Asia | Arizona MUNdi

A Modern Day Oligarchy

April 22, 2012 in Asia, The World Today

from http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~lee20d/classweb/

by Hugo Polanco

By most accounts South Korea is an extremely prosperous nations, especially when compared to the mind boggling destitution of its northern neighbor. Ever since the two split, the South has rapidly climbed to economic greatness and now its products both commercial and cultural are widely exported. If you’ve ever owed an LG telephone, Hyundai car or watched a Korean drama then you are one of the many consumers of these products. These goods that are surging out of South Korea are the products of South Korea’s chaebol. The chaebol are South Korea’s vast business empires, held as personal fiefs by a small number of South Korean families.

The control that these groups have exerted over South Korea is incredible and disturbing. Samsung the largest chaebol for example has business interests in the electronics, constriction , theme parks, life insurance, and ship building industries. Unlike other large conglomerates the South Korean chaebol are also known for outright owning most of their suppliers giving them more monopolistic power over the South Korean economy.

Beyond economic power, the chaebol have also had a complex relation with the South Korean government dating back to the end of the Second World War. During this time period the founding families, with the seized Japanese industries and political support quickly grew. Later they exploded under the patronage of President Park Chung-hee. The chaebol were given preferential treatment as a strategy to industrialize the country. In a way it worked, this time period saw South Korea rise as one of the four Asian Tigers as well as finally surpassing North Korea’s industrial advantage.

Now as South Korea is prosperous and spreading their influence throughout the world, there is great domestic concern over the damaging control the chaebol. These opinions have a shifted widely in the past, the chaebol were exalted for the rise of the South Korean miracle economy, denounced during the Asian financial crisis and finally rehabilitated during the recent global economic downturn.

The recent elections have sent signs that the chaebol’s reputation is again falling. Many South Koreans believe that chaebol and government are intertwined to a ludicrous extant. The stock of chaebol rise and fall depending on the electoral fortunes of the parties they patronize. For example one investor sold his stock of a pharmaceutical company based on that fact that an opposition party leader had once visited a company hospital nearly 20 years ago for back surgery. The chaebol are now seen to contribute little to society, they make billions in profits but employ only a tiny fraction of the South Korean population. The fact that so much profits are being made when there such deep holes in the South Korean social security net is also upsetting.

Before we haughtily deem our own society vastly superior, we should use South Korea as a mirror for the failings of own society. The United States also has a far from exemplar relationship with private business, we are notorious for one for the extant that corporations are able to use money in elections. Both the United States and South Korea would do well to look in ourselves and question whether we are satisfied with the status quo.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

Tags: Chaebol, corporations, economic miracle, Elections, Korean Wave, South Korea
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I am not a crook! The downfall of a Chinese Leader

April 15, 2012 in Asia

by Hugo Polanco

Scandals, coups, and murders! For the past couple of months China’s attempt to peacefully transition power to a new set of leaders has met with trouble. Bo Xilai the aspiring leader of the Southwestern metropolis of Chongqing has in rapid succession been demoted from being leader of Chongqing, removed from the politburo and now is facing the possibility of criminal charges. Beyond this being a simple scandal this is a huge blow to the Chinese Communist Party and came at the worst possible time during the sensitive transition.

The ramifications for the Communist Party could turn out to be quite severe. For one it is a very public split in an organization traditionally shrouded in secrecy. This scandal also will change the trajectory of the party somewhat. Until this even happened Bo Xilai and his clique seemed poised to greatly enhance their power. Bo and his faction’s style of leadership was known as the Chongqing model of development. This style emphasized redistribution of wealth, nostalgia for Maoism, and a brutal approach to curbing organized crime. Bo fed upon the population’s dissatisfaction with the socioeconomic status quo, primarily upon their displeasure with rampant rates of inequality that characterize modern day China. As a result he was widely popular in his own city, and as a first had initiated a limited form of popular campaigning to be selected for the Standing Committee of the Politburo placing him among the body of 9 men that are directly responsible for governing China. Many China analysts speculated how long the established party hierarchy would tolerate him given their predilection to support quiet neutral leaders, best epitomized by current president Hu Jintao, whose cold passionless demeanor would make him a perfect fill in for any Keanu Reeves role in the past 10 years.

