Rising Confidence Behind the “Chinese Dream”

Since November 2012, the Chinese leaders have been calling for the Chinese people to become confident in achieving the “Chinese Dream”. Given the mounting political, economic and social problems that China is facing and low rankings China receives on some key indicators on a global scale of comparison, one has to wonder where China’s confidence comes from. This study suggests that what gives China the reasons to be confident is not how well China has been performing in absolute terms, but how China has been performing relative to its neighboring countries. This study has selected three of China’s biggest neighbors, Japan, Russia and India, to compare with China on seven systems of performance assessment which cover the areas of government effectiveness, economic confidence, foreign direct investment confidence, intentional homicide, gender gap, international tourism, and global competitiveness. It finds that while Japan is still ahead of China in a few areas of performance assessment, China is closing in on Japan fast. On the other hand, Russia and India are trailing China in most areas of performance assessment and the gap between them is widening. Throughout the 20th Century, Russia, China and India all struggled to pursue their dreams of becoming strong and prosperous in the face of challenges from the Western powers. Today, China seems one step ahead of the rest toward achieving its dream. Behind the “Chinese Dream” project is the rising confidence about China’s current position and China’s future.     

“中国模式”三题

中国模式就是中国特色社会主义现代化模式。准确把握中国模式的科学内涵与精神实质,认真分析中国模式的成就与问题,科学判断中国模式的价值与前景,这是探讨中国模式的三个关键性问题。     

中国新型政党制度的治理意蕴

新中国成立七十年来,中国新型政党制度作为产生于中国土壤的一项基本政治制度,不断发展成熟。中国新型政党制度是极具中国特色的制度设计,也是国家治理体系的重要组成部分,其中国共产党领导下的"多党合作与政治协商"特征淡化了长久以来政党制度的"管理"倾向,凸显了"治理"特性。中国新型政党制度所具有的主体多元性、过程协商性和实践合作性等治理特征,使得多党合作的治理效能得以真正发挥,彰显了中国新型政党制度的优越性。     

A harmonized Southeast Asia? Explanatory typologies of ASEAN countries’ strategies to the rise of China

Abstract

In the face of a rising China, some scholars have argued that ASEAN countries will choose to either bandwagon with or balance against China, while others believe they will respond with a more moderate policy known as ‘hedging’. In considering these options, ASEAN countries must take into account their individual interests within the economic and security structure of this region. In this research, we argue that each ASEAN country confronts divergent sets of security and economic relations with China, which play a major role in shaping their policy responses. We can characterize their responses into four quadrants. Each cell can be categorized in terms of a high or low degree of threat perception (HT or LT) from China, as well as a positive or negative economic expectation (PE or NE) with China. We thus hypothesize that ASEAN countries in the HT–NE situation will balance against China; those in the LT–PE situation will bandwagon with China; those in the HT–PE or LT–NE situations will hedge against China. Hypotheses are supported by three case studies, Vietnam–China (HT–NE), Cambodia–China (LT–PE) and Singapore–China (HT–PE) relations.     

关于“中国国家治理”研究的方法论

科学考察中国国家治理,必须首先要搞清楚三个相互联系的方法论问题:一是,中国国家治理是处于一定的世界历史时空坐标系上的国家治理,中国现阶段的社会主要矛盾及其在当代世界历史中所处的位置,构成了这一世界历史时空坐标系。脱离开这一世界历史时空坐标系,关于中国国家治理的研究就会走入歧途。二是,新时代的中国国家治理越来越具有双重特性,即:国家作为治理对象和国家作为治理主体。国家作为治理对象与国家作为治理主体的有机统一,彰显了"新时代"中国共产党的领导、依法治国与人民当家作主的有机统一。中国国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的标准就蕴含在其中。三是,中国国家治理与全球治理既有区别又有联系。全面、正确地认识和把握中国国家治理与全球治理间的关系,对于科学考察中国国家治理至关重要。     

Can China’s Economic Statecraft Win Soft Power in Africa? Unpacking Trade,Investment and Aid

Boosting China’s soft power is an important goal of Chinese economic statecraft in Africa. However, African opinions of China – in particular those of ordinary people – are understudied, and existing evidence suggests African viewpoints on China are highly varied and polarized. On the one hand, China’s growing economic linkages are welcomed by Africans as an important alternative to traditional partners, and a vital source of funding for development needs. On the other hand, Africans see China as a source of poor-quality products and an exploitative threat to local markets. How can scholars understand these polarized opinions on China? Using data from the Afrobarometer Round 6 survey (2016), this article aims to untangle African perceptions of Chinese economic engagement through unpacking the distinctive effects of China’s three tools of economic statecraft: trade, foreign direct investment, and aid. Analyses of Chinese influence frequently package these three modes of engagement together, but in practice they have very different consequences for China’s soft power. Negative perceptions of China among African citizens are primarily associated with trade-related issues. China’s investment and aid, on the other hand, generally make a positive contribution to Chinese soft power in Africa. By highlighting the contrasting effects of different instruments of economic engagement, this analysis contributes insight into Sino-African relations and China’s wider economic diplomacy.

