Wall Street is in crisis. It drove Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy and forced American International Group into the hands of the U.S. government. Merrill Lynch sold itself to Bank of America. Goldman and Morgan Stanley are to become commercial banks. China has resisted years of pressure from U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to open its financial system more quickly and add new products. Those barriers helped the nation limit its losses and write-downs from the credit-market crisis to less than 1 percent of the $516 billion global total. Chinese officials warned that the U.S. had set off a financial tsunami by allowing Wall Street lenders to trade in subprime debts and unstable financial derivatives.

Guest: Robert Sherretta, President of International Investor, Inc.

Segment 2: Asian American Voters Keeping Virginia Red?

The growing electoral clout of Asian Americans could play an important role in the upcoming presidential election. For the first time in more than four decades, Virginia is a battleground in the presidential race. A recent survey found that a significant number of Asian Americans voted for the first time in 2006. The survey also pointed out that a growing number of Asians, particularly Chinese Americans, call themselves “independent voters” and do not affiliate themselves with any party. The most important issues to be addressed by the 2008 presidential candidates include the economy, jobs, and health care.

Guest: Ken Feng, Community Activist with Chinese American Republicans of Virginia

Guest: Naomi Tacuyan, Deputy Director of APIAVote

Segment 2: Patrolling the Virtual World

Most of us use computers these days. We use computers for everything from banking and investing to shopping and communicating with others through email or chat programs. Even though you may not consider your communications top secret, you probably do not want strangers reading your email or examining personal information stored on your computer, or using your computer to attack other systems or send forged email. With more and more electronic based gadgets people find it more and more difficult to live their lives without computers. At times, the virtual world seems to dwarf the real world. Is there a sheriff in this virtual world?

Guest: Larry Greenblatt, Lead Instructor of Internetwork Defense

The Chinese security apparatus has tightened controls considerably, ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Chinese dissidents with grievances have been rounded up, or kept from entering Beijing by policed security cordons that ring the city. Congressmen Frank Wolf and Chris Smith, two outspoken critics of China’s human rights record, travelled to Beijing while there was still time before the Olympics for China to demonstrate its commitment to human rights. They had invited a number of dissident lawyers to meet with them their first night, however these lawyers were intercepted before they could make their appointment with the Congressmen. That afternoon police had taken two lawyers from their homes, blocked another lawyer from leaving his apartment, and warned off or barred at least six other invited lawyers.

Guest: Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA)

Segment 2: Global Online Freedom Act

Congressman Chris Smith, a long time critic of china’s human rights record, introduced house bill two-seventy-five, the Global Online Freedom Act, through which U.S.-based companies could be held liable for helping officials in other countries censor the Internet. The Global Online Freedom Act will bar U.S. companies from disclosing personally-identifiable information about a user, unless that information is needed for “legitimate foreign law enforcement purposes.”

Guest: Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ)

If you think you’ve got it bad because of the recent market decline in the U.S., you should take a look at Chinese stock investors. By the end of the first quarter, China’s main market, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, had tumbled about 43% since its peak in October of last year. That’s quadruple the decline over the same period for the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, which has lost 11%. Worse yet, China’s markets are relatively new, and investors are inexperienced. Many of those losing money got in just in the past year, buying near the peak and now suffering deep losses. What is going on?

Guest: Robert Sherretta, President, International Investors, Inc.

Segment 2: Post-Election Taiwan, DPPs future

On Sunday, March 22, 2008, Nationalist party nominee Ma Ying-jeou won Taiwan’s presidential election, with 58% of the vote, ending eight years of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rule. Along with the 2008 legislative election, Ma’s landslide victory brought the Nationalist Party back to power in Taiwan. The DPP has made indelible contributions to Taiwan’s democratization. Without its forceful appeal, Chiang Ching-kuo’s democratization from top down could not have gotten under way. Democracy triumphed in 2000 when Chen Shui-bian was elected president, completing the first transfer of power in Taiwan to end more than five decades of one-party rule by the Nationalist party. The DPP was and still is, at least, nominally, a revolutionary party. Will DPP come back as a credible and viable political group which is needed for checks and balances in the face of the now all-powerful Nationalist party for the good of Taiwan’s democracy?