However a frantic attempt in February by his security chief Wang lijun to defect to the United States quickly unraveled all his plans. What has followed as been shocking revelation after revelation. It turns out that Wang Lijun, frightened for his life after possibly uncovering a politically motivated murder had attempted to trade this information in exchange for American protection. Wang’s fears are understandable given the murder in question was that of a British businessman named Neil Heywood and the primary suspect is none other than Bo Xilai’s wife, Gu Kailai. As this scandal progressed Bo was quickly stripped of his office as leader of Chongqing and as a member of the Politburo. Gu Kailai for her own part has unveiled an even larger conspiracy. The wife of Bo Xilai claims that Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee, was involved in an attempt to remove the heir apparent, Xi Jinping and replace him with Bo Xilai. It is unknown whether her allegations are true or whether she is feeding the party information in an attempt to avoid execution. What is known is that whether or not there was a larger conspiracy, Bo and his faction have been fatally weakened and his Chongqing model discredited. This may allow the Premier Wen Jiabao’s liberal faction to play their hand. This group has long been the counter to Bo and as foreign policy magazine explains there may be a personal tinge to Bo’s treatment at the hands of Premier Wen. Wen’s faction is best known for the Guangdong model of development which includes overtures to political liberalization. The latest event to showcase their thinking was their handling of the Wukan crisis, where the Guangdong government chose to negotiate with the restive village instead of sending in tanks Tiananmen style.

This time this even may be recorded as the turning point, where China was forced to start opening its political system. Political liberalization still has a long way to go and still faces many determined opponents but the hands of the liberal faction have surely been freed from dealing with fierce rivals of Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

Tags: Bo Xilai, Chongqing, Communist Party, Coup, Murder, Politburo, Scandal, Standing Committee
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The Future of Tibet

April 8, 2012 in Asia

This post is dedicated to the memory of Fang Lizhi, who died two days ago. He was a world renowned Physicist and was one of the people responsible for inspiring the 1989 Tiananmen student movement. The University of Arizona had the honor of having as a professor for many years following his dramatic flight from China. He will be sorely missed

Dharamsala from http://tourism.ellamey.com

by Hugo Polanco

Want to resurrect? You’ll need a form for that. That is one of the most blatantly offensive and ridiculous part of the relationship between the Chinese state and Tibetan Buddhism. The fact that in an attempt to regulate the religious life of its citizenry, the officially atheist communist party gets to decide some of the finer points of Tibetan Buddhist theology. This story however is not directly about China but Tibet and their future. Obviously the Chinese state exerts tremendous influence over Tibetans, their desire to hold onto the territory is the primary reason Tibetans are so dissatisfied now a days. The story of the Tibetan people is tragic and through the tireless efforts of the Dalai Lama relatively well known in the west. Even with such a dedicated leader they face an uncertain future.

First of all the Tibetan community is currently bifurcated between India and China. The overwhelming majority of Tibetans are spread out over western China but Tibet’s religious and political elites have long been in exile in India. Ever since they fled in 1959 this community has taken it upon themselves to preserve Tibetan culture as well as serving as the voice for the larger community. In the past the government in exile was an exported version of the old Tibetan theocracy with the Dalai Lama serving as both a religious and political leader. Starting just last the Dalai Lama began making plans for the future, a future that the Tibetan community will face without him. Part of his strategy is to democratize the Tibetan exiled government as well as separate its religious and political offices. Because words and moral standing are the exiled community’s only weapons, this move was brilliant as it damaged the Chinese claims that the Dalai Lama and his government only represented the feudal backwards traditions of Tibet. The feasibility of continuing the office of the Dalai Lama is in doubt, or at least maintaining it free of Chinese influence. Since the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism hold that the Dalai Lama is reincarnated after death, when the current Dalai Lama passes it will most likely trigger a race between the exiled Tibetans and the Chinese government to install their own Dalai Lama. Having a secular leader in place will ensure that the Tibetan community’s voice will be heard even with the loss of a Dalai Lama.

