From the Language of Class to the Rhetoric of Development: discourses of ‘nationality’ and ‘ethnicity’ in China

In the People's Republic of China's (PRC) continuous state-building project since its establishment in 1949, the notion of nation and nationality (minzu) has been uninterruptedly utilised by the leading elite in its political programmes. The notion of the ‘nationality question’ (minzu wenti) was employed especially for addressing the issues of the officially identified minority nationalities at the time when the multinational nature of the state was made fundamental. However, how a multinational character of the Chinese state is interpreted by the state elite and how this interpretation is shaped by their policies have arguably changed along with the political and economic preferences of the regime. This paper aims to explore the meaning of ‘nationality question’ during the period of socialist construction, and traces the shift in its notion during the reform period which started in the 1970s. The essay pays attention to the change in the preferred corresponding English term of minzu wenti. I argue that the substitution of the ‘nationality question’ term, which was dominant during the socialist period, with the concept of the ‘ethnic question’ during the reform period points not only to the changing character of the government policies towards minorities, but also legitimises them as the only suitable and rightful in the context of economic reforms.     

China as a Major world Market

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A New Venture in China: Choosing Your Own Job

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From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Made in Internet’

<正>The concept of "Made in Internet" was introduced by Jack Ma,Chairman of Alibaba Group,at the 2017 Global Netrepreneur Conference held in Hangzhou,capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province,on July 11."Made in Internet,"according to Ma,is the overall progress in technologies,operations,products and services that industries and companies of all types can realize in the new retail era by using the     

The New ‘Comprador Class’: the re-emergence of bureaucratic capitalists in post-Deng China

The past two decades have witnessed increasing use of the concept of ‘bureaucratic capitalism’ to explain various endemic problems in China, including corruption and social inequalities. Yet, scant attention has been paid to the rise of key bureaucratic capitalists and the state corporations under their control. Neither has there been adequate discussion of the recent form of bureaucratic capitalism in contradistinction to that of the previous forms evolving in the republican and early reform periods. In question therefore is a small circle of bureaucratic bourgeoisie who are children, close relatives or protégés of top political leaders. They have come to control key state-corporation apparatuses, and some of whom possess close ties with the military. In conclusion, the future implications of this emergent form of bureaucratic capitalism on Chinese politics will also be discussed.     

Playing Up the ‘China Threat’

Australia's recent defense white paper paints China as a growing threat when Kevin Rudd ran for primeminister in 2007,he promised to issue a defense     

China in the North Korean Nuclear Crises: ‘interest’ and ‘identity’ in foreign behavior

China reacted very differently to the first and second North Korean nuclear crisis: engaging in passive and ‘behind-the-scenes’ diplomacy in the first and choosing more proactive and ‘stage-managing’ diplomacy in the second. This article has sought to explain this striking contrast in China's foreign behavior. Though most studies tend to rely on Chinese strategic and security interests in explaining China's proactive diplomacy as demonstrated in the six-party talks, those strategic and security interests do not explain directly the contrasting foreign behavior of China. China faced basically equal strategic and security concerns and equally dangerous potential military conflict between the US and North Korea through the first and the second nuclear crises. This article, then, argues that ‘same interests, but different behaviors’ should be explained not by China's external interest calculus but by internal changes within China itself. By the turn of the new millennium, China had undergone an evolutionary change of state identity from a cautious accommodator to an active constructor, or from a state of ‘taoguang yanghui’ to a state of ‘fuzeren daguo’. The contrasting foreign behaviors in the first and second nuclear crises are profoundly reflective of this identity shift of China.     

The ‘China Threat’ through the Lens of US Print Media: 1992–2006

China scholars have examined the ‘China threat’ theory from various theoretical perspectives, offered a range of explanations for the theory's emergence and forecast the potential implications for US–China relations. However, few scholars have empirically studied the ‘China threat’ theory through the lens of the US media. This is a critical oversight, because the media plays a pivotal role in shaping US public opinion and US foreign policy, and the media is a key channel for ‘China threat’ dissemination and popularization. This study seeks to redress this oversight by empirically examining ‘China threat’ coverage in the US print media over a 15-year period from 1992 to 2006. We use content-analysis methodology to systematically collect, code and analyze ‘China threat’ data from five major US newspapers and to track the frequency and content of this coverage over time.

Our analysis reveals many interesting patterns in ‘China threat’ media coverage. First, the initial emergence of ‘China threat’ arguments in the US print media corresponded with the sharp upward turn in China's economic growth rates in the early 1990s. However, since the early 1990s, ‘China threat’ coverage has not mirrored China's steady growth. Rather, the media coverage was cyclic, featuring three key peaks (1996, 2000 and 2005) followed by subsequent declining interest. Second, our analysis reveals that the focus of these stories also varied over time. Perceptions of China as a political/ideological threat dominated media coverage in the earlier years (1992–1994) but steadily declined after 1995 and totally disappeared from the US print media after 2001. Perceptions of China as a military/strategic threat replaced political/ideological concerns in 1995, and the military focus has dominated media coverage ever since. Perceptions of China as an economic/trade threat persisted steadily throughout the 15-year time period with a clear uptick in recent years. We conclude this analysis by turning to the literature on realism, agenda setting and information processing to offer possible explanations for these empirical trends.     

