Editor＇s Note

What does “Tibetan independence” mean？ Li Junqing, professor at the Central University for Natonalities. answers this question in a paper entitled “Tibetan Independence” Means Restoration of Theocracy. He believes “Tibetan independence” or “autonomy of a Greater Tibet region”, advocated by the Dalai clique, means none other than to restore the theocratic system that reigned in Tibet 59 years ago, to deprive the emancipated Tibetan serfs and slaves of their political rights and individual freedom and to negate the results achieved in the democratic reform, a reform designed to separate church from government launched in Tibet after the Dalai Lama fled abroad in 1959. It is an attempt to bring about a retrogression of history in Tibet against the historical trend of human progress. In another paper entitled Human Rights Situation m Tibet： Yesterday and Today contributed to this issue by Shesrab Nyima, Vice President of the Central University for Nationalities, the author shows us the fact that it was in the old Tibet ruled by the Dalai Lama that the fundamental rights of the people were trampled on, and it was only after Tibet started to be administered by the Central Government of New China following the Dalai Lama＇s flight into exile that people in Tibet began to enjoy sufficiem human rights,     

“Tibetan Independence” Means Restoration of Theocracy

The theocratic system of government, a political form featuring the marriage of state power and religious authority, has been cast off by history as it is in conflict with such values as political democracy, civil rights, individual freedom as well as science and civilization, pursued by modern society. In essence, “Tibetan independence” or “autonomy of a Greater Tibet region”, advocated by the Dalai clique, means none other than the restoration of the theocratic system that reigned in Tibet 59 years ago to deprive the emancipated Tibetan serfs and slaves of their political rights and individual freedom and negate the results achieved in the democratic reform launched in Tibet after the Dalai Lama fled abroad in 1959, a reform designed to separate church from government. It is an attempt to bring about a retrogression of history in Tibet against the historical trend of human progress.     

Impacts of March 11

Feng: The world-shocking September 11 terrorist attacks occurred in the United States in 2001, and two and a half years late the world saw panic-stricken terrorist attacks of the same kind in Spain. Ever since then March 11 has become another day that is engraved on the mind of the people all over the world. The terrorist event in Madrid has not only produced great impact on Spain and other European nations as well as on the common people, but also spurred the European nations to reflect on a series of important issues and to make some adjustments of their policies.……     

Report on Progress in Implementation by the Chinese Government of the 1995 United Nations World Summit on Social Development (Part II)

(III) Promoting Social IntegrationChina is a unified country with many nationalities. In order to achieve the develop-ment objective of creating "a society for all", the Chinese Government has, according to law, guaranteed that the entire people enjoy equal rights due to them in social life and the fruits of social development. At the same time, it has encouraged the masses of people to participa-te in state affairs and social activities to make it possible for the society to develop forwar…     

Human Rights and the Building of a Harmonious Society

Harmonious society is the ideal society that mankind has unswervingly pursued. Respecting and protecting human rights is the motive force for harmonious social development. Ensuring full human rights and realizing free and all-round development of its people is a lofty goal for China. By carrying on the fine cultural proceeding from the reality, China tradition and has in recent years vigorously advocated that human development should be promoted harmony which has won great acclaim from home and abroad. through rights social attention and     

The 13th CPC-SPD Dialogue of Foreign Affairs and Security Policies Held in Beijing

<正>On the afternoon of March 31st,the 13th CPC-SPD Dialogue of Foreign Affairs and Security Policies cosponsored by the International Department of CPC Central Committee(IDCPC),Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Germany(FES) and CAFIU was held in Beijing.The theme of the Dialogue is "the changes and adjustment in Chinese and German     

Chinese NGOs Submitted Written Statements to the 49th Session of UNHRC

<正>The 49th session of the UNHRC is running on in Geneva,Switzerland.Chinese NGOs have been participating in the session online by submitting written statements.They have actively told the stories of China’s successful practice of promoting prosperity and development of its regions inhabited by ethnic groups,safeguarding the rights of women and children,and promoting human rights and democracy worldwide,adding Chinese wisdom and solutions to the improvement of global human rights governanc...     

