The role of Chinese face in the perpetration of dating partner violence

This study explored the associations between the perpetration of partner violence and two types of face orientation-protective and acquisitive-in Chinese societies. Data from a convenience sample of 3,388 university students from Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing were analyzed. The participants completed the Protective and Acquisitive Face Orientation (PAFO) Scale Short Form and the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) to measure their face orientations and experience of perpetrating violence against their dating partner. Acquisitive face orientation (AFO) was positively associated with the self-reported perpetration of physical and psychological partner violence. No significant associations were found between protective face orientation (PFO) and partner violence perpetration. Gender differences were found across all types of dating violence. City of residence, age, and SES were also associated with partner violence in specific ways. The findings gave insights on the possible mechanisms between partner violence and the concept of face to be explored in future research.     

Gender symmetry in the self-reporting of intimate partner violence

Research has not conclusively determined whether men and women are equally likely to commit intimate partner violence (IPV). One explanation for the disparity in previous findings may be gender-based differences in reporting styles. The present study investigated whether there was any gender difference in self-reported IPV prevalence. A total of 3,740 Chinese couples from a representative population in Hong Kong were interviewed. Self-reports of men-to-women and women-to-men IPV between spouses were compared. Gender was controlled for to evaluate whether age, education, the Chinese concept of face, and other violence-related characteristics would affect the self-reporting of IPV. Findings supported gender symmetry in self-reported IPV prevalence as well as a moderate interspousal agreement in the self-reports. After adjustment for covariates, face was a significant factor predicting the interspousal differences in both men-to-women and women-to-men physical IPV.     

Antecedents of Chinese Parents’ Autonomy Support and Psychological Control: The Interplay Between Parents’ Self-Development Socialization Goals and Adolescents’ School Performance

Despite ample evidence for the benefits of parental autonomy support and the harms of parental psychological control to Chinese adolescents’ well-being, little is known about what foreshadows these parenting behaviors among Chinese parents. The current research addressed this gap in the literature. It tested the hypothesis that parents’ endorsement of self-development socialization goals (i.e., regarding a positive sense of self in terms of holding optimistic attitudes toward oneself, feeling autonomous in one’s actions, and establishing one’s independence from others, as important for adolescents to develop) and adolescents’ school performance may interact to predict parental autonomy support and psychological control in urban China. Three hundred and forty-one Chinese seventh graders (mean age?=?13.30?years, 58?% female) and their parents (186 mothers and 155 fathers) participated. Parents reported on their own and their spouses’ endorsement of self-development socialization goals; adolescents reported on parental autonomy support and psychological control; and adolescents’ grades were obtained from school records. Significant interactions were found between parents’ socialization goals and adolescents’ grades in predicting parenting behaviors. When adolescents were doing well at school, the stronger parents’ endorsement of self-development socialization goals, the greater their autonomy support and the lesser their psychological control; when adolescents were doing poorly at school, regardless of parents’ socialization goals, their autonomy support was relatively low and their psychological control was relatively high. These findings highlight a tension between parental concerns over adolescents’ self-development and academic success, which needs to be resolved to promote autonomy support and prevent psychological control among urban Chinese parents.     

借力第三方市场 推进泛北部湾合作

发展中国家和地区参与区域经济合作的实践表明,"南—北"("弱—强")型合作模式成功机率较高。广西与东盟应立足现有基础,联手引进欧美日韩等发达国家的资金、技术和人才等,努力提升"弱—弱"型为主的合作模式,开辟一条借力第三方市场、推进泛北部湾经济合作的新路径。如利用中国—东盟博览会合作平台、打好区域性招商组合牌、主动切入发达国家跨国公司价值链分工体系、加大对发达国家中小企业引进力度等。     

Precarity and Vulnerability: Rubber Plantations in Northern Laos and Northern Shan State,Myanmar