Regardless of whether or not Tibet should be independent it is reasonable to assume that Tibetan’s are deeply dissatisfied with the status quo. Their desperation can be seen by their choice of political protest, burning themselves to death. These are chilling and deeply disturbing events especially to sympathetic readers in the west. Having a strong Tibetan leadership will help the community through their tribulations.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

Tags: Dalai Lama, Tibet, Tibetan Government in Exile
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Good News and Bad News

April 1, 2012 in Asia

by Hugo Polanco

North Korea has returned in full form after a brief hiatus following Kim Jong-il’s death, when the region collectively held its breath hoping that the new leader would bring reform and moderation. Their latest act is a plan to launch a missile over Japan under a claim that it is a satellite launch. Japan has not taken kindly to this news and has announced that be it a missile or genuine satellite launch, it will be shot down if passes over Japan. This is erratic North Korean policy at its finest given that the new leader had reached an accommodation with the west. He had restarted talks and in return for ceasing uranium enrichment and long range ballistic missile development, North Korea would receive much needed aid. This is perfectly in line with established North Korean strategy of making deals then increasing tensions through crisis in order to move for a better deal. Towards the end of Kim Jong-il’s rule this strategy failed to pay off because both South Korea and the United States began taking a harder line against North Korean provocations while being distrustful of any overtures for deals or talks. This transfer period was an excellent opportunity for North Korea to reverse its policies for the betterment of the region and its own suffering population. So while not surprising, this missile launch is disheartening.

On the other side of Asia, Myanmar has passed milestone one that has been greeted with adulation and joy. The election in Myanmar have passed and Aung San Suu Kyi has won a seat in the parliament. These election were a powerful symbol and a marker of how far Myanmar has gone in the past few years. Myanmar is still not free, Suu Kyi’s party could not have win a majority because only a small percentage of the parliamentary seats were contested and there was also accusations of irregularities. Each step that the government takes towards democracy is a sign, it makes rolling back all the reforms less likely for one. This step will also increase the likelihood that the European Union and the United States will roll back sanctions. With that Myanmar may finally achieve its full potential, there is already speculation that its position astride India and China, and its rich mineral resources will quickly transform it into a new economic powerhouse.

The contrast between the two countries is shocking. One is on its way up and the other still mired in oppression. Two years ago both these countries were considered absolute basket cases and often muttered in the same breath when listing corrupt regimes. So this week I’m left with hope and praise for the successes of Aung San Suu Kyi’s decades long struggle for the freedom of her people, while lamenting the failure of the corpulent Kim Jong-un and the North Korean regime to advance beyond the failed policies of his father.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

Tags: Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma, Elections, Myanmar, North Korea, Suu Kyi, the lady
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Chinese, Taiwanese or American?

March 25, 2012 in Asia, The World Today

by Hugo Polanco

Chinese, Taiwanese, or American. How exactly do you classify Jeremy Lin. For those that have been living under a rock these past months, or just don’t care about basketball, Jeremy Lin is a new international superstar playing for the New York Knicks. Lin is an interesting man, and far different from the average NBA superstar. For one his rise to fame was rapid and almost completely unexpected. Up until a few months ago, Lin was an unknown third rate player mostly warming the bench for various teams and living off his brother’s couch to save money. This is in stark contrast to other players of equivalent skill, whose careers are traced throughout college, and whose rise to stardom are closely anticipated. Lin may have been ignored until now because of his ethnic origin. It is clear that Black Americans and European or European descended players dominate the league. The only other Asian players are giant men, who look like they were designed in a lab in China to play center and who like Yao Ming were trained by the government since birth to play basketball. Lin at 6’4’’, with a fluid style of play, Harvard Education and American birth is in stark contrast to this norm. His rise to stardom has been dubbed “Linsanity” and while in the United States the furor surrounding his rise has subsided, in Asia Lin is still King. Newspapers in Taiwan and China comment in great length over his strategy, his jerseys are still sold out, and sports bars become flooded with eager fans during ever Knicks game. But seeing his immense popularity in China, Taiwan and the United States only begs the question, what is he?

