Offensive for defensive: the belt and road initiative and China's new grand strategy

China's Belt and Road initiative came from the combined pressure of slowing down of Chinese economy, US pivot to Asia and deterioration of the relations with neighboring countries after weathering the storm of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. It also symbolizes a more proactive approach of Chinese new leader Xi Jinping in meeting the expectation on China's international obligation and leadership. Aimed to link Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania, the initiative provides tremendous opportunities of international economic cooperation. The paper argues that as China's contribution to international public goods, it is in the line of economic liberalism; as China's grand strategy, it is more of defensive than offensive by nature. Despite risks and uncertainties exist, the enforcement will boost China's influence and position in regional and international institutions. US should consider making more strategic space to the rising China, and a better coordinated China–US relations will make Asia Pacific a safer and more promising region.     

Fiscal Consolidation and Australia's Public Debt

Australia has experienced one of the fastest growing public debt levels in the world post‐Global Financial Crisis due to a series of large federal budget deficits driven by high government spending. In this paper we examine the balance sheet implications of this escalating public debt, before proposing some macro‐fiscal objectives for determining its sustainable level. These objectives are to (i) restore the federal government's solvency; (ii) eliminate foreign public debt; and (iii) achieve budgetary balance over the business cycle. Empirically, we first examine how much fiscal consolidation is required for debt stabilisation at current levels, before considering what sized budget balances are needed to achieve the target debt to GDP ratios consistent with the proposed objectives. The results show that no target debt to GDP level consistent with the optimal levels will be met on current fiscal settings in the medium term. This implies significantly greater fiscal consolidation is required to minimise future fiscal risk.     

Intellectual iconoclasm as modernizing foreign policy: the cases of Mahathir bin Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew

This article attempts to engage in a preliminary twinned study of the foreign policy styles of Mahathir bin Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew within the framework of ‘modernizing Southeast Asian foreign policies’. Modernization is a process of immense multidimensional displacement in economy, society, political system, attitudes towards politicians, identities, work, and consumption. As such the onus falls upon their leaders to either mitigate change or productively awaken their followers to embrace a new mode of thought. Both Lee and Mahathir have however chosen to engage in the foreign policy of intellectual iconoclasm featuring the narrative of ‘productive shock’, manufactured nationalist logics, elitist policy-making and elaborate self-propaganda.     

Networks and campaigns but not movements: collective action in the disciplining Chinese State

Popular protest, civil society organizing, and non-governmental organizations have become notable features in China’s socio-political development. A mounting body of research has documented both opening opportunity structures and remaining restrictions when it comes to collective action within the authoritarian state. However, given the wide range of definitions and interpretations that are at play in the literature, it can be difficult to distinguish between different forms of collective action and determine which actions represent actual movements. This article argues that a refocus towards the basic components that constitute movement action can provide more clarity and help explain the limitations, as well as the opportunities, that surround collective action within authoritarian states. To illustrate, the article studies the organizational growth, networking, and collective action that have occurred in connection with AIDS in China. It finds that political restrictions and other coordination challenges prevent the mobilization of actual social movements.     

Command without control: The case of China's environmental target system

In the existing literature there is general agreement that the effectiveness and efficiency of command and control instruments versus market‐based instruments is highly context specific. A country's particular regulatory environment and state capacity, as well as the features of given environmental problems, play an important role in ascertaining what the “right” set of policy instruments for environmental management might be. This article examines how command and control instruments are used as an environmental enforcement mechanism in China's authoritarian state. Based on extensive fieldwork, this paper shows that the reliance on binding environmental targets as the main domestic policy instrument in China has generated numerous undesirable consequences. While China's target‐based approach to implementation has incentivized local officials to strictly enforce environmental mandates, there are numerous shortcomings in the system. In particular, target rigidity, cyclical behaviour, poor data quality, and the absence of an independent monitoring agency have generated adverse effects and contribute to a yawning gap between regulatory goals and outcomes. The paper concludes that binding environmental targets as the main command–control instrument in China can be more accurately described as “command without control” as the target‐setting central government does not exercise a high degree of control over implementation and monitoring processes. But command and control instruments can be suited for managing “first‐generation” environmental problems and addressing environmental issues that have easily identifiable pollution sources and which are easy to verify.     

