International Political Economy from a Chinese Angle

In the 1990s, international political economy (IPE) as a set of concepts to interpret the current and future world system caught on quickly among Chinese scholars and policy analysts. Recent events (the Asian financial crisis and the US role, WTO negotiations, US‐Japan trade disputes) combined with China's historical experience (imperialism, war, revolution) and aspirations (to be a regional power) have given IPE specialists a different perspective on and language for the issues and events of today's global political economy. Zhu Wenli highlights the divergence between US and PRC views and interpretations on concepts of hegemony (the role of the US in a unipolar system), globalization, development models, and economic security, arguing that understanding this theoretical gap helps us to understand the current policy gap. She concludes with a reference to the limited role that international relations concepts and ideas play in the formation of foreign policy.     

Building International Relations Theory with Chinese Characteristics

As an atmosphere conducive for scientific inquiry and research improves in China, many Chinese scholars are optimistic about the future development of International Relations (IR) studies. A younger generation of IR scholars has started to pay more attention to IR theory and begun to research issues like national sovereignty and China's national interests. This paper reviews the development of IR theory in China and the basic arguments among Chinese scholars on theory building, especially concerning the attempt to build an IR theory with 'Chinese characteristics'. It examines the reasons for the continuing challenges, amid progress, of IR theory in China and looks into the prospects in the near future.     

America in the Eyes of America Watchers: survey research in Beijing in 2012

Based on an original survey conducted in the summer of 2012 in Beijing, we examine how China's America watchers—IR scholars who work on US-China relations—have viewed China's power status in the international system, US-China relations and some specific US policies in Asia. Our survey shows that almost half of the survey participants thought that America would remain the global hegemon in the next ten years. Meanwhile, a large majority was also optimistic that China is a rising great power, especially in the economic sense, in the world. More than half of the respondents saw Asian military issues, such as the South China Sea issue, as the most difficult problem between China and the US.     

The Economics of Power Transitions: Australia between China and the United States

This article examines Sino–Australian economic relations, and their impact on the ties between the United States and Australia. First, drawing on power transition theory, it is argued that in a post-Cold War environment, economic ties play as great a role as strategic relations in determining the orientation of third-party states. Second, it is also argued that Australia's deeper economic and commercial ties with China have usurped a role previously held by the United States. This has forced Australia to pursue a bifurcated foreign policy—one split between its economic and national security needs. Third, these deeper ties with China have generated a degree of alliance drift between Australia and the United States. As a result, there is now a significant debate in Australia over the future of both bilateral relations—even as its space for policy innovation remains limited.     

Introduction: China,Ltd

The study of Chinese nationalism is very popular—both in China and the West. This article introduces a special section of seven articles (four of which are in this issue) on ‘The Limits of Chinese Nationalism’, arguing that our understanding of nationalism in China is problematic. This special section aims to explore the limits of many of the statements about Chinese nationalism that have now become ‘common sense’: the rise of Chinese nationalism, nationalism filling an ideological vacuum, elites manipulating nationalism to gain legitimacy, and so on. Using critical IR theory this Introduction explores the concept of limits to argue that borders in China are not just territorial, but cultural, economic and thus political. It seeks to change the objective of our discussion of Chinese nationalism from seeking an Answer—either as a measure of the objective nature of Chinese nationalism or as a moral judgment of it as good or evil—to seeing ‘nationalism’ as a provocation which pushes us to think about China and identity in a host of different and productive ways.     

Made in China vs. Made by Chinese: Global Identities of Chinese Business

The interaction between two perspectives—China as a world factory and Chinese business knowledge—has been complicated by the ever greater tensions generated from the national—China—and the transnational actors—Chinese—in understanding the economic driving force behind the real meanings of the rise of China. The construction process of the rise of Chinese economic power puts the state in direct contact with regional and global economic/political changes. On the one hand, Chinese business knowledge, identities, economic and political interactions also give rise to the notion of network building and sub-regional development, which help transcend country-specific relations. On the other hand, the notion of the rise of China is still being re-constructed through the interplay between regional and global political economy.     

The United States and China in the Age of Obama: looking each other straight in the eyes

Though the United States remains atop the world's power hierarchy, it is becoming less dominant, both because of the rise of new power centers and because the problems are becoming larger. The United States now must function in a world of relatively greater power equality and ever-larger problems springing from interdependence. The United States and China now have to look each other straight in the eyes, with the core of their relationship resting on the strategic foundation of stabilization—stabilization of the global economy, global ecosystem, and global security. This essay makes several additional points: (1) China has made some wise domestic and foreign economic policy decisions in the context of the great economic downturn of 2007–2009 that probably will increase the PRC's relative capacities coming out of the downturn; (2) US–China relations are more fundamentally sound than they have ever been before. Both nations' leaders should seize this opportunity to recast their relationship as partners in the effort to build coalitions to address the global system's most pressing challenges; and (3), even with a relatively sound strategic foundation for bilateral relations, when one moves from the general to the specific in important policy domains, it will be exceedingly difficult for Beijing and Washington to reach agreements on how to proceed on many key issues.     

