Same Bed,Different Dreams? Structural Factors and Leadership Characteristics of Central Government Agency Reform in China

ABSTRACT

The reorganization of government agencies can be studied as a pre-reform process in terms of the structural changes made, or as a post-reform process in terms of the effects of the reorganization. In this study of two mergers of agencies in China’s central administration, we focus on structural features and the post-merger process, paying special attention to structural and cultural integration. Our qualitative analyses reveal that the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) is considered to have been more successful in merging agencies and integrating functions than the State Administration for Press, Publications, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT). We found that using physical arrangements and leadership features as explanatory variables generated helpful theoretical and policy implications for organizational architecture and public sector reforms.     

The Dilemmas of China’s Political Science in the Context of the Rise of China

The rise of China has changed the global balance of power, which could also have an impact on the international development of political science scholarship. Very little attention, however, has been paid to the impact of China’s rise on the development of political science within China. This article examines how the rise of China has posed serious challenges to political studies in China. It addresses critical issues concerning the contemporary features and strategic direction of the discipline. It first analyzes three different meanings of what constitutes China’s political studies and discusses three different intellectual production models. It then highlights the dilemmas that political science faces in China, and exposes problems of and obstacles to its development, such as an unwarranted sense of pride, the bureaucratization of the scholarly community, and, critically, the absence of democracy and academic freedom. The paper examines and engages several ongoing debates on China’s political studies. In responding to the debate over whether it is desirable for Chinese political studies to move towards scientification, this paper presents four arguments for a balance between science and the humanities and outlines four strategies for achieving this balance. It also examines the debate on the localization of Chinese political studies and the doctrine of China’s uniqueness; and points out that the rise of China requires Chinese political studies to be cosmopolitan, global and universal, but the current regime is interested in reproducing the discourse of China’s uniqueness to maintain its political legitimacy.     

Symposium: The Contribution of Laclau’s Discourse Theory to International Relations and International Political EconomyIntroduction

This symposium explores the value of Poststructuralist (or Political) Discourse Theory (PDT) for the analysis of world politics. PDT was originally developed by the late Argentine political theorist Ernesto Laclau, in early works together with Chantal Mouffe, and has entered the margins of International Relations (IR) in recent years, mainly by bringing in poststructuralist concepts that had previously been ignored by the more critical strands of theorizing. Against this background, the introduction (1) discusses the disconnect between PDT and research on world politics, primarily in IR, as well as PDT’s potential contribution, (2) provides an overview of PDT’s central theoretical tenets, in particular with respect to its social ontology and its theoretical concept of change, and (3) introduces the contributions to the symposium.     

Shelley Rigger,The Tiger Leading the Dragon: How Taiwan Propelled China’s Economic Rise

Journal of Chinese Political Science -     

“Performance Legitimacy” and China’s Political Adaptation Strategy

The CCP government has adopted a very pragmatic strategy of “performance legitimacy” since China began its reform. It means that the government relies on accomplishing concrete goals such as economic growth, social stability, strengthening national power, and “good governance” (governing competence and accountability) to retain its legitimacy. While it is able to attain considerable domestic support by implementing this strategy, it has no particular interest in pursuing democratization. This chapter tries to make sense of the main reasons why it has adopted this strategy and to evaluate the political and social outcome of its policies. The chapter intends to discover if China’s adaptation strategy is a “path dependent” decision, and if it will function as a potential catalyst for significant political change in the future. The chapter also explores what the Chinese government has achieved through its adaptation strategy and what and why it has been unwilling or unable to do to obtain an “original justification” of power. Zhu skillfully travels back and forth between the terrains of theory and practice to make better sense of legitimacy and governance in China’s experiences.     

Huiyun Feng,Kai He and Xiaojun Li,How China Sees the World: Insights from China’s International Relations Scholars

Journal of Chinese Political Science -     

The EU’s Emissions Trading System,Part 2: A Political Economy Critique

This is part 2 of a paper that revisits the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) in an attempt to take stock of how the system has worked and evaluate it from the standpoint of radical political economy. In part 1 of the paper the basic design, the workings and the outcomes of the scheme were discussed with critical perceptiveness. In particular, the paper revealed the unsatisfactory results of the scheme (even in its own proclaimed aims), including allowances surplus, allowance trades for pure financial profit, low and volatile prices of allowances, windfall profits, extensive use of Kyoto project-based credits, and several malfunctions and instances of fraud. These findings set the ground for part 2 of the paper, which offers a critical assessment of ETS, proclaimed by mainstream analyses as the major vehicle for the transition to a low-carbon economy. In particular, the complications and instabilities created by the increasing financialization of the carbon market are exposed. Moreover, the ineffectiveness of the ETS as a catalyst for investments in clean energy technologies, especially in times of economic crisis, is substantiated. Since the deep embeddedness of the scheme in capitalism risks climate sustainability, the analysis concludes that a more radical transformation of society with an eco-socialist orientation is needed.     

