As China is gradually integrated into the international economic, security, and politics system, the tension between technological self-reliance and the need to build its technological enhancement on what is available in international market, will inevitably increase. Reflecting this tension, China's encryption policy was thrust into the international limelight in late 1999 and the first half of 2000. The early encryption regulations were announced and later were clarified. A wide range of international media has covered controversies related to the encryption policy. For every nation in the world, encryption's multifaceted nature requires a painstaking effort balancing potentially competing interests. It is even more so for China, the country which will officially join the WTO at the end of 2001. The concerns of multiple stakeholders about the future of encryption technology and its impact have raised policy questions about the management and control of encryption technology. Among the questions Chinese decision makers face are the following: --How to evaluate China's current encryption policy from an international perspective? --How to justify the toughness of the original encryption regulations and the relaxation afterwards in China's complex and rapidly changing domestic and international context? The purpose of Dr. Yuan's study is to assist Chinese policymakers in analyzing the status quo of the policy, objectives, and factors affecting encryption policymaking and to offer suggestions for the future. It provides an integrated assessment of how encryption policy decisions can and might affect diverse military, commercial, and political interests in China and suggests how those interests might be balanced most effectively.

This seminar addresses developing an analytical framework for a comparative study of the emergence and growth dynamics of regions of high tech industrial clusters in different national contexts. We review the empirical and theoretical literature on determinants of national and regional competitiveness in high tech industries. We conclude that, while innovation and entrepreneurship have both been given increasing attention in various international benchmarking studies in recent years, their interaction and joint effects on economic dynamism -- especially at the regional and specific industrial cluster level -- have not been well-investigated. Moreover, while the number of empirical studies of specific high-tech regions has increased, especially in the United States, the influence of different national contexts and international linkages has received inadequate attention. To address these gaps, we propose the development of conceptual measures and empirical benchmark indicators that focus specifically on the regional nexus of innovation and entrepreneurship, and identify possible secondary data sources and primary data collection methodology for deriving these indicators. Some preliminary benchmarking findings comparing a number of Asian nations/regions with Silicon Valley are presented.

Poh-Kam Wong is an associate professor at the Business School, National University of Singapore, where he directs the Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship. He obtained his BSc., MSc. and Ph.D. from MIT. His current research interests include management of technological innovation, S&T policy, and high tech entrepreneurship. His publications have appeared in, among others, Information Systems Research, International Journal of Technology Management, Journal of Asian Business, and Industry and Innovation, as well as chapters in books published by Stanford University Press, MIT Press, and Oxford University Press. He has consulted widely for international agencies, government agencies in Singapore, and high tech firms in Asia. He has co-founded three technology companies and currently serves on the advisory board or board of directors of several high tech start-ups in Singapore and Malaysia. He is an advisor to two VC funds and chairman of the Business Angel Network (South East Asia). He was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley in 1984 and is currently on sabbatical leave as a visiting scholar at Shorenstein APARC.

A one-day conference organized by Shorenstein APARC brought together 110 distinguished participants from India, the United States, Israel, Taiwan, Europe, and Latin America. The program's objective was to inform and educate India's IT policymakers and practitioners on India's enabling environment with respect to regulation, governance, access to capital, and technological capabilities. The proceedings of this conference are available as an Shorenstein APARC publication, prepared by Dr. Rafiq Dossani.

Professor Root's research project on Korea's prospects concludes that Korea can not be secure against future economic crisis without structural reform of finance, enterprise, and labor markets. Will Korea be strong enough to undertake untried, high-risk, long-term structural reform? In this seminar, he anticipates the levels of reform under current conditions and offers an alternative approach with better sustained growth prospects. Professor Root's research is focused on governmental transition and the political economy of growth, development policy; theory and practice; and social theory. He was chief consultant on governance at the Asian Development Bank from 1994 to 1997 where he initiated the restructuring of the public administration of Sri Lanka. His most recent books include Small Countries, Big Lessons: Governance and Rise of East Asia (Oxford University Press, 1996) and with Edgardo Campos, The Key to the Asian Miracle, Making Shared Growth Credible (Brookings Institution, 1996) For more information about the program please call (650) 723-8387.

Mr. Tai is on leave from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taipei, Taiwan while he is here at Shorenstein APARC. To attend the luncheon program please respond to Leigh Wang by Wednesday, September 26, 2001. You can reach her at 650-724-6405 or via email at lzwang@stanford.edu.

Ms. Christine Loh is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, and the Founder of Civic Exchange, a non-governmental organization. She was a popular politician but decided not to run again for re-election to the legislature of Hong Kong last year. She now heads Civic Exchange in Hong Kong. She is one of the most insightful commentators on Hong Kong affairs.

Christine will speak on "Hong Kong: Its Contribution to 'One Country'."

A brief biographical sketch of Christine's is enclosed:

"Thinking gets better when we think often. Thinking is fun because it creates new possibilities in the way we live our lives, Research helps to drive thinking. Thinking in groups helps leverage our collective intelligence and can lead to breakthroughs. I want the Civic Exchange to produce pragmatic solutions to public policy problems. I also want to be able to synthesize and publicize other people's good ideas."

Education

• University of Hull, England
• Bachelor of Law City University of Hong Kong
• Masters of Law in Chinese & Comparative Law

Awards

• Outstanding Young Persons Award 1988 Stars of Asia, Business Week 1998
• Stars of Asia, Business Week 2000

Affiliations

• Chairperson, Friends of the Earth (HK) - 1988-1990- and 1990-1992.
• Board of Directors, Rocky Mountain Institute, Colorado, USA, 1998-2001
• Council Member - Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 1999-2002

Experience

Christine Loh is well known for her wide-ranging intellect and ability to find practical solutions to problems. Her background in law, business, politics, media and the non-profit sector has given her considerable knowledge and insight about how they work and has helped her to become a leading voice in public policy in Hong Kong.

Loh has authored numerous papers, articles and public policy recommendations in a large number of local and international publications. The Economist described her in April 2000 as "perhaps LegCo's most gifted member". Business Week named her in 1998 and again in 2000 as one of Asia's Stars. Trained as a lawyer, Loh did not practise law but enjoyed a highly successful 12-year career with a multinational as a commodities trader from 1980-1991, rising to the position of managing director, before spending another 2 years as a director of business development with a Hong Kong company, responsible for putting together the LoFt retail stores, and an international consortium to bid for Container Terminal No. 9.

Appointed to the Legislative Council (LegCo) in 1992, running in two elections subsequently, Loh had a popular career as a politician until 2000 when she chose not to seek re-election. Her legislative successes were many, the most high profile being amending the law to enable the indigenous women of the New Territories to inherit rural land, restructuring the controversial section 30 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, and sponsoring the historic Protection of the Harbor Ordinance.

From 1991, Loh has anchored public affairs radio programs at various times. She has also presented a variety of TV programs apart from being the subject of many more. She is a much sought after public speaker. With Lisa Hopkinson she founded Civic Exchange in September 2000. Loh is responsible for charting the Civic Exchange's long-term course.