Convincing the World of China’s Tradition to Pursue Universal Harmony

As China??s comprehensive national power grows, its efforts to reduce the ??China threat?? perception have become more challenging. In line with the Chinese leadership??s current theme of peace and harmony in China??s foreign policy line, Chinese scholars have been highlighting the same theme in their research on China??s traditional strategic culture. Their research criticizes Western cosmopolitanism and praises the peaceful nature of China??s traditional ??tianxia?? concept. The exploitation of traditional strategic culture to provide re-assurance to the international community has now been raised to the official level, as reflected by the White Paper on ??China??s Peaceful Development?? released by the State Council??s Information Office on September 6, 2011. This probably means that it will be a major element of China??s public diplomacy for the foreseeable future. These efforts, however, may not have a significant impact because of rising nationalism in the region and the moderate escalation of existing territorial disputes involving China and its neighbors.     

History and Thought in China’s Traditions

The recent turn to China??s traditions has the potential to correct for the Eurocentrism of Political Science theories. Nevertheless, the overwhelming emphasis on political thought, especially Confucianism, may have its drawbacks. This article suggests that political scientists who are interested in building theories and drawing policy implications should study the verifiable, i.e., history. Unless the purpose is to study philosophy for its own sake, political scientists should study political thought in practice, rather than political thought divorced from history. This article first discusses why it is important to examine history beyond thought. It then analyzes why scholars should not conflate political thought with historical practice. It anchors the analysis with a high-profile recent book on ancient Chinese thought.     

利玛窦儒学观的困境与张力

从记载文本来看,利玛窦从自身对宗教的体会出发,曾经把儒家列为中国的三种宗教之一。随着利玛窦本人对儒家认识的进一步加深,同时为了更好地在中国传教,利玛窦做出了儒家非宗教的判断,这种判断在西方社会中产生了重要影响,虽然当时并没有在中国国内引起较大的关注,但是从一个较长范围来说,仍然具有学术史的意义。利玛窦敏锐地认识到儒学发展的阶段性,肯定"先儒",批判"后儒",但是没有看到中国儒学发展的连续系,也没有看到中国儒学发展断裂性与连续性之间的关系,体现了利玛窦儒学观的内在张力。     

Beyond the Developmental State: The Cultural Roots of "Guerrilla Capitalism" in Taiwan

This article seeks to contribute to the emerging literature on moving "beyond the developmental state" by tracing the important role of "guerrilla capitalism" in Taiwan's political economy. The success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with little linkage to the state in Taiwan strongly suggests that more than state leadership must have been involved in the island's "economic miracle." The SMEs are quite important for the overall economy, especiaiiy the export sector where they have long accounted for more than half of total exports. Their success has resulted from the practice of "guerrilla capitalism" which includes aggressive and even audacious pursuit of business opportunities, extreme flexibility in rapidly filling even small orders, atten tion to quality and design, audacious bidding, participation in complex networks of subcontracting, and only partial observation at best of government regulations and international laws, such as those regarding intellectual property rights. The emergence of guerrilla capifalism, in turn, can be explained by the long-sfanding challenge in Chinese history to "official" Confucianism by a "heterodox counterculture" that is quite conducive to entrepreneurship and small-scale business activities.     

浅探儒家思想的制度资源

文化和制度之间的关系一直受到学术研究领域的关注，中国儒家思想不仅对古代中国产生过深远的影响，在现代社会中，其影响力也丝毫未有减弱。近代以来，对儒家思想的价值认识主要聚焦于文化层面，而在制度层面上却较为忽略，甚至否认儒家思想对于现代社会的制度价值，如何以制度的角度看待儒家思想、认识儒家思想的制度资源，并实现其普适价值的现代理念转换有重要的现实意义。     

西方学者论马克思主义与儒家思想的会通

西方学者对于儒家思想同马克思主义的关系之研究肇始于费正清的中国学研究,他所提出的"革命学说"认为中国的共产主义革命对于传统文化是一场彻底抛弃与革命,但是这种观点受到墨子刻等西方学者的批评。很多西方学者认为,以毛泽东为代表的中国共产党人,通过将马克思主义和儒家传统思想及中国具体语境相结合,从而实现了马克思主义的中国化,并且提出了儒马关系的"契合论""相融论""暗含论"等观点。西方视角可以为我们提供一定的启示,不过我们更需要立足于中国自身的现实语境和思想语境,进行富有创造力的理论构建和实践活动,从而不断迈向中华民族的伟大复兴。     

Teaching Chinese Politics: Microblogging and Student Engagement

This article reflects on some of the issues involved in teaching Chinese politics in the west and assesses the rationale for incorporating technology into teaching. The article specifically addresses the potential benefits of using microblogging (Twitter and Weibo) as a supplementary teaching tool in Chinese politics classes. The article argues that microblogging has benefits in terms of helping students develop professional networks, extending contact hours without placing an onerous burden on instructors, contributing to the construction of a supportive and collaborative learning environment and demystifying China for non-Chinese majors. Furthermore, in classes where students possess Chinese language skills, China??s domestic Weibo provide a fascinating window onto social and political issues as they are experienced contemporaneously by Chinese netizens. An assessment of the potential uses of microblogging is timely as the learning preferences of current and future cohorts change and commercial and pedagogical imperatives increasingly impel university teachers to consider the effectiveness of their teaching methods.     

