Congress and China Policy: an analysis of China bills

This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of China bills introduced and passed in Congress in 1973–2005. Three important findings emerge. First, many more punitive China bills were introduced and passed in the House than in the Senate. Second, the two congressional parties agreed with each other most of the time on roll call votes related to China. Third, the major events in US–China relations largely determined the ebb and flow of China bills. Negative binomial regression analysis sheds further light on the dynamic of China policymaking on Capitol Hill. A Republican majority in the House facing off with a Democratic president brought about many more China bills. Also, there appears to be a significant gap between public opinion and congressional attitudes on China policy. Finally, the Tiananmen Incident has had a profound impact on Congress, making it much more active and punitive in China policy since then. I conclude the paper by briefly discussing the policy implications of my findings.

Only in the case of Communist China has the Congress played a major role over a long period of time to confine narrowly the president's means of maneuver.1 ^?1. Herbert N. Carroll, ‘The Congress and national security policy’, in David B. Truman, ed., The Congress and America's Failure (Englewood, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1965), p. 161. View all notes     

China's Fight Against Hiv/aids

Officially, there were 650,000 people living with HIV in China in 2005.1 ^?1. State Council AIDS Working Committee Office, UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China and World Health Organization, 2005 Update on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Response in China (Beijing: National Center for AIDS/STD Prevention and Control, China CDC, 24 January 2006), p. 1; State Council AIDS Working Committee Office/UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, A Joint Assessment of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care in China (2004) (Beijing: State Council AIDS Working Committee Office, 1 December 2004). View all notes The Chinese government has pledged to keep the total under 1.5 million by 2010. The study argues that China must emphasize non-epidemiological factors as mutually-reinforcing factors sustaining the disease. The fight is entwined with profound economic and social transition. Government and civil society have engaged with the principles and agencies of global HIV/AIDS governance. But HIV intersects with normative regimes addressing issues of humane governance in the widest socio-economic and political sense. Based upon primary and secondary research, the study reviews the evidence of the HIV/AIDS challenge facing China, considers the nature and quality of the national response, and evaluates the relationship of global and national regimes.     

Economic change and political development in China: findings from a public opinion survey

More than 20 years of economic reforms and opening up to the outside world have produced meaningful social, economic and political transformations in China. Have there been corresponding changes in the political–cultural orientations1 ‘Orientations’ here and thereafter refer to a broad range of beliefs, values, and assumptions that people hold about social and political life. Such orientations may be cognitive, affective, or evaluative. They are general in the sense that they may structure more specific attitudes or opinions. *?Yanlai Wang is a research associate at the Euro–Asia Centre; Nicholas Rees is Jean Monnet Professor of European Institutions and External Relations; and Bernadette Andreosso‐O'Callaghan is Jean Monnet Professor of Economics and Director, Euro–Asia Centre, all at the University of Limerick, Ireland. We would like to thank the University of Limerick for funding the 2000 survey. We would also like to thank Professor Andrew J. Nathan and Professor Tianjian Shi for the use of their survey questionnaire, Gary O'Brien and the two anonymous referees for their comments on the paper. View all notes of the Chinese public? This article examines some changes in orientations, based on the preliminary findings of an opinion survey conducted in China in 2000. The 2000 survey used an adapted form of a questionnaire used in a survey conducted in 1990 by Nathan and Shi. The evidence of the 2000 survey data suggests that the political–cultural orientations of the Chinese public are becoming more liberal and pro‐democratic as China's economy continues to grow, possibly providing the basis for a transition to some form of popular democracy.     

Vicarious Trauma in Child Welfare Workers: A Study of Organizational Responses

Child welfare is provided within an organizational context that both supports and thwarts the efforts of workers and administrators to meet the myriad of goals established by federal, state, and local regulation and professional bodies. As the field moves toward trauma-informed services for children and families (Ko et al., 2008 Ko, S. J., Ford, J. D., Kassam-Adams, N., Berkowitz, S. J., Wilson, C., Wong, M., Brymer, M. J., &; Layne, C. M. (2008). Creating trauma-informed systems: Child welfare, education, first responders, healthcare, juvenile justice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(4), 396–404.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the effect of trauma on workers has received less agency attention (Middleton &; Potter, 2015 Middleton, J. S., &; Potter, C. C. (2015). Relationship between vicarious traumatization and turnover among child welfare professionals. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 9(2), 195–216.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This exploratory, qualitative study examines the level of knowledge administrators have regarding vicarious trauma and probes the organizational responses of public child welfare agencies to the vicarious trauma experienced by workers.     