“女性发展与性别平等--中德比较研究”研讨会综述

对“女性发展和性别平等”理论与实践进行中德之间的比较研究,既能增进彼此了解,又可促进相互学习。回顾历史,中德两国妇女运动的产生有着各自的时代背景以及不同的发展路径。当代女性形象未能摆脱刻板僵化的性别角色模式,并常常受到媒体和商业化误导的影响。在女性就业方面,德方专家强调了“贯穿整个生命周期的性别平等”理念,中方专家则提出了提高女性就业质量、女性平等获取资源、为家庭工作平衡提供政策支持等建议。全球女性主义起源于上世纪80年代,旨在拓宽女性主义思想的范围;而社会性别主流化作为联合国促进性别平等的全球战略,20多年来在中国取得了诸多方面的成就,同时也面临着挑战。     

国民革命时期的宋庆龄与妇女运动

宋庆龄在国民革命时期的妇女运动中扮演着重要的角色,是这一时期妇女运动的参与者、推动者,更是国共两党开展妇女运动的融合者。1925年孙中山逝世后,宋庆龄独立参政,利用自己特殊的地位和卓越的政治能力,为妇女运动的推进作出了贡献。正是因为有宋庆龄这样的杰出女性,才使得近代以来中国的女权运动主要由男性精英指导与推动的局限得以突破。她以女性领袖的身份激励妇女追求男女平等,实现妇女参政议政,将中国的妇女运动与国民革命的潮流融合,打破了原来孤立而有限的争取男女平等的运动。     

女性学与女性研究的原创性、时代性探析

在学习和理解习近平总书记在哲学社会科学工作座谈会上重要讲话精神的基础上,对女性学和女性研究的原创性与时代性问题展开讨论。研究结果表明,尽管女性学和女性研究在原创性与时代性建设方面取得了一定成绩,但仍然存在学科地位边缘化、原创性力作偏少等不足,需要进一步提高对这些问题的思想认识,并建构新的评价与激励机制。     

The authoritarian logic of regulatory pluralism: Understanding China's new environmental actors

Over the last decade, Chinese citizens, judges, and prosecutors have started to take action against industrial pollution, pluralizing a regulatory landscape originally occupied by administrative agencies. Regulatory pluralism here has an authoritarian logic, occurring without the retreat of party‐state control. Under such logic, the party‐state both needs and fears new actors for their positive and negative roles in controlling risk and maintaining stability. Consequently, the regime's relation to regulatory pluralism is ambivalent, shifting between support and restriction. This prevents a development of a regulatory society that could bypass the regulatory state. Theoretically, this special edition argues for a subjective definition of regulation in a context of pluralism. Moreover, it finds that regulatory pluralism need not coincide with a decentring of regulation. Finally, it highlights how entry onto the regulatory landscape affects the non‐regulatory roles of new actors, creating unintended consequences for regulatory pluralism.     

Some issues on the Internationalization of Chinese Economics Periodicals

The internationalization of Chinese economics periodicals is a process of being well known, accepted and applied worldwide. It is affected by many factors, such as the Chinese scientific development level, the difficult extent of cultural communication, transmission methods, self-quality, the extent of openness, and the size of international targets. In particular, transmission methods and self-quality are two controllable variables. Digitization can accelerate the internationalization process of Chinese economics periodicals in form. The essence of internationalization of Chinese economics periodicals is to make it an international periodical that can be possessed, shared and applied together all over the world. Only when the Chinese national features are integrated with the international community can the Chinese economics periodicals really reach a higher level in its internationalization.