Promote Development through Mutual Exchange and Mutual Learning——the international publicity and exchange conducted by China Foundation for Human Rights Development

正Human rights is a beautiful thing,which could arise the yearning of people for freedom and equality,as well as encourage people to fi ght for rights and dignity.Human rights has never been the patent of only a few countries,instead,it was the common ideal and pursuit of the humanity.     

The Transition of the International Order and China's Role

The international order is built on the principles of sovereign equality,national interests,great powers and respect for human rights among others.International rivalry and cooperation have existed side by side over the past few centuries,while the foundations of an intemational order have solidified.We are now seeing a transition in the international order that requires new innovative ways of thinking.China is seen as the key driver of these changes because of its unique status,pattern of growth and future potential.China should embrace this historic opportunity and take on its obligations to contribute to the birth of a new modern international order.     

Bridging East and West: New Frontiers for Reading East Asian Languages

Over the previous four decades a steadily growing thirst for news and information from East Asia,and China in particular,has been growing around the world.People want to understand China,a country that is rising rapidly but is greatly misunderstood despite the growing numbers of people learning the Chinese language and ideas that have been popularized such as Chimerica (China+America).Interest in China has been impeded by the Great Wall of indecipherable Chinese characters.No wonder so many people say that Chinese is "damn hard" to learn!     

The Clash in Public Opinion between Europe and China： What, How and Why

Recent years have seen a tension between Europe and China in public opinion, which began in 2006 and climaxed in 2008 when the Tibet riots and the Beijing Olympics put China under the global spotlight. Europeans and Chinese view each other more negatively than in ＂the good old days＂ and there is a growing perception gap regarding the Chinese government. The media （including the Internet） and public opinion leaders （scholars, human rights activists, dissidents, politicians and diplomats） have played a part in causing this both in Europe and in China, and this paper examines their roles. This paper also identifies three reasons behind the clash of viewpoints： First, lack of common values has exacerbated Europe＇s fear of a rising China; second, both Europe and China use this hostility to help redefine their self-identity; third, different development needs in China and Europe have nurtured very different mindsets. In the future, the European public＇s interest in China will continue to grow and Europe＇s and China＇s perceptions of each other will gradually stabilize. In the long run, whether Europe will accept a rising China depends on China＇s ability to develop a ＂Chinese thinking＂ which suits both China＇s and the world＇s development needs.     

＂Strategic Reassurance＂ and the Future of China-U.S. Relations

＂Strategic reassurance,＂ a new concept in Obama＇s China policy, should be fostered bilaterally by dialogue designed to highlight and reinforce the areas of common interests while addressing the sources of mistrust directly. Yet in practice it seems that U.S. strategic reassurance has contrasted all China＇s core interests. The United States and China must recognize their different social systems and asymmetrical national strength in seeking to realize strategic stability. Crisis control requires sophisticated management of both side, especially on sensitive issues like weapons sales, the Dalai Lama, and the South China Sea dispute.     

Climate Change and the US Security Sector: the Securitization of Climate Change

This preliminary study traces how climate change came to be viewed as a security issue in the United States through a review of policy documents and reports prepared for and by the US security sector. The paper draws upon the ideas of constructivist schools of security studies to provide an analytical framework for understanding the meaning of the securitization process as it has occurred in the United States. It then refl ects upon the adequacy of those frameworks to interpret the securitization of climate change. In the US, new knowledge of the phenomenon of climate change was fi rst constructed in the research sector, in the fi elds of meteorology and atmospheric science. Environmental and Earth sciences then became a locus of research, and climate change fi rst entered security discourse as a topic of environmental protection. As the implications of climate change and its potential impact on water resources, food production, diseases, infrastructure, and human migration came to the attention of the security sector, this knowledge stimulated an internal discourse, where each new document functioned both as a new securitization statement and as a policy response to prior documents in a chain of discourse. Actors in this securitization process included not only “speakers” making a securitization claim (knowledge claim) and “audiences” that accept or reject a claim. Importantly, it also included actors who were instrumental in translating knowledge between research and security sectors. This brief consideration suggests that social science theories that center on practice are more robust than those that center on discourse for interpreting the securitization of climate change. Improved analytic frameworks need to better account for actors whose role is to transfer and translate knowledge from one sector to another.     

