Missing links between regulatory resources and risk concerns: Evidence from the case of food safety in China

Do resources available to regulatory agencies matter for public perceptions of social risks? In this paper we use the case of food safety in China to empirically examine the relationship between regulatory resources and risk concerns. The multilevel model estimates suggest that neither regulatory revenue nor personnel is significantly related to public concerns over food safety. There is also no significant interaction effect between regulatory resources and food scandals. Despite the fact that sufficient fiscal revenue and manpower are the prerequisites of effective food safety regulation, they do not elicit more favorable public perceptions. These are the two missing links leading to the insignificant effect of regulatory resource inputs. First, ineffective distribution and deployment of resources and the lack of external participation retard the growth of regulatory capacity. Second, underinvestment in risk communication and the amplification effect of risks undermine regulatory legitimacy. We discuss the theoretical and policy implications of the results, and conclude with research limitations and suggestions for future research.     

Malaysia: perception of contemporary China and its economic,political and societal determinants

This article looks at the Malaysian perception of the contemporary rise of China by focusing more on the country’s societal response rather than from a broad overall perspective of international strategic relations and diplomacy. The Malaysian society is seen as a complex multi-entity construct, constituted by often sharply differentiated fragments and sub-fragments which could exhibit vastly different responses to the implications of the rise of China. Within such a construct, perception of the rise of China and the appropriate Malaysian response are intricately entwined with domestic power politics, generational transition and governmental control over public discourse. Hence, the Malaysian perception of the contemporary rise of China is as complex as the Malaysian society itself, and what is revealed in official government policies and public discourses in the dominant mass media would fail to reflect the real depth of the issue if the intrinsic complexity of the Malaysian society is not taken into due consideration.     

布鲁姆垣德感知与特殊性理论及其意义

劳伦斯·布鲁姆在针对"基于不偏不倚或任何原则之上的伦理"存在的缺陷进行的批评过程中,形成了他的道德感知与特殊性的理论,这一理论不但弥补了超验伦理学存在的某些理论缺陷,而且对我们追求确定性的道德认知和道德实践等都具有重要的启示。     

Reconciling China with international order

Abstract

The debate about Western policies towards China ('containment’ versus ‘engagement') is intellectually and politically misleading. At issue is not so much the policy blueprint but the ability of Western countries to design and implement coherent and consistent policies towards China, and to coordinate those policies between themselves. This ability has been affected by a trend towards the ‘domestication’ of foreign policies — a trend which is particularly marked in the case of the United States, but clearly visible in France, the UK and Germany as well. If the capacity to design, implement and coordinate effective China policies is to be regained, the problems will have to be recognized and addressed.     

Deliberative participatory budgeting: A case study of Zeguo Town in China

The search for a better practice instrument of civic engagement has led to participatory budgeting and deliberative polling in recent years. Participatory budgeting stresses empowerment and citizens' struggle against the establishment and unequal social structures, whereas deliberative polling works within the system and focuses on improving democratic decision‐making processes by applying credible social science methods. Often, these two processes are presented as being in conflict with each other, which is to the detriment of the search for best practice in deliberative governance. This paper develops a theoretical analysis of deliberative participatory budgeting which is distinguished from unrepresentative and non‐deliberative but self‐selected participatory budgeting; that is, it considers how the quality of participatory budgeting can be improved through deliberative polling. This theoretical analysis is backed by an empirical study of deliberative participatory budgeting in Zeguo Township, Zhejiang Province, China. It explores whether, how, and under what conditions it is possible to combine deliberative polling and participatory budgeting. It details four experiments and assesses the successes, failures, limitations, and problems of the experiments. The case of Zeguo offers scholars, activists, and officials lessons about how to pursue best deliberative practice in both authoritarian states and democratic societies.     

