India and I. Da Hsuan Feng Senior Vice President for Global Strategies, Development and Evaluation

Transcription

1 India and I Da Hsuan Feng Senior Vice President for Global Strategies, Development and Evaluation National Tsing Hua University fengd@mx.nthu.edu.tw

2 Did PhD in Minnesota Postdoc at U of Texas at Aus tin Prof of Physics at Drexel University Vice President at SAIC Vice President at University of Texas Program Director at NSF Did undergrad in New Jersey Postdoc in University of Manchester Did sabbatical in Copenhagen Born in India In China Before 1949 Now in Republic of China Grew up in Singapore

3 While I have never lived in China under the Communist rule, in hindsight, I am intricately tied to it, in immediate family connections, Chinese history and culture.

4 My 95-year-old uncle, Professor Guo-Dong Feng, is an expert in soil dynamics and his daughter. He returned to China in 1952 after completing his studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Before he retires, he was professor of civil engineering at Wuhan University and very active in major Chinese infrastructure constructions!

5 Juliet: "What's in a name?" Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

6 This is the map of the Republic of China

7 Quemoy and Matsu, which played a fundamental role of the existence of Taiwan island today as a political entity, are NOT geographically grouped in Taiwan island per se,, but in the Republic of China!

8 Without malice to political correctness, but to be absolutely fair to all my close friends in Quemoy whose families suffered deeply for the survival of Taiwan island today, I shall respect them and only use the terminology in this talk as Republic of China and not Taiwan.

9 My life literally began in India, where I was born!

10 ST MARY'S MEDICAL CENTRE Bandh Road, Phase-VI, Aya Nagar, New Delhi

11 I believe that was the hospital I was born in, at least it has the name of the hospital I was born in!

12 I always thought that my short life in India was at best uneventful!

13 Not true!

14 Through serendipity, I discovered that an event that was truly profound happened to my family while we were in India.

15 In hindsight, this event has profound impact not only on me, on what we are doing today in this conference, maybe even on how the Republic of China could navigate in this turbulent and prosperous Asia!

16 How I found out about this event was so remarkable that I gave this event a title :

17 my father!

18 1937 JD Paul Feng 2009 JD Ian Feng

19 Since my father passed away in early 1950 s, I knew relatively little about him. So after my son entered the same law school, on one weekend, I suddenly had the urge to find out more about him.

20 Almost sub- conscientiously, I immediately googled him!

21 Not expecting anything I could get from the search, I typed in Paul Feng India China in my Google search!

22 What came out caused me to Fall Off My Chair!

23 For me, the answer came from the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. Speaking to Mr. Paul Feng of the Central News Agency, he said on January 20, 1946,

24 "If China and India hold together, the future of Asia is assured."

25 This is the first time I read about such a concept! I was profoundly shocked, and became very bewildered.

26 I was bewildered because, in view of the little history I know about China and India, this concept never occurred to me as even possible.

27 Yet this great Indian statesman more than six decades ago, just before India became an independent nation, had articulated it so clearly and succinctly!

28 The key word in these 12 words uttered by Nehru is hold. How to hold? What should be the agent of hold? Nehru did not specify. Maybe at that point in the history of India and China, this was not a question? I wonder.

29 Soon after, my family returned to China.

30 Visiting Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum in Nanjing soon after we returned to China

31 and China plunged into a bloody civil war, which eventually was won by the Communists. Chiang Kai- Shek and his people retreated to Taiwan the island while holding on to a few tiny islands, such as Quemoy and Matsu, just off the Mainland China s shore.

32

33 1949 onwards since 1911 since 1945

34 If the concept of a nation is defined by its sovereignty, and the flag is merely a representation of this concept, then the only places that can rightfully celebrate the centennial of the Republic of China are Quemoy and Matsu.

35 Even during the eight years of the war of resistance with the Japanese, Quemoy and Matsu, just like many areas of China, were conquered. They were not colonized like the island of Taiwan was.

36 My family left China in 1949 when my father was appointed as the English editor of the newspaper Tiger Standard.

37 Soon after, he died in an air crash.

38 My mother, a Julliard trained pianist, began her illustrious career as a piano teacher in Singapore. At that time, Singapore was still a British colony, and became independent by joining Malaysia first and later leaving Malaysia.

39 Paul Abisheganadan, a colleague of my mother.

40 Paul was of Tamil descent. He was as you can see, quite dark skinned. It gave me the wrong impression that ALL Indians were dark!

41

42 From the neck up, this person looks like the elementary school guards in Singapore! Such guards can no longer be found anymore!

43 Nothing much about India entered my mind until 1962.

44 In my 1 st year of senior high, something horrible happened:

45 War broke out between India and China. While the conflict was quite remote from Singapore, I remember there was a great deal of anxiety about its outcome.

