OVERSEAS YOUNG CHINESE FORUM

Fifth Annual Meeting
May 23-26, 2003
Menlo College
1000 El Camino Real, Atherton, CA 94027

Retreat Summary

The theme of our fifth annual meeting is “Understanding Civil Society.” The term “civil society” has emerged as one of the key concepts in the intellectual and policy discourse on China’s economic development and social reform since the 1980s.  For many, economic changes are reshaping the contours of the Chinese society and increasing its autonomy from the state power, both of which have enormous socio-political implications for China.  The rise of private sectors and interest groups, rural elections, discussions of the rule of law, religious fermentation and media reform are among the indicators of a society in rapid transformation. What are the fundamentals of a “civil society”?  Is it emerging in China?  What does it portend in terms of the development of democracy in the country?  These issues and concerns will be the focus of our annual meeting.  In exploring what is best for China, we will apply a comparative approach and learn from other countries’ experiences.

Friday, May 23, 2003

6:00 pm:          Registration, Check-in

8:30 pm:          Welcome, Reception

Saturday, May 24, 2003

8:00am:           Breakfast

8:30am:           Opening Remarks, Duan Wu, Chairman and Junling Ma, President

8:40am:        State, Civil Society and Rule of Law

        Moderator:  Wentong Zheng, Stanford Law School

            Speakers:

Bo Li, Davis Polk & Wardwell

                Zhengxu Wang, Higher Education & Political Science, University of Michigan


OYCF 5th Annual Meeting Program

10:15am:         Coffee break

10:30am:         Rural China in Transformation

        Moderator:  Lei Guang, Assistant Professor, Political Science, San Diego State University

        Speakers:

                        Bobai Li, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Northwestern University

                        Jianfu Yao, Senior Fellow, Research Center for Rural Economy, China

12:10pm:         Lunch

1:40pm:           Capitalism, Private Enterprises and Civil Society

Moderator:  Ting Lu, Economics. UC Berkeley,

Speakers:

                Ping Chen, Chairman, Tidetime Inc.

Taichun Kuo, Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

                Yingyi Qian, Professor, Economics, UC Berkeley

3:20pm            Social Basis for Transformation Toward Democracy

Moderator:  Shaohua Hu, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Wagner College

            Speakers:

                                Thomas Gold, Professor, Sociology, UC Berkeley

                        Thomas Metzger, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

5:00pm:           OYCF Reception

Film (unedited) by Qian Ying about accompanying a volunteering group teaching in a village in Anhui Province

6:30pm:           Dinner

8:00pm:           OYCF Activities:

·         State of OYCF Report by the OYCF Board

·         Featuring OYCF Local Salons and Sister Organizations (Boston, New York, Washington DC area, Stanford (ChinaRains), Berkeley (Berkeley China Review), University of Michigan (Michigan China Fellows) and Hong Kong; The 1990 Institute, and Duke University (3S -- Science, Society and Self-Awareness)

·        OYCF Annual Election

Sunday, May 25, 2003

8:00am:           Breakfast

8:30am:           Identity, Social and Interest Groups, and Civil Society

        Moderator:  Junfu Zhang, Public Policy Institute of California

        Speakers: 

                        Jiang Ru, Environmental Engineering, Stanford University

Dongtao Qi, Sociology, Stanford University

10:10am:         Coffee Break


OYCF 5th Annual Meeting Program

10:30am:         Chinese Traditional Society and Civil Society

Moderator:  Xiaojiang Hu, Sociology, Harvard University

        Speaker:

                        Ying Qian, Economics, Harvard University

                        Ming Xia, Associate Professor, City University of New York (Staten Island)

11:50pm:         Lunch

1:20pm:           Media and Civil Society

        Moderator:  Yang Su, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Univ. of California, Irvine

        Speakers:

Wen Huang, Xinhua News Agency, Knight Fellow, Communications, Stanford Univ.

Fenghai Xu, former deputy executive editor, Ba Mian Lai Feng (Winds, Hainan, China)

3:00pm:           Concluding Remarks

3:20pm:           Philadelphia Cup (Volleyball Tournament)

6:00pm:           Dinner, and Celebration Party

Monday, May 26, 2003

OYCF Guided Tour of Northern California

(The destination will be either the beautiful coastal cities of Carmel/Monterey or the world famous Napa Valley wineries.  A poll will be taken at the annual meeting.  Please plan to stay on Monday to join us!)

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OYCF 2003 Annual Meeting

Organization Committee

Laura Diao (Boston, MA)

Lei Guang (Stanford, CA)

Xiaojiang Hu (Boston, MA)

Hao Jiang (New York, NY)

Bo Li (Hong Kong)

Yan Li (Stanford, CA)

Feng Liang (Berkeley, CA)

Ting Lu (Berkeley, CA)
Junling Ma (Palo Alto, CA) (Co-Chair)

Hong Qiao (Stanford, CA)

Tingting Shi (Hong Kong)

Yang Su (Irvine, CA)

Su Sun (Washington, DC)

Charles Wang (Boston, MA)
Hai Wang (Beijing)
Duan Wu (Boston, MA)

Qianli Wu (Rockville, MD)

Lu Zheng (Stanford, CA)

Hao Zou (San Francisco, CA) (Co-Chair)