Mr. Yasuaki Onuma is
Professor of International Law, University of Tokyo, Graduate School
of Law and Politics. He holds
an LL.D. from the Graduate School of Law, University of Tokyo. Mr.
Onuma’s book Jinekn, kokka, bunmei (Human Rights, States
and Civilizations (1998) is presently being translated into English
and Chinese. The English version will be published by Columbia UP,
and the Chinese version by Sanlian Publishing House in Peking. Both
will be publishedprobably this year (2001). Other English language
publications include "Towards an Inter-civilizational Approach
to Human Rights," in Joanne Bauer and Daniel Bell, eds., The
East Asian Challenge for Human Rights (Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge 1999).
Dr. James V. Feinerman is James M. Morita Professor of Asian Legal Studies, and Director, Asian Law and Policy Studies at Georgetown University. He holds a Ph.D. from Yale and a J.D. from Harvard. Dr. Feinerman is dedicated to the study of international and comparative law, especially China, Japan and Asia, corporations, and corporate finance. Professor Feinerman joined the Law Center faculty as a visiting professor for the 1985-86 academic year. Immediately after law school he studied in the People's Republic of China. Subsequently, he joined the New York firm of Davis
Polk & Wardwell as a corporate associate. During 1982-83, Professor
Feinerman was Fulbright Lecturer on Law at Peking University. In
1986, he was a Fulbright researcher in Japan. In 1989, he was awarded
a MacArthur Foundation fellowship to study China's practice of international
law. During the 1992-93 academic year, he was a Fellow at the Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars. From 1993-95, on leave
from the Law Center, Professor Feinerman was the Director of the
Committee on Scholarly Communications with China. Professor Feinerman
served as Editor-in-Chief of the ABA's China Law Reporter from 1986-1998.
Ms. Catharin Dalpino is Deputy Director of the
Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies and a Fellow at the Brookings
Institution, where she researches and writes on U.S. policy responses
to political change in Asia. Her specialty is domestic Chinese political
affairs. Ms. Dalpino was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy
in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (1993 -97). Prior
to 1993, Ms. Dalpino was a career officer with The Asia Foundation
(1983-93). Her assignments with the Foundation included a term as its
Washington Representative (1992-93); Washington Director of the Foundation's
Center for Asian-Pacific Affairs (1991-92); the Foundation's Representative
for Thailand, Laos and Cambodia (1988-90); and Coordinator for the
Luce Scholars Program (1986 -88). Ms. Dalpino was also a Resident Associate
at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1990-91), and a
Policy Analyst with the World Bank (1981-82). Two of her recent books
include Anchoring Third Wave Democracies: Problems and Prospects
for U.S. Policy (Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, 1998) and Deferring
Democracy: Promoting Openness in Authoritarian Regimes (Brookings,
2000). The latter book concerns political change in China and policy
options for the United States. In 2001 Brookings will publish her book
on the political consequences of the Asian economic crisis. She is
presently researching a book on the political dynamics of cross Straits
relations.
Ms. Dalpino is Adjunct Professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced
International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University.
The United States pictures itself a champion of human rights
around the globe. But just how qualified is the United States
to play this role? Despite widely accepted international conventions
on civil, political and human rights, the U.S. continues to
side step ratifying them. Furthermore, in view of the United
States' own track record, can the U.S. continue to advocate
its cultural-centric perspective when dealing with the issue
of human rights and China? China has come under no little criticism
for its own record on rights. Yet China prioritizes subsistence
rights and political rights differently. Professor Onuma will
address the short comings in understanding the topic of human
rights, and will look at developments in China and the U.S..
He will look at what methods have been effective with China
and offer some suggestions on how conflict and tension can
be avoided in this highly explosive area.
