Panelist biographies: A specialist on democracy in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, Professor Diamond was in Taiwan as an official observer of the March election. He is co-editor of Journal of Democracy. A former associate editor of the Journal of Asian Studies, Dr. Myers has taught economics at National Taiwan University in Taipei. He was an observer of the March election. Formerly the Consul-General of Taiwan in South Africa, Dr. Feng is currently the Executive Secretary for the Research and Planning Board of the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Zhao is author of Across the Taiwan Strait: Mainland China, Taiwan, and the 95-96 Crisis, and Associate Professor of Politics at Colby College. He was an official election observer for the Mainland Affairs Commission of Taiwan.

Arjun Appadurai, Samuel N. Harper Professor, The University of Chicago, Departments of Anthropology, and South Asian Languages and Civilizations and Director of the Globalization Project.

Arjun Appadurai, Samuel N. Harper Professor, The University of Chicago, Departments of Anthropology, and South Asian Languages and Civilizations and Director of the Globalization Project.

The bundling of race and ethnicity with nation is common in state ideology and popular perceptions in East Asia. These beliefs in racial homogeneity deeply held by the societies that make up this world region are now being challenged by the international migration of workers, most of whom are themselves from Asia or ethnic Asian origins. The advent of multicultural societies has already begun and, given both the globalization of migration and demographic trends in the higher income economies, it will increasingly become an issue for public policy in the coming decades. While central governments tend to continue to reify the race-nation ideology, local governments and citizen groups have in many instances become more positive in their responses to the issues of cultural diversity and social justice for foreign workers working and living in their communities. Mike Douglass is professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Hawaii. He has lived in East and Southeast Asia for more than twelve years, where he has carried out research and practice in urban policy and planning. His current research interests and projects include globalization and urban policy in the Asia Pacific region; urban poverty, environment, and social capital; foreign workers and households in Japan; and rural-urban linkages in national development. His recent books are Culture and the City in East Asia, edited with Won Bae Kim (Oxford, 1997); Cities for Citizens: Planning and the Rise of Civil Society in a Global Age, edited with John Friedmann (John Wiley, 1998); and Coming to Japan: Foreign Workers and Households in an Age of Global Migration, edited with Glenda Roberts (Routledge, 2000).

Mike Pillsbury earned a BA at Stanford and a PhD in political science at Columbia University. He is a longtime analyst in Chinese foreign policy and national security strategy at RAND Corporation, the Defense Department, and as a staff member on Capital Hill. He has authored several influential books and articles, including, most recently, Chinese Views of Future Warfare and China Debates in the Future Security Environment.

When Taiwan's government launched Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park Project in 1979, the objectives were three fold: to revitalize the country's economic growth, to establish its indigenous high-tech base, and to slow down the (then) serious brain drain problem. After extensive consultations, study tours, and careful evaluation, a strategy was adopted to emulate Silicon Valley. The key ingredients of the strategy were to establish favorable investment and living environments for high tech entrepreneurs, to lure back some expatriate brain power, and to train more science and engineering graduates. The initial plan involved a 10-year, $500 million government fund to develop a nearly 600 hectare science park in Hsinchu, where two prestigious universities and a government funded research institution already were located. The Taiwanese government established a Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park Administration in 1979 to execute this plan. What has happened during the past 20 years? The current status of the Hsinchu Park will be presented to substantiate the original plan and strategy. Dr. Irving T. Ho currently serves as Chairman of the Board of EiC Corp. His distinguished career includes serving as the first Director General of the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park, President and CEO of International Integrated System, Inc., Vice Chairman of Taiwan's National Science Council, and senior manager and award winning researcher at IBM's East Fishkill Laboratory. Holder of 34 US patents, Dr. Ho received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.