46 I am sure while Nehru was able to foresee the grand Asian picture, this war between these two Asian giants broke him and soon after he died.

47 I understand that the 12 words he uttered in 1946 was one of the sources of severe criticisms by his countrymen in his beloved nation.

48 What happened in 1962 had consequences even to this day!

49 Then I went to the United States. As I moved deeper and deeper into a career of physics, more and more Indian institutions came into my cognizance.

50 Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)

51 Delhi University

52 Banaras Hindu University

53 Madame Irene Curie- Juliet Opening the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

54 Bhabha Atomic Research Center

55 Bose Institute of the University of Calcutta in Kolkata

56 Satyendra Nath Bose Quantum mechanical Bosons 波色子 Bose-Einstein Condensation

57

58 As I received more education in physics, I began to learn about how great science flourished in India well before many other Asian countries. Perhaps the most remarkable Indian scientist, who was the first Asian in science to win the Nobel Prize (in 1930) was Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman.

59 The Nobel Prize in Physics 1930 Sir Venkata Raman for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him.

60 Raman is an all and all Indian Scientist!

61 By the way, I was asked to review a proposal recently by one of the funding agencies in the US. I rejected it instantly because in the proposal, Raman Effect was spelled Ramen Effect! I said that anyone who could not tell the difference between great science and noodles should not be funded!

62 I should mention that the next Asian who received this accolade was Hideki Yukawa of Japan 19 years later in 1949.

63 The first two Chinese (and only after they received all their advanced training in the United States) were T D Lee and C N Yang in 1957, some 27 years after Raman.

64 Chinese (born in Mainland or Taiwan or North America) Nobel laureates in Sciences Chen Ning Yang, Physics, 1957 Tsung-Dao Lee, Physics, 1957 Samuel C. C. Ting, Physics, 1976 Yuan Tseh Lee, Chemistry, 1986 Daniel C. Tsui, Physics, 1998 Roger Y. Tsien, Chemistry, 2008 Charles K. Kao, Physics, 2009 None did their pioneering work or most of their scientific professional career in Asia

65 Nearly every scientist today would know Raman effect. Perhaps in my mind the most remarkable achievement of Raman was that he received his entire education, and did his ground breaking work in India.

66 In the 20 th century, except during my birth, I only visited India once. That was in 1988 when I gave lectures at the Saha Institute.

67 That visit was a result of an invitation by my good friends the late Manoj Banajee of the University of Maryland, Manoj Pal of the Saha Institute and M. A. Nagarajan of UK s Daresbury Laboratory. All have made great achievements in the field of nuclear physics.

68 Except for nuclear physics which convinced me that India s science was at a very high level, that visit made no impression on me about India.

69 An intriguing question is as follows: Where does today India s intellectual prowess originate from?

70 One should remember that while the accolade belongs to Raman and Raman only, it must be underscored that great scientific achievements are seldom solo performances. Raman s achievement must imply that India s scientific conditions - while it may not have been as robust as in Europe when Raman was doing his work - the culture of world class scientific research must be quite prevalent for him to achieve greatness.

71 Therefore, if one fast forward to today, it should not come as a surprise that India s technological prowess did not grow from vacuum. It stood on solid foundations.

72 Before coming to Taiwan, in 2004, I led a delegation from the University of Texas at Dallas to visit IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and IIT Roorkee.

73 In 2003, I met and hosted an IIT directors delegation at the University of Texas at Dallas. On that occasion, I met a large number of IIT North Texas Alumni Association.

74 I learned how powerful is the IIT Alumni Association!

75 My visit to India with the late Alan Macdiarmid December 7-13, 2004

76 IIT Delhi Acting Director Professor Surendra Prasad with me

77 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000 Allen MacDiarmid "for the discovery and development of conductive polymers". Alan and Director Misra of IITB

78 This trip gave me a much better sense of India as a nation of enormous complexity.

79 I came to ROC in September of 2007.

80 In my first three and a half years in National Cheng Kung University, while I climbed a very steep learning curve to understand ROC and PRC, India was not part of my equation.

81 During those three and a half years, I saw a significant and positive change in the so-called cross straits relationship. In fact, the hostility between PRC and ROC has de facto vanished in reality, and more important, in the minds of people on both shores.

82 Remarkably, since coming to National Tsing Hua University 18 months ago, I began to think about ROC in the context of India and Mainland China. What led me to this train of thought is the following.

83 First of all, National Tsing Hua University is joined at the hips with Beijing Tsinghua University, which is one of the intellectually and politically most powerful universities in Mainland China. This linkage provided a natural platform for me as NTHU s Senior Vice President in charge of global strategy to gain a deeper appreciation of the intricate relationship between ROC and PRC.

84 It also drew for me a roadmap, however blurry at the moment, of the long term relationship of the two shores.

85 Secondly, little did I know that prior to my arrival, President Lih J. Chen and Vice President for Global Affairs Wei-Chung Wang had already developed a fledging effort with India. After my arrival, I saw and participated in a number of robust activities.

