On April 21, Henry S. Rowen offered testimony - based on SPRIE's work in China - to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Created in 2000, the twelve-member Commission is charged to monitor, investigate, and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and China, including recommendations for legislative action.

The agenda and written testimony from the two-day hearing took place at Stanford's Hoover Institution.

As part of a new initiative on Greater China, SPRIE has selected two outstanding young scholars as the inaugural SPRIE Fellows at Stanford for research and writing on Greater China and its role in the global knowledge economy. Xiaohong (Iris) Quan and Doug Fuller, from the University of California, Berkeley and MIT, respectively, will join the SPRIE research team for the 2005-2006 academic year.

The primary focus of the program is the intersection of innovation and entrepreneurship and underlying contemporary political, economic, technological, and/or business factors in Greater China (including Taiwan, Mainland China, Singapore). Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, university-industry linkages, globalization of R&D, venture capital industry development, networks and flows of managerial and technical leaders, and leading high technology clusters in Greater China. Industries of ongoing research at SPRIE include semiconductors, wireless, and software.

SPRIE Fellows at Stanford will be in residence for at least three academic quarters, beginning in fall 2005. Fellows take part in Center activities, including research forums, seminars, and workshops throughout the academic year, and will present their research findings in SPRIE seminars. They will also participate as members of SPRIE's team in its public and invitation-only seminars and workshops with academic, business, and government leaders. Fellows will also participate in the publication programs of SPRIE and APARC.

Former National Security Advisor addresses the future of Asia, and explains why, by 2020, the world's five most important countries are likely to be, in this order, the United States, the European Union, the People's Republic of China, Japan, and India.

The Oksenberg Lecture, given in 2005 by Zbigniew Brzezinski, honors the legacy of Professor Michel Oksenberg (1938-2001) longtime member of APARC, senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for International Studies, and an authority on China. Professor Oksenberg was consistently outspoken about the need for the United States to engage with Asia in a more considered manner. In tribute, the Oksenberg Conference/Lecture recognizes distinguished individuals who have helped to advance understanding between the United States and the nations of the Asia-Pacific.

It is with great pleasure that I announce that Professor Gi-Wook Shin will assume the directorship of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center commencing September 1, 2005. Gi-Wook is well qualified to assume this role and to provide APARC with the same kind of leadership he has brought to the Korean Studies Program.

When Professor Shin left UCLA four years ago to come to Stanford, he left the largest Korean studies program in the nation. It must have been quite a gamble for him to come here since there was little by way of Korean studies at Stanford. With true entrepreneurial spirit, Professor Shin has built an impressive and dynamic Korean studies program at SIIS. It hosts luncheon seminars, workshops, and conferences, and has sponsored many Korean scholars, government officials, and business leaders who spend time at Stanford as visiting scholars. It also supports an active research program spearheaded by two postdoctoral research fellows and two Pantech professional fellows. Stanford is steadily becoming a world-class center for contemporary Korean studies.

I have great confidence that Gi-Wook will continue his outstanding work in his new role as the director of Shorenstein APARC. Gi-Wook's strong leadership will prove invaluable in the years to come as the Institute grows and as the International Initiative unfolds. Please join me in congratulating and supporting Gi-Wook in his new role.

Best regards,

Coit. D. Blacker, Director, Stanford Institute for International Studies