Lin Shu-ya will discuss the Taiwanese government's reserved land policy that is aimed at aiding indigenous people to be self-sufficient and integrate into mainstream society. This policy has been the main government policy for 50 years even though Ms. Lin argues that collective management might be a better option for the indegenous communities, allowing them to collectively manage their traditional territory. Varamon Ramangkura will discuss te impact of recent WTO free-trade versus the environment disputes on industry in Thailand. Ms Ramangkura will show that pressure from the WTO on the Thai government is forcing the closure of local shrimp farms and reducing the sustainability of this industry in Thailand. Shimamura Kazuyuki will analyze the problems of the land use system in Japan. Even after recent reforms in land use, the municipalities enact undemocratic, informal and opaque local ordinances for land use. Mr. Shimamura argues that the reforms must be adopted by the local governments and made fiscally transparent, be based on the needs of the citizens and that there is a necessity to create a legal foundation for broader delegation, particularly regarding the comprehensive planning system at the municipality level.

Professor Campbell will discuss Japan's new public, mandatory, long-term care insurance program: does it make sense as social policy? As economic policy? Professor Creighton has long been interested in the relationship between politics and substantive public policy, and in the way policies change upon implementation. He has pursued this interest mostly in the context of the Japanese political system, and in this talk he will apply his framework to Japan's foray into socialized care for the elderly.

Approximately 13 speakers will be presenting throughout the day. For a detailed schedule please contact Robin Holbrook, 650-723-6270

On January 1 Sweden assumed the rotating chairmanship of the European Union. While serving as the Swedish EU Commissioner from 1995 to 1999, Gradin was in charge of immigration, home affairs and justice. She will discuss Sweden's priorities for the EU, and the results of the December EU summit in Nice, France, with its associated Treaty of Nice. Gradin has a distinguished career: she was Vice-Chair of the national Federation of Social Democratic Women in Sweden, Chair of the Council of Europe's Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, and Minister with responsibility for immigrant and equality affairs at the Ministry of Labor (1982-86). From 1968 to 1992 she was a member of Parliament and a member of the parliamentary Standing Committees on Education and on Finance, as well as a delegate to the Council of Europe. From 1986 to 1991 Gradin was Minister with responsibility for foreign trade at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and from 1992-94 she was Sweden's ambassador to Austria and Slovenia and to IAEA and UN in Vienna.