International Political Economy from a Chinese Angle

In the 1990s, international political economy (IPE) as a set of concepts to interpret the current and future world system caught on quickly among Chinese scholars and policy analysts. Recent events (the Asian financial crisis and the US role, WTO negotiations, US‐Japan trade disputes) combined with China's historical experience (imperialism, war, revolution) and aspirations (to be a regional power) have given IPE specialists a different perspective on and language for the issues and events of today's global political economy. Zhu Wenli highlights the divergence between US and PRC views and interpretations on concepts of hegemony (the role of the US in a unipolar system), globalization, development models, and economic security, arguing that understanding this theoretical gap helps us to understand the current policy gap. She concludes with a reference to the limited role that international relations concepts and ideas play in the formation of foreign policy.     

China's Rise in Southeast Asia: implications for the United States

During the past few decades, China's economic success has permitted it to pursue a greater role on the international stage. China is recognized both as a regional and aspiring global power. Nowhere is this more evident than within Southeast Asia, where China's more active diplomacy is reflected in growing trade relations, proposals for stronger security ties, and the signing of numerous cooperative agreements on issues as varied as environmental protection, drug trafficking, and public health. As a whole, the region has received China's activism with both enthusiasm and trepidation. China has expended significant effort to assuage the fears of its neighbors by adopting a foreign policy approach that is active, non-threatening, and generally aligned with the economic and security interests of the region. This positive diplomacy has clearly yielded some success, most notably in the trade realm, where China is rapidly emerging as an engine of regional economic growth and integration that may well challenge Japanese and American dominance in the next three to five years. In the security realm, China's diplomacy, while rhetorically appealing to regional actors, has yet to make significant inroads in a regional security structure dominated by the United States and its bilateral security relationships. Most significantly, however, if China is to emerge as a real leader within Southeast Asia, it will also need to assume more of the social and political burden that leadership entails. As China continues to advance itself as a regional leader, its policies on issues such as health, drugs, the environment and human rights will face additional scrutiny not only for their impact on the region but also for the more profound question they raise concerning the potential of China's moral leadership. For the United States, China's greater presence and activism suggest at the very least that it cannot remain complacent about the status quo that has governed political, economic and security relations for the past few decades. Shared leadership within Southeast Asia will likely include China in the near future, with all the potential benefits and challenges that such leadership will entail.     

East Asia Rolls On

The economic recovery in East Asia remains unchanged on its upward trajectory despite the earthquake and devastating tsunami in Japan on March 11.Growth in East Asia slowed after a sharp rebound from the global financial crisis but is improving nonetheless.The World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific Economic Update issued on March 21 projects real GDP growth in East Asia will be smaller than that of 2010 in the following two years.Besides future East Asian economic trends,the report also discusses the impact of the Japanese catastrophe.Edited excerpts follow:     

CAFTA框架下区域性金融监管合作的背景、进程与发展趋势

1998年以来,连续发生的几次金融危机对中国和东盟均带来了程度不同的冲击,加强金融监管合作的意愿也越来越迫切。CAFTA框架下区域性金融监管合作已经有了一定的基础,建立了东盟监督机制和危机救助机制。为了进一步推进区域性金融监管合作,借鉴欧盟金融监管合作的经验,CAFTA框架下区域金融监管合作要遵循循序渐进的原则,确立近期、中期和远期目标。近期目标就是要开展多层次双边合作、完善信息披露制度和加强培训合作,中期目标就是要形成制度化、常态化的监管合作机制,远期目标就是要建立健全区域金融监管合作框架。     

当前世界金融危机与东南亚金融危机的比较——兼谈中国应对当前世界金融危机的措施

当下发生的世界金融危机是在经济全球化背景下的新现象,几乎各国经济都深受其害,中国经济也受到较大冲击,世界经济陷入上世纪大萧条以来最困难的境地。该文对当前世界金融危机和东南亚金融危机进行比较,并提出了中国应对当前世界金融危机的措施。     

China's Role in Establishing and Building the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

In June 2001, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan established the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). While the immediate focus of the organization was to combat the so-called ‘three evils’—ethnic separatism, religious extremism, and international terrorism—the SCO's long-term viability and effectiveness in promoting regional stability and economic development depend on how member states build up common identity and cooperate on issues of mutual concern. This article looks at China's role in initiating the Shanghai-5/SCO structure within the broader framework of Beijing's foreign and security policy interests and priorities in Central Asia and seeks to examine both the prospects for and the potential obstacles to its efforts in achieving key objectives for this new regional organization: management of ethnic and religious unrest, including the fight against terrorism and separatism; maintenance of stable borders; development of energy resources; and promotion of economic prosperity. In addition, the article will also examine the extent to which Beijing has used the opportunity to exercise leadership and whether or not China can extend its influence to Central Asia using the SCO as a vehicle.     

