Involuntary Migrants,Political Revolutionaries and Economic Energisers: a history of the image of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia

Along the contemporary migration history of the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, three distinctive images have been constructed through the interaction between the overseas Chinese and Mainland China. First, the image of involuntary migrant, formulated by their migration activity and the continuous remittance they sent back to their hometowns, closely linked to the political and social-economic disturbances in the early years of the twentieth century. Second, the image of the overseas Chinese as political revolutionary was heavily politicised by the revolutionary policies of Mainland China in the 1950s and 1960s. Third, through the operational means of foreign direct investment, the overseas Chinese image of economic energiser was re-focused and mirror-imaged with the imperative of the economic reform of Mainland China in the 1970s and 1980s. On the one hand, the images of involuntary migrant, political revolutionary and economic energiser of the Southeast Asian overseas Chinese describe their situational status. On the other hand, these images also reflect the contemporary historical development of Mainland China.     

What is Chinese about Chinese Businesses? Locating the ‘rise of China’ in global production networks

There is an implicit but commonly held assumption that Chinese businesses are distinctively Chinese. Casting them in unitary and national terms, this assumption has often provided the underpinnings for the conception of the strength of Chinese businesses as signs of an emerging China threat. Drawing on a global production networks (GPN) approach, this paper aims to question the assumption by arguing that many Chinese businesses, embedded in the expanding global and regional production networks, have taken on important transnational characteristics. Given these transnational connections, Chinese business networks in both ‘Greater China’ and China proper are characterized more by diversity and fragmentation than by cultural coherence and homogeneity. This analysis of the transnationalization and fragmentation of contemporary Chinese businesses helps better understand and respond to the complex challenge posed by the economic dynamism in China.     

‘The Chinese and the Thais are Brothers': the evolution of the Sino–Thai friendship

During the late 1970s and 1980s, the Chinese and Thais forged a close, friendly relationship based on their security cooperation in an informal alliance against Vietnamese regional hegemonism. In the 1990s, after the end of the Cambodian conflict and the Vietnamese threat, the Sino-Thai cooperative friendship became deeper and broader, rather than dissipating. How are we to explain the closeness of Sino-Thai relations today? While the dynamics of the international political structure in East Asia have played a critical role in shaping the relationship between these two countries since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the emerging regional international structure—particularly the rise of China—provides indeterminate incentives. Thailand could balance against or bandwagon with rising China, or try to hedge its bets; nor does the emerging structure direct how the Chinese will wield their growing influence and power over their neighbors. This article argues that the best explanation rests in a combination of the structural argument (the rise of China) with the desire of both countries to maintain the mutually beneficial partnership they constructed during the 1980s, in particular Thailand's role as a link or facilitator between the PRC and ASEAN.     

China and the Globalisation of IR Theory: Discussion of 'Building International Relations Theory with Chinese Characteristics'

This essay examines current developments in International Relations theory in China. First it comments on Song Xinning's essay, agreeing that IR theory in China is limited by ideology, the dominance of policy-oriented research, and the state. But rather than seeing culture ('IR theory with Chinese characteristics') as a problem that can be solved by a more scientific approach to IR theory, the essay argues that the scientism of realism and IPE has similar problems. Thus the essay switches from the universals of science to the contingency of interpretation to understand global politics, drawing on recent books which combine IPE with historical and cultural studies. The concept of sovereignty is deconstructed to show how it is not universal, but is bound up in knowledge practices in both the West and China. The essay concludes by suggesting that we broaden both the concepts and the resources of IR research to consider the transnational economic‐cultural relations of Greater China. In this way China can be part of the globalization of IR theory, for such concepts exemplify current theoretical debates about the meaning of globalization. This approach moves from territorial notions of sovereignty where power is based on an expansion of economic and political relations—which reify borders—to popular notions of sovereignty where power is measured by movements of people across borders in a qualitative struggle of cultures and knowledge.     

