Nation Branding as Nation Building: China’s Image Campaign

This paper illustrates the links between China’s nation building exercises and its efforts to promote the country as a ‘brand’. By using the examples of the Shanghai Expo, China’s national image films and the revival of Confucius, I show how Chinese soft power is both inward and outward looking. Understanding this dual role of soft power is important in comprehending the underlying motivations behind China’s attempts to create and manage its identity as orderly, prosperous and legitimate.     

欧洲与中国的人权观差异

在欧中关系中,人权问题最为敏感,分歧最大。在对人权的理解上,双方不仅官方立场存在分歧,而且公众的人权观念也存在重要差异。欧洲人通常认为,更多的人权有助于经济发展,或者经济发展将导致更多的人权,并期望或假设随着中国经济的持续发展,中国人对人权和民主的需要也将不断上升。但是,本文对大量调查数据的分析说明,欧洲人的这种预期是不切实际的。实际上,欧洲与中国有关人权的观念差距可能在日益扩大。     

东盟、上海合作组织与中国

中国与东盟、上海合作组织这两个地区性国际组织关系密切。尽管目前中国西部有“三股势力”存在 ,但中国安全防御的重点仍在东线而非西线。两个国际组织同中国经贸关系发展很快 ,仍有很大的潜力。对于中国西部大开发 ,它们也可以有所作为。中国利用特殊地位可以在东盟和上海合作组织间发挥桥梁作用。中国与这两个国际组织成员国间存在的问题可以通过平等互利友好协商的途径解决。     

后民权时代的种族问题--读科内尔·韦斯特的《种族问题》

二十世纪的民权运动给美国社会生活造成了深远的影响,自此,公然的种族歧视从法律上被明确禁止、在道义上为众人所不齿.美国研究种族问题的学者称此后的时代为"后民权时代".然而,有目共睹的是,尽管美国的种族问题已经取得了巨大的进步,这个"后民权时代"的天空不似预期得那样晴朗:黑白冲突时隐时现、黑人社区的管理令人棘手等问题不时见于报端.难怪,近半个世纪过去了,美国的学者和政客对种族问题的探讨就不曾间断过.     

Article 5: Permanent Neutrality in The Tartu Peace Treaty, 1920

The article argues for the need to develop more multicausal accounts of international relations. It uses the Estonian–Russian political crisis over the relocation of the Bronze Soldier monument in 2007 as a case in point, showing how the ideational, material and institutional structures within the wider international society interact. As such, even cases with clear identity-political root causes can benefit from other factors being inserted into the equation when it comes to analysis. The article concludes by arguing that it is only by embracing multicausality that our chances of arriving at fuller and consequently more truthlike accounts of the events out there are improved.     

马来西亚“伊斯兰国”与民族国家:争论、影响与趋势

伊斯兰党在20世纪80年代转型后,致力在马来西亚建立"伊斯兰国"。"伊斯兰国"与巫统主导下的民族国家建构是完全不同的建国方向,两者在最高权力的来源、统治阶层、意识形态三方面有着显著的差异。伊斯兰党现阶段重提伊斯兰刑法后,引起马来西亚两线制的重新分化与组合。由于政党之间的建国理念相异,马来西亚未来的建国方向大体上有三种:马来人主导下的民族国家、伊斯兰国和多族群国家。另外,伊拉克与大叙利亚伊斯兰国组织在中东的崛起,令身处伊斯兰世界的马来西亚民族国家体制也面临着来自外部的强烈冲击。     

中俄睦邻友好合作条约与中俄关系

本文以中俄睦邻友好合作条约的签定为主题,探讨了三个方面的问题:条约签定的条件,条约的意义和内容分析,条约签定之后中俄关系的课题。本文认为中俄关系10年发展的积累、两国对外战略的形成、俄罗斯国内政治的稳定是促使中俄睦邻友好合作条约签定基本因素;中俄睦邻友好合作条约的意义,其一是总结过去,梳理两国关系已取得的成果并以国家间条约的形式加以巩固,其二是面向未来,为两国关系的远景奠定可靠的基础。另外,本文探讨了中俄睦邻友好合作条约签定之后两国关系面临的主要课题。     

