Elections in Thailand in January 2001 yielded a remarkable near-majority for the Thai Rak Thai ("Thai Love Thai") Party of computer and telecommunications billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, who became prime minister despite serious legal charges of tax evasion. Although the Constitutional Court acquitted him (by a close 8-to-7 vote), his tenure in office has given rise to widespread impressions of populism on the one hand and corruption on the other.

In her talk, Dr. Phongpaichit will explore the background and implications of Thaksin's rise to power and his ongoing use of it. Pasuk Phongpaichit is Thailand's best known and most widely read economist. Books authored or coauthored by her include Corruption and Democracy in Thailand; Thailand: Economy and Politics; Thailand's Crisis; Thailand's Boom and Bust; The Thai Village Economy in the Past; Employment, Income and the Mobilization of Local Resources in Three Thai Villages; Challenging Social Exclusion: Rights and Livelihood in Thailand; Guns, Girls, Gambling, Ganja: Thailand's Illegal Economy and Public Policy; and From Peasant Girls to Bangkok Masseuses.

Her current research is on "The Structure and Dynamics of Capital in Post-Crisis Thailand." In fall 2002 she was a visiting professor at the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. She received her Ph.D. in economics from Cambridge University.

This seminar is part 1 of SPRIE's 5-part series on "Greater China: Entrepreneurial Leaders."

For a long time, researchers have asked whether the success of Silicon Valley can be replicated elsewhere. There have been various levels of attempts and various levels of success outside the United States.

Depending on how success is measured, one can draw different conclusions. How do we evaluate Hsinchu Science Park? Have they created innovative products? Have they produced entrepreneurs? How do they stack up to Silicon Valley? What is their competitive edge? As China joins the WTO, what should its strategy be?

On a long-term basis, what are the factors that will drive and deliver sustainable competitive advantages? With changes in global economic conditions, how does one re-evaluate the Silicon Valley model? As China joins the WTO, what should its strategy be? And as China becomes the manufacturer of the world, what is its impact on Taiwan and Silicon Valley?

This talk offers an analysis of experiences in Silicon Valley and Asia in the past twenty years. It also offers some reflections on the model and strategy for Greater China.

Since November 1998, Sha has been a managing partner at Spring Creek Venture, which specializes in early-stage venture investment and business consultation with Internet and infrastructure companies. Sha is currently serving on the board of directors of several start-up companies, including Appstream, Acela, Aduva, E21, LiveABC, Optoplex, Mediostream, and Tom.com.

Sha has extensive experience as a leader of high technology companies. He served as CEO for Sina.com and senior vice president of Commerce Solutions at Netscape Communications. While at Netscape, he served concurrently as president and CEO of Actra Business Systems, a joint venture formed by Netscape and GE Information Services. A company Sha built from scratch, Actra was the first company to focus on business-to-business e-commerce and e-procurement application systems. Prior to Actra, Mr. Sha served as vice president and general manager of business-to-consumer integrated application business at Netscape Communications and vice president of the UNIX Product Division at Oracle Corporation.

In his community service, Sha served as chairman of the Monte Jade West Coast association from 2000-2001. Sha currently is serving as chairman of the Monte Jade Global Association, the premier technology entrepreneur association with twelve chapters in the United States, Canada, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Mr. Sha holds an MS in EECS from the University of California at Berkeley, an MBA from Santa Clara University, and a BS in EE from Taiwan University.

Vinod Aggarwal is professor in the Department of Political Science, affiliated professor of Business and Public Policy in the Haas School of Business, and director of the Berkeley Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Study Center (BASC) at the University of California at Berkeley. He has been at Berkeley since 1980, and from 1991-1994 was chairman of the Political Economy of Industrial Societies Program.He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the journal Business and Politics. Dr. Aggarwal consults regularly with multinational corporations on strategic planning, trade policy, and international negotiations. In the public sector, he has been a consultant to the Mexican Government, the U.S. Department of Commerce, OECD, the Group of Thirty, IFAD, and the World Bank. In 1990, he was special adviser on Trade Negotiations to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in connection with the GATT Uruguay Round negotiations and has also served as an adviser to Dr. Fred Bergsten, chairman of the APEC Eminent Persons Group. In 1997, he won the Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award at the Haas School of Business. Professor Aggarwal's authored books include Liberal Protectionism, International Debt Threat, and Debt Games, and his edited volumes include Asia-Pacific Crossroads. He is currently completing a volume on American corporate market and nonmarket strategies in Asia. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. This seminar is part of the Shorenstein Forum's ongoing series, "The California-Asia Connection." Lunch will be served to those who RSVP to Debbie Warren at dawarren@stanford.edu or 650-723-2408 by Friday, January 31, 2003.

During the Meiji period, the ancient ball game of kemari-in which participants use their feet to keep a small ball aloft-and its few remaining enthusiasts received governmental support as part of performative efforts to connect the new modern state with an authentically "Japanese" past. Most commonly remembered as a favorite pastime of Heian court nobles, kemari has been played by modern aficionados adorned in "traditional" costumes throughout the 20th century at numerous state events. These athletic performances repeatedly have reconnected Japan for outside observers and its own citizens with an image of perduring tradition and cultural uniqueness. In this paper, I will explore how kemari has been reconsidered and celebrated for a different purpose in recent years. Efforts by the Japan Football Association (JFA) to first secure and then ensure the success of the 2002 World Cup co-hosted with South Korea occasioned a new role for kemari. In the years leading up to the World Cup, government authorities, JFA officials, and kemari supporters have positioned kemari as the oldest precursor to the modern game of association football or soccer. Through an examination of the often carefully choreographed museum exhibitions, media releases, and public stagings of kemari produced around and during the World Cup, I will contemplate the ways that history is used to claim legitimacy and authenticity in the present. I will consider ideas about the relationship between past and present inherent in claims by scholars from Japan and elsewhere, who have contributed to contemporary narratives of continuity and connection between kemari and modern soccer. Lastly, I will suggest how new understandings of kemari may be altering individuals' understanding of Japaneseness and Japan's place in, and relationship with the rest of the world.

Dr. Myron Cohen spoke earlier this year at the UN on AIDS in China. He has been very active in organizing medical research on AIDS in China and only recently returned from a conference held there in November on the subject.