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: Implementing a Tiered Home–School Partnership Model to Promote School Readiness

An ecological perspective to school readiness focuses on child and family readiness by enhancing the developmental contexts and relationships within which children reside (e.g., home environment, parent–child relationship, home–school relationships). The Getting Ready intervention is an ecological, relationally based, tiered intervention providing both universal and intensive services to children and families to promote child and family school readiness. Intensive level consultation services were provided via Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC; Sheridan & Kratochwill, 1992 Sheridan , S. M. , & Kratochwill , T. R. ( 1992 ). Behavioral parent-teacher consultation: Conceptual and research considerations . Journal of School Psychology , 30 , 117 – 139 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2008 Sheridan , S. M. , & Kratochwill , T. R. ( 2008 ). Conjoint behavioral consultation: Promoting family-school connections and interventions () , 2nd ed. . New York , NY : Springer . [Google Scholar]). The purpose of this article is to describe the implementation and effects of CBC within the Getting Ready intervention to promote child and family school readiness. Keys to successful implementation of the CBC intervention and issues needing further investigation are discussed.     

Components of the Solution-Based Casework Child Welfare Practice Model That Predict Positive Child Outcomes

While a number of studies have shown the efficacy of the solution-based casework (SBC) practice model for child welfare (e.g., Antle, Christensen, van Zyl, & Barbee, 2012 Antle, B. F., Christensen, D. N., van Zyl, M. A. & Barbee, A. P. (2012). The impact of the Solution Based Casework (SBC) practice model on federal outcomes in public child welfare. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36, 342–353.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the current analysis examines the top ranked behaviors in cases reaching outcomes of safety, permanency, and well-being in both high adherence and low adherence cases. Sixteen top behaviors seem to have the greatest impact on outcomes, all of which are key to the three major theoretical orientations utilized in SBC. Thus, these results not only narrow in on the key behaviors that drive success in the practice model, but also shows the utility of the theoretical underpinnings of the practice model.     

Law Guanxi: MNCs,state actors,and legal reform in China

Since 1978, China has opened itself to foreign direct investment and has undertaken significant legal reform, especially in the area of international commercial arbitration. I analyze the roles that foreign actors and state officials have played in changing Chinese legal institutions such as the Chinese International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and personal relations, or guanxi. 1 ^1. La guanxi is a Chinese expression, meaning ‘to pull strings (to get things done)’. View all notes Foreign investors, attorneys, and non-governmental organizations are helping China to adopt formal commercial arbitral institutions that follow international norms. In that sense, foreign actors are contributing to rule of law in China. Yet, foreign investors also attempt to use guanxi to get around central regulations, thereby contributing to informal legal institutions. The combination of guanxi and formal legal institutions follows a model of path dependent institutional change. I use the terms, ‘layering’ and ‘bricolage’ to elucidate the ways that actors combine existing institutions with new legal forms introduced by foreign investors, attorneys, and NGOs.     

Implementing the Foundations of Learning Project: Considerations for Preschool Intervention Research

While studies have documented the importance of strong implementation in intervention studies (e.g., see Durlak & Dupre, 2008 Durlak , J. A. , & Dupre , E. P. ( 2008 ). Implementation matters: A review of research on the influence of implementation on program outcomes and the factors affecting implementation . American Journal of Community Psychology , 41 , 327 – 350 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), more information is needed about how to ensure strong fidelity and quality of program implementation when delivering interventions under “real world conditions” and on a large scale. In this article, key lessons in implementing a demonstration and evaluation project known as the Foundations of Learning (FOL) demonstration are presented. Our discussion highlights several key components to the success of the project, including the building of effective coalitions before, and during, the delivery of the intervention to support the implementation process, as well as intensive, collaborative, and multilayered technical assistance provided as the intervention was delivered. Key lessons learned over the course of this project represent some that are highly consistent with prior research on this topic, as well as some that are unique, thus representing new areas for exploration in this burgeoning area of study.     

Book reviews

Bo Yibo, Ruogan Zhongda Juece yu Shijian de Huigu (Reminiscences on Several Important Decisions and Events), Volume One. Zhonggong Zhongyang Dangxiao Chubanshe, 1991. 566 pp.

Xi Shu‐Guang, Shijie Xinjiegou (The New Structure of the World). Cheng Du: Sichuan People's Publishing House, 1992. 490 pp.

Pei Jianzhang, ed., Yanjiu Zhou Enlai‐Waijiao Sixiang he Shijian (Studies on Zhou Enlai: Diplomatic Thought and Practice), Beijing: Shijie Zhishi Press, 1989, 363pp.