86 It is very interesting before coming to NTHU, my background, knowledge and interest of India had no platform to leverage what they could do.

87 英雄無用武之地 A hero without opportunity to exercise his might!

88 These activities were spiritually led by President Chen and actively developed with relevant Offices, Colleges and Departments throughout campus by the Office of Global Affairs.

89 2011 年 4 月, 陳校長率領清華大學團 隊和吳清基部長訪問印度.

90 2011 年 8 月 1 日印度金德爾全球大學簽署設 立台灣教育中心

91 2011 年 11 月, 溤副校長代表陳校長帶領清華 大學龐大的代表團到 Amity 大學設立第二所 TEC

92 OP Jindal 大學的學生 慶祝 2012 中秋節

93 去年九月與Jain大學 討論合作

94 I was called a ROCk star in Bangalore, although I was not singing as a ROCk star!

95 So what is now my view of India since coming to National Tsing Hua University? What is or could be our strategy?

96 India s Globalization of Soft Power From ancient to today!

97 Brazil, Russia, India Indonesia and China (BRIIC)

98 Nobel prize in literature 1913 Rabindranath Tagore ( ) "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West".

99 Nobel prize in literature 2000 Gao Xingjian (b. 1940) 高行建 "for an œuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama".

100 which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama (giving Asia respect!), expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West (a touch of colonialism.)

101 19 th century Built on the Renaissance as the underpinning, European universities became the intellectual epic center of the world!

102 Francis Bacon ( ) 1626) Leonardo da Vinci ( ) 1519) Rene Descartes ( ) 1650) Nicolaus Copernicus ( ) 1546) Martin Luther ( ) 1546)

103 Maxwell equations give a complete understanding of electromagnetic radiation

104 Maxwell Chopin

105 Maxwell Equations Chopin Nocturne

106 Europe in the 19 th century, with its powerful intellectual supremacy (soft power) drove great cultural and technological developments mankind had ever known. This bestowed young people in Europe with inherent self confidence!

107 Europe changed the world (for the better)!

108 The rise of North America economic and intellectual prowess (soft power,) especially United States in the 20 th century.

109 First half of 20 th century

110 When Europe and Asia were turned upside down by WWI and WWII, North America was like a castle protected by a moat!

111 Supreme excellence! Without WWII and without deep and inhumane Anti-Semitic sentiment, it was inconceivable that such a massive supreme brain drain would happen in such a short time from Europe to North America.

112 Jascha Heifetz Isaac Stern

113 The vitalization of intellectual landscape allowed a significant number of North American universities to quantum jump in quality. By the middle of the 20 th century, many North American universities became the envy of the world.

114 North America changed the world (for the better)!

115 New Paradigm for Asia.

116 Can Asia change the world (for the better)?

117 20 th century to 21 st century, From colonial era to global power

118 January 7, 2001 Manoj Das

119 a/archives/200101/msg00016.html An absolutely memorizing article!

120 We in India have debated as much as other Asian countries have, about issues like the desirability of Western influence on our culture, its inevitability or otherwise, and the relation between tradition and modernity.

121 Like the May Fourth Movement in China which championed western values and ideals in the 1920s, we too had voices against our traditions and they were given a reasonable hearing. An exchange in experiences of this kind would no doubt be highly educative.

122 For quite some time, Indian literature for the common Englishman meant what Rudyard Kipling and the like wrote. For long, India's window as well as that of the West on Chinese life has been Pearl S. Buck's Good Earth.

123 But when I read Lu Hsun, a number of his short stories and The True Story of Ah Q, I realised that despite the realism in the works of Pearl Buck and other gifted writers, Lu Hsun's work had an authenticity that could be expected only of a native of China. I do not propose to display my meagre knowledge of Chinese literature here, but what I propose is a strong and well- planned academy of Asian literatures to take care of the great need to know one another.

124 And who could take any effective step in that direction? For me, the answer came from the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

125 Twelve words, twelve simple words "If China and India hold together, the future of Asia is assured."

126 This holding together need not be confined to diplomacy; it can, by all means, be a psychological force that can work wonders in the realms of creativity.

127 亞洲發展銀行 Upon the Closing at the Conference on Global Financial Crisis, in relation to Industrial Restructuring, I made the following remarks:

128 Throughout the 20th century, Asia was psychologically coupled to the West, and understandably so. With superior economic and intellectual strengths, it is quite natural that Asia viewed the West as the standard of excellence. However, after such a period as this with the West so palpably exposing its social & economic weaknesses, this may be the first time in the modern global economy that Asia can psychologically DECOUPLE from the West.

