version without pictures printable pdf single page March 16 • March 18
It’s sort of a gray day and I slept in until 7:30 a.m. Had a bit less to eat for breakfast. Today is a five-lecture day but two are short and are fireside chats. So happy St. Patrick’s Day and happy birthday to Yelena!! Though I was able to order a meal with less salt last night, my legs are still very puffy. I imagine they will stay that way until I get home.
Anping Chin started off the day with “Life In Taiwan.” It turned out to be her own personal story which came with quite an emotional impact. She talked about her grandfather and grandmother that she never met but only read about. She was born in the town of Anping (hence the name). In 1624 the Dutch established a fort in Taiwan. The Dutch were willing to work with the tough Chinese criminal types. The Dutch eventually drove out the Spaniards and Portuguese. In 1661 a fleet arrived in Anping with 25,000 troops. They fought the Manchu dynasty.
Anping’s family moved to Taiwan along with the Nationalists because her father was offered a professorship there. They left behind their families thinking they would return in a few years but in fact they never saw them again. Her father taught western architecture in the 1950’s. He taught perspective and shadowing etc. and was enamored with Frank Lloyd Wright.
Her grandparents on her fathers side came from Manchuria. Her father never heard from them again after he moved. This was very difficult for him. Her grandmother was a peasant and illiterate but stood very tall. She was taller than her husband. She was a very strict person and anyone in her household or those visiting her household were only allowed two meals a day. She was married when she was 18 and her husband was 16. Her grandfather wept when the first child was born worrying about this new responsibility. Her grandfather loved learning but had to drop out of school to become an apprentice to support his family. At age 26 he became a student at Peking University. He became a prominent historian. He also held a government office in the Ministry of Education from 1913 to 1932. He was sent to prison by the Japanese. Her grandparents moved to Beijing in 1948.
Anping never met her grandfather but felt they both shared a common love for history so felt close to him. In the last few months she has been reading the diary of her grandfather which has been published in ten volumes. It was written in classical Chinese and was unpunctuated. His diary covers the years 1920-1960. He died in 1962 at the age of 72.
Her father told her that grandfather always wrote about the previous day at 5:00 am. He kept track of his learning and scholarship this way. His diaries were published in 1993. She waited fourteen years to read it until she felt ready. It included his poetry and letters received as well as those he wrote. It covers events both political and private. It was heartbreaking for her to read about the communist years. He tried to commit suicide several times. In November, 1957 the diary stopped and was not resumed until January, 1960 when he felt better about living. Mao encouraged intellectuals to speak up and analyze and criticize the events that were happening but when her grandfather did he was punished.
In 1957 her father started a new stage in his career when he focused on modern architecture. He was very close to his students and her parents gave many parties for them. They often were lost boys separated from their parents. He was accused of being a communist sympathizer because he wrote in red ink! He weathered it because he had influential friends who protected him from the Nationalist party. When she was 7 she viewed the world through three porthole windows. She saw people bustling along the streets and she heard couples fighting and threatening to kill each other.
In the 1820’s to 1830’s the United States, Europe and Japan had fought each other. She began to learn about what was happening in China and became skeptical. Men were shown with their nails being pulled out. She disbelieved the propaganda. She listened to Chiang Kai Sheik’s speeches and no one could understand them. He was a very brutal man towards activists. There was a distinction between being a Nationalist or not. Her parents never wanted to join this party. From 1895-1945 Japan controlled Taiwan. She noticed a difference between the mainlanders and the Taiwanese. They couldn’t understand each other. They had different religious expressions and had different music and opera. Their women looked different as well. The Taiwanese covered their bodies except for their eyes because they wanted to look white and pale.
She left Taiwan in 1962 for America and didn’t return until 1995 to do some research. She went back three more times to learn more about opera and the relationship of religion to opera. She loves Taiwan but worries about their explosive political situation. On one of her return trips she said colleagues from the mainland and Taiwan drank together, sang and hugged each other. That is the image she likes to remember.
She was asked if she every met her grandmother. She replied she came to China two years after she had died. She lived to be 90. She had a very hard time during the Cultural Revolution. She was made to live in a small coffin room with her own coffin and was paraded through the streets and made fun of. She ended by telling the remarkable story of how her grandfather’s diaries were saved from burning by the Red Guards. Every step of the way he appealed to personal friends to hide them and then had them sent to a research institute library. It was a miracle that they ever were published.
When asked why her family came to America she answered that her family left to protect their children from the very fierce academic competition there is in Taiwan. So many of my students have come to the US for the same reason. Bess and Ben come to mind. They sacrificed being with their spouses for several years to help their children succeed in America. Ben was one day from becoming a Taiwanese General when he brought his twin boys to study at our Middle School. Bess left and came to South Pasadena when her daughter was ready to start high school. She stayed until she was enrolled in Brown before she went back to live in Taiwan.