This question is not easily answered, for one all three terms are not exactly mutually exclusive. His American identity is clear for one, no one but the most ardent bigot would deny that the American born and raised Lin is American. The confusion lies in his Chinese and Taiwanese identity. Again these two terms are not exactly mutually exclusive but they have spouted a heated debate amongst Taiwanese and Chinese commentators and opened a whole new array of issues over the broader Taiwanese identity. To start off, Lin’s parent’s are both from Taiwan and later emigrated to the United States making his connection to Taiwan clear. The Chinese claim to Lin lies is based on two arguments. One is that his grandmother is Chinese born and was one of the millions of Chinese that fled to Taiwan following the end of the Chinese Civil War. The other argument is that all Taiwanese are Chinese anyways since Taiwan is a renegade province that should be reunited with the mainland. This second argument if anything infuriates some Taiwanese. After 100 years of near total political separation from the mainland, a new Taiwanese identity has emerged. Because English lacks a neat term to differentiate between ethnic Chinese, which unequivocally includes Lin and most Taiwanese, and political Chinese, which includes only residents of the PRC, using the term Chinese to describe Lin can set off a raw nerve amongst some people.

For his part Lin has managed this perilous walk between all three sides incredibly well. He has acted like the filial son of quarreling divorced parents. He was not overtly taken any sides and has cemented his relationship with both areas by frequently visiting Taiwan and by taking a trip to pay homage to his grandmother’s hometown in China. It certainly helps that this stance has raked in untold profits from Chinese and Taiwanese merchandise sales but Lin represents a bright spot in cross-strait relations. It is certainly shocking that an American born basketball player has joined with Sun Yat-sen to be one of the few individuals subject to adulation on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not those of Arizona Model United Nations.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

Tags: Asian-American, Basketball, China, Cross-Strait relations, Ethnic Chinese, Ethnicity, Jeremy Lin, Knicks, Lin, NBA, New York Knicks, Taiwan, Taiwanese Identity
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Maldives: A Troubled Paradise

February 12, 2012 in Asia

by: Hugo Polanco

Malé, Maldives courtesy of wikipedia commons

Maldives, a tiny collection of beautiful islands strung out across the Indian Ocean just south of India, is now facing a grave political crisis. Last week Mohamed Nasheed, the former president of Maldives, resigned his office. His resignation came in the face of multiple street protests as well as a mutinous military and police force. This may seem like another manifestation of the spirit of the Arab Spring, a president in a deeply Islamic nation being forced to step down by protesters. However the situation is more complex. Mohamed Nasheed does not fit the profile of a ruthless dictator, he was barely elected in 2008 and was Maldives first democratically elected leader in 30 years. Nasheed claims that that the former administration left behind a corrupt judiciary and police force to cover up their many years of embezzlement and cruel autocratic rule. Nasheed himself was a victim of this rule, having been arrested on multiple occasions for political dissent. The earlier protests were in fact triggered by his attempt to arrest a judge he claimed was corrupt. This move was seen as unconstitutional and following the protests he resigned. However Nasheed claims he was coerced to resign at gunpoint and has openly staged counter protests of his own in defiance of an arrest warrant issued after his resignation.

Nasheed’s removal is a sad turn of events. Nasheed was widely respected by Western leaders for his liberal leanings but he was far from a Western stooge. He devoted his time to not only mending the past 30 years of autocratic rule but also finding a solution to Maldives bleak fate. Maldives is the world’s lowest lying country; most of the country is only a couple of meters above sea level. If sea levels rise as they are predicted to because of climate change, Maldives will be completely submerged in the future. Nasheed campaigned tirelessly to bring global attention to the Maldives fate, such as his stunt of holding a cabinet meeting underwater. Nasheed’s liberal leanings were another source of friction that encouraged the protestors. He was accused of spreading immoral Western values and practices throughout the highly Islamic country.

