Challenging Credit Dominance

Europe's widening sovereign debt crisis has brought independent credit ratings to the forefront of the EU's agenda.To directly address the mat ter,the EU announced plans to set up a European creditrating authority for sovereign debt ratings on April 30.This marked a milestone in the international credit history,and the beginning of changes to U.S.-dominated international credit ratings and the pattern of international politics and economics,said Sun Zhe,Director of the Center for U.S.     

The ‘Tianxia Trope’: will China change the international system?

The tianxia trope has been advanced as an organizing principle for post-Cold War international relations encompassing the rise of the People's Republic of China. The tianxia system is defined as a Sino-centric hierarchical relationship among unequals, governed according to Confucian principles of benevolence. As traditionally practiced, it incorporated an important role for the observance of ritual, including the presentation of tribute to the emperor as Son of Heaven, purportedly resulting in a Pax Sinica. Its supporters believe that, if adopted in today's world, tianxia would constitute a great improvement over the anarchic Westphalian system of theoretically equal states who possess sovereignty, i.e. inviolability within their own borders. Because they answer to no superior authority, the Westphalian system is by its very nature conducive to discord and war. This article will argue that both the tianxia and Westphalian systems have serious flaws and were rarely practiced as either their proponents or detractors argue. However, even states whose domestic autonomy is compromised by internal dissent and whose weaknesses prevent their playing an influential role internationally have vested interests in maintaining adherence to the Westphalian system, if only as a bargaining position. The PRC government itself has accepted the principles inherent therein through such actions as joining the United Nations and becoming a signatory of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. It zealously defends its sovereign prerogatives when useful, even as it makes efforts to educate the world on the virtues of a Confucian Great Harmony, and its supporters advocate following a somewhat nebulously defined Chinese model. In the absence of compelling incentives for major players in the current international system to adopt the tianxia system, Westphalian sovereignty appears likely to remain the organizing principle of international relations for the foreseeable future, its serious deficiencies notwithstanding. To paraphrase Winston Churchill's remarks on democracy, it may be the worst form of government except for all the others.     

About Face—the relational dimension in Chinese IR discourse

The preservation of face is an important concept in Chinese behavioral patterns, both at individual and national levels. Beyond national interest considerations, modern-day diplomacy between China and the world also involves substantially the exchange of face. This article will argue that face represents a relational understanding of how China views and interacts with the world. By linking face to three themes that international relations scholars frequently use in describing how China sees the world, namely, the tribute system, the Chinese memory of historical humiliation and China’s distrust of the American-led international system, the article hopes to show how the understanding of face—as a crucial element of Chinese identity—can inform scholars and practitioners in their attempts to engage China.     

马克思的国际贸易伦理思想研究

马克思的国际贸易理论是马克思的政治经济学的重要内容,探讨马克思的国际贸易理论中的伦理思想,有利于我们把握与理解马克思的国际贸易理论的精神实质。马克思认为,国际贸易是资本主义生产方式的必然产物,正是资本主义生产方式的发展,促使了国际贸易的发展与世界市场的形成。从马克思历史观的维度看来,自由与平等是国际贸易的核心伦理精神,信用是国际贸易的伦理基础与伦理保障,国际贸易的发展离不开自由与平等,也需要信用为其保驾与护航。此外,在国际贸易中也要讲人道,人道是国际贸易对贸易主体所提出的伦理要求。     

整体性治理对我国海洋环境管理体制改革的启示

我国海洋环境管理体制虽经历了多次变革,但由于种种原因,现行的海洋环境管理体制至今还是分散型的。这种分散型管理体制存在诸多弊端,难以适应世界海洋环境管理一体化发展的趋势。本文借鉴西方整体性治理理论,对我国现行海洋环境管理体制现状及存在的问题进行客观的梳理和分析,探讨了今后我国海洋环境管理体制改革的方向,并对今后我国海洋环境治理模式进行了初步构想。     

China as a latecomer: Toward a global logic of the open policy

The paper reviews a number of substantive issue‐areas in China's foreign economic sector (the foreign trade system, industrial and geographical targeting, foreign investment regulations, and the foreign exchange regime), finding that conventional mercantilist accounts of China's recent success in world markets are overstated. In fact, the paper argues that the most salient changes occurring in China's foreign economic sector are now in many respects beyond the immediate control of the state. In this vein, it is argued that most scholars have seriously underestimated the structuring impact of the international political economy on China's reform and opening. Indeed, the paper maintains that there is a ‘global’ logic to the evolution of the Open Policy, just as others have identified an ‘economic’ or ‘political’ logic to foreign trade reform, the creation of the SEZs, liberalization of investment laws, the loosening of foreign exchange controls, and other such changes. The paper concludes, therefore, that there is much about the course of China's reform and deepening integration into the world economy that can be understood as a function of its position as a latecomer in the international system.     

