Lessons from International Financial Crisis

Since the advent of the 1990s, international financial crises broke one after an-other with ever greater frequency. They appear in a variety of forms and canbe traced to highly complicated factors. Yet measures could be taken to nip them inthe bud. In the west, stress has been focused on regulating the behavior of finan-     

Viewing India from Religious Angle

It would be impossible to understand India without any knowledge about the religions of this country. India is a developing country with many religions, nationalities and languages. This nation has long been noted for its democratic politics and multiculture. India was founded on the principle of secularism, but at the same time it has suffered from re- ligions. Therefore, to have a clear idea about the basic conditions of India's multiple religious beliefs is the foundation for studies of it…     

Trip to China by Friends from Vienna

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CAFIU s Two Old Friends from Australia

Chinese Association for International Understanding (CAFIU), since its founding, has played an important role as a bridge for international exchanges by promoting mutual understanding and exchanges between the Chinese people and people in the world through various     

Notes from Visit to Norway and Germany

AttheinvitationofNorwayMoralRearmamentMRAandGermanFriedrich-EbertFoundationFESCAFIUdelegationheadedbyMr.ZhuDachengVice-PresidentofCAFIUvisitedNorwayandGermanyinthemiddleofMay.AsamemberofthedelegationIembracedthechancetowitnessandgettoknowthesociallivesandenvironmentofthetwoEuropeancountrieswhichgavemealottothinkabout.I.BeautifulenvironmentNorwayacountrylikeagardentoppedtheworld'slistofcountriesbestsuitedforhumaninhabitationforthreestraightyears.Itim-pressedmewithwatertreesandflow…     

International Counter-Terrorism:Inspiration from Current Predicament

The September 11 attacks have spurred international counter-terrorism onto a new level of state security strategy for manycountries in intensifying the war on terror from varied angles, in amulti-layered, omni-dimensional way. Strange enough, terrorist activitieshave become all the more rampant in spite of such full-scale, worldwideclampdowns- a paradox indeed. This merits in-depth explorations into theunderlying problems for seeking feasible solutions in response to the needsof theoretical re…     

Viewing Europe-Russia Ties from a New Perspective

The Ukrainian election crisis started on November 22 resulted not only from the struggle between pro-West and pro-Russia forces in Ukraine but also from the conflict of different values and strategic interests between the West and Russia. The European Union responded to the Ukrainian election crisis swiftly in step and also in relatively great strength. Therefore, the EU's move was strongly criticized by the Russians. So it was not only aggravated still further the two sides' mutual distr…     

Learning from International Experiences and Promoting People-to-People Diplomacy

<正>People-to-people diplomacy refers to nongovernmental external relations by NGOs including foreign exchanges and cooperation in certain areas of expertise that could influence state foreign relations.People-to-people diplomacy has five characteristics:firstly,it is non-governmental,thus it neither represents the state or the government’s     

Young Politicians from Republic of Korea Visit China

At the invitation of Chinese Association for International Understanding （CAFIU）, a 10-member delegation of young politicians of Republic of Korea （ROK） organized by ROK National Strategic Institute （NSI） and headed by Mr. Heo Beom-Do, Member of ROK National Assembly, visited China from November 7 to 16.     

Welcome the Friends from the Japan Anti-War Alliance

Invited by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), theDelegation of Japan Anti- War Alliance (JAWA) came to Beijing to attend the assembly celebrating the60th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggressionand the World Anti- Fascist War. On Sept. 2, the delegation visited the Chinese Association for Inter-national Understanding(CAFIU) and was met by Mr. Li Chengren, Executive Vice- Pre…     

China’s National Interests from the Cultural Perspective

The definition and cognition of national interests vary with domestic and international cultural values and norms. National interests include both tangible material and intangible cultural interests. When handling the relationship between the national int…     

Condolence from Foreign NGOs to Quake-Stricken Area in China

<正>Since April 20 when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Lushan county of Ya’an city in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, a number of foreign NGOs and friendly personages including Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Civic Association "House of Poland",Japan-China Friendship Association,     

How can opposition support authoritarianism? Lessons from Egypt

While many observers of politics in the Arab world hold that the emergence of political opposition would be a harbinger of democratization, this article argues that opposition can contribute to the stability and resilience of authoritarian regimes. Based on an empirical analysis of contemporary Egyptian politics, it is shown that, despite the repressive nature of the Egyptian state, political opposition has emerged in various societal contexts: political parties, human rights associations and a popular Islamist current. In order to understand this development, it is important to investigate authoritarian survival strategies ‘beyond coercion’. While militant resistance from radical Islamists has been successfully oppressed during the 1990s, the Egyptian incumbents reacted to the challenge of societal dissent by co-opting opposition forces. As a consequence, political opposition in Egypt serves functions entirely different from those in liberal democracies. It contributes to the legitimacy of the Egyptian state. Moreover, by tolerating controlled opposition, societal dissent can be better observed, channelled and moderated. From a more general perspective, political dissent exists in various settings: it prevails not only among opposition, but also within the political elite leading to a delicate juggling act of competing ideas and interests performed at the helm of the polity.     

