China Seminar | 8 November 2012

The Fifth Generation Takes Over

Bill Sharp

On the day that CPC to convene 18th National Congress, Mr. Sharp will give us a talk on the fifth generation of PRC leadership, lead by Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, that will soon take political control of China. He will focus on the kind of policies they might pursue.  For example, what domestic issues might consume their energies?  How will they address China’s economic slow down? What will their foreign policy priorities be? How do they see America? Will their approach to cross-strait relations differ from the fourth generation’s approach?  The impact of party factionalism and the Bo Xilai affair on Chinese politics will also be discussed.   Mr. Sharp’s association with Asia started in 1968 while serving with US Army military intelligence in Vietnam. He received an A.B. in Political Science (focused on Chinese and Japanese politics) from UC, Berkeley, a M.A. in Asian Studies from UH-Manoa, and an Ed.M. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard University.  While at UH, he received the James Shigeta Award for Excellence in Asian Studies and the Lee-Shao Chang Award for Excellence in Chinese Studies.  He studied Mandarin Chinese in both Taiwan and Beijing, taught English and was a free-lance writer in Japan in 1980s, and later was Executive Director of Japan-America Society of Hawaii.  He currently teaches East Asian politics at HPU and hosts, Asia in Review, a weekly TV show dedicated to contemporary Asian affairs. In recent years, he wrote “Look East,” a column for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. In pursuit of his interests, he travels often to Asia.