构建东北亚共同体的方向：超越文化共同体而走向人类安全共同体

韩国政府和学界在近十年内为构建东北亚共同体作出了不少努力,可是中国和日本却乏善可陈。中国学界就东北亚共同体的研究成果较少,内容也较粗泛。庆幸的是,中国领导人对中国历史文化传统重新进行评估,同时借用软实力展开对外政策,以北京奥运会为转折点,世界各国及韩国对中国的认识开始发生变化。在构建东北亚合作圈或共同体的努力和探讨过程中,若以一个国家或民族的文化作为手段或途径,很可能导致陈年旧账死灰复燃并扩大,使人怀疑其别有用心。东北亚共同体应排除强国的利己目的,使其发展为可以相互制约和均衡的较松散的合作共同体。若有积极性,可建构包括环境安全、经济安全、政治安全、社会安全、生态安全、文化安全以及科技安全等非传统安全和＂人类安全＂在内的＂东北亚人类安全共同体＂,来增强东北亚国家之间的相互理解和合作交流。     

Ethnic origin of the victim as an aggravating factor in sentencing sexual offenders

This article examines R v Jamal Muhammed Raheem Ul Nasir, a Court of Appeal case where leave to appeal against a seven-year custodial sentence for sexual offences against children was refused. The appellant argued that his sentence length was excessive because the judge viewed the female victims’ ethnic and religious origin as an aggravating factor. In light of a number of charities’ condemning the judgment, this article evaluates whether the Court of Appeal made the correct decision, particularly in the wider context of sentencing principles. It also considers whether causing shame to a victim and her family can be regarded as an aggravating factor when sentencing sexual offences, and discusses the circumstances where the victim’s ethnic origin should be taken into account.     

东北区域经济一体化的可行性分析

当前,对于市场经济发展已相对滞后的东北地区而言,要缩小与沿海发达地区的差异,重振雄风,必须进行跨越式发展。区域经济一体化是实现这一目标的最优路径。根据对成本和收益的比较来分析东北区域经济的发展,其具备区域经济一体化的必要性和现实性,只要采取有效措施,东北区域经济一体化是指日可待的。     

Chinese migration: still the major focus of Russian Far East/Chinese North East relations?

Abstract

In contrast to Sino-Russian relations at the state-level, regional cooperation between the contiguous Russian Far East and Chinese North East has been difficult to achieve, despite the existence of seemingly natural economic complementarities. This article asks why this is the case and argues that one important stumbling block, i.e. negative reactions to Chinese labour migration, has become less problematic. Situating Russian Far East/Chinese North East relations in a regionalist framework the article compares the salience and framing of major issues in regional relations in Chinese and Russian media at the national and regional levels. Contrary to earlier research, the findings suggest that economic and regional development issues, and not Chinese migration into the Russian Far East, are by far the most salient sets of issues on both sides. However, significant differences in the framing of these issues suggest that a convergence of opinion on the desirability of regional cooperation masks contradictory expectations for the direction of regional development.     

Race and the Death Penalty

Abstract

Scholars have learned a great deal about race and the death penalty. Yet the field has limitations: (1) prior research focuses on African Americans and Hispanics but ignores Asian Americans; (2) researchers have not explored Donald Black's (1989) plan to eliminate discrimination called the “desocialization of law.” Black notes that jurors who do not know the race of the offender and victim cannot discriminate. Black then outlines proposals aimed at removing race information from trials, while still providing jurors with relevant legal information. We address both issues through an experiment in which mock jurors (N = 1,233 students) recommended a sentence in a capital murder trial consisting of four conditions: (1) Asian American-white; (2) white-Asian American; (3) African American-white; (4) race of offender and victim unknown. The results suggest that Asian Americans are treated the same as whites, while African Americans continue to suffer from discrimination. Here, we consider the potential role of social status in such outcomes. The results also suggest that African American offenders and unknown offenders face the same odds of a death sentence. Here, we consider two potential interpretations. On one hand, jurors in the unknown condition could have seen an African American offender and a white victim in their “mind's eye,” effectively merging the conditions. On the other hand, death sentences could be the same in the conditions for distinct reasons: Death sentences could be high in the unknown condition because of relational distance between the juror and offender, while death sentences could be high in the African American-white condition because of discrimination. We conclude by considering the theoretical and public policy implications of both the central findings.     