从全球女性主义到跨国女性主义--兼论跨国女性主义的知识生产

当前,全球化正以摧枯拉朽之势,冲破民族国家的疆界,迅速改写着地方、国家和地区的意义。对妇女而言,全球化的发展,一方面使超越国家边界的妇女问题迅速攀升,如贫困的女性化,女性移民人口的增长,等等;另一方面也增强了妇女运动在全球范围里的连接,比如联合国的世界妇女大会,跨国NGO妇女组织和因特网。为界定这些全球化的新发展,推动全球范围内妇女运动的发展,自上世纪后期,“全球女性主义”,“跨国女性主义”的概念先后出现。本文将以上世纪70年代之后历次联合国世界妇女大会的实践为开端,进而转入对全球女性主义的思想理念——全球姐妹情谊(globalsisterhood)的分析,然后通过对跨国女性主义的实践和理论的介绍,进一步考察跨国女性主义的知识生产过程的特点。     

Securing Economic Relations Across the Taiwan Straits: New challenges and opportunities

Cross-Taiwan Straits economic interaction is a political as well as an economic issue. General trends of economic interdependence and globalization that are weakening the role of the nation state should promote a focus of shared 'civilian governance' between Taiwan and mainland China. WTO entry will provide opportunities as well as challenges for cross-Strait economic relations. In anticipation of this dynamic, the new government in Taiwan is attempting to design a new national security web to guarantee Taiwan's 'economic security' in coping with Taiwan's increasing economic dependence on mainland China. As one key agent of globalization, economic cooperation in the urban areas on both sides of the Taiwan Strait may potentially improve relations between Taiwan and mainland China. As decentralization and privatization on mainland China proceed, major cities have developed closer interaction and systems of accountability with the civil society. From a prudent perspective, developing functional cooperation between Taiwan and mainland China at the urban level could be a first substantial step to confidence building between these two economies.     

经济全球化与国家主权

经济全球化是21世纪世界经济发展的大趋势。经济全球化的不断发展,对现代主权国家在国际体系中的地位作用、对国家主权的范围等产生了强烈的冲击和影响。“历史终结论”、“民族国家终结论”、“主权终结论”、“超国家主义”等观点是站不住脚的。主权观念没有过时。面对经济全球化给国家主权带来的挑战,包括中国在内的广大发展中国家,应积极寻求维护国家主权的基本对策。     

India–China Trade at the Borders: challenges and opportunities

This paper aggregates the state of India–China economic relations with a specific focus on trade at the borders. It explicates the potential for economic activity at the border regions to generate self-sustaining and/or externally linked local development for both countries. By an examination of the existing trade and investment policies and practices, it shows how geographical contiguity is yet to be transformed into opportunity along the India–China border, a practice consistent both with the history of these regions as well as with the blueprints being drawn up for the future of these regions. Informed by the Liberal school of IR theory, the paper studies border trade through the paradigmatic optic of being an important, yet underutilized, avenue of dyadic interaction, and makes a case for upgrading the status of border trade in the overall schema of bilateral trade relations between India and China.     

对当代国家主权观念的再认识

国家主权是国际法的基础。自二战后 ,特别是近十几年来 ,国际社会中各种现象 ,如全球经济一体化、国际组织的迅速增长、国际人权和国际司法的发展 ,对传统的主权观点提出了严峻的挑战。尽管国家主权在当代国际关系中面临诸多问题 ,但国家主权仍是国际关系的基础。主权应是相对的 ,从国家实践看 ,主权权利可以依国际法规则而加以限制 ,但这种限制必须建立在尊重国家主权的基础上。     

Discussion of 'International Political Economy from a Chinese Angle'

According to Zhu Wenli, Chinese scholars of political economy have been examining many of the same issues as their American counterparts, but have reached quite different conclusions. Chinese scholars accept the importance of globalization, but do not believe that globalization is making the nation-state less relevant or international regimes more powerful. They concede that economic and other transnational issues are becoming increasingly salient in international affairs, but conclude that they are simply altering the ways in which nations compete for power rather than making the international system more cooperative. They agree that much of today's world order is rooted in American hegemony, but do not consider that US foreign policy can be characterized as 'benign'. These conclusions have troubling implications for US‐China relations. They suggest that China will not agree to be integrated into an international community led by the United States, and that the relationship between Beijing and Washington is more likely to be competitive than cooperative.     

Being Uniquely Universal: building Chinese international relations theory

In this paper I address the question of how Chinese scholars participate in scientific knowledge production by appropriating Western IR theories, primarily by examining interactions between North American theories that claim universality and China-specific IR efforts. Drawing on post-Mao era publications and books, I discuss how increasingly independent Chinese IR scholars are portraying their country's rising status in international politics and identifying China's national interests, while still emphasizing socialist concepts such as anti-hegemonism. The result is a form of Chinese IR scholarship that combines Western IR language with a worldview that emphasizes a modern China within the context of traditional socialist foreign policy norms. I will argue that Chinese scholarly discussions about IR theory building reflect efforts to present ‘their rising China’ (as individually perceived) in the study, research, and development of IR theory in response to the appearance of modern IR methods that require new definitions and new roles for old socialist forms. In this context, identity concerns are more important than the actual theories being established or appropriated.     