ABSTRACT

In northern Laos and Northern Shan State in Myanmar, there has occurred a rapid expansion of rubber plantations, both by large economic concessions and by smallholder farmers. The impact of the introduction of rubber differs by place. This article analyses the impact of the introduction of rubber in two villages in Northern Shan State and two in Luang Namtha Province, Lao PDR. We differentiate vulnerability and precarity while assessing the changes that women and men have experienced, which allows us to problematise the long-term vulnerability of seemingly well-adapted farming households. We argue that the strategies that farmers have chosen to improve their situation today will lead to unsustainable livelihoods in the long term. We also link the analysis of vulnerability and precarity to changes in household gender relations. Notwithstanding increased precarity, rising household cash incomes and external support have improved women’s position in some places while hardly affecting gender relations in others.     

Simultaneous analysis of d-3-methoxy-17-methylmorphinan and l-3-methoxy-17-methylmorphinan by high pressure liquid chromatography equipped with PDA

d-3-Methoxy-17-methylmorphinan (Dextromethorphan, DXM), which is a structural analog of morphine and codeine, has been widely used as a non-narcotic antitussive agent. It is a safe drug in therapeutic dose and does not produce analgesic effects, while its enantiomer, l-3-methoxy-17-methylmorphinan called levomethorphan (LXM) is a potent narcotic analgesic. DXM has been widely abused in Korea due to its hallucinogenic effect in large doses; therefore, the health authorities have regulated its use as a psychotropic agent since 2003. As its abuse has been serious, a possibility that DXM would be smuggled into Korea has also increased. Moreover, it has been suspected that there was the possibility of the adulteration or substitution of DXM with LXM due to their chemical similarities. Therefore, it was necessary for us to establish the enantiomeric separation of DXM and LXM. In this study, a liquid chromatographic method using a chiral column capable of separating stereoisomers of DXM as well as analyzing the major metabolites of DXM, 3-methoxymorphinan, 3-hydroxymorphinan, and 17-hydroxymethylmorphinan was developed. The validation of a method was studied through repeatability of retention times. Using this method, 32 confiscated DXM samples were analyzed to identify the enantiomers of DXM. As a result, DXM was detected in all samples and there was no evidence of the adulteration or substitution of DXM with LXM. Nevertheless, the stereochemical analysis of DXM and LXM is important not only to identify starting materials for illegal drug manufacture but also to understand the trends of abused drugs.     

Homicide-suicide in Hong Kong, 1989-1998

This study provides the first systematic research of homicide-suicide (HS) in a Chinese society. Data were drawn from the HK Homicide Monitoring Data-base computer file derived from investigation and death reports held by the HK Police Force and the Coroner's Court. During the 10-year study period, 56 events involving 133 deaths were identified. The majority of offenders were males (75%) and most victims were female (64%). The mean age of offenders and victims were 41.9 and 32.3 years, respectively. Spouses and lovers comprised the majority of victims (46.4%) followed by child victims (36%). Most HS events were motivated by separation or termination of marital or sexual relations (39%), economic reasons (25%) and other domestic disputes (20%). The most frequent modes of killing were strangulation/suffocation (26%), stabbing/chopping (24%), followed by gassing/poisoning (14%) and falling from height (14%). The commonest of suicide was falling from height (48%). It was followed by gassing/poisoning (22%) and strangulation/suffocation (13%). Depression (18.3%) was found to be the commonest mental disorder. Most offenders were from low-socio-economic background. Two-third were unemployed and 76.6% had 9 or less years of education. HS in HK were distinguished from those reported in the western literature in respect to the high relevance of economic factors, the absence of mercy killing between old couples, a higher percentage of pedicide-suicides and the infrequent use of firearms.     

‘Three Chinas’ and international organizations after 1997

This article analyzes the effects of the transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China in 1997 on the participation of Hong Kong and Taiwan in international organizations. It identifies the conditions under which China tolerates co‐existence with Taiwan as members of eleven intergovernmental organizations as of 1996. It concludes with two observations: one, international organizations are not monolithic entities; two, although China has overwhelming influence over Hong Kong's participation in these organizations, it depends also on how the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is going to manage its relations with China.