Economic interdependence and political divergence: The emerging pattern of relations across the Taiwan Strait

Economic interactions between Taiwan and mainland China have grown at an astounding speed since the Taipei government began to relax restrictions on indirect trade with the mainland in the late 1980s. A growing flood of cross‐border investment and trade has created an economic interdependence. However, intensified economic exchanges have not spilled over into political recognition of the legitimacy to each other or even ameliorated hostility across the Taiwan Strait. Growing economic interdependence has been a function of political power and political choice. This paper examines the emerging pattern of the relations across the Taiwan Strait and attributes the discrepancy between economic and political relations to significant disparities across the Taiwan Strait, which has worked as both integrative and disintegrative forces.     

Accounting for Taiwan's economic policy toward China

This article explores the ideas, institutions, and interests in which Taiwan's economic policy toward China is embedded. The authors indicate that the ideas behind Taiwan's economic policy toward China are as vibrant as ever, the political foundation for a coherent and feasible policy is eroding, and commercial interests are digressing from the Taiwan government's policy goals. Political forces around ideas have strong hearing on the formation of Taiwan's economic policy toward China. The truthfulness or falseness of the security argument is of intrinsic value to Taiwan's decision makers. The authors also point out that in order to have a complete picture of cross‐Strait economic relations, we need to specify how trade and investment with China influence Taiwan's distribution of political interests.     

改革开放与跨国（地区）投资历程考察

改革开放30余年,中国从封闭半封闭状态走向对外开放。改革开放前,中外经济关系主要是对外贸易与对外经济合作。改革开放以来的巨大变化突出体现为跨国（地区）直接投资,主要包括“引进来”与“走出去”。始于改革开放初期的“引进来”,发展到“引进来”与“走出去”并行;21世纪初,随着中国加入WTO和政策法规体系逐渐完备,中外之间的跨国（地区）投资进入新的阶段。     

Emergence of the Greater China Circle Economies: Cooperation versus competition

The integration of the so-called greater China economies among Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong is one part of the global trend of regionalism. The significance of integration in terms of foreign trade and foreign direct investment demonstrates not only rapid growth but also diversity, ever since Mainland China pursued her open door policy of economic reform in 1979. For instance, the combined volume of Hong Kong and Taiwan accounted for as much as 74.1% of Mainland China's capital utilization in 1993, which in turn contributed to the rapid economic growth of Mainland China over the last two decades. The membership of Mainland China and Taiwan to the WTO, as expected by the end of 2001, will facilitate a more official arrangement of intergovernmental coordination within these Triangle Economies. However, the government of Taiwan will continue to evaluate the cross-strait relations in the context of the nation's overall political and economic security as long as the government of Mainland China does not renounce the use of military force against Taiwan.     

China and Asian regionalism: Challenge and policy choice

Regionalism has become an interesting phenomenon in Asian international relations. Driven by fast growing trade and investment, Asian countries have developed variegated patterns of economic co‐operation and a complex level of interdependence among themselves. Although the growing Asian regionalism is very much an economics‐driven process, it has profound impacts on regional political organization. This analysis examines Beijing's changing attitudes toward Asian regionalism and its policy choice in the regional economic integration. It is argued that the integration of the Chinese economy into the regional structure is promoted by the government as well as driven by market dynamics. Although Beijing has let the Chinese economy develop into the regional ‘flying geese’ structure, the best policy choice for China, as many Chinese scholars have argued, would be a three‐circle strategy of integrating into the world economy and a strategy of ‘market for technology’ in regional economic co‐operation. This analysis also discusses the regional political obstacles impeding co‐operation across national borders. It is argued that healthy bilateral relations and more political will toward regional multilateralism on political issues would be instrumental for future regional prosperity and stablity in Asia.     

