international opinion
midwest peace and quiet contrasts with teeming taiwan
Wi
by john ortmann
hen he goes back to teeming, over
crowded Taiwan, Richard Hsueh said he
will remember the peaceful, small-town
atmosphere of Lincoln
Hsueh, vice president of the Free China
Students Association, said the peace and
quiet was one of two important reasons he
had for coming to the American midwest
for graduate work in industrial engineering.
UNL's strong engineering program caused
him to settle in Lincoln, he said, for the
training he hopes will allow him to set up
his own systems analysis company in
Taiwan someday.
Wen Ting, the association's president,
had similar feelings. The horticulture
graduate student said studying in an agri
cultural area was important in her field of
study. She also had another reason.
"My father had been here and liked the
people, so he agreed with me to come
here," she said.
Ting said she too liked the people, be
cause "basically people are the same, good
and bad, two types."
Hsueh agreed, but said American agres
siveness sometimes intimidates Orientals.
He suggested that Americans show more
patience with foreigners unable to express
themselves in English, r: ' r tti.m giving up
aj. onngthein.
Ting, who has trmleu widely in the
United States, said she tries not to judge
Americans from a few bad experiences.
"I think Americans should have thi
feeling, too," she said. "They should try tt
understand totally and not judge from the
first view."
Hsueh said the association tries to
minimize cultural shock by picking new
students up at the airport, helping them set
up bank accounts and telling them how the
university system works. This is important
because the educational systems in Taiwan
and the United States are different, he said.
American students have an easy time
advancing though the levels of education,"
Hsueh said, compared to Taiwan, where
students must pass exams before advance-
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Photo by Mark Billingsley
Richard Hsueh 0e) -nl Wen Ting agree that American aggressiveness sometimes
intimidates Orientals and that students should show more patience.
ment to the next level. Americans are
fortunate in other ways, he said.
"a
Qmerican young people are too lucky
to be born in the United States," he said.
"You don't understand fear and death.
You don't have the pressure. You must
appreciate what you have."
He explained he once lived on a small
island near mainland China where he knew
fear daily.
Hsueh said he doesn't think mainland
China ever will launch a military attack
against Taiwan. However, he said, if the
United States begins full diplomatic rela
tions with the mainland, the communists
may persuade the United States to curtail
trade with Taiwan. He explained that
Taiwan could not compote with the main
land in the marketplace because of what he
called "unpayed labor" used by the com
munists. He went on to say that Taiwan
has no natural resources and depends on
manufacturing and international trade for
survival.
Taiwan is overpopulated, he said.
Government planners say the economy
must be industrialized fully within five to
10 years if the country is to survive.
To accomplish this the government is
working on 10 key areas of economic
development, he said. These include high
ways and railroads, port improvement,
airports, steel making, ship building and
nuclear power.
Taiwan's economy is planned, he said.
The government controls vital industries.
This eliminates the inflation and
unemployment which plague unplanned
economies, he said.
The government in Taiwan is open to
criticism by the public and press of any
thing but its anti-communist policies,
Hsueh said. However, the Chinese are re
luctant to criticize public officials because
they are taught to respect authority.
"The traditions of Chinese and Ameri
cans are different," she. said. "We respect
our parents and elders." She said she
worries about President Carter's feelings
because of all the criticism leveled at him.
life in hong kong westernized, adjustment easier
Iby john ortmann
ife in the British Crown Colony of
Hong Kong is Westernized, so there is little
cultural shock experienced by UNL stu
dents from there, according to Aldrich
Lau.
Lau, coordinator of the Chinese Cultur
al Club, is a chemistry graduate student. He
said American foods, such as bacon and
eggs and hamburger, are fun at first, but
that some Chinese students, hungry for a
taste of home cooking, have traveled as far
as Chicago's Chinatown to get it.
The club has 30 to 35 members, he said.
Most of them are from Hong Kong, Lau
said, but the membership includes some
Americans and students from Third World
countries who are interested in learning
about China.
The club features speakers on Chinese
agriculture and economics who have
recently traveled to either mainland China
or Taiwan, Lau said. Although the politics
of mainland China and Taiwan are in
opposition, he said, the traditional cultures
of the two countries are nearly the same.
So it is correct to speak of Chinese culture
without defining countries.
Formerly a student at the State Univer
sity of New York at Buffalo, Lau said he
came to UNL because it has a good electro
chemistry program.
Lau said that after he receives his
doctorate he will return to Hong Kong. He
said he would like to go to mainland China,
where he was born, and work in the
developing petrochemical industry.
Working under a communist regime
would not bother him, he said, because
communism truly represents the Chinese
people and is good for them.
Hong Kong eventually will be taken
over by the communists, although he does
not know when, he said. It will not be a
military take-over, he said, but a long
proces. of winning the people over to the
communist side.
Although Lau said the press is tree in
Hong Kong, the colonial government only
tolerates a certain amount of criticism.
Hong Kong residents arc British subjects
but not citizens of the United Kingdom.
Lau said. Most government officials are
appointed.
1-au said the people arc not happy with
the colonial form of government but there
is no independence movement.
Housing and transportation also are
problems in Hong Kong, where 4.5 million
people are crowded into about 400 square
miles, Lau said.
Enough employment is available in such
blue-collar occupations as factory work,
Lau said, but white-collar jobs for college
graduates are scarce and pay little if any
more than blue-collar jobs.
Since few Hong Kong students can get
into the colony's two universities, many
travel to Cireat Britian, Canada or the
United States to complete their educations.
Lau said he has made some good friends
in the Uniter' States, although he has
encountered some discrimination.
"I will have some bad memories about
the racial thing," he said. "You feel some
sort of social pressure, for example, when
you go to a bar."
Better relationships between foreign
and American students could be developed
if both groups participated in joint activit
ies, he said.
"In the Midwest, students are not so
exposed to the outside world as students
on the Last or West coasts." he said. "I
think one of reasons why American
students can't understand foreign students
is because of the language gap."
Lau said that while most Chinese stu
dents can read and write I nglish well, they
cannot speak it fluently In Buffalo, the
state university offers college credit to
American students who teach foreigners
conversational I nglish, he said
A similar program here would be bene
ficial to both groups and should be
established at UNL. Lau said
page 8
fathom
monday, may 1, 1978