EU perceptions through the FTA lens: main results of interviews among the Korean “elites”

The Korea–EU relations have undergone a substantive change during the last two decades. The bilateral Framework Agreement, which was first signed in 1996 and updated in 2009, has upgraded the bilateral relationship to a considerable extent. The common membership of Korea and the EU to the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) has also expanded and deepened the channels of official contacts between the two parties. Among these factors, the Korea–EU FTA Agreement, which was initialed in October 2009, appears to have the potential to affect the relationship most strongly. The results of elites’ interviews conducted during September 2009–April 2010 largely verifies this in a number of interesting aspects. Especially, most of the Korean elites perceive the Korea–EU FTA as an opportunity to maximize the effects arising from “the expanded markets”, “reduced market risks” and “harmonized European business practices leading to reduced transactions costs”. This also has had substantially positive impact on their perception of the EU’s importance to Korea.     

Environmental issues as a ‘strategic’ key in EU–China relations

EU–China relations face some troubled areas, notably their differing views on human rights and a widening trade imbalance in China’s favour, compounded by the still weak foreign policy coherence on the part of the EU. This raises problems for the EU–China strategic partnership announced in 2003. This paper argues that, in contrast to such problematic political-trade areas, there is some substantive convergence over environmental and energy issues. Convergence is evoked in the EU–China Partnership on Climate Change announced in 2005, and manifested in various cooperative programmes currently operating. In a practical sense, environmental issues are not only important in themselves but are ones where easier confidence and pragmatic cooperation can be more readily established between the EU and China. However, questions of appropriate environmental technology, the commercial/altruistic basis for technology transfer and outcomes of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December 2009 remain as issues to settle between them.     

Building a strong nation, how does China perform in science and technology

A common perception is that China has relied on the expansion of labour-intensive industries and flooded the world market with cheap but low to medium level technology products. Although it has become the third largest exporting nation, China has failed to create a large number of big businesses that can compete with the world’s leading multinational companies (Nolan (2004)). The Chinese government has long been aware of the weakness of its development strategy and has been trying to improve its own technological capacity through investments in basic research, innovations and the application of new technologies, utility models and designs. China’s strategy on science and technology can be best described by the so-called ‘walking with two legs’ principle. The first leg is based on building up domestic research and innovative capacity. This is through investments in research institutes, universities and LMEs. China’s second leg has been to build up its technology capacity through its open policy and attracting FDI and technology. China has made significant advances in the following areas regarding science and technology.

The formation of in-formation by the US military: articulation and enactment of infomanic threat imaginaries on the immaterial battlefield of perception

This article explores the role of perception management as a doctrinal concept in the construction and deconstruction of threats. Threat construction involves a continual, reciprocal and constitutive relationship between the attribution of meaning and practice. It takes place in an environment changed by the multiple forces of the so-called information revolution, in which discursive links are forged between technology and victory as well as between scientific progress and military superiority. Through articulation and enactment, information and information technology are represented as both threatening and threatened in three dimensions: dependency on information as data, possible loss of information superiority, and loss of control over information as image. The enemy ‘Other’ in these threat constructions is everywhere and nowhere at the same time, and is seen as being greatly empowered by the same tools that empower the United States military establishment. But while, for many military actors, regaining control in the information domain through technological innovation seems more or less straightforward, the immaterial battlefield of perception proves harder to master. We purport that military strategists do not seem to fully grasp the illusionary nature of the belief that the information space is a thing to be shaped at will and without restrictions.     

The potentials and limits of China–EU cooperation on climate change and energy security

Due to economic interdependency through trade and investment, economies of scale, and economic complementarities, China and the European Union (EU) have a huge potential for cooperation. Already many things have happened so far. Since 2004, the cooperation on climate change has been a key issue on the political agenda of China–EU summits. In 2005, the EU and China even endorsed a “Joint Declaration on Climate Change” which emphasizes reducing the cost of clean energy key technologies for China, first and foremost through the development and deployment of near-to-zero-emission CCS technology. Letting China gain access to clean energy technology is the key issue of climate change cooperation. Despite great efforts and potential mutual benefits, this is still a field of conflicting interests. The authors argue that currently, cooperation on the transfer of clean energy technology is very limited due to rational interests of the actors and the insecurities involved in cooperation. Professor Zhang’s research focus is on environmental issues and international organizations.     

