Democracy and the governing party (执政党): A theoretical perspective

The Fourth Plenum of the Communist Party of China held in September 2004 outlined a course of reform aimed at establishing the Party as a permanent governing party (zhizheng dang 执政党). This aim shares some of the values and procedures of legislative democracy, but is fundamentally different in structure. There are no existing cases of party-state democracy as envisioned in the governing party idea, so the theoretical question is asked, is party-state democracy possible? The paper considers the course of development and the limitations of the theory of legislative democracy and contrasts it to the course of Chinese political development. It then presents the essential elements of a democratic system, concluding with a discussion of the feasibility of party-state democracy.     

清代亚洲非对称关系的层次与多样性

非对称关系不均匀的本质导致了互动中强者与弱者之间知觉的差异。尽管双方都在试图“处理”这种非对称关系——强者试图进行主导，而弱者会进行挑战——但大多数非对称关系在绝大部分时间里都是稳定的。这些关系是通过互动来维持的。亚洲非对称关系的独特之处在于中国的中心性。中国幅员辽阔的地域、中国的人口与生产力规模为其典型的非对称对外关系创造了条件，并且中国的中心区域和各地区之间也同样体现出非对称的特点。有清一代，亚洲各国曾彻底臣服于这种非对称关系。在非对称关系中存在三种标准，即对抗的双方能力差距悬殊、角色无法调换、无法消灭对方。清朝传统非对称关系的根基最后被摧毁，很大的原因是来自其内部以及西方殖民主义对中国的入侵。在当今全球经济存在诸多不确定性的形势下，中国的“和平崛起”（peaceful leap forward）则引发了关于中国传统治理与外交方式新地位的问题。     

Northeast Asia in a Multinodal World

In a globalized world characterized by direct interactions among states of different capacities, regional relationships must be considered in terms of their broader global context. States cannot change their location; therefore, engagement with neighbors has a particular importance in terms of present relations, historical memories, and future prospects. States are more anxious in a multinodal world because of increased regional and global exposure. However, it would be imprudent for them to act aggressively or to self-isolate because such behavior limits the potential for future beneficial exchange. In a multinodal world, partnerships are more rational than alliances. In East Asia, relationships will be asymmetric as in the past, but they should also be based on sovereign equality and global inclusiveness.     

中国崛起与美国:权力持平与文明的磨合

在可见的未来内,中国快速的经济增长使得其经济实力接近美国的可能性越来越大。这一增长给美国带来了切实的担忧。除此之外,未来中美经济实力持平的前景也提出了一个问题:当中国实力与美国持平时,中国是否将挑战美国的世界霸主地位?本文认为,"权力持平(parity)"这一概念并不适用于预测未来的中美关系。这是因为,持平意味着中美在经济方面将在某一时刻达到一个大致对等的水平。但是,鉴于中国的人口和地缘政治现实,仅有一个方面的实力持平并不能决定,甚至并不能有信心地预测到中美关系的未来趋势。中美关系的互动过程可能是一个充满矛盾和不断调和的曲折过程。它将是文明的磨合过程,而不是文明的冲突。     

Distortion and Credibility within China's Internal Information System

Behind the problems of credibility of public official information in China lie two patterns of internal information distortion, one restricting the downward flow of sensitive general information and the other filtering the upward flow of local information. Information gathered at the center is increasingly restricted as it is transmitted down the bureaucracy. Meanwhile, the ‘facts on the ground’ are sifted by local official interests at each level of upward transmittal. Awareness of these distortions has been increased by the Internet revolution, but the structures that encourage them remain in place. An empirical survey of different levels of local cadres in Guangdong Province indicates the different perspectives produced by different positions in the internal information system. Municipal level officials, who have more general information but less diverse local information, tend to be more positive about the quality and objectivity of statistics, while their staff members, further from central sources but closer to messy local realities, are more skeptical.     

Aesop’s wolves: the deceptive appearance of espionage and attacks in cyberspace

Abstract

Appearances in cyberspace are deceptive and problematic. Deception in the cyber domain poses an immensely difficult challenge for states to differentiate between espionage activities in cyberspace and cyber attacks. The inability to distinguish between cyber activities places US cyber infrastructure in a perilous position and increases the possibility of a disproportionate or inadequate response to cyber incidents. This paper uses case analysis to examine the characteristics associated with the tools and decisions related to cyber espionage and cyber attacks to develop a framework for distinction leveraging epidemiological models for combating disease.     

美国与中越关系

在中越漫长、纠缠不清的历史中，西方帝国主义对中越两国的压迫，使它们第一次同时感到有必要加强合作，与西方帝国主义进行斗争。越南为孙中山在1907～1908年间多次不成功的反清起义提供了根据地，同样广州也是早期越南革命的一个重要根据地。随后，中国国民党与其姊妹党越南国民党一起并肩作战；中国共产党与胡志明及印支共产党紧密联系并肩作战，成为世界关注的焦点。