Australia and the China Threat: managing ambiguity

A China Threat – the fear of being taken over by China and the Chinese – has been an ever present in the politics of Australia since even before there was a Commonwealth of Australia. It was both a major cause of Federation in 1901 and a determinant of Australia's foreign policy thereafter. In the last 20 years, concerns about China have come to focus less on migration and more on economic integration and China's political influence. There are as always distinct paradoxes in the China Threat. It may be a useful vehicle for making a political point at election time but China has a place in the Australian economy that has led Australia's leaders to at least modify their resistance once in office.     

试论外来文化中国化何以可能——以佛教和基督教为例

通过对基督教和佛教中国化的历史考察可以发现：外来文化本身能否认同和接纳中国本土文化的基本精神是其能否实现中国化的内在根源；能否满足中国社会统治阶级的需要和中国民众的需要尤其是精神的需要，是外来文化能否存在和传播的现实基础；外来文化在保持基本精神的同时，必须与中国传统文化相结合，适应中国社会的现实状况和需要，才能真正实现中国化，并成为中国文化的重要组成部分。     

西部大学生对气候变化的感知初探——以宝鸡文理学院为例

为初步探究西部高等院校学生对气候变化的感知和行动意愿,对宝鸡文理学院600名学生采取随机抽样的调查方法进行调查。调查内容包括被调查者的基本情况、被调查者对气候变化的了解程度以及在了解的基础上改善自身行为的意愿等三方面。结果显示,对气候变化情况了解很多和有一定了解的大学生分别占16%和25%。大学生对气候变化普遍担心(96%)和悲观(72%),但有99.8%的大学生愿意积极应对气候变化。建议政府、学校能更多地宣传气候变化知识,并开展能让大学生参与的活动。     

International ideologies: paradigms of ideological analysis and world politics

Abstract

Recent years have seen significant interest among scholars of International Relations (IR) in ideological analysis. By treating international theories as international ideologies, this trend entails both a radical reconceptualization of IR’s disciplinary foundations as well as the emergence of important new lines of inquiry for scholars of ideology. And yet, as a research programme, ideological analysis in IR has failed to establish a significant foothold in the discipline. This article locates the source of this weakness in the fractious nature of IR as a discipline, which has contributed to the emergence of five distinct paradigms of ideological analysis: analytical, historical, philosophical, critical and reflexive. Reviewing these five distinct bodies of scholarship, this article demonstrates that ideological analysis is ‘alive and well’ in IR, but argues that greater engagement between divergent paradigms will be required in order to fully understand the complexities of international ideologies.     

China as an institution-builder: the case of the AIIB

As China is entering into the center stage of the world arena, it has become more proactive in regional and global institution-building. Globally, it has been actively involved in the G20 affairs and will be hosting the 2016 G20 Summit in Hangzhou. Regionally, it came up with a major initiative for a new institution, namely, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). This article aims to analyze the new institution's formation, goals and institutional arrangements as well as its implications.     

Localizing the South China Sea problem: the case of China's Hainan

This paper adopts the local government as a unit of inquiry for understanding the South China Sea problem. It examines the case of Hainan Province, which was designated by the central government of China to administer its claims to ownership of natural resources in the disputed waters. It investigates the political economy of the interactions between the national government of China and the provincial government of Hainan in pursuing China's agenda of exploiting resources, fisheries in particular, in the South China Sea waters. It then considers the implications of such findings for considering the international political economy of the South China Sea problem.     

Testing the China Threat paradigm: China's high-speed railway diplomacy in Southeast Asia

Vying for high-speed railway projects overseas has become a prominent feature of China's diplomacy in recent years, including in Southeast Asia. These efforts have been widely depicted within the premises of the China Threat narrative – as a part of Beijing's agenda to alter the power balance in Southeast Asia at the expense of the economic, political, and security well-being of countries in the region. This paper challenges such interpretations and concludes that these projects do not have either the intention or capacity to facilitate such a hostile and far-reaching agenda toward the region.     

