Hiking in Busan, Summer 2007

Finally going back through my shots from this summer and found this one. I usually don't like landscapes and buildings without people, but the color in this one with the gloomy sky really works, especially with a little CS3 action. This is one part of the temple complex at Beomosa, the most famous temple in Busan.

My buddy Jonathan and I hiked up behind the temple for a few hours despite the intermittent rain. We hadn't really prepared for the weather or a long hike, so by the time we got back near civilization we were wet, hungry and dehydrated.





Just before the trail met up with a mountain road headed back into the city, we found a restaurant serving grilled goat. That has to be one of the best meals either of us ever ate.

Free the Jena 6

Free the Jena 6
Originally uploaded by Benjamin Weller

Wealth brings freedom?

Originally uploaded by Following the Herd

A major component of this three-week course has been a guest lecture series featuring Hong Kong government and business leaders, free market advocates, academics, AIPE alumni and a representative from the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. The speakers have represented a variety of views, though most placed a strong emphasis on political and economic liberalization (The Fund for American Studies, it is clear, likes markets).

Last weekend we heard from Joseph Yu-shek Cheng (seen above speaking with AIPE students), a political science professor at the City University of Hong Kong, who gave a fascinating and in-depth survey of the Chinese political landscape. Two points he made I found particularly interesting. One, while the press is kept under strict control in China, much of that control lies with provincial authorities. So while it is impossible for the press in a certain province to criticize the authorities of that province, they are able--within certain boundaries--to criticize the authorities of other provinces. This gives the press a certain amount of freedom, Cheng argued, that is playing an important role within China.

The second, less optimistic point he made is that China's rising middle class (which remains extremely small compared to the overall population), in particular the intelligentsia, is happy with the status quo so long as it means rising standards of living. He said that should there be another incident like Tiananmen Square, the intellectual class would not stand with the protesters like it did in 1989. His claim seemed to contradict much of what we've read and heard in the course so far, that with rising living standards (and wealth and property accumulation) comes the demand for greater political freedom. The conundrum of China isn't going to be figured out anytime soon, but Cheng's suggestion left a lot of us students discussing what are the other preconditions, besides economic ones, for political liberalization to occur.

Something more than luck?

_DSC0059.jpg
Originally uploaded by Following the Herd

We've finished up the econ part of the course and are now moving into the political science section, but the questions really remain the same. What should be the role of government? What is good public policy? What do terms like development, democracy, markets, planning and liberty mean? And what do they have to do with each other? If the answers come easily, you're probably not thinking hard enough. In a class with students from 14 different countries there are plenty of answers, but as of yet little agreement. That's not to say there isn't discussion and learning going on. In fact, most of the students are undergraduates and they're more engaged and curious than many graduate students I know.

I've posted this picture of my classmate Nipun tossing a coin to the outstretched hand of a Buddha because I think it symbolizes in a way the many dreams of the people of the world for a better life. So many times they are asked to take this leap of faith--to toss a coin, in effect--and hope things get better. The real question is whether we can be empowered to do more than just hope for a better future, or if there isn't a way, a path or a method of struggle we can employ to make dreams become reality. I think the lessons of history teach us that indeed there are such paths, but not all of them lead to where we hoped they would go. The question my classmates are struggling with is what path to take now? Toward democracy in China and Singapore? To further embrace markets in Vietnam? In the US, on what terms to engage with the world and for what ends--power or freedom?

We won't have the answers by the end of next week when the program ends, but at least we'll have made these strong intellectual and personal connections so that we can continue to discuss possible solutions as we go back to our own countries or into new jobs. If my classmates are any indication of what the future holds, there is reason for hope.

Arrival in Hong Kong

Hong Kong View
Originally uploaded by Following the Herd

I flew yesterday from Seoul to Hong Kong to attend the Asia Institute for Political Economy, a three-week course sponsored by The Fund for American Studies in collaboration with Georgetown University and the University of Hong Kong. There are 67 students here representing the US, Korea, China (mainland and Hong Kong), Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nepal and Cambodia. I've been here only one night but have already discussed the state of the press in Singapore with a young journalist from that country, labor and immigration with a student from Cornell, as well as less cerebral topics like why North Carolina is the best state in the Union and what makes a good beer.

From one night on the town I can see that HK is a very international city, with masses of foreign workers, students and travelers trawling the streets for the next good bar. There is wealth everywhere, but there is deep inequality as well. I hope to learn more about how the citizens of this Chinese territory feel about living in a "free market" with limited political freedom. I'm also looking forward to discussion and debate with my classmates and professors, a group of very bright minds with a passion for politics and Asia.

Tongdosa Temple

Going to start uploading some of the video I've taken this summer. There's a lot more where this came from so keep checking back. This one's just a short video from a trip I took to Tongdosa Temple, near Busan, on June 6, Korea's Memorial Day.

Whose Propaganda?

The Roy Howard Collegiate Reporting Competition students were in Seoul last week, led by three IU School of Journalism faculty. I had a chance to meet up with them for a couple of days. They appreciated having some help navigating the city and understanding the language--though there was no shortage of assistance from the many IU-affiliated Korean journalists and scholars in Seoul--and I appreciated meeting some young, enthusiastic and clearly gifted journalists. On Friday I tagged along with them on a tour of the 38th Parallel, the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea (shown in the photo above, North Korea is in the distance).

We walked through one of the several infiltration tunnels the North dug beneath the DMZ to facilitate a possible attack on the South, saw from afar the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where South Korean companies use cheap Northern labor to produce goods for the world market (now a sticking point in the recently negotiated free trade agreement between South Korea and the US), and we visited the recently opened but for now purely symbolic train station on the border (trains recently passed across the border in both directions, but there has yet to be any real movement of goods or people).

Our visit to the DMZ was more than just a lesson in Korean history and politics. Tours to the DMZ are commercial and ideological undertakings, and while Southerners may be known more for their business acumen, there's a real effort to compete with their Northern brethren on the ideological front as well. At the "Third Infiltration Tunnel" visitors watch a short film on the Korean War and the more recent efforts at engagement with the North. The video, which juxtaposes footage of the Korean War with images of butterflies and children, tells us that the DMZ, rather than a physical partition, is actually a symbol of "peaceful coexistence." Professor Owen Johnson, one of the IU faculty members leading the tour, pointed out that this term is laden with ideological meaning, even if it has little bearing on the actual state of affairs on the Korean peninsula. The film and the standard spiel of the tour guides struck me as an attempt to both vilify the North--justified but hardly necessary--while paying lip service to the dream of reunification. Harder questions, like who would rule a united Korea, or what would be done to detoxify the political culture of the North and absorb 28 million impoverished and demoralized people into a capitalist economy went unasked and unanswered.

While our bus was filled mostly with non-Koreans, the DMZ is a popular tourist destination for Koreans as well. A large contingent of Korean school kids was on a field trip during our visit, and we wondered what they were learning on their tour. A group of them said they enjoyed their visit, and when I asked why one said, "Nationality." They are proud of Korea and dream of reunification. It's quite possible that if reunification does occur, their generation will be the one that has to deal with all its implications. They will be ill-equipped to do so if the hard questions aren't asked now.