008 Olympics
as it relates to 21st Century China
4:45-5:00 PM BREAK
5:00-6:00 pm Small groups discussions and special top[ics picked by
symposium attendees

Sunday, July 20
2-5 PM
Closing Ceremonies
Concert
Banquet

For more info:

Don
professor.eads@gmail.com

57 Rules For Olympic Visitors

Wall Street Journal: June 3, 2008
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121241380981137725.html?mod=yhoofront

HONG KONG -- The Beijing Olympics organizing committee issued a detailed handbook of ground rules for foreign visitors to this summer's Games. The 57 points address behavior from public drunkenness to political statements, a message that China won't be letting down its guard during the Games.

Deadly 7.8 Earthquake Kills Thousands in Southwestern China

Buildings rattle in Beijing, Shanghai, and even Taipei

The deadly earthquake that rocked Southwestern China and felt all across China and beyond, could possibly have left more than 8,500 people dead, and the death toll is expected to climb as rescue efforts are intensifying.
China's state-run news agency Xinhua said in a news flash that in Sichuan Province alone, which was hit the hardest, the death toll there has risen to 8,533.

Earlier, it said between 3,000 to 5,000 people are feared dead in the province's Beichuan County, near the epicenter of Wenchuan County. Wenchuan lies about 145 kilometres west of Chengdu, the densely populated provincial capital.

Xinhua quoted China's Ministry of Civil Affairs as saying the strong tremor killed at least 107 people in Sichuan's Chengdu, neighboring Chongqing, Gansu and Yunnan provinces. And, up to 900 teenagers were trapped as their middle school buildings in Dujiangyan, suburban Chengdu, partly collapsed. Rescuers are seen in TV footage using cranes to move away cement and steel structures.

China's state seimological administration reported the earthquake hit Sichuan Province at 2:28 pm Beijing Time Monday, at a destructive scale of 7.8 on the Richter calculations. The U.S. Geologocial Survey said on its website that the epicentre lies 29 kilometres below the surface, and at a scale of 7.5.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who have just completed a 5-day official visit to Japan, has ordered prompt rescue efforts to take care of the affected. Premier Wen Jiaobao has cut short his inspection trip in central Henan Province, and have flown to Chengdu to lead the government rescue efforts.

More than 5,000 PLA officers and soliders and 3,000 police have also rushed to Wenchuan and surrounding areas to spearhead the rescue efforts.

Wen Jiaobao told reporters during his flight to Sichuan that the central government is closely monitoring the disaster relief work, and Wen urged for calm, efficiency and confidence in fighting the killer tremor.

"I will be in charge of relief work headquarters that has been set up with eight State Council departments," Wen said.

Chinese reporters in Juyuan town, about 60 miles from the epicenter, said that they saw trapped teenagers struggling to break loose from underneath the rubble of the three-story building "while others were crying out for help."


Two teenage girl students were quoted as saying they escaped because they had "run faster than others."

Sleepless Night

Many residents in Chengdu and elsewhere near Sichuan are expected to stay out-doors or in makeshift beds, as they fear more follow-up quakes.

An employee of chinadaily.com.cn, who happens to be in Chengdu on a business trip there, said hotel administration has instructed all tenants to keep away from their rooms. The employee said more than 50 are staying in the first-floor lobby.

"We felt continuous shaking for about two or three minutes. All the people in our office are rushing downstairs. We're still feeling slight tremblings," said an office worker in Chengdu, when the tremor struck.

Provincial officials said that the temblor struck hilly and foresty countryside leading up to the mountains, toppling buildings in small cities and towns in the largely rural area.

With a population of 111,800, Wenchuan County lies in southeast part of the Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, 145 km to the northwest of Chengdu. Wenchuan is home to the Wolong Nature Reserve, China's leading research and breeding base of the endangered giant pandas.


China Daily:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-05/13/content_6678227.htm

The Fourth Annual
21st Century China
Symposium

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
July 18-20, 2008
UH HILO
Guest Speakers
Entertainment
Concert and banquet
Breakout sessions

Call for papers: Deadline is June 25, 2008 for inclusion in this year's symposium.

For more info: Professor.eads@gmail.com