Religion,globalization and commodification in online world news slideshows: the dis/connection of images and texts

Lately, possibilities of producing and spreading news pictures have increased explosively through online media. Concurrently, religion has become increasingly salient in politics and news. Both processes are connected to globalization. This study encompasses globalization, religion and online images and aims to convey how online world news slideshows represent religion, and more particularly how linguistic and visual parts of picture paragraphs are interrelated, as well as related to representations of different religions. Methodologically multimodal analysis and discourse analysis are combined, focusing on composition of images and (dis-)connection of images and texts. Theories on globalization and possibilities and particularities of online news (pictures) and slideshows, frame the analysis. Tendencies to templates for different religions are found. Many religions appear as aesthetic commodities in images, whereas Islam in texts “sells” images of violence/destruction. Image–text relations are thus crucial both in the creation of meaning and of commodities in online news image culture. Two main image–text types are identified: “Religion in text, (potential) violence/destruction/despair in picture” (Islam) and “Spirituality/worshipping/aestheticism” (other religions). The world news slideshows have crucial roles as containers for these polarized image–text types, where they are related to and defined by each other in the genre's (cl)aim to cover the whole world.     

Identity,contact, and the reduction of mutual distrust: a survey of Chinese and Japanese youth

In the midst of rising tension between China and Japan, two powerful countries in Asia, the favorable attitudes of each country's citizens toward the other country have dropped to a historical low. The Taiwan issue, historical legacy, island disputes, and maritime resource competition are major obstacles in Sino-Japanese relations, but the most fundamental issue is a deep-seated mutual distrust and suspicion between the two countries, which result in rising threat perceptions. Beyond the structural and political elite-centered approaches, this study examines the evidence related to the three approaches (face-to-face contact, cross-cultural exposure, and social identity) to reduce mutual distrust and antipathy in the two countries. With a careful analysis of the survey data, this study sheds light on the conditions under which contact (a) results in improved attitudes toward outgroup, (b) has little or no effect on intergroup relations, and (c) yields more prejudice and hostility toward the outgroup. The findings of this study not only identify factors that could facilitate mutual understanding between Chinese and Japanese people and more favorable impressions of one another, but are also relevant to planning interventions to reduce prejudice and distrust among people from different races, religions, and countries.     

中国特色社会主义文化建设中的若干概念厘析

中国特色社会主义文化建设包含一系列重要概念,主要是：文化、和谐文化、社会主义和谐文化;传统文化与文化传统;价值、价值体系、核心价值体系、社会主义核心价值体系;文化力、文化生产力、文化软实力;文化生态、文化产业、文化事业、文化业态。厘清这些概念及其关系是研究中国特色社会主义文化的前提。     

传统元素在中华地区婚姻法律制度上的体现

法律具有民族特性,是民族的共同意识,通过发掘传统婚姻法元素在现代法律制度的体现,能有效地增进法律制度的优势互补,增强两岸四地对中华文明的认同感,形成具有特色的、完善的中华法系。     

Living in a warmer world: Challenges for policy analysis and management

Human activities are causing a steady increase in the concentration of infrared absorbing trace gases in the atmosphere. The buildup of these gases is causing a global warming that will dramatically alter regional climate patterns. Increases in sea level, changes in the patterns of winds and ocean currents, alterations in the magnitude and distribution of rainfall which occur as a result of global warming will have major economic and ecological consequencws. The timing and severity of these impacts will be determined in large measure by policy choices made in the near future and implemented over the next several decasdes.     

"核心-边缘"模式理论视阈下的早期汉水文化

早期汉水文化在中华文化的形成发展过程中明显地处于核心区并发挥着核心作用：一方面，从新旧石器时代至两汉时期，人们在汉水流域频繁的各种经济、政治等社会活动与发达的原始农业和手工业表明，汉水文化源远流长，汉水流域是中华文明的重要的发祥地之一；另一方面，楚文化根植于汉水文化，汉水文化以其奇妙性、神秘性、自由性、幻想性、浪漫性的品质和精神孕育、催生、滋润了楚文化，从而形成了文化发生学上汉水文化→楚文化→汉代文化→中华文化之间的逻辑关系。