DEEPENING THE CHINESE REFORM: THE JIANG ERA

Report on the 13th Annual Conference

The 13th Annual Conference of the Association of Chinese Political Studies (ACPS) was successfully convened in Bethesda, Maryland, on October 17-18, 1998. The overall theme of the 13th ACPS annual conference was political, economic, and social reforms in the Jiang Zemin era.

Dr. Gang Lin, the ACPS president-elect, chaired the opening session. After a welcome address by Dr. Xiaobo Hu, the ACPS president, Professor Hongdah Chiu of the University of Maryland at College Park delivered a keynote speech entitled "China's Political and Legal Reforms." Professor Chiu discussed the significant progress that China has made in reforms and emphasized the importance of establishing the rule of law.

A lunch keynote speech was delivered by Professor Robert Bates from Harvard University, which was on "the Future in Comparative Politics." Professor Bates stressed the connection between field research and theory building. China studies will continue to enrich comparative political analysis. A short session of questions and answers followed each keynote speech.

Over 40 participants from the United States, Taiwan, and Mainland China attended the annual conference. Nearly 30 research papers were presented at ten panels. Panel topics included: Post Deng Chinese Politics; Cross-Strait Relations; Post-Deng Chinese Economy; Society, Literature and Nationalism; China and Asian Financial Crisis; and Theory Building.

An ACPS business meeting was held on the 17th. At the business meeting, Dr. Guoli Liu was elected as the president-elect. Drs. Weixing Chen, Ming Xia, and Jun Yin were elected as members of the new Board of Directors. They all join the current President of the ACPS, Dr. Gang Lin, to form the Board of Directors for 1998-1999. The Board welcomes comments and suggestions about the current and future work of ACPS.