     

China’s Political Stability: Global Comparisons

Throughout most of the 20th Century, China had suffered tremendous economic and human losses due to political instability. It is in the most recent decades that the Chinese people have managed to live with political stability. The economic benefits of political stability can hardly be overstated. Yet, China’s political stability is by no means assured. Is China stable or unstable? Is the Chinese regime strong or fragile? To answer these questions, this study has selected a total of 12 sets of publically available indices to measure political instability and placed China on a global scale of comparisons with all the others, both advanced and developing, in the world. It also makes specific comparisons between China and the other four countries of the so-called BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). The findings of our global comparisons give China no reasons for celebration. However, China has no reasons for paranoia either. China has indeed faced many threats or challenges to political stability, but, as our study demonstrates, China is no more politically unstable or fragile than many others. Ignoring or underestimating the ripple effect of any destabilizing world event will do China no good, but overreactions also serve China’s interests poorly as fear or paranoia can be highly contagious.     

金融危机对我国经济增长的影响及应对策略

金融危机通过贸易领域传导至我国,对我国出口、投资、消费产生了较大的影响,从而抑制了我国的经济增长。我国经济增长除受到外因作用而放缓之外,还受到我国自身经济结构不合理、发展方式不科学的制约。面对金融危机的挑战,政府应加快推进经济结构调整、切实转变经济发展方式,促使消费、投资、出口协调拉动经济增长,以保持我国经济健康平稳可持续增长。     

探究上市公司反收购“毒丸”计划在我国的适用

随着中国上市公司收购潮的兴起,起源于美国的"毒丸计划"是否应该作为反收购措施被我国立法所规制,是与我国证券市场的发展程度、上市公司收购及反收购的立法模式紧密相连的。通过对"毒丸计划"在我国上市公司反收购策略中的适用及法律规制进行探讨,以期对上市公司反收购策略法律规制进行完善。同时,随着"毒丸"计划在实践中的广泛采用,在我国的反收购立法中将其采纳为一项反收购措施加以法律规制,将有利于提高我国上市公司在国际、国内市场上的竞争力,同时也有利于我国证券市场的健康、有序发展。     

论冯秉正神父在上古史论争中所使用的学术方法

18世纪来华的法国传教士冯秉正神父，在华40余年，著作颇丰。他受康熙帝命令，曾编译十二卷《中国通史》，奠定了近代欧洲汉学历史研究。他用天文学方法讨论中国上古史纪年，以中国式的证明方式来证伪《竹书》和《路史》，以及他因中国上古史纪年的影响而对《圣经》希腊七十子译本的选择，展示了他独特的学术方法和见解。该事件也从一个侧面展现了17、18世纪来华传教士和西方学者之间有关上古史论争这一学术盛况。     

Convincing the World of China’s Tradition to Pursue Universal Harmony

As China??s comprehensive national power grows, its efforts to reduce the ??China threat?? perception have become more challenging. In line with the Chinese leadership??s current theme of peace and harmony in China??s foreign policy line, Chinese scholars have been highlighting the same theme in their research on China??s traditional strategic culture. Their research criticizes Western cosmopolitanism and praises the peaceful nature of China??s traditional ??tianxia?? concept. The exploitation of traditional strategic culture to provide re-assurance to the international community has now been raised to the official level, as reflected by the White Paper on ??China??s Peaceful Development?? released by the State Council??s Information Office on September 6, 2011. This probably means that it will be a major element of China??s public diplomacy for the foreseeable future. These efforts, however, may not have a significant impact because of rising nationalism in the region and the moderate escalation of existing territorial disputes involving China and its neighbors.     

China’s Coherence in International Economic Governance

This article analyzes China’s coherence in international economic governance. When and how is China challenging the rules and norms of the prevailing international economic order? Has China adopted the current rules and norms across the board, or is it proceeding in an ad hoc or piecemeal manner? How can its (in) coherence be explained? To address these questions, I compare China’s profile vis-à-vis three dimensions of the global economic order: trade, investment, and development aid. I argue that in international trade and investment, China has neither sought nor brought about significant change. China is however, offering an alternative to the Western norms that until now have dominated the global development aid regime. China’s establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is notable in this regard, though it is still soon to determine if the Chinese-led development bank will break with existing norms. The article then considers possible theoretical explanations for the variation in China’s behavior across the three areas.     