Economic prosperity or democracy: Dilemma of development in Hong Kong and China

After Hong Kong is integrated with mainland China in July 1997, the economic and political environments of the two places will inevitably link up with each other. Economic modernization significantly not only improves the living conditions of the Chinese, but also alters their social structure and political values. As such, economic prosperity and democracy become the two conflicting values in Hong Kong and China during the transition to 2000. The people of Hong Kong and China are presented a choice over two mutually exclusive targets: economic prosperity vs. democracy. On the one hand, the choice for economic prosperity will imply no democracy because a conservative political system will be maintained to preserve the political status quo. On the other hand, the choice for democracy will imply no economic prosperity, because democratization will be suppressed and hence the economy will suffer as a result of political instability. However, neither of these two choices could offer the people of Hong Kong and China a genuine prosperity and stability. Therefore a congruent relationship between the economy and the political system must be established and maintained. As prosperity is contributed by both economic growth and political stability, neglection of either of these two elements will not result in a long‐lasting prosperity. Thus, economic development and democratization are two complementary rather than contradicting forces on the road to development in China.     

中华人民共和国成立初期有关中药避孕的知识生成与话语建构

本文以20世纪50年代中期出现的中药避孕为研究对象,探讨知识生成与国家权力之间的复杂关系。中药避孕在此时的兴起,既是中华人民共和国成立初期政府推行节制生育观、改变家庭结构的具体实践,也与当时国家提升中医药至"祖国医学遗产"的地位有直接关系。中医药成为中国共产党作为执政党进行国家转型的政治标志之一。但是,这种由国家权力自上而下推行的中药避孕知识,在流传过程中遇到了自近代以来形成的以实验为核心的"科学"观挑战。据此,中国共产党依据马克思主义辩证唯物观对中医进行新的科学化阐释,并由此夯实了中医在中华人民共和国成立初期的政治地位。     

Domestic Institutional Constraints on China's Leadership in East Asian Economic Cooperation Mechanisms

The study of Chinese foreign policy has long shown that domestic politics and domestic constraints are sources of foreign policy, albeit generally considered less potent than ideology and interests. Domestic political constraints should also be explored as factors in Chinese regional policies toward East Asia, including regional economic institutions. This paper examines three domestic institutional constraints on regional foreign policy in the area of trade and economics: a fragmented decision-making structure that has difficulty with coordination, a relatively heavy reliance on top level decision-makers at a time when issues of Asian economic policy have relatively low priority for these same decision-makers, and the relatively extreme lack of autonomy for negotiators vis-á-vis top decision-makers in Beijing. These constraints are by any means unique to China. However, at a time when many observers and participants are expecting—indeed, often hoping for—Chinese leadership in the region, the paper posits that these constraints hinder the PRC's ability to fill this role. The key empirical focus is regional trade agreements and regional economic organizations.     

The Rise of China in Chinese Eyes

The rise of China will create a huge market that will eventually make substantial contributions to scientific progress. The rise of China will benefit the Chinese as well as the rest of the world. Economic globalization makes it impossible for any country to keep its scientific and technological achievements from benefiting others. Every rich country inevitably invests largely abroad and imports many products from others. During the process of economic globalization, the rise of China will inevitably stimulate world economic growth by more inventions, investment, and importation. It is natural that there will be different views about the rise of China. Despite this, everyone agrees that China will increasingly play an important role in global affairs as China's modernization has a major impact on the world.     

China and Major Power Relations in East Asia

Tremendous changes have taken place in East Asia in the post-Cold War era, which have a great impact on Chinese foreign policy and its relations with major powers in East Asia. This new power configuration is related to as 'two ups' and 'two downs', which have become apparent since the early 1990s. The 'two ups' concern the rise of the United States and China. The United States' rise to sole superpower status has given Washington a dominant role in all four dimensions of world affairs: political, strategic, economic, and technological/cultural. Meanwhile, China has achieved a spectacular economic performance for the past two decades, sustaining high growth rates, and escaping, so far, the Asian economic crisis of 1997‐98. This expansion has greatly increased China's influence in regional and global affairs. The 'two downs' refer to the downturns of Russia and Japan. This article provides a detailed analysis of China's international environment in the context of the changing dynamics of major-power relations in East Asia. Special attention is paid to the crucial Beijing‐Tokyo‐Washington triangle. The examination focuses upon political, economic, and strategic dimensions.     