Our next lecture was by Roger Porter on “Globalization: Boon or Bane?” He started by saying what a delight it had been for him and his family to travel with us. What a different world it is today than it was from 700 to 1700. In those years economic growth was about .011 per year and we doubled in size every 630 years. From then on there were spectacular economic growth rates. There were three times as many people. Education, transportation and communication all improved markedly. Many Americans never traveled more than 50 miles from where they were born. Now you can e-mail pictures. What a changing world we live in!
In the 1930’s we made three huge mistakes. First the money supply was cut by 50% and in part involved taxes. Second the top marginal rate was increased from 25% to 62% because we were eager to generate more money. Lastly we changed the provisions in our tariff laws and the taxation of alcohol in the Trade Act of 1932. Hoover changed some tariffs. The stock market crashed and the Smoot Hawley Tariff laws were passed. It raised the duties on 892 items up to 62%. Many pled with him not to sign it but he did. In one year our trade fell by 30%. It took us a decade and a World War to get us out of this.
In 1934 Cordell Hull went to FDR and proposed the 1934 Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act. It provided that the President could reduce tariffs through negotiation. After the war groups like the UN, the World Bank and the general monetary fund were formed to generate peace and prosperity. We concentrated on reducing tariffs down to one-tenth of what they had been. We had $7 billion in 1950 and there was a growth of 4% a year in global trade. Now it’s 7.9% making us prosperous again. Transportation costs have been lowered along with the rise of multinational enterprises. Now there is about $40 trillion in the global economy and we are about one third of that. What has happened is both astonishing and remarkable.
Three points needed to be considered and we can decide if they are a concern or a blessing.
Our third lecture was a slide show by Bill Mc Shea on “People and Wildlife in Asia.” There are five parts to wildlife conservation- exploration, science, policy, education and management. He works in the science end. More problems show up working in education and management. The root cause is 6 billion people. What worked when we had 2 billion doesn’t work as well with 6 and may not work at all when we have 10 billion.
Governments need to set good policies to protect wildlife. He is worried especially about protecting endemic species. It’s all about habitat, habitat, habitat and protection.
There are some problems that interfere with the protections of wildlife. One is that traditional medicines in Asia use animal products. Another is the restaurant trade. Also there is trophy hunting for tigers and bears especially. The last one is wildlife damage to crops. The first three generate income and the last two need to be solved.
There are a few international agreements. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) was established in 1973 and adopted by 172 countries. A group called TRAFFIC monitors compliance. China is the source of many violations mainly because of their medicine use. China signed on in 1991 and their first law came in 1999 to protect the pandas. Any poacher will now be shot! Have gone from 200 items to using just 6. Bear bile sells for $!,000 per ounce (?) and is used for kidney infections. Tiger bone sells for $400 per kilo and is used for impotence and old age. Tiger pelts sell for $5,000 or 50,000 have been used in art. Ivory (Asian elephant) sells for $400 per kilogram and is also used in art.
Habitat loss has been a problem due to overgrazing. Dam construction to sell energy has also contributed to losing habitat space. Crop damage that sets snares and poisons also contributes. In 1998 a law ending logging has helped the wildlife. In 1999 there was a grain to green law passed that pays the farmers not to build on steep slopes. Both laws are up for renewal in 10 years.
There are three ways to sustain wildlife. The use of ecotourism, natural products and trophy or sport hunting. They haven’t worked too well in China. Science has helped the panda who mate very poorly. Now most babies are born due to artificial insemination. Their population has gone up since 2000.
He also spoke about the Xenjiang Wild Horse Conservation Project and the Asiatic Black Bear Project. We need to have China attending international conferences. There is some hope in Taiwan. Religion has a significant role to play in Asian conservation. Wildlife usually lives in the mountains on lands around monasteries. That land is protected as sacred. China needs to build up a moral system to match these values. There is some hope from the younger generations.
The fourth lecture was Dr. Perry on “Why is the Current Political Situation in Taiwan So Explosive?” We are unlucky in arriving just before a very volatile election. He hopes we aren’t greeted with any protests or disruptions. The Issues: During WWII Chiang Kai Shek and Mao were united in fighting Japan. After the war they fought each other for the rule of China. The US backed Chiang Kai Shek. We had them both sign a treaty with Marshall that neither would invade the other. Truman had a hands off policy. Probably Mao would have invaded Taiwan but the Korean War happened. We backed Chiang Kai Shek because of what Mao was doing in Korea.
In 1972 Nixon sent Kissinger to China. He wanted to offset them against problems that we were having with the Soviet Union. The result was classic double talk. We agreed to the China one policy and China and Taiwan were to work this out peacefully.