Guest: Michael Fonte, Democratic Progressive Party Liaison

But things are not turning out in favor of Beijing.
Freedoms of religion, speech and assembly do not exist in China, and
Beijing’s oppression of the Tibetan people has drawn waves of criticism.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel in declining to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic games,
and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has indicated that he might do the same.
The Olympic games have no doubt become the high profile venue for implicit
and explicit political messages.

In the U.S., Thad McCotter, Congressman from Michigan, introduced a bill to
restrict President Bush from attending the opening ceremony.

Guest: Rep. Thad McCotter Chairman, House Republican Policy Committee

A week of protests in Tibet turned violent as Chinese security forces clashed with hundreds of Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans. Information was hard to verify. Nearly all foreigners were barred entry and Tibetans have no freedom. Is the current crisis a territorial dispute, an ethnic clash, or something else? What is the possible future of Tibet?

Guest: Karmar Zurkhang, Former Member, Tibetan Government-in-Exile Dharmasala, India

Segment 2: The Olympics: A Golden Opportunity for Advancing a Good Cause?

Many Chinese people have endorsed the choice of Beijing as a venue for the Olympic Games, happy to show off the progress China has made over the last 30 years. Most also have taken pride in the opportunity to see their country embraced as an important member of the world community by an expected flood of foreign visitors.

In that light, even those who yearn for political change often have been reluctant to question the government’s legitimacy as host of the Olympics. On the other hand, many international organizations have been critical of the fact that the Chinese government has not carried out the pledges it made in 2001 in order to secure the Olympic Games, including improving human rights and loosening restrictions on press freedom.

They argue that the Chinese government has violated promises it made to secure the Olympic Games by jailing dissidents, pushing poor people from their homes to build stadiums and keeping censorship in place.

Guest: Keith Ware, Spokesperson, Human Rights Torch Relay, Washington, DC
Kai Chen, Author, â..One In A Billionâ.

The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Silk Road, Buddhist and Taoist temples, painting, calligraphy, the Three Gorges, green tea and tasty food. China is filled with an abundance of natural wonders and a rich culture. But urban life today is something Westerners know little about.

In the mainland you can lose yourself in an old temple in the morning and find yourself in a shopping center in the afternoon. As far as nightlife goes, American jazz competes with Chinese opera. Bars and cafes sit side by side with traditional tea houses.

What will a first-time tourist encounter in China today?

Guest: Will Gorman, Business Manager, Verizon Business

Religious freedom, a simple idea, yet difficult to implement. The struggle for religious liberty has been ongoing for centuries, and has led to so many tragic conflicts. It is difficult for many Americans to imagine a world without religious freedom. What we take for granted as a right, is something many around the world do not enjoy.

What is the impact of religious freedom on a society? Why is it that different governments try to regulate religion in their respective country?

Guest: Jose Casanova, Professor of Sociology, Georgetown University

Can cross cultural marriage work? Well, yes, of course, cross cultural marriage can work, but there are both advantages and disadvantages to think about. It all depends on what you expect when marrying someone from another country, and whether that someone can give you what you expect — and whether you can meet their expectations, too, of course. It’s important to have an awareness of cross-cultural differences, perspectives and issues.

Guests: Cathy Cai, Eric Maxwell

Guests:
Eric McVadon, Director of Asia-Pacific Studies, Institute for Foreign Policy
Gordon Chang, author “The Coming Collapse of China”

Is China’s economy a bubble that’s poised to pop at any moment, or is it poised to continue its remarkable run? Fixed-asset investment as a percentage of GDP has reached nearly 50%. Rapid growth requires huge amounts of capital investment. Investors in China expect to make a lot of money from the “Rise of the East.â. The conventional wisdom is this: Initial investors in a new trend often do well. They are able to choose the best opportunities at the best prices. Those who come along later have progressively less and less choice and higher and higher prices. As prices rise, so do expectations. But as expectations rise, thinking declines.

Guest: Stephen L. Norris, Co-founder/ Former President, The Carlyle Group

Segment 2: Wall Street Embraces Sovereign Wealth Funds

Sovereign wealth funds, which act as a country’s investment arm, have long been investing money gained through exports or from the sale of commodities such as oil. With $1.4 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves and the pool growing by more than $1 billion every day, China casts a giant’s shadow over the global financial markets. In May 2007, China Investment Corp or CIC, with a price tag of $3 billion, took a 9.9% stake in private equity titan Blackstone Group. The recent credit crisis has left several Wall Street heavy-weights financially strapped for cash. It created more opportunities for sovereign wealth funds. In December 2007, Morgan Stanley received a $5 billion injection from CIC. It joined the ranks of Citigroup, UBS and Bear Stearns, which all have received infusions from foreign players in recent months. Economists argue that investments by sovereign funds are important to the U.S. economy, providing capital to firms and supporting the dollar. At the same time, the funds have faced plenty of criticism.