Consistency and change in American perceptions of China

The cold war dominated American perceptions of the People's Republic of China during the 1950s and 1960s, and opinions of China were correspondingly negative. Improved Sino-American relations, accompanied by domestic reforms in China, led to a gradual improvement in American attitudes toward China during the 1970s and 1980s. By the late 1980s, Americans held positive perceptions of China and its relations with the United States, but continued to view the People's Republic as communist and undemocratic. This sort of inconsistency is characteristic of periods of cognitive transition: some established perceptions are slower to change than others, and this results in structural imbalance. The Tiananmen Square massacre of June 1989 interrupted this transitional process and sent perceptions of China shooting back toward balanced, cold war stereotypes. The massacre set the Chinese government in a clear symbolic struggle against freedom and democracy. This rekindled latent cold war images of China and elicited disapproving rhetoric from American leaders. The result was a quick reversion to negative perceptions of China, structured by a lingering cold war schema. These processes are demonstrated through the presentation of a study that explores the cognitive structure of perceptions of China both before and after the massacre.     

Localizing the South China Sea problem: the case of China's Hainan

This paper adopts the local government as a unit of inquiry for understanding the South China Sea problem. It examines the case of Hainan Province, which was designated by the central government of China to administer its claims to ownership of natural resources in the disputed waters. It investigates the political economy of the interactions between the national government of China and the provincial government of Hainan in pursuing China's agenda of exploiting resources, fisheries in particular, in the South China Sea waters. It then considers the implications of such findings for considering the international political economy of the South China Sea problem.     

Sino-US Competition in the South China Sea: Power,Rules and Legitimacy

Journal of Chinese Political Science - The increasing competition between China and the United States in the South China Sea necessitates that some important issues be resolved. What are China and...     

新中国成立以来我国国家形象建构

国家形象因其复杂、可塑和重要,它的建构已成为现代国家非常重视的课题。国家形象建构是理解、把握新中国成立以来光辉历程不可或缺的维度,因为建构稳定和向好的大国形象是中华人民共和国建国以来重要的内在关切和诉求,我们对此有自觉的认识和努力。新中国成立以来的伟大成就,极大地改变了中国各方面的客观源像,建构了诸如社会主义大国、东方大国、全球性大国等形象,总体上日渐趋好,中国国家形象建构取得很大成绩。国家形象建构和新中国建设、发展之间存在着内在的良性互动关系。也正因为如此,在分析不足的基础上探讨进一步优化国家形象的根本路径,有助于更好地推动中国特色社会主义在新时代健康前行。     

Corporate political action in China and America: a comparative perspective

• Corporate political action (CPA) is always an interesting topic for management scholars since 1980s. There are a large plenty of literatures from different disciplines focus on this topic. But till now, studies on this topic are almost conducted under the Western culture and taking the Western countries as objective, very few studies are conducted in non‐Western countries, and specifically, the CPA in China is nearly untouched. Due to the differences of culture and political economy between China and the West, CPA in China may be very different from the West's. This article discusses the similarities and differences of CPA in China and America. The result shows that due to the differences in culture and political economical system between China and America, CPA in China is very different from America. This study will help to understand the CPA in China for outsiders, especially for Americans. It also helps multinational enterprises (MNEs) in China to take suitable political actions to support their interests.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Germany and Chongqing: Secret Communication during WWII

The currently accepted narrative regarding WWII in China suggests that Nationalist China and the Third Reich had no diplomatic connections after their official break of diplomatic relations in July 1941. Based on archival material from Germany, China and Taiwan, this article challenges this narrative. As I hope to demonstrate, communications between Germany and China continued well after July 1941 through back channels. From Switzerland, Chinese agents maintained connections with the German party intelligence service (RSHA), and Germany acted as a mediator between China and Japan. It is the role that intelligence personnel played in maintaining this communication channel and their role in clandestine Sino-German relations, which form the foundation of this paper.     

Introduction: Can America and China Escape the Thucydides Trap?

Journal of Chinese Political Science - Can China rise peacefully? Will China and the United States go to war? As U.S. and China face rising tensions in trade, technology, cyberspace, and the South...     

我国资产定价权缺失与期货市场价格发现功能的联系分析

国内市场自身对资产"定价权"和"话语权"的缺失是制约国内资本市场发展的黑洞之一。随着中国资本市场在经济体系中的地位日益重要,这种被垄断的资本定价权和话语权的状况势必成为中国金融安全的极大隐患。为了加强我国的资产定价权,期货市场发挥着重要作用,谁影响了期货市场价格,谁就掌握了资产定价的主动权。分析我国期货市场价格发现功能不完善从而导致国际定价权缺失的原因,并相应提出了相关对策。