>Ma Hong and Sun Shangqing ed., Zhongguo Jingji xinshi yu zhan wang: jingji baipi shu 1991–1992 (Economic Situation and Prospect of China: White Paper on the National Economy: 1991–1992), Beijing: Zhongguo fazhan chubanshe, 1992. 438+iv pp.

Yan Jia‐qi, Lianbang Zhongguo Gouxiang, (The Conception of a Federal China), Minbao Chuban She, Hong Kong, 1992, 153 pp.

Qi Mo (Xiu Haitao), ed., Xinquanwei zhuyi: duizhongguo weilai minyun de zhenlun (The Neo‐authoritarianism: Debates on China's Future) Taipei: Tangshan, 1991. 333+iv pp.

Li Jiaquan et al, Taiwan Zonglan (General Survey of Taiwan) Beijing: Zhongguo Youyi Publishing Co., 1991.

Zhu Yida, ed., Zhongguo renmin jiefangjun junguan shouche‐haijun fence (Officers’ Handbook of the People's Liberation Army‐Navy) Qingdao: Qingdao chubanshe, 1991 792+vi pp.     

Book reviews

Gu Xin, Zhongguo qimeng de lishi tujing: wusifansi yu dangdai zhongguo de yishixingtai zhizheng [Historical Images of Chinese Enlightenment: May Fourth and Ideological Debates in Contemporary China] Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Hu Ping, Zhongguo minyun fansi [Retrospective on China's Democratic Movement]. Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1992.

Ruan Ming, Deng Xiaoping diguo [The Deng Xiaoping Empire]. Taipei: Shibao wenhua, 1992.

Zuofeng Wang, Zhongguo chongsheng zhilu — jidu minzhu zhuyi yu zhongguo wenhua [China's Way to Restoration — Christian Democracy and Chinese Culture], California: Bay‐Hi Desktop Publishing & Graphic Designing, Co., 1992.

Chen Pingyuan, Wang Shouchang, Wang Hui, ed., Xueren [The Scholar], Vols. I and II. Suzhou: Jiangsu wenyi chuban she. 1991, 570 pp; 1992, 546 pp.     

Book reviews

Tsou Tang, Ershi shiji Zhongguo Zhengzhi: Cong hongguan lishi yu weiguan xingdong jiaodu kan [Twentieth Century Chinese Politics: Viewed from the Perspective of Macro History and Micro Actions] (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1994).

Eric Harwit, China's Automobile Industry: Policies, Problems, and Prospects (Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1995).     

Book reviews

Chen Kuide, ed., Zhongguo dalu dangdai wenhua bianqian (197801989) (Cultural change in Contemporary Mainland China, 1978–1989) Taibei: Guiguan, 1991. 278 + iv pp.

Yizi Chen. China: the Ten Years Reform and Democratic Movement in 1989. Pp. ix, 209, Taipei, Taiwan, Lianjing Press, 1990.

Wu Xiaomei et al., Zhongguo xiandai zuojia yu dongxifang wenhua [Modern Chinese Writers and Eastern and Western Cultures]. Lanzhou: Lanzhou daxue chubanshe, 1990. 272 pp. 2.12 Yuan.

Zhao Xueyong, Shen Congwen yu dongxifang wenhua [Shen Congwen and Eastern and Western Cultures]. Lanzhou daxue chubanshe, 1990. 226 pp. 1.75 yuan.

Zhongguo Waijiaoguan Huiylilu: Xin Zhongguo Waijiao Fengyun (Memoirs by China's Diplomats: Diplomatic Winds of New China). Edited by Waijiaobu Waijiaoshi Bianjishi (Editorial Office of Diplomatic History of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Beijing: Shijie Zhishi chubanshe, 1990. 196 pp. 3.20 yuan

Zhao Wei, Zhao Ziyang zhuan (Biography of Zhao Ziyang)

Ruan Ming: Lishi Zhuanzedian Shangde Hu Yaobang (Hu Yaobang At the Turning Point of History), New Jersey: Global Cultural Publishing House, 1991     