中国与东盟的贸易和投资关系研究

中国与东盟的经济贸易关系特别是贸易和投资关系,自1967年以来经历了不同的发展阶段,其间出现过波动.但近年来随着金融危机的过去和双边政治关系的改善,经济贸易得到迅速发展.目前,中国与东盟的经贸合作的主要领域是商品贸易、服务贸易、相互投资、区域开发和科技合作等方面,在此基础上,应通过各种渠道协调相互关系,相互给予优惠贸易安排,加强区域合作,加强科技、教育、文化、卫生保健等领域的合作,以促进双边的贸易和投资等进一步发展.     

The Rise of Neoclassical Economics and China's WTO Agreement with the United States in 1999

Drawing on the historical institutionalists’ emphasis on the effects of ideas on policy making, this paper focuses on the importance of economic ideas and ideologies on China's trade policy making with regard to the signing of the WTO agreement with the United States in 1999. The paper argues that trade liberalization in China was a result of top Chinese leaders’ embrace of neoclassical economic ideas which conceive a small role for the state in the marketplace, mainly as the regulator of the macro-economic environment and as the enforcer of the rule of law, rather than as a major player in the marketplace. Top Chinese leaders’ socialization with neoclassical economic ideas enabled them to forge a political consensus to link state-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms with speedy WTO accession and led to China's major concessions in WTO negotiations with the United States in 1999 which were inconceivable just a few years ago.     

India–China Trade at the Borders: challenges and opportunities

This paper aggregates the state of India–China economic relations with a specific focus on trade at the borders. It explicates the potential for economic activity at the border regions to generate self-sustaining and/or externally linked local development for both countries. By an examination of the existing trade and investment policies and practices, it shows how geographical contiguity is yet to be transformed into opportunity along the India–China border, a practice consistent both with the history of these regions as well as with the blueprints being drawn up for the future of these regions. Informed by the Liberal school of IR theory, the paper studies border trade through the paradigmatic optic of being an important, yet underutilized, avenue of dyadic interaction, and makes a case for upgrading the status of border trade in the overall schema of bilateral trade relations between India and China.     

China's Move to Preferential Trading: a new direction in China's diplomacy

China was a latecomer to the preferential trading bandwagon that has swept East Asia in the years since the financial crises. The Chinese government was unwilling to go down the path of negotiating bilateral and minilateral agreements until the terms of its accession to the World Trade Organization were finalized. Since then, it has become one of the most active participants in the negotiation of preferential trading arrangements, currently being engaged in negotiations with more than 20 countries. The paper will address the following questions about China's move to preferential trade: (a) What forces are driving China's approach to the negotiation of preferential trade agreements? (b) To what extent is it possible to untangle economic and political motivations in China's choice of partners for PTA negotiations? And, which economic interests are being pursued most aggressively? (c) How are conflicting domestic interests reconciled in the policy-making process? (d) To what extent will the new PTAs facilitate Chinese-dominated production networks in the regions? (e) What overall impact will the PTAs have on the Chinese economy?     

光复初期（1945-1949）福建与台湾之经济贸易关系

台湾光复以后，福建与台湾两省的关系进入全新的发展阶段。1945-1949年短短四年间，抗战爆发后全面断绝的闽台经贸关系得以迅速恢复和发展。在闽台两省交通、邮电和汇兑恢复的基础上，光复初期的闽台经贸关系在多个层面得到迅猛发展：两省频繁互派经济考察团并举办博览会，商业贸易和物资交换渐趋活跃，技术合作和相互投资蓬勃开展。这一时期的闽台经贸关系，呈现出形式多样、互补性强和受时局影响较大等特点，在一定程度上促进了战后两省社会经济和生产建设的恢复和发展。     

环境问题与政府责任——基于环境政治学的视角

中国经济持续高速增长的同时带来了严重的环境问题。环境问题已成为影响人们生命财产安全与社会和谐发展、诱发群体性突发事件和政治冲突、威胁国家政治系统稳定的重要因素,这就决定了政府在解决环境问题中必须扮演主导性角色。因此,政府要制定符合公众诉求的环境公共物品的质量标准,加大科技环保投入,建立公众环境权益维护和保障机制,加强对环境的治理,促使社会环境与政治发展互利共赢。     

