An Analysis on the Politics and Diplomacy of the Hatoyama Cabinet

A new chapter began in Japan＇s political history when Yukio Hatoyama and his Democratic Party （DPJ） replaced the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party （LDP）, thus creating the long-contemplated structure of alternate rule by the two major political parties. Attaching more importance to independence in diplomacy, the Hatoyama Cabinet is expected to stand for a repositioning of its relations with the United States and make greater diplomatic efforts in Asia with the focus on building an East Asian Community so as to adapt to the evolving international relations in the Asia-Pacific region.     

Chen''s Scrappiing of "NUC" and U.S. Predicament

On February 27, 2006, Chen Shuibian announced his decision to cease the operation of the "National Unification Council (NUC) and the application of its guidelines," which further increased the risk of "Taiwan independence." Chen's campaign for "Taiwan independence," which in essence was an attempt to change the status quo, thus gravely damaging the cross-strait relations. The next day,the White House and U. S. State Department made a separate response. On the one hand, they argued that Chen didn't change the status quo as he only "freezed" instead of "abolishing" the "NUC"and its guidelines. On the other hand, they urged the leaders of mainland China and the Taiwan authorities to go back to the negotiation table. ① Such understatement and seeming evenhandedness by the U.S. shows its acquiescence to the reality of Chen's abolition of the"NUC," and its limited ability to control Chen's activities for "Taiwan independence." In the coming two years, Washington's current Taiwan policy will hardly continue to work, as Chen will steadily promote the modification of "The Constitution" and the "legal independence." The U. S. must make an option between allowing the "Taiwan independence" forces to impinge on its "one-China policy' and clearly suppressing the movement for "Taiwan independence."     

Is U.S.Diplomacy Entering the "Post-Obama Era" ?

After the U.S.mid-term elections in November 2014,the Obama administration entered a"lame-duck"period.As the Republicans have controlled both the House of Representatives and the Senate,public opinion generally holds that the Obama administration is due to face greater difficulties over the next two years.But as the U.S.political system allows the President of the United States to act more independently in the field of foreign affairs than in that of internal affairs,he can still make a difference here without being hindered by political affairs,even during the last two years of his presidency.In recent history,Ronald Reagan was a typical case in point:he achieved significant success in foreign affairs during the last two years of his tenure.Bill Clinton and George W.Bush     

Abe＇ s Shrine Visit vs. China-Japan Relations

compared with that of his predecessors, Abe＇s shrine visit is even worse in nature and in terms of motivation. He is the first serving prime minister to visit the shrine in an official capacity, instead of a private one aimed at playing down its political significance. He chose the occasion to report his work to the souls, so as show his determination to whitewash the atrocities of Class A criminals in the Second World War.     

Editor＇s Note：

Some American scholars claim that the rise of China is bound to trigger off a fierce security competition with America. The argument that China and America are destined to become strategic adversaries is called into question by Mr. Ma Zhengang, former Chinese Ambassador to the UK. In his paper entitled Analysis of ＂China-U.S. Strategic Competition＂ Theory that he contributed to this issue, he argues that China and America are both great nations.     

Similarities and Differences

Since the end of the war in Afghanistan, the United States has been intensely making preparations for military actions to overthrow the "Saddam regime. " Though there existed big differences between the pro-war factions and pro-peace factions in the United Nations, U. S. President George W. Bush vowed that his country "would take military actions against lraq as planned even if the UN Security Council fails to pass U. S. motion to topple the Saddam regime by force." This tells us that the second Persian Gulf War was inevitable. And people would naturally connect in mind this war with the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. What is the difference between the two Gulf wars? What follow-up move would Washington take after the second Gulf war? What impact would the war exert on the political structure of the Middle East? And what's the prospect of relations among the big powers, especially among the United States, the European nations, Russia and China? To find answers to these questions, we invited Professor Wang Zaibang and six of his colleagues to have a panel discussion in early March. It should be mentioned that Contemporary International Relations held a discussion of similar kind in the No. 10 issue, 2002. This discussion can be seen as a follow-up to the last one. We hope it would better our readers' understanding of how the Chinese view this issue of public attention.     

人类命运共同体:中国的“世界梦”（英文）

正In his New Year Message for 2016,Chinese President Xi Jinping said,"It’s such a big world with so many problems.The international community expects to hear China’s voice and see its proposals.We cannot be absent."1 Recognizing the profound changes taking place in the global landscape and the development trend of human society,President Xi has put forward a new concept of international relations,which is to"build     

A Preliminary Analysis of Roh Moo-hyun''s "Balancer Diplomacy"

As an important state of Northeast Asia, the influence of ROK's diplomatic conception and policies on regional security situation should never be underestimated. In 2005, President Roh Moo-hyun stressed that "ROK should be a balancing power in Northeast Asia"and claimed that "the map of influence in Northeast Asia will be changing with ROK's strategic selection." All these have aroused high attention in international society. This article tries to examine and analyze the main contents of the ROK's "balancer diplomacy,"the causes of the formulation of the policy and its influence as well.     

Are China and Russia Axis or Partners?

After experiencing many ups and downs in their relationship, China and Russia have forged a strategic partnership since the advent of the 21stcentury.While Russia's relations with the United States and the European Union have hit a rough patch, its ties with China are on an upward trend.Meanwhile, the United States and Europe are closely watching the two big neighbors in case of the event of a creation of an anti-Western "axis."Grounded in an analysis of the unique advantages of China-Russia relations, this paper argues that the two countries have established a high level of political trust and will continue to work in concert on all fronts.It also looks back at how China entered into alliances throughout its history and the lessons it has learned from those experiences.It emphasizes that China does not deem the establishment of exclusive alliances or political blocs as a foreign policy option.     