Second Elections and Democratic Consolidation: the Experience of Bhutan

This article examines the phenomenon of the second election after democratization in developing countries. Unlike the euphoria that often accompanies the immediate post-democratization election, the second election gives clear evidence of the progress of democratic consolidation or whether the new regime has incorporated authoritarian elements and become a hybrid. To measure the democratic gains or losses that are seen in the second election, an analytical framework has been adopted comprised of three dimensions: regularity, openness and acceptability. This framework is applied to Bhutan where the second election took place in 2013. The findings are that progress was made on all three dimensions of democratization in the election although some democratic shortfalls were still evident. For Bhutan, the overarching concern for political stability is seen to have greatly affected the design and implementation of its electoral system.     

Freedom of Speech and Democracy in Malaysia

This article seeks to understand the situation of political speech in Malaysia, the argument in favour of restrictions on political speech, and the problems that prevent political speech from being practised effectively. For example, two particularly sensitive issues—ethnic rivalry and religion—are considered taboo and discussion of these issues is severely restricted. Article 10 of the Malaysian Constitution, in reflecting the sensitiveness of these issues, specifies a list of restrictions, which limit the right of free speech on the grounds of guarding political stability and racial harmony. Furthermore, freedom of political speech and the political rights of individuals are secondary to the goals of national prosperity and national development, and the government is predisposed to impose some form of political discipline in order to serve the greater social good. However, the Malaysian government has taken a step further to control not only hate and racial speech, but also any political speech that seriously challenges the government. In this respect, the Malaysian government can be accused of being less democratic for its restriction on political speech.     

Dynamism and Enterprise

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to see how Asian female entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom have developed and to increase our understanding of this entrepreneurial minority. The study looks at some of the more successful Asian women who are prominent in the United Kingdom by being featured in the top 200 Asian rich list. Both primary and secondary sources were used to profile these women. Open ended face-to-face interviews were also conducted with Asian women from second/third generations who had some business ownership stake in the more traditional low value added, labour intensive businesses. Questions centred around why they started their business, the support they received, the challenges facing them specifically as Asian women in business both at start up and beyond, their aspirations for the future of the business and their motivations.

The findings show that the gap appears to have widened between the more successful Asian business woman and those women who are still opting for low value added, labour intensive firms. The practical implications of this study are that Asian women are an increasingly important part of the SME group and thus increasing the quality of business provision, advice, start up and growth would make this vital sector even more productive. This study will also help sensitise and inform business support agents, banks, advisors both public sector and private. Understanding the needs of this entrepreneurial minority is important for academic, policy makers and support professionals.     

Globalization's impact on the Malaysian workforce

This article provides a partial analysis of the socio-political impact of the so-called IMF reforms that were implemented by the South Korean government in response to the financial crisis of 1997–98. We find that at least in one key area — namely policies related to foreign investment — the IMF reforms fundamentally altered and reshaped Korea's development path. In fact, the policy changes affecting foreign investment produced what amounts to a paradigm shift in Korea's well-known model of developmental state. Alternatively put, these reforms led to the demise of the “Korea, Inc.,” the symbiotic relationship between government and businesses that was at the core of Korea's developmental state. As such, our analysis suggesting a paradigm shift in Korea's developmental state stands in contrast with previous (pre-crisis) arguments that proclaimed the demise of the developmental state.     

Social Hierarchy and the Inequalities of Access: Evidence from Rural Southern Laos

The Asian Development Bank's rural road development scheme in Laos is designed to increase the opportunity for rural communities to participate in neighbouring emerging markets.Yet, this improved infrastructural strategy may result in increased social disparities betweenregions and within communities. This paper addresses the possible impact on intra-communityinequality using endowment and network data from a southern Lao commune. The objective is to analyse the way in which the village hierarchical social structure impedes individuals' ability to access emerging markets. The social hierarchy hinders the benefits of improved roads and marketisation trickling down to the poorest. Disruption to the trickledown effect means that existing rural development and anti-poverty strategies tend to favour the wealthy and well connected, and further marginalise the poor in the community. Therefore, it is crucial to recognise the importance of the village social hierarchy and define its contribution to the persistence of povertyand reinforcement of inequalities of opportunities for the rural poor. Policies need to directlytarget those of lower stratification by addressing underlying reasons for intergenerational inequalities of opportunity.