From functional integration to structural readjustment: Taipei–Beijing relations and the role of the United States

Regardless of the continued stalemate in the political arena, trade and economic interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have increased steadily. Both aggregate data and the results of survey research have testified to the existence of functional integration of the two societies across the Taiwan Strait. In addition to functional integration, structural readjustments have also been made by political authorities both in Taipei and Beijing so as to facilitate continuity of trade and economic relations. These types of mutual accommodations include: establishing proper ‘unofficial’ agencies on both sides to serve as instruments of practical contacts and negotiation; the more flexible definition of ‘One China’ by Beijing; and the opening of ‘small links’ between Quemoy and Amoy by Taipei. Beijing's refusal to grant Taipei any official diplomatic status and Taipei's reluctance to accept the ‘One China’ principle remain major obstacles to cross‐Taiwan Strait relations. The United States will continue playing a key role in future cross‐Strait relations. Beijing seems to be content, at least temporarily, to maintain cordial relations with the United States in exchange for the latter's adherence to the ‘One China’ principle and rejection of the option of Taiwan independence. Whether Taipei will use enhanced US commitment to Taiwan's security to strike a better deal with Beijing for gradual cross‐Strait integration or to utilize increased American protection to move onto the separatist road will be affected by domestic politics in Taiwan, future US policy toward to the island, and Beijing's response to Taipei's demand for security and international recognition.     

Explaining the patterns of Japanese foreign direct investment in China

Using Chinese and Japanese data, this paper shows that Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) has been under‐represented in China since 1980, but especially before 1992, compared with Japanese FDI in some other East and Southeast Asian countries, and with FDI in China from other major international investors. The under‐representation of Japanese FDI in China, and its important patterns cannot be simply dismissed as being a result of China's poor investment environment. This paper proposes an alternative explanation by repositioning Japanese FDI in China into a larger historical, political and strategic framework. It argues that the growth of Japanese FDI in China has been shadowed by the lingering historical experiences of the two nations since 1895, and has been disrupted by a series of political incidents between the two countries during the previous 17 years.     

Governing Greater China: dynamic perspectives and transforming interactions

The composition of Greater China among the PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan entails an emerging form of micro governance where an ecological evolution of sub-group interaction and crossover of economic and social activities has been generating a dynamic of change within the East Asian region. The constitution of Greater China by social, economic, political, business and even daily commuting creates some soul searching questions about the possible outcomes of their intense interaction. To what extent has integration been made within Greater China through these interactions? Is China the economic linchpin or does China need to cooperate in one way or another to facilitate the modes of economic development? What are the attitudes and strategies used by Hong Kong or Taiwan when confronted with such an economic cum social entity? More importantly, where, and, under what conditions, will the interactions among the PRC, Taiwan and Hong Kong lead to? In this paper, I am going to use a conceptual model which includes four interactions: integration, interdependence, identity and independence (Four Is) to capture the catalyst of change that collectively entails these intermingled economic, social and cultural elements. People who live in the vast context of this geographical region experience the change. Through daily interaction, they help write the context of change through business activities, investment, migration, trade, culture, academic exchange, political and social development along the Four Is.     

论我国阶级阶层政治关系的变化调整与政治稳定

改革开放以来，随着所有制结构和经济关系的不断调整与变革，我国阶级阶层政治关系发生了显著变化，并给政治体系的稳定带来了深刻影响。正确认识和处理阶级阶层关系，积极协调利益关系，根据阶级阶层政治关系变化的实际推进政治体制改革，是保持政治体系稳定的重要举措。     

The Missing Link in Sino–Latin American Relations

The growing economic presence of China around the world is a widely recognized reality. China's expanding economic relations with other developing countries have generated both positive and negative reactions. Many believe that the increasing economic ties between China and these countries will enhance China's political influence and encourage political cooperation between China and other countries in the Global South. How strong is the economic–political link? This article examines this question in the context of Sino–Latin American relations in recent years. It finds that thus far China's expanding economic relations with the region have not had a significant spillover effect into the political realm. The article provides preliminary explanations of the missing link between the economic and the political. It calls for more nuanced ways to apply familiar international relations paradigms to understanding the implications of the rise of China.     