An Emerging China and Diasporic Chinese: historicity,state, and international relations

The past decade has seen a growing body of literature on the (re)emergence of China and its implications for the new international order, and this scholarship is accompanied by the attempts from both within and outside of China to establish Chinese schools of international relations (IR). These admirable efforts, however, have been largely state-centric and concerned mainly with the balance of power, with little attention being directed to the diaspora's role in the evolution of China's international relationship and their potential contribution to bridging China studies and international relations theorization. Drawing upon theoretical insights from both IR and diaspora studies and employing a wide range of primary data including archives and personal interviews, this essay examines the diaspora's role (or the lack of it) in China's diplomacy since 1949 and attempts to conceptualize the Chinese experience in an historical and comparative perspective. I argue that historicity and state have played a significant part in shaping the interactions between the diaspora and diplomacy. The Chinese state's resilient capacity in domesticating (potential) diplomatic problems with respect to the diaspora and transforming them into new policy initiatives through facilitating diasporic participation in China's socio-economic and political processes has opened up new venues for the Chinese overseas to be involved in China's diplomacy. This article concludes by considering three different routes in engaging the diaspora with diplomacy at a time of China rising and by calling for strategic integration of diaspora into the emerging discourses on ‘IR theories with Chinese characteristics’.     

US–China Relations in the Era of Globalization and Terror: a framework for analysis

The coming decade could provide the opportunity for the United States to consolidate stable Sino–American relations and expand US–China cooperation on a wide range of global and regional issues. Such a constructive relationship would not be conflict-free or without competitive aspects, especially in the political and economic realms, nor is its development inevitable. But the United States is not likely to conclude that a strategy of containment toward China is either necessary or feasible. Similarly, China will likely continue to pursue a strategy of seeking cooperative ties with the United States rather than adopting an anti-hegemonist coalition strategy to counter American power and influence. A key factor underlying this assessment is that ‘globalization’ is reshaping the global strategic environment. In this new strategic situation, the interests of the United States and China will limit strategic competition between them and compel closer cooperation to respond to shared strategic threats and challenges. Globalization has led to converging—though by no means identical—national interests in many critical areas and a common interest in maintaining the overall global system of regimes, treaties and organizations governing international economic, political and security relations to the benefit of both countries. This high-level common interest does not preclude sharp differences over specific issues, but it is likely to create pressure on the United States and China to cooperate in many areas to defend, maintain and strengthen the system and to restrain them from pursuing containment or confrontational strategies toward each other.     

后殖民理论视野中东方民族文化的历史命运

后殖民理论揭露出从殖民时期到全球化时代西方对东方的隐蔽的文化霸权,东方民族的文化在西方的知识生产和文化渗透下,被扭曲被贬低,被掩盖被抹杀。东方民族也有对西方的文化抵抗,但力量是非常微小的,东方民族文化的历史命运在后殖民理论视野中是悲观和无奈的。在东方民族面对全球化时代新的一轮西方文化冲击时,东方民族应坚守自己的民族文化。     

China's Socialization in the International Human Rights Regime: why did China reject the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court?

This article uses a hard law—the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court—to examine the depth of China's socialization in the international human rights regime and the relative weights of sovereignty and human rights norms in determining China's policy choices. It shows that the reasons for China's rejection of the Rome Statute are twofold. On the one hand, Chinese leaders have not fully internalized human rights norms, and they prioritize state sovereignty over human rights when making decisions. On the other hand, the legalized Rome Statute sets up an independent court with mandatory jurisdiction and grants the Prosecutor the ex officio right to investigate a crime. Such treaty provisions may have negative impacts on China's core sovereignty of territorial integration and regime security, thus imposing high sovereignty costs on China. Therefore, China resolutely voted against the Rome Statute, even if such an action made it a small minority outside the international mainstream. These findings indicate that China is still in a weak socialization stage and is not able to take on binding human rights and humanitarian obligations with high sovereignty costs.     

Perceptions of Danger: The China threat theory

The People's Republic of China witnessed unprecedented growth at the end of the twentieth century and the manner in which it will choose to use its consequent power in the twenty-first century has become a hotly debated topic in foreign policy circles. Some have chosen to interpret China's emergence as an economic and aspiring military superpower as a threat to the national interests of the United States and Asian-Pacific security. This threat has been categorized as ideological, economic, and strategic. This essay explores the China threat theory through an in-depth analysis of the arguments of 'anti-China hands' as outlined in a variety of right wing publications.     

论全球化进程中的国家主权

全球化进程给传统国家主权理论带来了全方位和深刻的冲击 ,对主权理论和实践提出了挑战 ;但全球化加速下国家主权受到挑战甚至削弱这一基本事实不能成为否定主权国家存在和发挥作用的理由 ;主动参与全球化进程 ,加强合作与交流 ,建立国际政治经济新秩序 ,采取灵活、切实可行的方式维护国家主权和利益是发展中国家在全球化进程中的理性选择。