First impressions: Western barbarians at the Celestial Court

Britain's First View of China: Lord Macartney's Embassy to the Peking Court, 1792–94. A joint British Museum/British Library Exhibition. Sponsored and supported by the British Taiwan Cultural Institute. British Museum, 10 October 1992–4 April 1993.

The Collision of Two Civilisations: The British Expedition to China 1792–4, by Alain Peyrefitte (translated from the French by Jon Rothschild). Harvill, London, 1993. xxxiii + 630 pp., colour illus., maps. £30. ISBN 0–00–272677–7.     

中国的东北亚难题:中日、中韩和中朝关系的战略安全形势

中国和日本都在实行某种总体上对于对方的战略“双轨”方针,一方面谋求在有限程度上改善关系,另一方面继续进行战略对峙和战略预防。中国需要进一步稳定目前的中日关系,继续缓解对抗,防止军事冲突,同时依靠缓解对抗来阻滞日本行进中的解禁集体自卫权进程。美韩两国在韩部署“萨德”反导系统的决定导致中国强烈愤怒,中韩关系随之急剧和显著地恶化。然而,争取和维持韩国对中国的基本或起码友善这个重大利益依然存在,它密切地关系到防止和制止朝鲜半岛成为美国针对中国的战略/军事堡垒,因而中国对韩国要不将任何基本的事情“做绝”,尽可能不主动损伤中韩关系多年发展造就的每一项已有的重大成果。中国在朝鲜和朝鲜半岛问题上有六项很经久的核心利益或重大利害,它们都对中国至关紧要,因而总的来说不能扬此抑彼,更不能舍彼取此。必须估计到,朝鲜问题上对中国总的来说有利的、基本和平地解决问题的时机早已过去,今后该问题的前途对中国来说都严重不祥。因而,从长远出发特别重要的是,对朝决不将任何基本的事情“做绝”,防止或阻止朝鲜持对华持久敌视态度；任何情况下都决不容许美国和美韩同盟在军事上控制朝鲜半岛北部。     

Introduction: negotiating the promotion of democracy

ABSTRACT

This article makes the case for why we should turn to studying democracy promotion negotiation, outlines the research questions guiding this special issue, identifies overarching findings and summarizes the individual contributions. After outlining the rationale for more attention to the issue of negotiation, which we understand as a specific form of interaction between external and local actors in democracy promotion, we outline three basic assumptions informing our research: (1) Democracy promotion is an international practice that is necessarily accompanied by processes of negotiation. (2) These negotiation processes, in turn, have an impact upon the practice and outcome of democracy promotion. (3) For external democracy promotion to be mutually owned and effective, genuine negotiations between ‘promoters’ and ‘local actors’ are indispensable; the term ‘genuine’ here being understood as including a substantial exchange on diverging values and interests. The article, then, introduces the three research questions for this agenda, concerning the issues on the negotiation table, the parameters shaping negotiation processes, and the results of democracy promotion negotiation. We conclude by presenting an overview of the overarching findings of the special issue as well as with brief summaries of the individual contributions.     

Whither a Theory of Inter-organisational Relations: A Burgeon Field of Research Between Conceptual Innovation and Fragmentation

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the potential emergence of a theory on inter-organisational relations (IOR). Although no dominant set of causal statements about IOR exists, which is traditionally associated with a theory, the literature has made substantial advancements in the last decade. The main aim of this contribution is to review the respective literature, portraying its merits and shortcomings. The article shows that a rich analytical repertoire of instruments for research exists but that scholarship struggles to make use of these advancements. The article argues that an IOR theory is on the horizon but the field needs to accept and better conceptualise phenomena which lay outside the traditional understanding of theory building.     