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.     

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.     

Nationalism,Civilization and Transnational Relations: the discourse of Greater China

This essay examines the interplay between nationalism and foreign policy in China—but with a twist. It seeks to loosen up analytical categories to expand from cultural nationalism to see how civilization constructs identity in national and transnational ways. It examines the limits of Chinese trans/nationalism according to the main Chinese expression of inside/outside—‘civilization/barbarism’—as it constructs Chinese nationalism and Greater China. The purpose is to both critically examine Chinese nationalism and to trace what our focus on the nation-state obscures: namely, transnational politics. Rather than recounting one master narrative of Chinese nationalism, the essay argues that civilization and barbarian define Greater China according to four narratives—nativism, conquest, conversion and diaspora. Hence, the essay does not merely deconstruct the notion of Greater China and Chinese nationalism, but shows how these four grids of meaning can help us to understand identity politics and foreign policy debates in China. Nationalism thus turns from being the Answer about the true intent of China, to being a series of questions which define different terrains of political inquiry.     

Factors Associated with Modern Urban Chinese Food Consumption Patterns

One key element in the development of regional and global food production systems is the corresponding changes in food consumption patterns. The 'modernization' of food consumption is encouraged by businesses and policy makers alike. For example, in China, change and growth in food consumption behaviors are promoted as a means for improving nutritional well-being, promoting economic growth via expanding consumer demand, and appeasing citizens. The objective of this paper is to investigate the pattern of dissemination of modern food consumption in contemporary China. It utilizes Sklair's notion of the 'culture-ideology of consumption' to differentiate between Chinese consumers according to whether their food consumption patterns are more or less modern. As a proxy for time-series analysis, household food consumption patterns are analyzed by age, household income level, food shopping behaviors and attitudes, and interest in imports and branded products, in order to determine if more modern food consumption patterns are more likely to be evidenced by one group than another. The data used in the analysis were obtained in a food consumption survey in metropolitan Qingdao, People's Republic of China. Results indicate that a modern culture-ideology of food consumption is being built around high-income consumers who sometimes shop at supermarkets, rather than through advertising or generational differences in consumption.     

Achievements Made,Experiences Shared

正China's success stems from the nation choosing the right path, meaning that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China(CPC), Khamphao Ernthavanh, Ambassador of Laos to China, told Beijing Review reporter Tao Xing in a recent interview. She also shared her views on China's development and what it has brought to the world.     

Bashing ‘the Chinese’: contextualizing Zambia's Collum Coal Mine shooting

The 2010 shooting of 13 miners at Zambia's small, privately-owned ‘Chinese’ Collum Coal Mine (CCM) has been represented by Western and Zambian politicians and media as exemplifying the ‘neo-colonial’ and ‘amoral’ practices of ‘China’ and ‘the Chinese’ in Africa. CCM has been used to provide a sharp contrast to the supposed ways of the Western firms that own most of Zambia's mines. Embedded in racial hierarchy and notions of strategic competition between the West and China, the discourse of the CCM shootings further shapes conceptions of global China and Chinese overseas. While examining all the oppressive conditions that have given rise to protest at the mine, we contextualize the shooting and subsequent conflicts. In analyzing CCM's marginal and troubled development, we discuss aspects of the 2010 shooting incident known to miners and union leaders, but ignored by politicians and media. We look at the shooting's political fallout, focus also on the epilogue that was the 2012 CCM riot—in which one Chinese person was murdered and several others seriously injured—and trace the sometimes violent discontent manifested at other foreign-owned mines in Zambia since their privatization in the late 1990s. The empirical data for this detailed study derive from hundreds of documentary sources and interviews with union leaders, workers, officials and others in Zambia from 2011 to 2013.     