Nasheed has called on new elections to end the impasse between him and his former vice president Mohammed Waheed Hassan, whom he claims orchestrated the alleged coup. The now President Hassan has agreed to a probe investigating the coup allegations but has refused the calls for new elections. Maldives has had a long history of misrule and it would especially crippling to slide back to autocracy especially given the crisis Maldives faces in the future. The attempted removal of the judge by Nasheed was damning as well as a foolish political move given his status as a liberal champion and prisoner of conscious, however the new government is not starting off in an appropriate way as they have commenced to attack Nasheed’s supporters throughout Maldives.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

Tags: Anni, Democracy, Liberal, Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, Nasheed, Political Crisis
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A Personal Look at Chinese Censorship

February 5, 2012 in Asia, The World Today

by: Hugo Polanco

The reality of life in China is much different than people expect. As stated in an earlier post, China has a difficult time spreading their culture around the world. So while the average foreign citizen is aware of China’s past cultural achievement such as the great wall, often they know little to nothing of how average Chinese people live. I had the opportunity to live in China for a semester, and given the multitude of foreign students and teachers I met over there, it is clear this is no longer a rare or especially unusual. However I hope to challenge several misconceptions about Chinese life.

Chinese censorship is a hot topic in Western news sources; the whole internet security apparatus even has a name, The Great Firewall. However this system of censorship is nowhere near as pervasive or onerous as one may think. As a foreigner, the Great Firewall barely impacted my life. This is because of VPN. VPN stands for virtual private network, once a VPN is installed on a computer all network traffic is routed to a point outside of China. This means expats and Chinese citizens in the know can gleefully sidestep the Great Firewall with a press of a button and search for Tank Man, the Dalai Lama, and caricatures of Mao Zedong to their hearts content. Even without a VPN, the only burden that the Great Firewall imposed was denying me access to Facebook. Most English language news was uncensored and the only blocked article I came across was the Wikipedia article on the Dalai Lama. In an attempt to test the limits of the Great Firewall me and my roommate began emailing each other phrases such as “Mao is fat and worthless”, “Free Tibet”, “Democracy in China, Now!” All the emails went through and we were not visited by any government thugs in the dead of the night.

Access to foreign media is also surprisingly easy to come by. As part of the government’s censorship policy foreign shows, movies, and music are not broadcast on tv and the sale of DVD’s and CD is restricted. All this is circumvented by the bootleg DVD stores. These stores are all pervasive throughout Chinese cities, and carry an incredibly large collection of foreign media that would put the average American video store to shame. All the DVDs cost roughly $1.20 per disc and are of very high quality to the point there is virtually no difference between them and legitimate copies. Chinese consumers are hungry for these shows and movies and this is one reason why intellectual property theft is so widespread in China, simply because there is no legal access for these products.

China censorship is bothersome for the poor and rural population, who know neither English nor how to access a VPN. The censorship also affects prominent dissidents who are arrested at the slightest provocation. There are 1.3 billion people in China and the Chinese government has nowhere near the ability to control the access of information to all these people especially for the rising middleclass. What’s clear is the Chinese citizens are not kept in the dark, they know how democracy works, they know how foreigners especially in the West live, and if they wanted to they could find out about unpleasant events such as the Tiananmen Protests. It’s hard for us in the West to accept, given the very unpleasant aspects of the Chinese government, but in many ways there is a social contract between the Chinese public and the government. They will accept one party rule for the time being in exchange for spectacular growth. China is many things but what is not is George Orwell’s 1984.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

Tags: Censorship, China, Great Firewall, Media, Personal
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Religion in South East Asia

January 29, 2012 in Asia, The World Today

by: Hugo Polanco

from asiaguide.com

Because of its massive size and, growing economic and strategic importance, the news coming from Asia usually impacts billions of people. Last week an event happened that only directly affected one man. This lone man, Alex Aan was attacked and subsequently cast to jail, were he now faces up to 5 years in jail. His only crime was declaring on his Facebook profile that God does not exist. In Indonesia this is not only deeply offensive to the Muslim population, who form 86% of the population, but also illegal under Indonesia’s anti-blasphemy act. This was not an isolated incident, but emblematic of the uneasy relationship religion has with the state. According to the constitution and proud government pronouncements, Indonesia is a secular country that respects the religious choices of its citizens. Despite this official posture, the anti-blasphemy law and religious categorization policy serve to actively discriminate against religious minorities. The religious categorization policy forces all Indonesian citizens to declare their religion on their identity cards. Only Buddhism, Islam, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Confucianism, and Hinduism are officially recognized. In addition minority sects of these main religions are not recognized and thus face official persecution. Lack of religion is also not an option as is seen in the case of Alexander.