The Rise of Asian Defense Diplomacy： Convergence or Divergence in Sino-Australian Security Relations？

The rise of multilateral defense diplomacy in Asia is an important new phenomenon.In addition to the newly established ADMM+ process and the Shangri-La Dialogue(SLD) ,ASEAN defense ministers,ASEAN chiefs of defense and ASEAN chiefs of intelligence are now all meeting on a regular basis.Such gatherings were almost unthinkable as recently as a decade ago.This paper seeks to interpret these developments and their implications for the Sino-Australian security relationship.It argues that while these recent developments appear to reflect a deepening of Asian security cooperation,they are actually a manifestation of an intensifying institutional competition,namely between the ASEAN-centered ADMM and the Western-backed SLD.This,in turn,is symptomatic of a broader institutional contestation——reflecting underlying strategic competition——which is becoming a distinctive feature of Asia’s emerging security ‘architecture.’ The paper goes on to argue that China and Australia find themselves on opposite sides of this competition and,particularly in the area of defense diplomacy,are likely to become increasingly important players in fuelling it.The paper concludes by observing why such a dynamic is potentially problematic and offers a modest set of policy recommendations designed to assist Beijing and Canberra in addressing and alleviating their competitive tendencies.     

Competition≠Conflict

Fu: The above discussions clearly show that the cooled relations between the United States and Russia lie in the basic factor that the political development in Russia has failed to meet American wishes. The catalytic factor of such relations probably could be found in the issues of strategic competition that confirm with "the cold peace. " Of course, we may discuss whether on earth there is such a competition. If there is,then what are Russia's conditions and considerations in the competition? The competitions between America and Russia are different from that between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War years, but they can also be seen in geostrategic competition as well as in the means of strategic competition.     

Competition

Fu: The above discussions clearly show that the cooled relations between the United States and Russia lie in the basic factor that the political development in Russia has failed to meet American wishes. The catalytic factor of such relations probably could be found in the issues of strategic competition that confirm with “the cold peace. “ Of course, we may discuss whether on earth there is such a competition. If there is,then what are Russia‘s conditions and considerations in the competition? The competitions between America and Russia are different from that between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War years, but they can also be seen in geostrategic competition as well as in the means of strategic competition.……     

The Rights to Subsistence and Development are Primary Human Rights——Advancing a Fairer,more Reasonable and more Inclusive Global Governance System of Human Rights

正Committed to its own development, China has consistently promoted global development with concrete actions and ensured the benefits of development be shared by more countries and people, thereby making a significant contribution to the development of the world's human rights undertakings.     

Notes of Major Events of CAFIU Exchanges ( From May to July )

May: (1) A 5-member delegation of the Irish Local Authority Members Association (LAMA) headed by Senator James Walsh visited China from May 7-15. The main purpose of their visit is to make an on-the-spot investigation on China抯 political and economical situation as well as the local governmental system of China. During its stay in Beijing, CAFIU Advisor and Vice-Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCCCPC) Zhang Z…     

Developing Countries and WTO:Summary of a Seminar on Experience and Lessons to Cope with Economic Globalization

The Chinese Association for International Understanding and the China Center for Contem-porary World Studies jointly held a seminar“Developing Countries and WTO: Experience and Lessons to Cope with Economic Globalization”in Beijing in middle March 2001. More than 50 experts and scholars from the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation…     

SUMMARY

Gao Ge Located between big powers, the Central and East European countries often look up to the big powers or the big power groups for protection in choosing their road of development. Thus they are especially prone to the impact of the changing international relations, and are mostly modes transplanted from outside. Their Europeanization is also the transplantation of Western modes, but compared with the attempt to imitate the Western democracy as after the end of WWI and the mechan- ical copy of the Soviet mode following the outbreak of the cold war, the difference now is that the cur- rent transplant benefits from their own subjective will, the aptitude of their national conditions as well as their favorable internal and external conditions. They have got rid of the fate of defeat and the process of Europeanization has made remarkable progress.