Do traditional values still exist in modern Chinese societies?

  The stellar economic performance of the Asia-Pacific region in the 90s led many scholars to credit Confucianism as the impetus for it provided the cultural background conducive for entrepreneurs of this region to excel. Some even believed that a “Confucian Revival” is at hand and have proposed the 21st century to be the “Confucian Century”. Although the causes of economic growth and success are complex and likely to vary from one country to another, the significance of culture has been emphasized. Hicks and Redding (1983) commented, “as there are well over a hundred developing countries, the almost perfect correlation between Chinese heritage and economic success could hardly be due to chance.” Another study by Gordon Redding (1990) on the spirit of Chinese capitalism suggested a strong link between Confucian values and modern overseas Chinese business enterprises. However, when the same region triggered a global economic crisis a few years ago, fingers were also pointed at Confucianism, naming it as the culprit behind the downfall of Chinese entrepreneurship. Further, people often loosely refer to Confucianism or Asian Values when analyzing factors relevant to the economy and social matters. They do so without first synthesizing the system of thought upon which they base their claims, thereby weakening their arguments. Moreover, studies on Chinese values are certainly insufficient if not misconstrued by scholars with no Chinese background. How then does Confucianism influence Asian countries? Do Chinese values still exist in modern Chinese societies? Using quantificational tools to support our thesis, this comparative study attempts to investigate whether Confucianism or traditional Chinese values still played an important role in shaping the mind and attitude of modern Chinese in Singapore and China.     

The EU’s Korea relationship: enlargement effects

As the EU was expanding in 2004, a phase of new development between the EU and North Korea could have been expected. However, it was argued that the EU’s position towards North Korea is likely to remain unchanged. Most of the existing studies ascribed the reactive attitude of the EU to the distinctiveness of the recent enlargement. The accession of a large number of new members, which are considered to have diverse foreign policy interests and perception, is likely to add up to the already overwhelming number of problems in the governance of the EU. Thus, the EU’s policy towards North Korea would rather concentrate on a soft security approach. However, this paper contends that the existing explanation is not exhaustive, but that the implications relating to the conception of smallness, which is relevant to most of the new member states, should be included in the parameters of analysis in order to generate a more comprehensive and balanced view where the future relationship between the EU and North Korea is concerned. The preliminary draft of this paper was presented at the International Conference of the Korean Society of Contemporary European Studies, November, 25, 2005, at Seoul, South Korea. I appreciate all the comments and helpful advice made at the presentation.

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The US role in Korean democracy and security since cold war era

This paper traces the role that US played in the developmentof Korean democracy and maintaining peace and security in theKorean peninsula. First, it looks back into the US role in theKorean political transformation from 1950s through 1980s. Itexamines why the US introduced American style democracy in thedivided country and what was the role of the US in the criticaljunctures of regime changes and transformations. The UnitedStates had two contradictory objectives in South Korea: to buildup South Korea as ‘a showcase for democracy’ andas an anti-communist buffer state. The two objectives set ‘theAmerican boundary’ to South Korean democracy. The firstobjective acted upon as an enabling condition for incipientdemocracy, while the second acted upon as a confining conditionto development of democracy in South Korea. Second, it investigatesthe role that the US played in the outbreak of financial crisisin 1987 and in the ensuing comprehensive neoliberal restructuringof the economy by the Kim Dae Jung government after the crisis.Third, it analyzes three events that put US–Korean relationsunder stress since the inauguration of Bush administration:Anti-Americanism, perception gap on North Korea, and the newmilitary transformation initiative of US. Finally, it drawspolicy rationales for stronger Korea–US alliance in thefuture from the Korean perspective: Korea–US allianceas leverages against China and Japan, means of pursuing an effectiveengagement policy toward North Korea, a cornerstone to liftSouth Korea to a hub state in Northeast Asia, and geopoliticalbalancer and stabilizer in Northeast Asia after the unificationof Korea.     