In neighboring Malaysia religion has also had an awkward relationship with the state. Malaysia and Indonesia are similar countries, they both use a variant of the Malay language as official languages and are largely Muslim. However due to the presence of a much larger Indian and Chinese diaspora communities, Malaysia is only 60% Muslim. Malaysia has a similar religious classification system as Indonesia and while citizens have greater freedom in choosing their religious practices, it is difficult to officially convert to another religion. This may be seen to be a trivial issue but in Malaysia your religion also determines your ethnic classification and judicial processing. Only Muslims can be counted as being ethnically Malay and thus be benefactors of the affirmative action programs in place for them. Muslims also are subject to Sharia law and fall under the jurisdiction of the sharia court system. A Malay that wishes to convert must then face the choice between government benefits or being forced to live under a legal system they no longer believe in.

In Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the opposition alliance seeks to take Malaysia in a new direction. Anwar himself has run afoul of Malaysia’s religious laws. He has been charged with committing sodomy twice before, once in 1999 and then again in 2008. In Malaysia sodomy is still illegal and carries a hefty prison sentence, Anwar was barely acquitted of both charges which he claimed were politically motivated. Anwar wants to move Malaysia in Turkey’s direction. As a vibrant liberal democracy with a Muslim majority population and a ruling Islamist party, the Turkish model is deeply attractive to both Malaysia and Indonesia. This is easier said than done. Turkey’s balance was not reached over night, secularism was imposed by their founder Kemal Ataturk and fiercely protected by the military. It took generations of political struggle until Islamists were allowed to hold power. Achieving this balance requires leaders that will not pander to religious extremism for political gain and leaders that will build legal institutions to protect the rights of religious minorities. Achieving this balance will also reap many awards to both countries. Beyond protecting minorities these liberal institutions are also a remedy for the corruption plaguing both countries. Indonesia and Malaysia are looking forward to bright prosperous futures, and hopefully with political maturation, ugly incidents such Alex Aan’s and Anwar Ibrhim’s will be avoided.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

Tags: Alex Aan, Alexander Aan, Anwar, Anwar Ibrahim, blashemy, Indonesia, Malaysia, religion
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Nuclear Japan!

January 21, 2012 in Asia

by: Hugo Polanco

There is a giant radioactive monster roaming Japan. It has devastated portions of the country three times before and now looms in many Japanese citizens’ nightmares. No this monster is not the man in costume Godzilla but nuclear power. Japan has a history with nuclear power unlike any other nation on Earth, they were subjected to the only two nuclear attacks ever conducted. To say the least they have been sensitive to this form of energy ever since. Despite this sensitivity nuclear power was the only viable option to meet Japan rocketing energy needs during its post-war meteoric rise to economic giant. This was a clear decision to accept the risks of nuclear power and it’s unpleasant history for country in order to achieve prosperity. The result is that Japan relies on 50 some nuclear power plants to meet 30% of its energy needs and had planned to expand the use of nuclear power in the future. That means that except for France no other country relies as much on nuclear power.

Fast forward half a century through economic rise and subsequent stagnation and Japan finally came face to face with the consequences of their nuclear program. It came in the form a terrible earthquake and tsunami that crashed into the northern Japanese coast March of last year. This quake and tsunami left thousands dead as well as causing massive material destruction. The Fukushima Daiichi plant was in the path of the destruction and when the power grid shut down and diesel generators failed, some of the plants cores melted down spewing radioactive steam into the atmosphere. Out of this tragedy a national debate has emerged over the future of nuclear power.

Japan now faces another decision similar to their post-war decision to embrace nuclear power. The Japanese public is understandably upset by the tragedy and has pressured the government to steer away from nuclear power. This however may not be the best option. Like half a century ago there is no viable replacement for nuclear power. Renewable sources such as wind or solar are not ready yet to meet the energy demands of Japan and fossil fuels would only replace one potentially dangerous power source with pollution and environmental degradation.