信托法律制度的冲突法分析及其适用

信托制度凭借其成熟的财产管理优势，被许多大陆法系国家从英美法系国家移植并为其所用。由于英美法系的财产法与大陆法系的物权法和债权法存在本质的差别，因此有关国际信托的法律冲突较其他领域就更为复杂。本文结合国际法中的相关理论对国际信托领域存在的法律冲突之原因及现状进行了阐述并针对国际信托关系的法律适用，详细论述了当事人意思自治原则的广泛性，最密切联系原则的不足、准据法分割的复杂性以及《海牙信托公约》通过的背景和主要内容。笔者在研究两大法系主要国家关于国际信托法律冲突解决机制的基础上，对我国第一部信托成文法提出了修改或增加司法解释的建议。     

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.     

习近平人类命运共同体思想的建构逻辑与价值外延

党的十八大以来,习近平总书记在众多国际外交场合以及国内重要会议上,反复阐述人类命运共同体思想,并进行了深刻论证。它是建构在共同国际权益观、共同利益观、共同可持续发展观的价值基础之上,以马克思共同体思想为来源,以中国优秀传统文化为动力,以历代党的领导人的思想为基础,面对当前世界性发展难题提出的中国国际秩序观。此外,它的价值实现了外延,为世界走向和平、走向共同发展、实现全球治理提供了现实可能的“中国方案”。     

论信用证诈骗犯罪的特点、形式及其防范对策

信用证是国际贸易中的一种重要的支付手段。信用证诈骗是发生在信用证结算过程中一种比较复杂的犯罪行为,社会危害性极大,惩治信用证诈骗犯罪对重塑社会信用具有十分重要的现实意义。笔者从概述信用证的运作机制入手,对信用证诈骗犯罪的特点、主要表现形式以及防范对策进行了较为深入的探讨,以期为打击、遏制信用证诈骗犯罪,建立完善的防控机制提供有益探索。     

MARKET WATCH

China adds to its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities for the first time in three months. China’s auto market stages a significant comeback in August as vehicle sales grew 6.29 percent from July figures. The Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corp. concluded an agreement to invest in the United States, ending doubts about the feasibility of the deal. State -owned enterprises raked in juicy profits from January to August this year. China inches up on the global competitiveness ranking list. Global payment giant MasterCard Worldwide predicts China will replace the United States as the world’s top credit card market by 2020.     

The China challenge: Theoretical perspectives and policy implications

Over the past few years there has been a heated debate in the West over the potential challenge of an increasingly strong and assertive China to the Asia‐Pacific region and to the world in general. This article offers a systematic analysis of the debate on China's emerging role in the international system and its security implications from the theoretical perspectives of realism and liberalism. While both international relations theories have provided valuable insights, neither of them alone is able to unravel the puzzle of whether a prosperous and powerful China will be a major force of stability or a threat to international peace. Drawing on the theory of trade expectations, this article shows the conditions under which high interdependence between China and its trading partners will lead to pacific or belligerent Chinese behavior. If Chinese decision‐makers’ expectations for future trade are high, they will be less likely to use force to deal with unresolved disputes with neighboring countries. If, however, they have a negative view of their future trading environment, they will be likely to take measures, including military actions, to remove any obstacles that might forestall the pursuit of great‐power status. For the moment, China's expectations of future trade are by and large optimistic, but there is evidence of growing Chinese suspicion of a Western ‘conspiracy’ to contain China which may alter Beijing's future perceptions. To ensure that the rise of China will not cause regional and global instability, the outside world should seek to integrate China into the international community by pursuing policies that will have a positive influence on China's expected value of trade. In the meantime, some elements of the balance of power strategy need to be introduced in order to curtail China's expected value of war.     

全球化进程与当代政府管理创新

政府管理创新是世界各国政府发展的总趋势。全球化进程作为一个大的时代背景,在加强国与国联系的同时,必然推动着各国政府外部管理体制和内部运作机制的相互学习和自我创新。全球化进程对当代政府管理更是提出了许多全新的要求:一、全球化进程必然要求当代政府管理对于新的国际情势有一个制度上的回应;二、全球化进程使得一个主权国家政府管理的内部事务衍生出外部意义;三、全球化进程要求政府管理从传统的"自上而下"的统治走向"上下互动"的治理;四、全球化进程要求当代政府管理在全球范围内关注生态治理、环境保护和和平共处的问题。     

Xi Jinping’s ‘Big Power Diplomacy’ and China’s Central National Security Commission (CNSC)

The current Chinese foreign and national security system suffers from problems of inefficiency, a lack of coordination and information sharing, and accountability of decision makers. China’s newly established Central National Security Commission (CNSC) is designed to build a strong platform to coordinate national security work and to strengthen unified leadership of national security at the central level. This article examines the CNSC’s foreign policy and institutional rationales. It argues that the establishment of the CNSC must be viewed in light of China’s growing power and Xi’s aspiration to play ‘big power diplomacy’ in world affairs as well as his ambition for overall institutional reforms of foreign and national security policymaking in China.     