Can She Say No to Zhang Ailing? Detail,idealism and woman in Wang Anyi's fiction

This article is a study of aesthetic idealism that characterizes the fictional works written by the contemporary Chinese writer Wang Anyi during the 1990s. I start with a comparison of Wang Anyi with Zhang Ailing, arguing that Wang's ambivalence towards Zhang's aesthetics of details is translated into a dilemma the former faces in her own writing. On the one hand, Wang Anyi appreciates Zhang's passion for life's details. Wang's own works show a high penchant for details. On the other hand, Wang is critical of Zhang's aesthetic leap from the sensuous (detail) to the nihilistic (meaning). Wang's anxiety over the ultimate value of detail can be attributed to her ideological allegiance to a May Fourth leftist tradition as well as to her awareness of the derogatory association of detail with women's writing in China. So in what way can Wang Anyi say no to Zhang Ailing? How does she try to steer clear of the danger of ‘materialistic’ trivialization that she sees lurking in details? I observe that in Wang's fiction there is neither a full embrace of idealism nor a total rejection of detailed realism à la Zhang Ailing. Instead, Wang Anyi treasures the use of details as a signifying practice to embrace her idealism.

In her 1990s' fictional works, Wang Anyi's effort to circumvent the dichotomy between detail and idea is complicated by her attempt to use details to reconstruct pictures of the past. There are several aspects to this issue. First, although nostalgic details in Wang Anyi's ‘memory stories’ help to give expression to idealistic longings of the author, they also tend to conspire with the official ban on the discourse of the traumatic socialist past. Second, while details are regarded as important in sum total, they are actually relegated by the writer to a secondary place as mere constructing materials to serve the function of bringing out the larger idea. In terms of actual narration, the highly ‘authoritative’ voice often suppresses the depth of individual subjects in her fiction. Third, Wang's ambiguity with regards to details and ‘feminine materials’ affects her characterization of women. A reading of Wang's two fictional works, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (Changhen ge) and Fu Ping (Fu Ping), demonstrates that the writer's instrumental approach tends to render female characters stranded between allegorical figures and individual subjects.     

China's brain drain problem: Causes,consequences and policy options

The brain drain has become a growing problem for China's overseas education, especially after the Tiananmen Incident of June 1989. Brain drain is a symptom of a home country's social, economic, or political problems. In China, political alienation, low income, poor living conditions, insufficient research facilities, and mismanagement of high‐level manpower are the major factors pushing intellectuals to seek development opportunities abroad.

Beijing has found it difficult to bring students back home. Restrictions often anger students abroad. Family members also discourage students from returning. Many students find it difficult to adjust to the home environment after years living abroad; some are afraid that they will be punished at home for their outspoken political opinions abroad. However, Beijing has limited control over students overseas. Also, after the 1989 June crackdown, most host governments have decided to allow Chinese students to stay.

Concerned with the brain drain problem, Beijing is adjusting its policy of study abroad. There are various policy scenarios. Each has its merits and limitations, and each will lead to different consequences. Some technical solutions are also worth considering. Although a brain drain will still occur in the future, the tendency can be reduced if appropriate measures are adopted. China's future policy on overseas education depends on the future domestic situation and foreign relations. Apparently, a continued open policy of overseas education is in the interest of the students and the country. For an effective and long‐term policy, some strategic adjustments are necessary. Beijing needs to shift its attention away from the symptoms and concentrate on to the causes of the brain drain. Also, Beijing needs to redesign its future strategy to balance the benefits and costs of overseas education, instead of attempting to eliminate the brain drain.

The brain drain is not permanent. More professionals will return home as the economic and political situation significantly improves. The experience of Taiwan and South Korea in coping with their brain drain problem is a valuable reference for Beijing.     

A Case Study on the Settlement of Rural Women affected by Land Requisitioning in China

Urbanization is an apparent and important dimension of modernization in China. One of the main problems in China's urbanization process is the migration of farmers from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector and the concurrent conversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural usage. According to current practice, the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural use is carried out by the state through land requisitioning. In the past ten years, China's urbanization in the name of ‘economic development zones’ has resulted in extensive requisitioning of agricultural land. Millions of villagers have lost their land and left farming, seeking new employment in non-agricultural activities to sustain them. This study investigates the impact of land requisitioning on rural women's living, focusing on women's employment, training and settlement.

The study did not find evidence of discrimination against women in land requisitioning and settlement arrangements with regard to both the policy design and implementation. However, rural women are disadvantaged in attending education and training as compared with men even before land requisitioning. After their land is requisitioned, women also participate less in education and training, have a lower rate of success in finding jobs and are less likely to be self-employed than men. This has some negative impacts on their livelihoods. One policy implication of this study is: on the basis of relatively full compensation, the government should set up or entrust a special agency to promote skills training of the affected rural women, assist them with employment guidance and relevant information, and enhance their competitiveness in the job market.     