Information Exchange,Headquarters Economy and Financial Centers Development: Shanghai,Beijing and Hong Kong

Over the past several years, China has consistently maintained economic growth and at the same time emerged as a new global giant in the international arena, despite the distractions caused by the global financial crisis, which was triggered by the US Sub-prime Mortgage Crisis of 2007 and the recent bond crisis that emerged in the European Union in 2011. Concurrent with China's growing interaction with the global economy and robust growth of its domestic economy, competition for the status of national and even international financial centers in the region has become fierce. This study focuses on a ‘local’ examination of internal conditions for the emergence and growth of Chinese financial centers over the next 10–20 years. Cities contending for the top slot in the roster of Chinese cities, like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, are striving to become international financial centers and are trying to compete with Hong Kong. This study investigates the development potentials, future prospects and division of functions between different financial centers within China regarding Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, with special reference to the role of information and locations of MNCs' regional headquarters.     

东南亚地区反恐问题研究

当前世界许多国家都遭受恐怖活动威胁,东南亚地区是一个恐怖活动高发地区,该地区恐怖活动产生原因复杂。当前恐怖主义具有国际性的特点,某个地区的暴恐活动也会影响其他地区,因此具有一定的研究价值。当今东南亚各国采取了许多应对措施,取得了一些成效,但也面临很多困难,存在一定的问题,如何解决这些问题值得我们深入探讨。本文通过认真分析其问题的现状,试图找出其中根源和解决办法。同时我们也应该从东南亚反恐斗争学习借鉴相关经验,从而提高我们自身反恐水平。     

Beijing's new thinking on security strategy

Beijing is refocusing its foreign strategy in the Asian Pacific region. This article examines Beijing's new thinking on security strategy in the post‐Cold War Asian‐Pacific region. Drawing from the recent strategic debate in China, the author discusses three defining areas in the new security strategy: military strategy, defense development strategy, and foreign policy and security strategy. It is argued that thinking in security strategy has become more regional oriented, sophisticated and compatible with foreign policy. The implication of China's defense modernization for regional security is controversial. In the short run, China's military posture will not change balance of power at the regional level, but it will significantly affect outcomes of future territorial conflicts on China's periphery. In the long run, Beijing's role in Asian‐Pacific security remains uncertain.     

Coping with the Global Financial Crises: institutional and ideational sources of Taiwan's economic resiliency

Over the last two decades, Taiwan has weathered two global financial crises: the Asian financial crisis of 1997–1998 and the sub-prime loan crisis of 2008–2009. Each time the island's economy emerged from the crisis relatively unscathed. Many of the elements that constitute Taiwan's economic resilience have been fostered through entrenched institutional arrangements and established policy orientations over a long period. Taiwan managed to retain the bulk of these long-running sources of economic resilience despite the tremendous external pressures exerted by neo-liberal policy advocates to dismantle these ‘out-dated’ policy thinking and practices in the name of reform during the decade-long interval between the two crises. Taiwan was able to cope with the 2008–2009 global financial crisis thanks also to a more enabling regional environment created through stronger cooperation among Asian economies and under a new awakening among the East Asian policy makers.     

China and Asian regionalism: Challenge and policy choice

Regionalism has become an interesting phenomenon in Asian international relations. Driven by fast growing trade and investment, Asian countries have developed variegated patterns of economic co‐operation and a complex level of interdependence among themselves. Although the growing Asian regionalism is very much an economics‐driven process, it has profound impacts on regional political organization. This analysis examines Beijing's changing attitudes toward Asian regionalism and its policy choice in the regional economic integration. It is argued that the integration of the Chinese economy into the regional structure is promoted by the government as well as driven by market dynamics. Although Beijing has let the Chinese economy develop into the regional ‘flying geese’ structure, the best policy choice for China, as many Chinese scholars have argued, would be a three‐circle strategy of integrating into the world economy and a strategy of ‘market for technology’ in regional economic co‐operation. This analysis also discusses the regional political obstacles impeding co‐operation across national borders. It is argued that healthy bilateral relations and more political will toward regional multilateralism on political issues would be instrumental for future regional prosperity and stablity in Asia.     

Local Liberalism: China's provincial approaches to relations with Southeast Asia

One of the most interesting phenomena in contemporary international relations is the growing role of local government entities in forging and intensifying cross-border interactions in the social, economic and cultural arenas. Lamentably, this aspect of international relations, which I conceptualize as local liberalism, has not received sufficient scholarly attention. This paper attempts to fill in the gap by describing and analyzing how local liberalism has played a role in China's relations with Southeast Asia. The paper argues that local governments in Yunnan and Guangxi have played an important and positive role in cementing the relations between China and Southeast Asia. The paper suggests that debunking the China ‘black box’ to examine the different units in China, including the sub-national governments, may provide more useful insights for our understanding of China–Southeast Asian relations.     

China and the Asian Economies: mutual acceptance,economic interaction and interactive dynamics

The objective of this article is to explore the economic relationship between China and the surrounding dynamic Asian economies. It delves into China's influence over the Asian economies and whether this relationship has evolved in a market- and institution-led symbiotic manner. The three principal channels of regional integration analyzed in this article are trade, FDI and vertically integrated production networks. Another issue that this article explores is the so-called China ‘threat’ or ‘fear’ in Asia. The China threat implied that China was crowding out exports from the other Asian economies in the world market place. Also, as China became the most attractive FDI destination among developing countries, it was understood that China was receiving FDI at the expense of the Asian economies. These concerns were examined by several empirical studies and the inference was that they were exaggerated. The article concludes that China methodically expanded and deepened its economic ties with its regional neighbors. At the present juncture, China's integration with the surrounding Asian nations is deep. Both China and its dynamic Asian neighbors have benefited from this synergy.     