129 This is not to suggest that Asia should decouple economically and intellectually from the West; rather, I am talking about a psychological decoupling to undo a sense of reliance on the West, without which it is unlikely that Asia will develop a deep sense of inherent self-confidence and without which the 21st century is surely not to be the Asian Century.

130 Asia will develop a deep sense of inherent self- confidence and without which the 21st century is surely not to be the Asian Century.

131 從心理上與西方脫鉤! Psychological decoupling!

132 India and PRC, with 40% of the world s population, both nations are extraordinarily education centric, with rich and complex history, with robust cultures, strong in science and technology and sit next to each other with over 3000 kilometers of borders.

133 Yet, it is indeed unfortunate that for these two nations, history has not been kind to their mutual relationship, thus rendering them an awkward disposition in the 21 st century. Still, in many ways, India and PRC are certainly as starkly different as they are strikingly similar.

134 I dare to say that for the tranquility of Asia and the world in the 21 st century, India and PRC should and need to have the best of relations.

135 It is thinking in this context that makes me particularly excited to think about how ROC could play in this arena, a role which I believe is unique in the world.

136 India PRC ROC

137 Proton Meson Proton

138 Proton Proton

139 For these two protons to have power, they need to bind together. What bind them is the meson!

140 1.2billion 1.4billion

141 ROC, itself deeply rooted in Chinese culture, squeezed in between two massive and powerful 21 st century nations, could play a very flexible role.

142 Undoubtedly, the rich and robust Chinese culture is preserved and expanded best in the ROC. India, on the other, has now a red-hot need to learn the ways and means of the Chinese. With this, India must pay attention to 23 million people in the ROC.

143 As ROC s former representative Ong said it succinctly, our understanding of the PRC is unlike other nations which depended on books.

144 Ours is with our DNA

145 As you all know, in the past decade, partially because of the economic rise of China, there is in India a noticeable surge of interest in Chinese ways and means. During my recent visits to India, I noticed that such interest is by no means confined to only Chinese languages, although that may have been the initial incentive, but to the cultures, the thinking processes and deep rooted social habits.

146 Indeed, in general, Chinese ways and means.

147 The most obvious rise of this interest is that Indian government is requesting all of its secondary schools, if possible, to offer Chinese as a third language. For a nation of 1.2 billion, such a request would constitute a herculean human engineering effort.

148 It is therefore truly remarkable that ROC, whose tiny population of 23 million, who has inherited the thousands of years of rich Chinese culture, could be a hoard at the disposal of the vast Indian population..

149 "If China and India hold together, the future of Asia is assured."

150 Nehru in another era of India and China relations, felt inherently that the two need to hold together.

151 He did not say, and maybe at his time he need not say what was the agent of hold. After all, when those 12 words were uttered, China just emerged from eight years of the bloody war of resistance with the Japanese and India was about to gain independence. Both nations futures are unchartered, if not uncertain.

152 I am sure Nehru felt intrinsically that by themselves, China and India could exert great global influence. Together, they could render the world truly exciting for humanity!

153 It is not inconceivable that if India and China were to hold together, together they could create an intellectual superiority that is not known in history!

154 It was truly unfortunate for Nehru that he lived long enough to see the breaking up of relations between India and China. That war of 1962 was, I am sure, deeply painful for him as a great visionary, and seeing the vision vaporizing before his eyes.

155 However, if only Nehru could know what happens in the 21 st century that China and India became world powers, and that the war of 1962 prevented the two great powers from holding together,

156 he would unquestionably be furiously seeking the hold agent!

157 President Ma Ying-Jeou recently urged citizens of ROC to pursue the following five dictums with vigor!

158 和平的締造者 Peace makers; 人道援助的提供者 Humanitarian providers; 文化交流的推動者 Cultural exchange movers and shakers; 新科技與商機的創造者 New Science, Technology and Business opportunities creators; 中華文化的領航者 Chinese culture helmsmen.

159 To me, they are, or should be, the Mission Statements of ROC foreign policy and future development.

160 They can also be the mission of ROC in India!

161 Therefore, Mr. Nehru, seek no more. ROC is that agent. Its 23 million people are the only holding agent that can play this role as a meson between the two giants!

162 India and I started more than six decades ago. Yet it was not until I came to National Tsing Hua University that I began to truly feel that my haze in understanding India began to lift!

163 The robust activities with India from National Tsing Hua University is now as clear as sunrise!

164 In Tsing Hua, with its deep connection to the Mainland, history and otherwise, and with its now robust activities in India, the words of Nehru finally have meaning!

165 Thus, Nehru s words uttered more than 6 decades ago can and should now be National Tsing Hua University s India s mission statement!

166

167 I am deeply grateful that National Tsing Hua University has decided to take this bold step. I am also deeply gratified that with my more than six decades of interaction with India, I could play a part in this monumental mission, for National Tsing Hua University, for Asia and for the world.

168 Thank you, Mr. Nehru!