China's reforms in Tibet: Issues and dilemmas∗

Since the visit of Hu Yaobang to Tibet in 1980, which precipitated a series of changes in China's policies toward Tibet, the following years have been marked by China's reforms in Tibet, considered by many highly controversial. In general terms, living standards rose, and economic reforms and political liberalization achieved what appeared to be a remarkable success. Yet, at the height of the period, in 1987, the reforms, instead of enhancing Tibetan loyalty to China, precipitated demonstrations in Lhasa on a scale never before seen by the outside world. The demonstrations indicated the general failure of the reforms.

Some scholars argue that the reforms are highly successful and that the demonstrations and the instability in their wake are the result of outside instigation rather than rooted in the reforms themselves. This paper argues that the failure of the reforms is due to a far more complex set of circumstances that are the result of the historical legacy, the nature of the reforms themselves, and the instability of political process in Beijing. This paper examines the reforms, their implementation, and their failure in the economic, political, and social arenas to gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of the environment in which China instituted the reforms in Tibet and to investigate the underlying reasons for the unrest. The paper argues that the problems in Tibet are far beyond the creation of outside “instigators” and far beyond the capacity of the reforms to solve.     

Rural China and the WTO

China's entry into the World Trade Organization has been applauded for the benefits it will confer on China's economy and for granting recognition to China's modernizing efforts. The scrutiny of the outside world will force China to regularize many of its practices, such as legal and economic practices. But most of the discussion of the WTO has focused on a very limited segment of China's society. This article considers the realities of rural Chinese life, warning that the consequences of China's increased pressure to reform may be more negative than positive and that the prospect for rural China is far from clear.     

The ‘China Threat’ through the Lens of US Print Media: 1992–2006

China scholars have examined the ‘China threat’ theory from various theoretical perspectives, offered a range of explanations for the theory's emergence and forecast the potential implications for US–China relations. However, few scholars have empirically studied the ‘China threat’ theory through the lens of the US media. This is a critical oversight, because the media plays a pivotal role in shaping US public opinion and US foreign policy, and the media is a key channel for ‘China threat’ dissemination and popularization. This study seeks to redress this oversight by empirically examining ‘China threat’ coverage in the US print media over a 15-year period from 1992 to 2006. We use content-analysis methodology to systematically collect, code and analyze ‘China threat’ data from five major US newspapers and to track the frequency and content of this coverage over time.

Our analysis reveals many interesting patterns in ‘China threat’ media coverage. First, the initial emergence of ‘China threat’ arguments in the US print media corresponded with the sharp upward turn in China's economic growth rates in the early 1990s. However, since the early 1990s, ‘China threat’ coverage has not mirrored China's steady growth. Rather, the media coverage was cyclic, featuring three key peaks (1996, 2000 and 2005) followed by subsequent declining interest. Second, our analysis reveals that the focus of these stories also varied over time. Perceptions of China as a political/ideological threat dominated media coverage in the earlier years (1992–1994) but steadily declined after 1995 and totally disappeared from the US print media after 2001. Perceptions of China as a military/strategic threat replaced political/ideological concerns in 1995, and the military focus has dominated media coverage ever since. Perceptions of China as an economic/trade threat persisted steadily throughout the 15-year time period with a clear uptick in recent years. We conclude this analysis by turning to the literature on realism, agenda setting and information processing to offer possible explanations for these empirical trends.     

The maid of Chinese politics: Mao Zedong and his philosophy of struggle

The basic law of dialectics is the unity of opposites. It is natural for Marxists to stress opposites rather than unity, for it advances the doctrine of class struggle. Mao adopted Lenin's proposition that the unity of opposites is transitory, while the struggle of opposites is absolute. However, both Lenin and Mao failed to see the logical inconsistencies between this proposition and the law of the unity of opposites.

Stalin, who disagreed with the concept of “identity of contradiction,” asserted that the process of development is achieved through combat rather than harmony. Mao at first disagreed with this philosophy and advocated the unity of opposites. This accounted for the polemic of “the identity of thinking and being” in China, from 1959 to 1962.

However, in 1964, Mao launched a campaign to criticize “two combined into one “ and to propagate his own idea of “one divided into two.” The chief reason for this was that Mao needed an ideological legitimization for the schism with the USSR. This was a turning point in Mao's philosophy, for it implied the abandonment of the “unity of opposites” and a retreat towards Stalin's viewpoint. Ultimately Mao devised his “philosophy of struggle” to serve as the guiding philosophy for the Cultural Revolution.