海峡两岸双边贸易流量与潜力研究——基于贸易引力模型的实证分析

以贸易引力模型的相关理论和方法为基础,实证检验并测算了大陆各省市(自治区)与台湾双边贸易的流量与潜力,结果表明:大陆各省市(自治区)的GDP、人均GDP和吸引台资额,各省市(自治区)与台湾之间的绝对距离,以及"两岸贸易热络区"等解释变量,是影响两岸双边贸易流量的主要因素,但影响程度各有不同。由于双边贸易的紧密程度(贸易依存度)不同,大陆各省市(自治区)与台湾的贸易潜力也不一样,对台出口和自台进口的发展空间也存在差别。因此,海峡两岸应采取针对性的措施,进一步加强经贸交流与合作,充分发挥各自的比较优势和竞争优势,消除双边投资和贸易的制约因素,实现两岸经济的共同繁荣。     

巴西开发不发达地区的重要举措

在开发不发达地区的问题上,巴西采取了诸如积极扩大筹措资金和投资的管道,坚持交通问题须先行的原则,实行移民垦殖的优惠政策,通过用发展工业的方式来带动后进地区农业的开发,积极寻求合资项目,加快后进地区的发展步伐,为实现政治、经济、文化中心转移而做出迁都举措,通过建立自由贸易区来带动周边地区的发展等重要措施,既有成功的经验,也有可资吸取的教训.     

Economic prosperity or democracy: Dilemma of development in Hong Kong and China

After Hong Kong is integrated with mainland China in July 1997, the economic and political environments of the two places will inevitably link up with each other. Economic modernization significantly not only improves the living conditions of the Chinese, but also alters their social structure and political values. As such, economic prosperity and democracy become the two conflicting values in Hong Kong and China during the transition to 2000. The people of Hong Kong and China are presented a choice over two mutually exclusive targets: economic prosperity vs. democracy. On the one hand, the choice for economic prosperity will imply no democracy because a conservative political system will be maintained to preserve the political status quo. On the other hand, the choice for democracy will imply no economic prosperity, because democratization will be suppressed and hence the economy will suffer as a result of political instability. However, neither of these two choices could offer the people of Hong Kong and China a genuine prosperity and stability. Therefore a congruent relationship between the economy and the political system must be established and maintained. As prosperity is contributed by both economic growth and political stability, neglection of either of these two elements will not result in a long‐lasting prosperity. Thus, economic development and democratization are two complementary rather than contradicting forces on the road to development in China.     

China and Major Power Relations in East Asia

Tremendous changes have taken place in East Asia in the post-Cold War era, which have a great impact on Chinese foreign policy and its relations with major powers in East Asia. This new power configuration is related to as 'two ups' and 'two downs', which have become apparent since the early 1990s. The 'two ups' concern the rise of the United States and China. The United States' rise to sole superpower status has given Washington a dominant role in all four dimensions of world affairs: political, strategic, economic, and technological/cultural. Meanwhile, China has achieved a spectacular economic performance for the past two decades, sustaining high growth rates, and escaping, so far, the Asian economic crisis of 1997‐98. This expansion has greatly increased China's influence in regional and global affairs. The 'two downs' refer to the downturns of Russia and Japan. This article provides a detailed analysis of China's international environment in the context of the changing dynamics of major-power relations in East Asia. Special attention is paid to the crucial Beijing‐Tokyo‐Washington triangle. The examination focuses upon political, economic, and strategic dimensions.