China in the era of globalization: the emergence of the discourse on economic security

Abstract

This article looks at the Chinese debate on economic security during the period between 1997 and 2004. The contemporary concept of economic security (jingji anquan, 经济安全) was first raised in the Chinese academic literature in 1997, partly as a reaction to the Asian financial crisis and partly due to the increasing role China began to play in globalization, the effects of which it increasingly felt as its economy became more integrated with that of the world. This article examines the emergence of the discourse on economic security within Chinese academic circles, and identifies the development of this concept in China between 1997 and 2004 prior to the ascendancy of the ‘fourth-generation’ leadership.     

Who Participates in Collective Petitions in Rural China?

This article examines the question of why the risks posed by collective petitioning in China deter some villagers from participating but not others. Based on the statistical analysis of an original dataset and an ethnographic study of one case, this article finds that higher household income is the only significant factor that increases a villager??s probability to participate in collective petitions. Economic security empowers a peasant??s political participation. Contrary to the existing literature, being a demobilized soldier does not significantly increase a villager??s probability to participate in collective petitions. The implication of this finding is that petitioning as a form of ??managed participation?? in Chinese politics may face more and more challenges if the average Chinese household income continues to grow.     

“全盘西化”祖于吴虞论

处理中西化关系的“全盘西化”模式,在20世纪的中国影响深远。此一模式的始祖是“四川省只手打孔家店的老英雄”吴虞,而不是学界常说的胡适。理由有二：吴虞是明确摧毁“中体西用”之“体”的第一人;吴虞是明确使用“西式”武器摧毁此“体”的第一人。     

Information Dilemmas and Blame‐Avoidance Strategies: From Secrecy to Lightning Rods in Chinese Health Crises

China and other authoritarian states notoriously keep mum about disasters. Yet two recent but dissimilar Chinese responses to infectious disease epidemics show that authoritarian crisis management can shift from secrecy to openness. China maintained prolonged secrecy during 2003 SARS, yet was open from day one about 2009 H1N1 flu. To explore why, this article links crisis information dilemmas to blame avoidance concepts from democratic political theories. We argue that greater Chinese transparency about infectious disease response reflects evolution in blame avoidance, from heavy reliance on information control to insulating leaders by using technical experts and agencies as “lightning rods.” In 2003, the Chinese strategy of information containment and secrecy backfired, and the Chinese leadership eventually received blame at home and internationally for crisis mismanagement. In 2009, China put in place public health specialists and institutions as responsible for H1N1 information and responses, thereby insulating the top‐tier leadership.     

寻求人文与科学之间的平衡一现代新儒家科学观述评

儒学与中国现代化的关系问题是20世纪中国哲学与文化极为重要的问题。如何做到科学理性与人文主义的有机结合,对于现代新儒家乃至整个人类文化都是一个富有挑战性的问题。新儒家在哲学视域下思考如何在人文理性的指引下充分发挥科学理性的重要作用,提出应凸显道德人文精神对于科学理性的导引价值,以寻求人文与科学之间的平衡。这对于解决当今科技异化问题无疑具有一定的启示意义。     

Legitimacy Deficit: Chinese Leadership at the United Nations

This paper examines the likelihood of China’s legitimation as the global hegemon during an era of relative U.S. decline. Using Rapkin’s (1990) legitimacy deficit framework, the author tests China’s prospects for international legitimacy through the analysis of Chinese leadership at the United Nations (UN). While China’s recent exponential increase in contributions to UN peacekeeping and the UN regular budget signal growing Chinese global leadership, their consistent focus on regional interests, as displayed in UN Security Council and UN General Assembly debate and discussion, indicates the absence of an internationally supported agenda. In concluding, this paper asserts that recent Chinese legitimation efforts through UN leadership have been stonewalled by an inability to provide an international agenda with globally held values and beliefs.     

County and Township Cadres as a Strategic Group. A New Approach to Political Agency in China’s Local State

Linking up with and critically assessing the recent literature on the local state in China, this article introduces a new framework to understand group behavior and strategic agency in local policy processes. Conceptualizing county and township cadres as a ??strategic group??, the framework offers a number of analytical tools for better understanding the conditions of effective and ineffective policy implementation. Drawing on insights from development sociology, Bourdieu??s theory of capital formation and the garbage can model from organization theory, against a background of extensive fieldwork in numerous Chinese counties over the last years conducted by the authors, the article intends to theoretically substantiate the current knowledge of China scholars on the nexus between actors and their institutional environment in the Chinese local state.     