To assuage the concerned citizenry, Japan has idled most of the nuclear plants. This has caused an energy shortage that has caused Japan’s economic growth to stall for the second year in a row as well as increased Japan’s trade deficit. This tragedy however may best be explained not by blaming nuclear power itself but the lax regulations governing the use of nuclear power in Japan. In Japan the nuclear industry and government regulators have long had an incestuous relationship, that has resulted in a string of accidents of which the Fukushima Daiichi incident is but the latest. This current slow down and idling of powerplants thus cannot be avoid. The public is understandably concerned with the safety of these plants and distrustful of previous inspections. The idled plants are currently being subjected to a barrage of stress tests to ensure they can all withstand an earthquake like the one that damaged the Fukushima plant.

Challenging and breaking the cozy relationship between industry and regulation seems like the path to go rather that a wholesale abandonment of nuclear energy. This whole crisis has only revealed that the only thing more toxic that the nuclear fuel powering these plants is Japan’s disfunctional political system.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.

Tags: Fukushima Daiichi, Japan, Japanese Politics, Nucleae meltdowns, nuclear power, Nuclear Power Plants, Nuclear Regulations
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Taiwanese Gubernatorial Elections

January 15, 2012 in Asia

By Hugo Polanco

picture from reuters

2012 is a year of elections, while the United States is awaiting 10 more months of mud slinging and campaigning, the Taiwanese have recently cast their votes for their President.The election has resulted in the imcumbent Ma Ying-jeou remaining in power for 4 more years as well as his party, the Kuomintang or KMT, remaining in power. This election not only was important to Taiwan but to China as well. In a bizarre twist of fate the Chinese Communist Party was avidly supporting their one time mortal enemies, the KMT. Their previous relationship can be described simply as a blood feud. The KMT was the party that massacred the communist in China and forced then on the Long March, these two also fought a horrible civil war and continued to constantly bicker and launch attacks both verbally and physically across the sea separating their domains so why do they seem so cozy with each other now?

The answer lies in China’s economy and Taiwan’s need to access it. This election was a referendum on President Ma’s policy of rapprochement with the mainland. Taiwan’s relationship with the mainland has always been shaky. The mainland claims Taiwan as a province while Taiwan enjoys de facto independence and a free and democratic society. In 2008 President Ma opened up to China and was awarded with trade deals, Chinese tourism and direct flights, all which have boosted Taiwan’s economy. The downside to the Taiwanese is the fear that China will use the increased economic dependence to coerce Taiwan into reunification sometime in the future.

For its part the CCP acted remarkably mature this election cycle. China and its ruling party have so far acted awkwardly towards human rights issues and democracy in the past. In 2010 a Chinese activist named Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. China reacted by imprisoning his family and threatening any country that dared send official representatives to the award ceremony. Previous Taiwanese elections have also been wracked with tension across the Taiwanese straits. On many occasions China has threatened the island with missile launches for daring to elect the wrong candidate. On the international arena this behavior has made China appear, for lack of a better comparison, like a giant toddler throwing a temper tantrum. These outbursts harmed China’s interests as they often served as nothing more than the anti-China candidates’ evidence that China is a threat.

This time China took a back seat, it did not threaten the island nor did it publically campaign for their preferred candidate. Their approach was probably calculated to dampen the perception among Taiwanese that President Ma is a mainland stooge and to deny the opposing parties any evidence that China is indeed a threat.

Post election the official response from the government has also been muted. A quick glance at the official Chinese media shows only the bellicose Global Times issuing a strong statement. For readers unfamiliar with the Global Times it offers as much legitimacy and largely similar editorial tone as Fox News. China may start to find that its economic clout will and softer tone will be much more effective in advancing their Taiwan policy rather than arms and shouting. For China Taiwanese business interests the region and the United States this is positive news. This could remove an irritant from the Sino-American relationship and help stabilize the region. For Taiwanese nationalists however this is catastrophic. For the Taiwanese this issue goes beyond economics to their identity and place in the world. Most now seems themselves as Taiwanese and not Chinese, as much as the economic ties benefit them the danger of being absorbed into China still influences them. As Bi-khim Hsiao a Taiwanese researcher stated voting to tie Taiwan with China is done from the pocket book not the heart.

This post reflects the author’s personal opinions, not the opinions of Arizona Model United Nations.