The role of aggregation technologies in the provision of supranational public goods: A reconsideration of NATO??s strategies

Voluntary contributions to the provision of public goods do not necessarily follow a summation aggregation technology. The article investigates the alternative best-shot aggregation process and provides the corresponding Nash equilibrium conditions for allies in the context of joint products in a supranational alliance. The application deals with NATO over the period 1955–2006 and evidences new breakpoints and aggregation technology assessments, which leads to a reconsideration of the alliance’s strategy. We find that a best-shot technology prevails from 1955 to 1970. Afterwards, summation of contributions becomes the aggregation technology of the alliance, with increased strategic behavior after 1990.     

Japanese “<Emphasis Type="Italic">Furītā</Emphasis>” and German “Generation Internship”: The “precarious post-materialist” as an extension to Inglehart‘s theory of value change

With a period of economic recession, rising numbers of unemployed and an increase in non-regular employment, the situation on the German and the Japanese labour market has undergone a change over the past two decades. At the beginning of the twenty-first century a generation of newcomers entered working life under changed conditions. In this paper, I will analyse whether the individual perception of worsening chances on the labour market will have an effect on the attitudes to and expectations of work prevalent amongst young entrants to the labour market drawing upon Ronald Inglehart’s theory of value change as a theoretical base. An analysis of qualitative interviews with Japanese Furītā and members of the German ‘Generation Internship’ will explore whether patterns of work values can be identified that call for an extension of Inglehart’s value concept of “materialist” versus “post-materialist”, namely suggesting the existence of a ‘precarious post-materialist’. The discussion concludes with a short analysis of quantitative data, to see whether this new value type might also be identified in a broader context.

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Looking in the mirror: Comparing INGO networks across issue areas

International Relations scholarship has begun to focus a great deal of attention on social networks and their influence on political outcomes. In this paper, we contribute to this effort by examining the network relationships of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) across four issues areas: the environment, health, human rights, and development. Using originally coded data on over 4000 INGOs, we find that the characteristics of network relations across the four areas are in fact quite different. Further, we find that these differences are driven in part by the characteristics of the INGOs, including whether they are located in the global North or South and their ties to intergovernmental organizations. Finally, we highlight the crucial “bridge” role of organizations that focus on a “hybrid” of multiple issue-areas within the overall network.     

How can perception help us to understand the dynamic between EU member states? The state of the art

The paper reviews literature on perception within the international relations and the European Union (EU) studies in order to find out whether and how this concept can help us shed some light on the mutual relations between the EU member states. It examines the utilisation of perception as an analytical tool within the international relations where it was predominantly included into the foreign policy analysis approaches (image and role theory). Moreover, it was used for examining the views of the EU by other actors at not only bilateral but also multilateral level. Most studies analysed the perception of Asian countries, however, other areas, including Africa, were studied. Perception was utilised also at the EU level, when it was used for scrutinising different EU policies (foreign and security policies, enlargement), examining preference formation and influence of member states or investigating elite and public support for the European integration. The results show that perception is a valuable concept that can help us to analyse mutual relations between the EU member states in the enlarged and changed EU in several ways.     

The rocky road of interregionalism: EU sanctions against human rights-violating Myanmar and repercussions on ASEAN–EU relations*

From 1991 until 2012, the European Union (EU) applied sanctions on Myanmar with the purpose of promoting democracy and human rights. In addition, the EU called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to exert pressure on Myanmar. This paper analyses, in the context of Myanmar’s 1997 accession to ASEAN, how the EU’s sanctions approach towards Myanmar was perceived within ASEAN and related repercussions of this approach on ASEAN–EU interregional relations. With the accession of Myanmar as the base story, it is argued that a regional organizations membership concept implies specific dealings with normative ideas such as democracy and human rights as well as strategies of punishment such as sanctions. The differing membership concepts of ASEAN and the EU explain ASEAN’s critical perception of the EU’s sanctions on Myanmar. Further, the conceptual difference in membership also explains that the EU’s pressure on ASEAN has severely impaired the interregional relations.     