信用卡诈骗罪研究

随着我国经济的发展,信用卡的运用也逐渐普遍起来,而犯罪分子更是瞄准了信用卡制度的不完善和法律的漏洞,使信用卡诈骗罪也在近年来逐渐成为金融诈骗罪领域中的一项主要犯罪活动,而实践和理论的分歧使此项犯罪的司法认定存在诸多的争议,作者拟就此问题作详细的解释,为防范犯罪献计献策。     

市场信用监管的政府责任及其实现机制

实践表明,构建以信用为基础的新型监管机制对政府的市场监管具有重要的基础意义。本文综合学理和实践视野,探讨了市场信用监管体系的构成特征,即市场信用监管是以信用信息为基石的一系列制度安排的集合,是实现全方位监管、全过程监管、精准化监管的集合。其核心价值是完善市场资源有效配置机制,降低制度性交易成本和促进新型市场监管体系全面升级。采用制度主义的视角分析了政府在市场信用监管中的制度供给、制度执行、制度维护和制度创新四大政府责任,并用结构-过程的视角结合具体实践分析了事前、事中、事后阶段以及全过程监管中可创新的一系列监管规则和制度。     

Taiwan's Expansion of International Space: opportunities and challenges

While much is to be celebrated since Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou's inauguration in 2008, cross-Strait relations are not without challenges. One such crucial test is Ma's call for Chinese leaders to stop isolating Taipei in the world community and give Taiwan adequate ‘international space’. Because the issue strikes at the heart of the fundamental differences between Taipei's and Beijing's positions regarding the island's sovereignty, it needs to be handled carefully by both governments for better cross-Strait relations. This study analyzes the approaches adopted by both Beijing and Taipei regarding Taiwan's status in the international community. Utilizing discussion with Chinese scholars and government officials and the analysis of several waves of survey data conducted in Taiwan, it argues that Beijing's flexibility in its application of the ‘one China’ principle and the Ma administration's practicality in making its requests are critical to the realization of Taipei's demand for international space and hence cross-Strait stability.     

MARKET WATCH

TO THE POINT:The United States took further protectionist moves against "made-in-China" products by levying preliminary countervailing duties on potassium phosphate salts and coated paper from China.China’s nouveau riche are becoming an ever-important purchasing power for the world’s luxury products.January sales for the nation’s 100 key retailing enterprises made large increases from last December’s figures.Foreign distiller Diageo’s attempt to control the well-known domestic liquor brand Swellfun has come to fruition.High domestic coal prices forced power plants to turn to international coal supplies.The 14th China International Fair for Investment and Trade will be held on September 8-11 in Xiamen,Fujian Province.     

WTO规则与我国民用飞机产业发展立法

WTO规则对中国民用航空产业特别是我国民用飞机产业的发展有着巨大的影响和积极意义。从目前来看,中国的法律体系尚不完善,现行的民航法规和规章,要么在一些方面规定阙如,要么不符合WTO规则的要求,法治观念还没有完全树立起来。在这种法制环境下,中国民机产业必须规避入世风险,其核心问题是处理好政府的行政管理行为与民机产业法制之间的关系。对此,中国民机产业要建立健全法律法规制度,才能使我国作为WTO成员按照WTO规则和国际惯例保障和促进民机产业的发展。同时,通过典型国家民机产业发展立法的经验借鉴,也能为我国民机产业发展立法提供有益的启示,从而加速我国民机产业的可持续发展。     

China's Sovereign Wealth Funds: origins,development, and future roles

China has established two of the world's newer large sovereign wealth funds (SWFs): the official China Investment Corporation (CIC), and the non-official and less transparent State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Investment Company (SIC). Both provide alternative investment opportunities for China's exploding foreign exchange reserves, at US$2.4 trillion at the end of 2009, the largest in world history. This paper will address how China has accumulated its huge and growing foreign exchange reserves, and what roles these reserves, until 2007 managed only by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), have played in the establishment and development of China's two new SWFs. We will look specifically at why China's foreign exchange reserves have developed, and how the new SWFs are a part of broader efforts to provide investment alternatives for China's ballooning foreign exchange surpluses, particularly in light of the inflow of ‘hot’ foreign speculative funds. We will then point out some of the difficulties for China's financial officials of SWFs as they try to pursue multiple and sometimes competing goals, set by boards of directors representing different bureaucratic and economic interests, all within the context of a general lack of transparency and a rapidly growing economy. Finally, we will present our conclusions about the future roles of the two SWFs as well as of the policies being developed to decentralize foreign exchange reserve holdings while at the same time not slowing the growth of China's foreign trade surpluses, nor its foreign direct investments, nor its overall economic growth. We will also examine the effects of US-promoted Chinese currency appreciation on the future of China's foreign exchange reserves and its sovereign wealth funds.