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Report on the HPAIR Conference in Tokyo
by Hanna Solomons

From the twenty-second to the twenty-fifth of August this year I had the enormous privilege of representing the University of Wollongong at the fourteenth annual Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) conference in Tokyo, Japan. Each year, the students and staff at Harvard arrange to hold this conference, the largest student conference in the Asia-Pacific region, in partnership with a university in a selected Asian city. As we converged on their city and their campus, we delegates could not help but admire the hospitality and efficiency with which this year's host, The University of Tokyo, welcomed over seven-hundred students hailing from more than five hundred universities in over forty countries.

The academic activities began on the twenty-second with the first of three plenary sessions. Speakers at the three plenary sessions including former senior officials from the Japanese and US governments (including a former minister), professors from Harvard, Tokyo (including the President), Meiji Gakuin and Nihon Universities, former senior figures in the World Bank, and a former ASEAN official. During the first session, speakers discussed issues like the role of the market and the demise of nationalism in twentieth century Japan. Demographics was the topic for the second session, where we learnt about the consequences of the ageing society for health and the economy, and the challenges in addressing these issues without, for example, compromising gender equality. I probably learnt most from the final session, which was focussed on integration in the East Asia. Whilst the speakers were broadly in agreement that closer integration in the region was desirable, and indeed happening already, they were unsure about whether how the problems posed by the great level of diversity in the region, the lack of political will, and the lower levels of development, could be overcome. The positive and negative aspects of Free Trade Agreements were debated, as were the current challenges facing the first generation Asian Tigers and their possible leadership role in the region. No one, in fact, was quite sure what the region was, and the possible roles for Australia, Russia and South Asia were discussed. The speakers saw the key to Australia's role as lying in its natural resources and its ability to act as an interface between Asia and other Caucasian nations. This session was especially memorable when the Crown Princess of Japan made a surprise appearance!

As well as the plenary sessions, delegates took part in one of six workshops. I was in the health policy workshop whilst other workshops examined issues as varied as security, contemporary art, trust, higher education and immigration. Professors from the Universities of Taiwan, Singapore, Sophia, Tokyo, Michigan, Massey and Melbourne(!), along with WHO researchers, the president of the Science Council of Japan and the Vice Presidents of Japanese and American medical groups, all spoke to us. We became more aware of some of the health challenges facing Asia, including the very real danger of a deadly flu pandemic, SARS, environmental health, the rising cost of lifestyle and age-related diseases, and HIV/AIDS. The Japanese healthcare system's admirable record along with the new directions it needs to take in order to deal with the world's most severe ageing population crisis, were the focus of two lectures. Others examined the ways in which science is conducted, encouraged, managed and taught and how these can be improved. I led a team arguing for greater government involvement in healthcare, and we also had discussions on issues such as pharmaceutical companies and drug shortages, greed and genetic privacy, to name a few. Finally, on the third day undergraduates attended a fieldtrip whilst postgraduates attended research paper presentations. Our fieldtrip was to the University of Tokyo where we had a hands-on lesson about integrating traditional and occidental medicine and displays and panel discussions by Japanese Non-Government Organisations such as HANDS and Medecin Sans Frontières Japon, which inspired us and reminded us of what was really important in the long run.

I was also inspired and challenged by the impression that I received, from the conference as a whole, that Asia really is forging its own unique path in a modernizing globalising world. The President of the University of Tokyo's lecture crystallised the challenge that is facing Asia: balancing the need to adapt to and cooperate with the world, with the need to preserve cultural identity and diversity. The conference showed many ways that Asia can and is successfully meeting that challenge.

Finally, there are the parts of every conference, often the most valuable, that take place outside the lecture halls. The second night was international night, where delegates could wear their national costume, give performances and set up displays, showcasing their national cultures. As one of only four Australian delegates I was actively involved in giving out Vegiemite and explaining to people that just because Wollongong is eighty kilometres south of Sydney does not mean it is anywhere near Melbourne. Other activities included pre-conference tours, a Gala dinner and an excursion to a nightclub in the middle of a typhoon! I felt very humbled by the talent and character of many of the other delegates, and am looking forward to continued contact.