Guest: Robert Sherretta, President, International Investors, Inc.

Guest: David Kilgour, former Secretary of State of Canada, Asia Pacific.

Segment 2: China’s Growing Investment and Influence in Africa

In September 2007, China announced its plans to lend the Democratic Republic of Congo $5 billion to modernize its infrastructure and mining sector. This is another huge Chinese investment foray into Africa. Chinese investment in Africa has grown rapidly in recent years, and with it has come a need for the West to rethink its approach to doing business in the region. Direct investment in Africa by China more than quadrupled between 2001 and 2005. In 2006, Chinese contractors won a third of all public works contracts funded by the African Development Bank, eight times the number awarded to any other country. Unencumbered by principles, Chinese companies are free to go where many Western firms cannot. Beijing moved closer to Nigeria in the 1990s and has maintained close relationships with Libya and Sudan. Should Washington and average African citizens be worried and concerned?

Guest: Professor Deborah Brautigam. American University, author of “Chinese Aid and African Development”

According to Chinese military documents and generals’ speeches, China’s ambitions extend to crippling an enemy’s financial, military and communications capabilities early in a conflict. A Pentagon assessment states that China’s military regards offensive computer operations as critical to seize the initiative in the first stage of a war. Cyber attacks by China have become so frequent and aggressive that President Bush raised the subject with Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, when they met in Sydney at the Apec summit. Mr. Hu denied that China was responsible for the attack. Is there truly a cyber war? If so, who is winning?

Guest: Larry Greenblatt, Lead instructor, Internetwork Defense

Segment 2: U.S. and Canada, Uneasy neighbors

Sharing the world’s largest undefended border, the relationship between Canada and the US is not quite as easy-going as their geographic proximity would suggest. The two countries have evolved in very different ways, but there are significant ties that bind us together, $2 billion cross-border trade every day, deep-rooted respect for democracy, human rights, and rule of law and an understanding that mutual well-being depends on mutual accomodation. But yet, there are different points of view on foreign policy, social welfare, and the military. Although people on both sides are linked by blood, culture, and business, do we really know each other?

Guest: David Kilgour, former Secretary of State of Canada, Asia Pacific

But, the uncle and aunt subjected Thopaga and his mother to slavery and near-starvation. They denied his inheritance when he came of age. Vowing revenge, Thopaga was sent by his mother to study with the master sorcerer. He returned, killed his oppressors and destroyed the village. Knowing that his revenge was wrong, Thopaga set out to find a lama to help him redeem himself and was led to Marpa the translator.

After enduring much pain and hardship, and practicing diligently, he reached the state of complete enlightenment and then became known as Milarepa, one of Tibet’s most revered saints. One thousand years after his death, he is still regarded as one of Tibet’s greatest spiritual leaders. Now this ancient Buddhist legend is cinematized in the movie “Milarepa: Magician, Murderer, Saint”.

Guest: Lama Neten Chokling, Director. Greg Kruglak, Executive Producer.

Guest: Michael Fonte, the Democratic Progressive Party liaison.

Segment 2: Victim of Communism Memorial, in designers own words

Brutality, terror, and murder are always having been essential components of Communism. And Communism proved extremely effective with those components. According to the book The Black Book of Communism, written by six French intellectuals and published by Harvard University press, worldwide, some 100 million victims have died from Communist terror. These are not just numbers, they are 100 million souls, men and women, young and old, have perished from the face of the earth. Their lives and suffering deserve commemoration. Located at the busy intersection of Massachusetts and New Jersey Avenue, NW, in Washington DC, the Victim of Communism Memorial features a statue modeled on the goddess of Democracy used by the Chinese students in Tienanmen Squire in 1989, which resembles the Statue of Liberty. Its inscription reads as follows, ìTo the freedom and independence of all captive nations and people.

Guest: Thomas Marsh, Designer of the Victim of Communism Memorial.