论生态文明与科学发展观

科学发展观是在总结国内外经验教训、立足我国现实国情的基础上提出的,为我国经济社会建设提供了理论支持,指明了发展方向。生态文明建设是我党在我国新的经济发展形势以及人与自然关系矛盾凸显的时期适时提出的,为我国当前正确处理人与自然关系的指明了前进的道路。科学发展观的四项主要内容分别为生态文明建设提供了现实措施,找到了归宿,提出了要求,指明了发展路径。     

The Moroccan system of labour institutions: a class-based perspective

Abstract

The relevance of workers’ mobilisations in the 2011 Arab uprisings and – more recently – in the Algerian movement for democracy and social justice has encouraged a renewed interest in labour–state relations in the region. This article presents a class-based perspective on labour institutions, taking Morocco as a case study. In contrast to institution-based approaches, this research argues that it is problematic to treat the trade unions as analytical proxies for the working class, because this heuristic move conceals how class struggles – from below and from above – can transcend and transform labour institutions. The article proposes a framework to study labour–state relations, highlighting the relative autonomy of union officials from workers and vice versa. In this way, it shows how, in the neoliberal phase, the Moroccan state increased inducements to the unions while decreasing those to the workers and maintaining significant constraints on workplace organising. To use a simplified formulation, the regime included the unions to exclude the workers. In such a context of low union representativeness, the dangers of reducing the working class to the trade unions emerge clearly.     

中国境内德昂族汝买支系族群语言关系与语言自信研究

中国境内德昂族主要有布雷、汝买、梁三个支系。以往德昂族研究主要以布雷支系为主体研究对象,而其中偏居国境线一隅的点状散布居住的汝买人由于浸没于傣族、景颇族之中,几乎不被外界所熟知。以语言为核心对汝买支系族群语言关系与语言自信的研究不仅有利于解决当下境内濒危小语言现实社会处境、命运和语言归属问题,而且也是对濒危小语言活态的有利保护。     

“一带一路”倡议下西方国家对中资企业在非洲劳动关系的认知误区 ——以埃塞俄比亚东坚公司为例

自"一带一路"倡议实施以来,中国政府积极推进"一带一路"建设,中国企业加快了对沿线国家的投资。非洲的埃塞俄比亚是中国企业投资的重要国家之一。但是西方国家对中国在非洲的投资一直存在着许多认知误区,其中一个主要误区就是中国企业的劳动关系管理问题。研究以中国的劳动密集型企业东坚公司为例,从招聘雇佣、工资福利、劳动关系管理、企业文化等多个方面来考察中国企业是如何促进非洲发展的。研究认为,以东坚公司为代表的中国企业严格遵守投资对象国的法律,促进了当地的就业和工业化发展,但也存在本地化雇佣不够理想等问题。     

Asymmetrical rivalry between China and Japan in Africa: to what extent has Sino-Japan rivalry become a global phenomenon?

Abstract

To what extent is China–Japan rivalry a global phenomenon, and what is the nature of the rivalry they engage in outside their own region? Literature on Sino-Japanese rivalry abounds, but it pays scant attention to the relevance of the rivalry outside East Asia. This article argues that Sino-Japanese rivalry has indeed become a global phenomenon, that various forms of the rivalry are evident in Africa, and that they are mostly of an asymmetrical nature. Quantitatively, China’s contribution to Africa is far greater than that of Japan, with the exception of foreign direct investment (FDI). Qualitatively, though, Japan has a stronger sense of the rivalry than China has, revealing a psychological aspect to the asymmetry as well. Contextually, the types of activity that Chinese and Japanese actors carry out in Africa are not necessarily the same, which makes the rivalry all the more asymmetrical. The rivalry has become more apparent recently, not only because of the rise of China but also because of a change in the meaning of ‘Africa’ – from a region of ‘poverty’ and ‘hunger’ to a region of ‘economic opportunities’. That said, Africa – to a greater or lesser degree in each of its countries – still suffers from conflict and instability. As a result, the ability of Japan and China to exert power and influence throughout Africa is somewhat restricted.     

Purposefully Triggering Unintended Consequences: the European Commission and the Uncertain Future of the EU-ACP Partnership

ABSTRACT

The EU’s proposal to renew the EU-ACP Agreement in spite of a number of signals pointing in the opposite direction is, inter alia, the unintended consequence of independent decisions taken in three different policy areas (trade, environment, and foreign and security affairs). The common unintended consequence that the three decisions shared would not have materialised if the European Commission had not purposefully triggered it to justify its vision of future EU-ACP relations. These findings challenge the prevailing and superficial usage of the notion of the unintended as a synonym for unanticipated and undesirable, and demonstrate that unintended consequences do not necessarily presuppose lack of anticipation, but may well be the result of calculation by policymakers.