In 1979 Carter decided to recognize the PRC so didn’t send an Ambassador to Taiwan. Carter wanted to play the China card. He sent Perry. Congress was not happy and passed the Taiwan Defense Act to provide Taiwan with arms. Now there will soon be a big arms order including some submarines. Deng said it’s one China and Taiwan will come under China but he was in no rush and could wait fifty years. We are still within that time frame. In 1989 the Cold War ended and we no longer needed the China card. Chiang Kai Shek was a dictator until he died. He was replaced by his son and following him there was an election. Lee Dong Wei was elected and he was a Taiwanese. He was accused of being Japanese. He got permission to visit the US to give a graduation address from President Clinton at Cornell when his daughter was graduating in exchange with careful guidelines of what he was to say. He promptly violated this agreement. When he was up for re-election in 1986 he was opposed and only won by a narrow margin because China had fired missiles at Taiwan.
In 2000 the Taiwanese formed a new party and that candidate was elected. He was openly for independence which had China upset. It turned out that government was very corrupt. He ran again in 2004 and was shot at twice. He went from behind to barely being elected on a sympathy vote. Later he was accused of staging his own assassination! In 2008 he is not eligible but the party has a candidate. It got a referendum on the ballot that Taiwan should become a member of the UN and again China is angry. Taiwan figures that China is busy with the Olympics and won’t do anything to them. Emotions are running high in Taiwan. People fear another dirty trick. Maybe China will attack.
In the last two months both governments learned that Perry was visiting Taiwan shortly before the election and they assumed he was coming to influence the election. He has been dogged by both medias to give interviews. This is the reason he’s not getting off the ship with us in Taiwan tomorrow. He doesn’t want to be misquoted.
Our last lecture of the day was an important one given by Sidney Rittenberg on “Surviving Solitary Confinement.” It was announced that the passengers had requested this lecture so once again we did have some flexibility in the schedule as we have had on past World Leader’s Trips. Please don’t think my survival meant that I am different than you. I’m not a tough person. We all have the means within us to survive. It’s about being able to draw on your educational training and inner resources. You have to decide quickly what business you are in in this life. If you don’t you have no meaning of what to hold onto. You need to have a challenging but attainable purpose. Most students don’t do this. Then you need to think about the method that is available to attain your purpose. He believes he has found that happiness is found by contributing to the happiness and freedom of other people.
His cell was 6 paces long and 3 paces wide. There was a solid door with a peep hole. A window was high up in the cell and he sometimes could see a patch of sky. He slept on a wooden door that was on two sawhorses. The first time he was in prison for 6 years and had no water in the cell. The second stint of 9 years he had a wash basin and commode with no seat. His main problem was being totally isolated for months at a time. Aloneness was his main challenge. In the interrogation they said if he didn’t talk (confess) he would be shot. He had nothing to confess so he didn’t talk. He worried about losing his mind. The only way to keep rational was to keep learning. He knew he must make this experience positive not negative and he must never give up.
After two years he began to wonder if he could interact with others and function on the outside. He got depressed when he believed that he couldn’t be normal. He got better when he realized this was just a story his brain had made up. He had to watch these stories and use reason to change his moods. They kept telling him if he confessed he would have better living conditions- he could interact with others but he would never get out. He felt down. He decided he worried too much about himself when his life’s purpose was to help others. He needed to sharpen his ability to know what they were telling him were lies. He had to keep clear and know what was going on around him.
He later found out that Stalin had requested that he be locked up. His first year was in a completely dark cell. They gave him pills to keep him from sleeping. He broke down and the pills made him delirious. They helped him to come out of this by giving him an amphetamine. He had panic attacks that his condition would return and that gave him post traumatic syndrome. The worst thing for him was hearing others being tortured especially a woman. He would have a panic attack. Then his inner voice would make him analyze how he was feeling. After that he had no more panic attacks. When you see through your problems they are gone. He learned being afraid doesn’t help you. He remembered with truth in my heart and peace in my hand I’m a free man. He learned not to be afraid. “This above all, to thine own self be true — ” His recommendation is to learn lots of poetry before you go into solitary! He was able the second time to get lots of books thanks to Chou En Lai. Most prisoners didn’t get this. He ended by saying that he felt ashamed that Bush vetoed the prohibition of water boarding. How I enjoyed meeting and visiting with this man. It was one of the highlights of my trip! We had dinner with Yulin and Sidney one night and really enjoyed learning about their family and their business. I admire them both very much. He was cute when I approached him and asked if it was possible to have dinner with him. His response was, “I insist that we do!”
I got in about a half hour in the pool and hot tub. I would always like more time to exercise but figure some is better than none. I take my cane with a seat and put a towel on it and I can wipe my hands and get out easily.
We had a nice dinner and it was followed by the opera singer putting on the evening concert. I enjoyed her more tonight and her mannerisms didn’t seem so pronounced. And so to bed. Another remarkable day!