Location

Public Lecture — Auditorium Wednesday 15 April-Friday 17 April

Workshop — Seminar Rooms Thursday 16 April-Friday 17 April

Register by 10 April: https://bit.ly/SanFranshadow

This workshop and series of public lectures are free and open to the public but registration is essential.

This year marks the seventieth anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. A conflict which should have receded into history but continues to cast a long shadow over the Asia-Pacific. The unresolved legacies of that conflict, in particular territorial disputes, far from being overcome have re-emerged in recent years to ignite rising international tensions in East Asia. The disputes touch on such territories as the Dokto Islands, the Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands and island groups in the South China Sea. Apart from territorial disputes, rival nationalist discourses related to questions of historical responsibility increasingly inflame passions in a region of crucial strategic importance to Australia.

This workshop probes the historical origins of contemporary regional tensions in East Asia by re-examining the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1952, and by considering the long-term legacies of the treaty and of the broader postwar political settlement for East Asia today. Through in-depth examination of the origins of contemporary tensions in this historical framework, the workshop aims to open up new perspectives on understanding East Asia today, and will suggest possible paths beyond conflict: paths to regional reconciliation and cooperation.

PUBLIC LECTURES

Wednesday 15 April, 3:00-4:30pm

The Crucible of Humanitarian Warfare: The Interrogation Rooms of the Korean War

Presented by Dr Monica Kim, Department of U.S. and World History, New York University

Thursday 16 April, 5:30-7:00pm

Undesired Outcomes: China's Approach to Border Disputes during the Early Cold War

Presented by Professor Shen Zhihua, Centre for Cold War International History Studies, East China Normal University

Friday 17 April, 1:00-2:30pm

Continuing Legacies of the San Francisco System: Past, Present, and Future Options

Presented by Professor Kimie Hara, Renison University College

This workshop and series of public lectures are jointly sponsored by the Japan Institute, Korea Institute and China Institute, and supported by the Australian Centre on China in the World.