国学精神与当代社会

国学的核心是儒学,国学精神主要是儒学。儒学的仁义之道、和而不同、经济调均、仁民爱物、为政以德等思想精华,对于促进世界和平、构建和谐社会、维护生态平衡,对于提高个人素质,都是有重大意义的。现在有些人受到20世纪批孔的影响,在不太了解孔子儒学的情况下,就全盘否定儒学,是不恰当的。     

把党的执政与治国两种能力建设相贯通——党的十九届四中全会精神的一个研究视角

领会党的十九届四中全会精神,坚持和完善中国特色社会主义制度、推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化,必须把党的执政与治国两种能力建设相贯通。从提出加强党的执政能力建设到提出推进国家治理现代化,显示了党的建设发展思路的战略演进。党的十九届四中全会通过的《决定》,对国家治理各个领域各个方面的制度建设作出全面部署,既体现党的建设与国家治理制度建设的关系,又体现增强党的执政能力与提高国家治理现代化能力的关系。在中国特色社会主义制度安排下,中国共产党长期执政与全面领导是连在一起的,执政与治国两种能力具有不可分离的理论和实践逻辑。执政与治国两种能力既有区别又相联系,两种能力建设相贯通有其内在的机理。新中国成立以来,党领导人民创造的经济快速发展和社会长期稳定两大奇迹,展示了“中国之治”在人类历史上世所罕见的国家成就。党的十九届四中全会以坚持和完善中国特色社会主义制度、推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的全面部署,为党领导人民再创“中国之治”新辉煌提供了实践指南。     

The Effect of “China Bashing” on Sino-American Relations

Many scholars argue that a sizable share of the news about China published in U.S. newspapers engages in ??China Bashing.?? This paper quantifies the extent of the bashing and examines its effect on Sino-American relations. To measure bashing, I develop an index based on the count of articles in major U.S. newspapers that are related to China and also touch on one or more of the following issues: human rights, Tibet, democracy, child labor, and repression. I repeat this process for newspapers from Australia and New Zealand to net out ??fundamental?? news. To examine the effect of the bashing on Sino-American relations, I use the China-US relations score of Yan et al. (Zhongwai guanxi dingliang yuce, [?????????????; Quantitative Forecasts of China??s Foreign Relations]. Beijing, China: Shijie heshi chubanshe, 2009, Zhongwai guanxi jianlan 1950-2005??Zhongguo yu daguo guanxi dingliang hengliang [??????????1950-2005???й???????????????; China??s Foreign Relations with Major Powers by the Numbers 1950-2005]. Beijing: Gaodeng jiaoyu chubanshe, 2010) and estimate a dynamic transfer model with the constructed bashing index, as well as other control variables. The results indicate that a one-standard-deviation shock in bashing leads to a 0.038 point decline in Yan??s Sino-American index after about four months. The results further imply that the cumulative long-run effect of persistent China bashing is equivalent to about 50?% of the decline in Sino-American relations that followed the U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade on May 7, 1999, the worst shock to Sino-American relations during the sample period, 1990 to 2010.     

孔子：中国的苏格拉底，还是塞涅卡？--拉莫特·勒瓦耶、费内隆、李明的中西哲学比较研究

在17世纪法国学者了解和研究中国哲学的过程中，有三本书值得关注：一是1642年出版的拉莫特·勒瓦耶的《论异教徒的道德》，认为孔子和苏格拉底在哲学史上的地位相同，但孔子对中国的影响比苏格拉底对西方的影响更大，由儒家领导的中国乃是柏拉图“哲学王”理想的实现；二是费内隆在1687—1689年撰写的《死者的对话》，其中有一篇题为《苏格拉底与孔子的对话》，论述了苏格拉底与孔子的思想分歧，既不同意把孔子比作中国的苏格拉底，也完全不相信孔子的“圣王”理想或柏拉图的“哲学王”理想具有哲学学理上的合理性和实现的可能性；三是1696年出版的李明（勒孔德）的《中国近事报道》，该书不再将孔子与苏格拉底对举，而是把他比作古罗马斯多葛派哲学家、一位致力于培养“哲学王”式的统治者却并不成功的“帝王师”塞涅卡，并认为在研究中国哲学时应把孔子思想与宋明理学区分开来。这三部文献在一定程度上反映了17世纪法国思想界对中国哲学认识的过程。     

农村党建新课题:重点解决农民党员政治入党问题

农村党组织是新农村建设的领导核心,也是维护农村稳定的第一道防线。由于各种原因,目前农村部分党员政治信念淡薄、政治意志衰退等问题日渐突出。在坚持思想入党原则的基础上,明确提出党员政治入党的要求,采取有效措施重点提高农民党员政治素质,已经成为加强农村党建的新课题。