当前经济环境下中国社会保障体系研究

从当前中国面临的经济环境来看,全球金融危机的影响尚未消除,经济全球化发展趋势不可阻挡,城市化与工业化进程加速推进,转变经济发展方式迫在眉睫,收入分配不公问题日益突出,劳工权益保护意识不断增强。当前中国经济发展与社会保障发展之间还存在诸多矛盾。社会保障的发展应该抓住机遇,迎接挑战,建立社会保障财政投入的长效机制,在完善社会保障制度设计的同时尽快实现覆盖全民的目标,加强社会保障的管理与服务能力建设,注重社会保障的国际化发展。     

Domestic Institutional Constraints on China's Leadership in East Asian Economic Cooperation Mechanisms

The study of Chinese foreign policy has long shown that domestic politics and domestic constraints are sources of foreign policy, albeit generally considered less potent than ideology and interests. Domestic political constraints should also be explored as factors in Chinese regional policies toward East Asia, including regional economic institutions. This paper examines three domestic institutional constraints on regional foreign policy in the area of trade and economics: a fragmented decision-making structure that has difficulty with coordination, a relatively heavy reliance on top level decision-makers at a time when issues of Asian economic policy have relatively low priority for these same decision-makers, and the relatively extreme lack of autonomy for negotiators vis-á-vis top decision-makers in Beijing. These constraints are by any means unique to China. However, at a time when many observers and participants are expecting—indeed, often hoping for—Chinese leadership in the region, the paper posits that these constraints hinder the PRC's ability to fill this role. The key empirical focus is regional trade agreements and regional economic organizations.     

金融危机对治安管理工作的挑战及应对

去年以来，金融危机已对全球实体经济产生了巨大的冲击，世界经济速度已明显放慢，下行风险逐步加大，前景更加不确定，中国经济也面临严峻考验。经济形势的低迷、产业结构的调整、企业倒闭的风潮、资本市场的动荡，引发了一系列经济和社会矛盾，进而可能对社会治安产生潜在的威胁和现实影响。为此，迫切需要对金融危机可能对我国社会治安产生的影响进行分析，以便作出防范和处置对策。     

China's Approaches toward Regional Cooperation in East Asia: motivations and calculations

This paper explores how China's strategic motivations and calculations have both motivated and constrained its participation in East Asian regional cooperation. It argues that China's participation in regional economic and security cooperation is motivated first of all by the calculation of China's domestic interests to create a peaceful peripheral environment for its economic growth and political stability, particularly its frontier security and prosperity. The realist interests to enhance China's position in power competition with other major players in the region, particularly Japan and US, also play an important part in China's strategic calculation. These interest calculations, however, also set limits on China's participation in regional cooperation. These interest calculations have also shaped China's preference for an informal approach, emphasizing voluntarism and consensus building rather than legally binding resolutions, toward regional cooperation. This soft approach is a major barrier for many regional institutions to move beyond the stage of talking shops to effectively resolve conflicts in the region.     

China: A responsible great power

If China can maintain the trend of its economic development, by the middle of the twenty-first century China will be among the great powers in the world. Whether China can become a responsible great power or not will depend on both internal and external factors. During recent years, China has been making big progress in integrating itself into international economic and political mechanisms. This paper argues that the more closely China integrates itself into international economic and political mechanisms, the more willing it will be to play a responsible role in the international community. It also argues that there are some conditions necessary to make China a responsible great power. In particular, China needs to be confident about the international security environment and international mechanisms; other countries should help China to participate in international mechanisms; the strategic balance in the Asia‐Pacific region should be established and maintained; and the Taiwan issue should be dealt with properly.     

The Quest for Sustainable Security

Since the beginning of the 21st century,non-tra-ditional security problems have become significant threats to world peace.These include economic,financial and information security,terrorism,drug trafficking,transnational crime and infectious dis-eases.In this article for Beijing Review,Liu Jiangyong,a professor with Tsinghua University’s Institute of International Studies,introduces a new security concept-"sustainable security." In his view,as traditional and non-traditional security threats become interwoven,the concept is gaining prominence on international agendas.Edited excerpts follow     

金融危机背景下广西高校毕业生就业形势分析及对策研究

国际金融危机的持续蔓延导致世界经济陷入衰退,我国经济增长也呈现周期性的减缓趋势。面对新形势对广西高校毕业生就业造成的压力,如何采取有效措施积极应对,事关广西"四保"目标的实现。文章通过对目前广西高校毕业生就业政策、就业趋势以及政府公共就业服务环境的分析,研究探讨金融危机背景下广西高校毕业生就业工作存在的问题,在此基础上提出相关政策建议。