生物欠防备对国家安全的危害

科学技术的发展一直在对国家安全的内涵产生影响,技术能力的发展会增加威胁国家安全的手段和模式,科学技术的滥用也会危及社会安全。生物技术在近半个多世纪以来发展极为迅猛,其影响面极广,涉及微生物、动植物、生态环境、医学、农业、粮食、生化战争、生物恐怖主义、人的健康、人口安全等方面,其覆盖领域的广度和深度是其他任何技术都无法比拟的。生物欠防备是指在现实生物安全威胁面前准备不充分和应对不够有效的状况。中国既处于生物欠防备状态,也处于一定程度的生物欠防卫状态,这表现在中国的药物（含疫苗）、水、粮食、种子均处于不设防开放的状态。造成这种状态的根本原因是认识问题,生物技术本身具有前沿性、复杂性,其管理具有跨军民界限、跨学科界限、跨政府部门界限、跨政府任期界限、跨国界的特点,中国现有管理模式不适应这些特点。今后,应密切关注和防范生物技术研发与应用过程中特有的安全风险以及生物技术被有意识用于安全威胁的现实可能性和严重危害性。     

The long-term outlook for economic reform in China: resource constraints, inequalities and sustainability

In China, the inequalities generated by the reforms in the last two decades have been increasing. As a result, the unequal regional and sectoral impact of development associated with the growth-maximisation strategy, has given rise to increasingly severe social and economic tensions and contradictions. The threats to political stability posed by these developments remain, for the time being, potential more than real. But the damage which they have caused to the social, economic and environmental fabric of China is already evident. The main critical facts are: 1) the rise in urban unemployment, both de facto and concealed, that has accompanied the halting restructuring programme among state-owned enterprises (SOEs); 2) the massive reservoir of underemployment that affects at least 130 million farmers; 3) the absence of even basic social security provision for the sick, the unemployed and the old; and the highly differentiated access to education; 4) the pervasiveness of corruption and its destructive impact on the normative framework that usually regulates human economic and social behaviour, to the detriment of the social contract between state and individual.Economic and social polarisation associated with China’s growth-maximisation strategy has become the single most important domestic issue facing the Chinese government. Emphasis by the Hun Jintao-Wen Jiabao administration on a new “people-centred” development strategy highlights the urgency of this problem. When added to the pressures of resource shortages and environmental degradation, the case in favour of shifting from growth-maximisation to sustainability appears to be unanswerable. These are the concerns that have prompted government leaders and officials to question China’s existing development strategy and to formulate a “scientific” concept of sustainable and “harmonious” development.The most authoritative explanation of the new strategy was articulated by Hu Jintao in a speech he made in May 2004, which was subsequently republished in the Party’s leading theoretical journal (Qiushi). In it, Hu demanded a radical change in China’s growth model from one characterised by “high input, high consumption, high pollution, and low efficiency” to a new approach, based on “high science and technology contents, good economic benefit, low resource consumption, less environmental pollution, and full exploitation of human resource advantages.” This change in emphasis was designed to help resolve “prominent contradictions”, such as the excessive pace and scale of fixed-asset investment, which threatened not only to exacerbate resource shortages, but also to generate inflationary pressures attendant on excessive expansion of credit.

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The EU/China relationship: not seeing eye to eye?