China and the International Human Rights Covenants

ABSTRACT

In 1966 the UN passed two International Human Rights Covenants that are among the great achievements of humankind. The covenants were adopted in five equally binding languages, one of which was Chinese. The People's Republic of China (PRC) is generally assumed to have ratified one and signed (but not ratified) the other. In 1973, however, soon after the PRC began representing China in the UN, new Chinese-language versions of each mysteriously came into existence. These are the versions one is likely to find on the UN website, and they are what the Chinese government treats as the “covenants.” The authors of this article show that these contain substantial revisions from the covenants that had been passed by the UN 1966 and subsequently ratified by at least 164 countries. The revised versions are so different, in fact, that one could well question whether the PRC actually embraced either covenant. The covenants granted rights that the revisions would later withdraw, and in at least one case the revisions recognize a right that is absent in the covenants. Based on their comparative analysis of the various versions, the question arises as to whether China is a responsible actor in the international legal order and a reliable partner when it comes to entering into agreements with other countries or acceding to international treaties. Given that China comprises over one-fifth of humanity, it also brings into question whether the principles in the covenants can claim absolute validity and anything like universal acceptance.     

从《东南亚集体防务条约》看美国的南中国海政策

1954年以美国为首签署的<东南亚集体防务条约>正式把南中国海纳入美国的防御圈内;此前,南中国海位于美国在西太平洋的防线之外.之后,该条约多次被试图援引,用以对付所谓的"共产主义",实指中国在南中国海的活动.纵观20世纪50、60年代,在遏制共产主义的战略下,美国不仅试图否认中国对南中国海岛礁的主权,还坚决反对中国在南中国海采取任何行动,但放任台湾当局、菲律宾和南越等冷战盟友在南中国海的活动.     

《核不扩散条约》的困境及应对

作为现有国际核不扩散机制的基石,《核不扩散条约》近年来面临多重危机。危机源于缔约各方相互矛盾的利益关切和目标、对条约进行利己主义式的解读和利用、条约自身的局限性和脆弱性、以及许多国家的政府和民众对核武器的认识和道德评价仍未形成共识。应对上述危机需要各缔约国弥合分歧、重建共识,在利益相互妥协的基础上维护条约的权威和效力。     

A Divided Family: Race,the Commonwealth and Brexit

Abstract

The Commonwealth has long been conceptualised as ‘a family of nations’ in a reflection of the size, diversity and shared values of the organisation. As the discussion in post-Brexit Britain engages with questions of race and immigration, it is important to consider the role the Commonwealth played in the referendum campaigns. The combination of the Leave campaign’s promises to reinforce ties with ‘kith and kin’ in Commonwealth countries with the xenophobia that defined the campaign prompts the question what exactly does the Commonwealth mean in modern Britain? The EU referendum revealed two Commonwealths—one reflecting the backgrounds of Britain’s ethnic minorities, and one centred on the three majority white nations of Australia, New Zealand and Canada. This article will offer an investigation of these conflicting visions of the Commonwealth in the referendum, as well as the voting motivations of Commonwealth nationals and British citizens of Commonwealth descent.     

The Transformation of Urban Vegetable Retail in China: Wet Markets,Supermarkets and Informal Markets in Shanghai

The state-monopolised system of vegetable retail in socialist urban China has been transformed into a market-based system run by profit-driven actors. Publicly-owned wet markets not only declined in number after the state relegated its construction to market forces, but were also thoroughly privatised, becoming venues of capital accumulation for the market operators now controlling these properties. Self-employed migrant families replaced salaried state employees in the labour force. Governments' increased control over urban public space reduced the room for informal markets, exacerbating the scarcity of vegetable retail space. Fragmentation in the production and wholesale systems restricted modern supermarkets' ability to establish streamlined supply chains and made them less competitive than wet markets. The transformation of urban vegetable retail documented here shows both the advance that capital has made in re-shaping China's agrifood system and the constraints that China's socialist institutions impose on it. Shanghai's experience also shows that the relative competitiveness of various retail formats is shaped by the state's intervention in building market infrastructure and institutions.