Multinational corporations (MNCs) have increasingly located research and development (R&D) in developing countries like China and India since the 1990s. On the one hand, governments in developing countries are eager to attract R&D to their local economies; on the other hand, developed countries are concerned about losing their competitive advantages due to R&D offshoring. At the same time, intellectual property (IP) protection is a growing concern considering the weak IP institutions that developing countries typically have.

Presenting both survey findings in Beijing and several case studies on individual MNC R&D labs, Dr. Quan examines MNC R&D labs' activities in China and puts forward a 'hierarchical modular R&D structure' as means of IP protection in weak IPR regime countries.

Quan has extensive research experience in the areas of technology & innovation management, international business, strategy, entrepreneurship, and regional economic development. Besides her recent publications on the Chinese software industry and on Chinese and Indian immigrant professionals in Silicon Valley (with Saxenian), she also has a number of publications in Chinese academic core journals such as "China Industrial Economy." Quan holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, an M. Econ. degree and a B.S. degree both from Beijing University, China.

In Thailand in 1997 reformers drafted a new constitution. They hoped to trigger dramatic improvements in the country's political system. Analysts, activists, and politicians alike blamed many of Thailand's problems on shortcomings of a party system seen as dangerously weak and fragmented. Accordingly, the new charter was designed to strengthen political parties while reducing their number. These constitutional changes profoundly affected Thai politics, but not always in the ways or for the reasons that reformers had in mind. Have the changes improved or worsened the quality of democracy in Thailand? In addressing this question, Professor Hicken will highlight the unintended consequences of constitutional reform and the nature of governance under Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai Party.

Allen Hicken studies political institutions and policy making in developing countries, especially in Southeast Asia. Countries he has worked in include Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Cambodia. Writing-in-progress includes a book manuscript, "Building Party Systems: Elections, Parties, and Coordination in Developing Democracies." He has published in the American Journal of Political Science and Electorial Studies, among other places. At Michigan he is affiliated with the university's Center for Southeast Asian Studies and Center for Political Studies. He earned his Ph.D in political science and Pacific studies from the University of California - San Diego.

Mr. Schriver will address China's military modernization program, its growing economic clout, and its increased willingness to exercise pro-active diplomacy to further its interests. He will examine how this widening "tool box" of capabilities impacts China's approach to security challenges in Asia including its long-standing differences with Taiwan, more recent renewed tensions withJapan, the Korean nuclear challenge, and energy security. And he will assess what all these developments mean for the security interests of the United States and what policy options are under consideration in Washington in response to the China challenge.

Mr. Schriver is Partner with Armitage International, is the former Deputy

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia with specific responsibilities for China, and the former Senior Director for China in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Lt. Gen. Bruce A. Wright is Commander, U.S. Forces Japan, and Commander, 5th Air Force, Yokota Air Base, Japan. In these two command positions he is the senior U.S. military representative in Japan and commander of U.S. Air Force units in Japan respectively.

The general received his commission upon graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1973 and served as an instructor pilot early in his career. He has held command at all levels -- fighter squadron, group, wing and major command. Prior to assuming his current position, he was Vice Commander, Air Combat Command, with headquarters at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and Air Component Commander for U.S. Joint Forces Command and U.S. Northern Command. A command pilot, General Wright has more than 3,200 flying hours, principally in fighter aircraft, including 65 F-16 combat missions flown during operations Desert Storm, Provide Comfort and Deny Flight.

The Philippines suffers from an ominous systemic deficit: the incapacity of democratic institutions to respond to pent-up social demands. A scant four years after a second "peoople power revolution" in 2001 brought down President Joseph Estrada on charges of involvement in illegal gambling, the country again finds itself in crisis. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo struggles to retain power as she faces allegations that close relatives are also involved in gambling syndicates and still more damaging accusations of complicity in fixing the May 2004 elections. Unlike in 1986 and 2001, when changes in leadership nurtured new hopes, the crisis of 2005 reveals a system desperately struggling for legitimacy. Prof. Hutchcroft will argue for well-considered institutional reform designed to break the cycle of recurrent crisis and tackle the country's perilous democratic deficit.

Paul D. Hutchcroft has written widely on Philippine politics and political economy, including Booty Capitalism: The Politics of Banking in the Philippines (1998). His current writing includes a book on state formation and territorial politics in the Philippines from the early American colonial period through the enactment of the Local Government Code in the 1990s; and an edited volume on Philippine political reform stemming from a workshop he organized in Manila in July. He has been a visiting fellow at the Asia Research Institute in Singapore and is now the associate chair of UW-Madison's Political Science Department.

The July 2005 report on Chinese military power represents a major milestone in the Department of Defense's (DoD) annual assessments of the People's Liberation Army's capabilities. For the first time since the Bush Administration assumed office, the Pentagon has asserted that China possesses capabilities that threaten the region as well as Taiwan. What is the basis for DoD's new assessment, and what are the implications for future U.S. strategy towards China?

About the presenter:

Jonathan D. Pollack served as Chair of the Strategic Research Department between 2000 and 2004. He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan and was a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard University. Dr. Pollack was previously affiliated with the RAND Corporation, Brandeis University, UCLA, and the RAND Graduate School of Policy Studies. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

Dr. Pollack has published widely on China's political and strategic roles; the international politics of Northeast Asia; U.S. policy in Asia and the Pacific; and Chinese technological and military development. Dr. Pollack's latest publications include articles in Asia-Pacific Review, Issues and Studies, Korea National Defense University Review, Naval War College Review, Strategic Comments, Orbis, and Asian Survey; and chapters in various publications. He is the author of the forthcoming Power Shift: China and Asia's New Dynamics (forthcoming, 2005); If China Attacks Taiwan (forthcoming, 2005); and Redesigning East Asia's Strategic Map: Interests, Identity, and Power (forthcoming, 2005). He is completing a volume on Korea in the longer term, to be published in 2006.