Future of the ’China Model’

<正>Advocates of the China model believe the country’s economic success owes to a powerful government tightly controlling the economy.But that model is not without flaws as problems of corruption and the urban-rural divide continue to stretch nerves of policymakers.Wu Jinglian,a renowned economist,discussed these issues in an article recently published in the Caijing magazine.Edited excerpts follow:     

Huaiyang:Hometown of China’s Legendary Emperor

THE Taihao Mausoleum, known as the "first mausoleum under heaven," is in Huaiyang County, Zhoukou City, southeastern Henan Province. It is the tomb of Fuxi, legendary emperor (2852-2738 B.C.), who is believed to have taught the people farming, fishing     

How to Inherit in China as a Foreigner

My name is Robert. I'm 19 years old. My mother died of heart disease when I was 5. Three years ago, my father went to China to work as a foreign teacher in a big university in Beijing. Two years ago. he was married to a Chinese woman and they had a daughter who is now 8 months old. But last month, he died of an unexpected traffic accident and he hasn't made a will I'd like to know whether I have the right to inherit his bequest according to Chinese law? How much will I get?     

Useful Opium? ‘Adapted religion’ and ‘harmony’ in contemporary China

Pragmatism has been a leading feature of Communist Party policies since Mao Zedong's death. The attitude to religion has been something of an exception with many restrictions to the freedom of religion stipulated in the constitution. In recent years, while stressing the ‘harmonious society’, there has been a change in the view of religion. Recognizing the ‘spiritual vacuum’ in China after Mao, the party has seen the need for a controlled spiritual development that could also support the economic development. However, in this process the party has tried to control not only religious activity but also religious content and to use it for its own purposes. This is in direct opposition to Marx and Lenin's views on ‘religion as opium’ and indicates that the party is de facto using ‘a reversed opium theory’.     

Is‘Made in China’ Bust?

正The manufacturing industry will undergo a disruptive,but creative period China is facing challenges in its economic horizon.The sharp fluctuations of its stock and foreign exchange markets in January have cast a gloomy light on its fnan-     

Will the ‘China Miracle’ Continue?

<正>China's economic growth rate has been declining since 2010,faling to a six-year low of 7.3 percent in the third quarter of 2014.This has been the longest growth slowdown since the country adopted the reform and opening-up policy in 1978.In an     

‘China Should Believe in Its Model’

According to Peter Walker,author of Powerful,Different,Equal:Overcoming the Misconceptions and Differences Between China and the U.S.and senior partner emeritus at U.S.management consultancy Mc Kinsey&Company,China should follow its own development track and not be distracted by the Wests accusations.This is an edited version of his interview with Beijing Review.     

Building a‘Special Relationship’

The U.S.secretary of state’s China trip helps promote mutual trust Following a packed day of meetings with Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping,Premier Li Keqiang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi,John Kerry hailed his first visit to China as U.S.secretary of state as "extremely positive and constructive...beyond what I anticipated in many regards" in the media briefing held in Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on April 13.     

‘Love is a Capacity’: the narrative of gendered self-development in Chinese-Style Divorce

Employing analytical tools mainly from cultural studies and feminist theories, this article examines the televisual representation of changing family values, intimate relationships and gender dynamics parallel to China's neoliberal turn. Specifically, I will offer a close reading of Chinese-Style Divorce, a mega-hit television drama, in a larger context of sociopolitical conditions and cultural trends, particularly a neoliberal market economy and the ongoing state-sponsored ‘harmonious society’ campaign. I intend to explore how cultural representations of divorce play a key role in projecting and channeling the desire and fantasy of a middle-class domestic culture and in articulating a discourse of domestic and psychic interiority. Tackling rampant gender-related social problems in contemporary China, this article also seeks to address the predicaments with which middle-aged post-reproductive divorced women are confronted in a transitional time.     

Perpetuation of the ‘China Threat' Theory

<正>Recent UK media report reveals an invisible hand at play British newspaper The Times recently published an article disclosing that the Japanese embassy in the UK last year engaged a think tank,the Henry Jackson Society(HJS),to voice opposition to Chinese     

Bullying and fear of victimization: Do supportive adults in school make a difference in adolescents’ perceptions of safety?

This study examines the role played by a limited number of fear-of-crime correlates in structuring variations in fear of violent victimization expressed by a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents who participated in the 2013 National Crime Victimization Survey School Crime Supplement. Results show that both male and female adolescents who experienced bullying victimization also felt a higher level of fear of victimization at school and elsewhere. Conversely, adolescents who received emotional support at school from teachers and other adults were significantly less likely to be fearful. When controlling for the selected predictors, female adolescents were not more fearful than their male counterparts. Additionally, findings indicate that, especially for male adolescents, a positive school climate has the capacity to moderate the effect of bullying victimization on one’s fear of crime.     

China talks back: Anti‐Americanism or nationalism? A review of recent ‘anti‐American’ books in China

Song Qiang et al., Zhong Guo Ke Yi Shuo Bu (China Can Say No), Beijing: Zhonghua Gongshang Lianhe Chubanshe, 1996, 435 pages.

Hong Yonghong et al., Zhong Mei Jun Shi Chong Tu Qian Qian Hou Hou (US‐China Military Confrontations: Before and After), Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Chubanshe, 1996, 467 pages.

Chen Feng et al., Zhong Mei Jiao Liang Da Xie Zhen (The Grand Portrait of US‐China Confrontations), Beijing: Zhongguo Renshi Chubanshe, 1996, 668 pages.

Xi Laiwang et al., Da Yang Ji Feng: Liang Ge Shi Jie Da Guo De Bo Yi Gui Ze (The Oceanic Wing: The Games of Two World Class Nations), Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Chubanshe, 1996, 2 volumes, 1268 pages.

Zhang Shan and Xiao Weizhong, E Zhi Tai Du: Bu Cheng Nuo Fang Qi Wu Li (Stop Taiwan from Independence: No Promise on Not Using Force), Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Chubanshe, 1996, 391 pages.