Workforce Localization among Chinese State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Ghana

Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have gradually localized their workforce since they began operating in Ghana in the 1980s. Examining their workforce localization patterns, the Chinese SOEs in Ghana appear to be diverse in their business practices and highly autonomous from the Chinese state. Our hypothesis on the substantial autonomy of Chinese SOE overseas subsidiaries, which is consequent to the lack of management control from the Chinese central authority since the Chinese economic reform, contrasts the dominant assumption in the China–Africa debate, in which Chinese SOEs are depicted as closely linked to the Chinese state and/or as the arms of the new Chinese policy in Africa. The workforce localization process of Chinese SOEs in Ghana is largely determined by factors like profit maximization objective, market competition and political pressure. The localization experience is similar to those of Western companies in Africa where complete workforce localization takes a long time to achieve.     

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.     

China and Asian regionalism: Challenge and policy choice

Regionalism has become an interesting phenomenon in Asian international relations. Driven by fast growing trade and investment, Asian countries have developed variegated patterns of economic co‐operation and a complex level of interdependence among themselves. Although the growing Asian regionalism is very much an economics‐driven process, it has profound impacts on regional political organization. This analysis examines Beijing's changing attitudes toward Asian regionalism and its policy choice in the regional economic integration. It is argued that the integration of the Chinese economy into the regional structure is promoted by the government as well as driven by market dynamics. Although Beijing has let the Chinese economy develop into the regional ‘flying geese’ structure, the best policy choice for China, as many Chinese scholars have argued, would be a three‐circle strategy of integrating into the world economy and a strategy of ‘market for technology’ in regional economic co‐operation. This analysis also discusses the regional political obstacles impeding co‐operation across national borders. It is argued that healthy bilateral relations and more political will toward regional multilateralism on political issues would be instrumental for future regional prosperity and stablity in Asia.     

Identity,Sovereignty, and Economic Penetration: Beijing's responses to offshore Chinese democracies

Investigating how the PRC responds to democratization in Taiwan and Hong Kong, this paper argues that the Chinese Communist leadership has mainly developed three strategies in managing the complicated crises, including Beijing's own legitimacy crisis and the integration crisis of the Chinese nation, caused by the rise of offshore Chinese democracies. These strategies are: identity politics, sovereignty politics, and economic penetration. With ‘identity politics’, Beijing identifies ‘identification with the Communist leadership’ as the sole Chinese national identification, and utilizes the nationalistic passions of mainland and even overseas Chinese people against democrats in Taiwan and Hong Kong, by labeling the latter as ‘separatists’ or ‘national traitors’. Further, Beijing defines ‘sovereignty’ in a way in which the ‘central’ government monopolizes all possessions of the nation, and excludes ‘people's sovereignty’ from the politics of national reunification or the ‘one country, two systems’ model actualization. While appealing to both ‘soft power’ based in ‘patriotic nationalism’ and ‘hard power’ embedded in national sovereignty, however, the Chinese regime also mobilizes business resources and opportunities provided by China's growing economic power and China's dominance in Greater Chian economic integration for its political purposes of curbing offshore Chinese democracies.     

台湾学运背后的经济发展困境

台湾爆发“3·18”学运的一个深刻背景原因是近年经济持续低迷不振。台湾经济困境主要表现在经济增长、物价变动及劳动市场等方面。由于民间消费与投资增长乏力、出口竞争力明显下降、工业生产增幅小、服务业发展不平衡，导致总体经济增长动力明显不足。造成台湾经济困境的原因，除了全球景气衰退与台湾自身结构性问题外，近年台湾经济还面临一些新问题的严峻挑战。一是区域经济整合潮流对台湾的冲击效应日益明显；二是台湾应对大陆经济转型发展乏力；三是经济振兴严重受困于政治因素。台湾突破经济困境的路径，关键在于要排除非经济性因素障碍，深化与大陆经济交流合作，充分利用大陆市场和区域整合来提高自身竞争力。