Sovereignty,Human Rights,and Responsibility: Changes in China’s Response to International Humanitarian Crises

The question of whether human rights are above sovereignty has dominated China’s human rights discourse. Relying on a sovereignty-human rights spectrum, this article reviews China’s behaviors, particularly its participation in the UN Security Council, in managing the three major international humanitarian crises in the post-Cold War era—Rwanda, Kosovo, and Darfur, and finds that there have been impressive changes in China’s response to the crises. Yet, a content analysis of China’s official discourse on human rights finds that China’s attitudes towards sovereignty and human rights have not changed much. Drawing on constructivist international relations theory, this article attempts to explain the paradox. It is argued that the international discourse on the “responsibility to protect” has brought about changes in international norms regarding violations of human rights and humanitarian law, and that, having undergone in recent years an identity change from a defensive power of bitterness and insecurity to a rising power aspiring to take more responsibility, China is more concerned about its national image and more receptive to international norms, which has led to the changes in its response to international humanitarian crises.     

Sebastian Heilmann,Red Swan: How Unorthodox Policy Making Facilitated China’s Rise

Journal of Chinese Political Science -     

Dawn C. Murphy,China’s Rise in the Global South: The Middle East,Africa and Beijing’s Alternative World Order

Journal of Chinese Political Science -     

China’s National Space Program and the “China Dream”

ABSTRACT

The article investigates how the “China Dream,” set as a national Chinese goal through 2049, is underpinned with achievements in outer space. Deriving from the Carl von Clausewitz hypothesis on “the continuation of political objectives by other means” and referring to Xi Jinping’s official statements that link space achievements to these “other means,” the Chinese national space program (focusing on substantial technical details to elicit evidence of progress and how concrete achievements lead to economic and geopolitical advantages) is examined. This article shows that the increasing number of space assets China possesses, including space-based technologies developed either independently or in mutually beneficial partnerships, are crucial for advancing socialism in the Chinese context and in altering the current global balance of power in a more favorable way to China.     

Shaping China’s Climate Diplomacy: Wealth,Status, and Asymmetric Interdependence

China’s diplomacy in the post-Kyoto Protocol international climate change negotiations (ICCN) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) bears proactive and reactive feature. On the one hand, China has proactively built several new coalitions including its bilateral climate coalition with India, the BASIC group and the Like-minded Developing Countries (LMDCs) while maintaining its traditional coalition with the Group-77 and China to facilitate its bargaining power against developed countries and their negotiating blocs. On the other hand, however, China has reactively made significant compromises to its negotiation partners on mitigation obligations of greenhouse gas emissions. Such a proactive and reactive feature of China’s climate diplomacy has been mainly shaped by: first, China’s desire to maximize its wealth/profits from its participation in the Clean Development Mechanism; secondly, its desire to build a responsible great power status in the international system; and thirdly, its asymmetric dependence on the developed countries especially the US and the EU for transferring climate mitigation-related technologies.     

Harmonious World and China’s Foreign Economic Policy: Features,Implications, and Challenges

Analysts oddly have neglected the foreign economic implications of China’s harmonious world and harmonious society doctrines. This article specifies the foreign economic policy effects of both, collectively termed harmonious world plus (HWP). It shows that HWP implies China’s continued integration into the global economic system, acceptance of the extant international economic order, and backing for increased cooperation and exchange, provided it is mutually beneficial. It further demonstrates that HWP implies support for global development, self-reliance, and multilateralism. Beyond this, the study reveals that HWP is likely to influence China’s interactions with international economic institutions, foreign investors, and its international resource dealings. Generally speaking, this article shows that China is making progress adhering to most of the tenets of HWP, though there are some areas for concern. It also reveals that convergences and divergences between HWP and China’s actual policies are attributable to national interests, China’s limited capabilities, and domestic politics. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard is associate director of the Center for U.S.-China Policy Studies and associate professor in the Department of International Relations at San Francisco State University (SFSU). He also is a Board Member of and Research Director for the Association of Chinese Political Studies. Dr. Blanchard’s research interests include China’s integration into the global economic system, China’s interactions with multinational corporations, Chinese multinational corporations, Sino-Japanese relations, and Chinese territorial and maritime issues. He is a co-editor of Harmonious World and China’s New Foreign Policy (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2008), a co-editor of and contributor to Power and the Purse: Economic Statecraft, Interdependence, and National Security (London: Frank Cass, 2000), and the author of 20 book chapters and refereed journal articles.     

Huawei,Cyber-Sovereignty and Liberal Norms: China’s Challenge to the West/Democracies

Journal of Chinese Political Science - As China’s global footprint expands and Sino-American competition intensifies, it is apparent that one of the most important arenas for competition...     

Do the “Dragon’s Gifts” Improve China’s National Image? An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Relations and Public Perceptions of China in Africa

Using a multivariate framework and the most recently available data that include numerous African countries, this investigation has produced the first extensive statistical evaluation of China’s image in Africa based on China’s various economic relations with Africa, including aid, trade, FDI and contracts. We find that China’s economic development assistance, contracts, and to some degree, trade with African countries contribute to a positive image of China in Africa. In addition, we find that people in African countries of a smaller population, poorer livelihood, less open economy, and better governance tend to have positive views of China’s political and economic influence. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese economic activities in recipient countries have been increasing. The implications of this research shed light on how BRI may be received in the host countries and the likelihood of its success or failure.