Changing Politics from Below? Women Parliamentarians in Morocco

The issue of political change in an authoritarian state takes different forms, and one central form that it assumes concerns the introduction of women's rights and female politics. In Morocco, one celebrated issue has been the introduction of a 10 per cent quota system in 2002 in the lower chamber, which saw for the first time a significant number of women in the hitherto male-dominated Moroccan parliament. This legal change gives rise to a number of hypotheses about the possibility of political change through increased formal participation by women in politics. This article gives a critical analysis of the way in which women seemed to have been ‘empowered’, by referring to recent legal changes as well as by presenting the results of a survey that the author conducted with women parliamentarians. Using as an example what is often considered a democratically more advanced Arab country, it thereby illustrates a common feature of pseudo-democratic regimes that incorporate apparently innovative political currents whilst relying on informal mechanisms to prevent real political innovation and associated contestation.     

Highlights of CAFIU''''s International Exchanges from August to October 2002

August：（１）．FromAugust２to１４，a３－memberCAFIUdelegationledbyCouncilMemberWangJinshengattendedtheinternationalsymposiumof″Reconcil－iationAgenda－Peace″attheinvitationoftheSwitzerlandFoundationofMoralRe－Armament．（２）．InvitedbyCAFIU，BrigadierGeneralMaungMaungThien，MemberoftheExecutiveCommitteeofSolidarityandDevelopmentoftheU－nionandMinisterofFarmingandAquaticProductofMyanmar，leda６－memberdelegationtovisitChinafromAugust４to１１．WhileinBeijing，Vice－Chairman…     

The Regime Change from Koizumi to Abe and Japanese Nationalism

During his term of office, Prime Minister Koizumi time and again paid homage to the Yasukuni Shrine where the Class-A     

Highlights of CAFIU''''S International Exchanges from February to April 2003

FebruaryFromFebruary11to24,attheinvitationofMinistryofForeignAffairsandRegionalCoopera-tionofMauritiusandParliamentofZimbabwe,Mr.WanGuoquan,Vice-ChairmanoftheNationalCommitteeoftheChinesePeople'sPoliticalCon-sultativeConference(CPPCC)andVice-PresidentofCAFIUledan11-memberCAFIUdelegationtopayagoodwillvisittothesetwocountries.WhileinMauritius,MauritianPrimeMinisterSirJugnaut,VicePrimeMinsterandMinisterofFinanceMr.BerengerandForeignMinisterMr.GayanandAct-ingSpeakerofParliam…     

Does infrastructure facilitate trade connectivity? Evidence from the ASEAN

This paper explores the impact of infrastructure on trade connectivity among ASEAN and three Asian countries—India, China, and Japan. Our study is mainly motivated by the increased infrastructure investment and trade among these countries in recent years. The main results of trade network analysis include high trade density and interconnectedness among ASEAN, India, China, and Japan. There are specific “trade intensive paths” among the few countries in the group. It highlights the “export hubs” or main “suppliers of intermediate goods” in the region. Further, the paper analyzed the nexus between trade connectivity and infrastructure by applying the panel fixed effects method and Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood. Moreover, the robustness of the results is tested by estimating two-stage least square. Hard infrastructure, foreign direct investment plays a crucial role in bringing the nexus to trade connectivity. Reducing trade barriers and improving infrastructure quality are essential for deepening regional trade integration.

     

Feedback Opinions and Suggestions from Readers at Home and Abroad

To build a bridge between editors and readers and improve the editorial equality of International Understanding, Asking for Opinions and Suggestions was issued by our editorial office last December; we have received active responce from our readers at home and abroad. Many officials from foreign embassies in Beijing have offered high appreciation, they hold that International Understanding is a window open to mutual understanding between China and the rest of the World. An Australian reade…     

Victimization from Terrorist Attacks: Randomness or Routine Activities?

This study tackles the as yet unaddressed question of the various types of factors related to victims of terrorism. We have explored core assumptions of terrorism and victimization theories by empirically testing both the randomness and the lifestyle-exposure theories. Specifically, we looked at how characteristics of victims of suicide bombings differ from the characteristics of those who have been casualties of other types of terrorism. Findings obtained via logistic regressions clearly refute the randomness hypothesis that the risk of victimization from terrorism is similar across all segments of society. Furthermore, findings indicate that victimization from suicide vis-à-vis other types of terrorism is related to the basics of lifestyle-exposure theories.