I consider the endeavours exerted by the EU to develop the relationship with China which it formalised in its 1995 document ‘A Long Term Policy for China-Europe Relations’ (COM(1995) 279 final). I then examine China’s responses which culminated in 2003 when China produced its first ever ‘China’s EU Policy Paper.’ The reasons for this long gap between initiation and response are then explored. Since, obviously, the EU has been driving the relationship, the rationale for this is then looked into and detailed data is provided to support it. Finally, the nature of China’s reciprocation is entertained before the paper concludes that the relationship appears to mean more to the EU because China perceives the EU as only having a limited role within China’s overall global aspirations, of becoming a world power in economic terms, resulting from its impressive rate of economic growth, increasing R&D expenditure, and continually enhancing sophistication of its technology, and politically with its developing links and military prowess.

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NGOs and advocacy: How well are the poor represented?

There is a widespread perception that Southern non-governmental organizations (NGOs) best represent the authentic voices of the Southern poor. This article challenges this perception, arguing that poor people in general, and children and women in particular, continue to be disenfranchised, while NGOs-both Northern and Southern-offer a poor imitation of their voices. It argues that what is needed, given the current global economic paradigm, is an authentic 'joint venture' between NGOs in the North and the South and the authentic voices of poor people themselves, that would bring the poor into the mainstream; and a new approach to capacity-building that would seek to empower them better to advocate for themselves. It concludes that, to achieve this, economic advocacy should perhaps take greater precedence over political advocacy.     

Shaping perceptions during the latest Balkans Imbroglio

While it might seem as though the confrontation with Slobodan Milosevic is old news, recent events in Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro point to the probability that events this summer will likely bring US policy vis‐à‐vis the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia back to the front pages. All sides in the 1999 conflict over Kosovo attempted to manipulate the regional and international perception of the struggle. This perception conflict was in many ways more important than the casualties sustained or the land controlled. This article examines the attempt to gain the informational ‘high ground’ and addresses how perception management should affect current US policy towards Serbia and the Milosevic government.     

Cooling the earth? The changing priorities of EU–Asia technology cooperation

External crises such as the Bird Flu epidemic, as well as severe environmental problems, are changing overall attitudes towards research in human health and the environment. At present, the EU is putting pressure on developing countries in Asia and elsewhere to increase their environmental capacities and put forward methods of environmental management that support innovation and competitiveness. They are also being encouraged to participate in the Kyoto protocol and Bali processes on climate change. This paper aims to address the current issues faced by the EU in promoting environmentally friendly technologies in Southeast Asia, as well as to examine the opportunities for technological cooperation between Europe and Asia. It will use Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam—some of the EU’s chosen recipients of official development assistance in the region—as case studies, in order to examine how these countries implement policies that incorporate environmental technology strategies designed to promote sustainable development. It will also attempt to identify the type of actions that are being pursued by their respective governments, with the support of the EU and its member states. Finally, the paper will suggest which types of environmentally friendly technologies and best practice could be transferred from Europe to Southeast Asia, and to the wider Asian region. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the ‘EU–Asia Relations: A Critical Review’ conference at the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence at the University of Melbourne, 27–28 March 2008. I would like to express my gratitude to the conference participants for their comments and suggestions.

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How is the EU-ASEAN FTA viewed by ASEAN stakeholders?

Since April 2007, the EU Commission has been entrusted to start negotiating a FTA with ASEAN countries. Being enshrined in the logic contained in its ‘Global Europe strategy’, the proposed EU-ASEAN FTA finds its economic rationale in the expected overall positive impact found by most econometric studies on the topic. This article argues that although beneficial, these studies are limited conceptually and methodologically. In particular, they are unable to tackle the issue of differentiated effects on several groups of stakeholders. By analysing, through a questionnaire, the opinion of a number of ASEAN stakeholders, this article brings complementary information on the perception of the planned EU-ASEAN FTA by these different stakeholders. Whilst offering many opportunities, the FTA presents also a number of risks, the most critical one being the costs of adjustment, particularly for poorer ASEAN member countries. This paper draws partly on research work conducted jointly with F. Nicolas as part of a research contract for the European Commission DG Trade

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