How to Tell Chinese Stories Effectively in Cross-Culture Communication

Astrategy of "well telling Chinese stories" will support the country's revitalization and national interest and underscore the Chinese dream.To "finish building a well-off society in an all-round way," stated at the CPC's 100th anniversary,and to "develop China into a socialist modern country" from the PRC's 100th anniversary,are central terminology."The work of publicizing ourselves on the world stage," said President Xi Jinping during the 2013 Work Conference on Publicizing and Ideology,"shall be dealt with meticulously.Approaches shall be innovated.New concepts and wording shall be used so that Chinese stories and voices could reach out to the international community."     

An Analysis of Donald Trump's Political Personality Traits and Policy Orientations

As a political leader,US President Trump's personality traits affect his policy orientations and current US foreign policy.The authors analyze Trump's personality in several categories-uninhibited and capricious,dynamic and capable,profit-orientated and self-centered,competitive and persistent,positive and extraverted.The traits of breaking traditions,skill at strategic deception and negotiation,action-motivated implementation,intuitive decision-making,pursuit of respect and interest exchange,and vengefulness will shape his policy and behavioral orientations.Initial study shows Trump to be a political leader with positive personality traits and double-sided dimensions.The analysis offers insight toward understanding the new US executive and his policy direction.     

High-tech Interest Groups in the United States and Its Political Influence

Representing the appeals of its industry,the high-tech interest group has recently become an emerging political force in the United States.With abundant financial resources and proficiency in political communication,the group rapidly grows to be a significant force in the American political sphere.It has started to affect the internal and foreign affairs of the U.S.and played a proactive role in the latest presidential election.Since the high-tech interest group has already become and will continue to be a big player in Sino-U.S.relations,China should carefully deal with its appeals and conflict of interests,and try to develop this group into a stabilizer between the two countries.     

Basic Future Trends

The immediate tasks before President Yeltsin seem to be:solving the prob-lems of leadership division of power and policy adjustments in the light otthe national mood,Russia's actual conditions and in consideration of thereasonable suggestions of other political parties.Yeltsin once more entrusted Cher-nomyrdin to form a cabinet and began policy adjustments at the same time.Judg-ing from his election program and his post-election speeches,the following wouldbe the basic trends of his internal and external policies:     

Where Will Russia＇s Domestic and Foreign Policies Go under the ＂Medvedev-Putin lanoem . （detailed abstracts）

Why is it called the ＂Medvedev-Putin Tandem＂？ Russia＇s constitution stipulates that president is the head of state who shall be responsible for defining and supervising the implementation of the political, economic, diplomatic, and security guidelines and policies, while prime minister is the head of government who shall be responsible for working out and carrying out these guidelines and policies in detail.     

Where Will Russia''''s Domestic and Foreign Policies Go under the "Medvedev-Putin Tandem"?(detailed abstracts)

Why is it called the "Medvedev-Putin Tandem"? Russia's constitution stipulates that president is the head of state who shall be responsible for defining and supervising the implementation of the political,economic,diplomatic,and security guidelines and policies,while prime minister is the head of government who shall be     

On Democratic Peace and Democracy Exporting

Democratic Peace and Democracy Exporting are two relatively young theories in the Western IR theory family.The authors believe both are questionable assertions.Democracy,whether as personal consciousness or a political mechanism,can only arise when the productivity of a nation reaches a certain level. Fundamentally,even if we agree with the assertion that democracy leads to peace,the real reason is level of productivity;democracy is only a result.Secondly,the close relationship between democracy and capitalism means that democracy can not be exported randomly.To treat democracy as a universally adaptable commodity exportable to any nation without considering the level of productivity can hardly be successful;in fact,it may be harmful to some nations.     

Democracy Exporting Will Not Work

The basis of the US democracy exporting policy,Democratic Peace is an international relations theory that began only in the 1980s.This relatively new branch of international theory must be seriously critiqued because aggressive US democracy export practice in recent years targets other countries' political structures.In China,political stability and economic development are under siege precisely because of this thinking.Analysis of Democratic Peace theory and US democracy exporting policy conflicts with Marxist principles and disregards the rules of social development.While commonsense shows it will be impossible for American policymakers to reach their advocated goals,even worse is the disaster these attempts create in a misguided country that becomes a democracy importer.     

Viewing Japan''''s Trend from "Koizumi Politics"

The words like "Hashimoto Politics" and "Obuchi Politics" are seldom heard since the 1990s. But changes in political and economic areas demonstrate that the existence of "Koizumi Politics" and its impact can be felt indeed in the past couple of years. It is hard to tell whether Koizumi could successfully promote economic reform and pep up the long-depressed economy. However, Koizumi has launched a political     

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.     

Some Thoughts on ＂Harmonious Globalization＂

This article argues that ＂Harmonious Globalization＂ offers a platform for harmonizing the positive and negative aspects of the current U.S.-led economic globalization that reflects the objective laws of human development. The article attempts to chart the path ahead for the world economy in the context of economic globalization, pervasive poverty/inequality, the resultant worldwide political awakening, the degradation of global ecosystems, and the current turmoil in financial institutions. The global challenge ahead will be three-fold： to bring the excluded 1/3 of the world＇s population into the open trade system; to encourage emerging markets like China and India to carry on with open policies and to persuade the developed Western nations to adhere to an open trade system and resist the temptations of trade protectionism. Free market access should be offered to those marginalized countries, the so-called ＂failed or failing states＂ that have been excluded from and angered by the globalization process. The growth in prosperity of these nations will open up a vast potential market for the world.