THE ANTI-CORRUPTION STRUGGLE IN XI JINPING’S CHINA: AN ALTERNATIVE POLITICAL NARRATIVE

The fact that the extensive anti-corruption struggle that has consumed China since 2013 is highly political is widely accepted and understood. But the question is precisely what political strategy it is directed at – that of bolstering the position of the current supreme leader, Xi Jinping. Or for the preservation of the Party itself. There is a huge difference between these. The first simply means in effect the replacement of one corruptible elite by another. The second means a titanic struggle to change the Chinese communist party culture of power, and to make it enduring and sustainable.     

领导干部要提高做好群众工作的能力

密切联系群众,善于开展群众工作,是我们党的优良传统和优势所在。为了实现党的十八大确定的宏伟目标,必须紧紧依靠广大人民群众,努力提高做好新形势下群众工作的能力。     

Hearing the voice of Donbas: art and literature as forms of cultural protest during war

This paper analyzes literary, visual, and street art works of writers and artists from Eastern Ukraine produced during 2014. Two Donetsk artists, Serhii Zakharov and Anzhela Dzherikh, and two Luhansk writers, Serhii Zhadan and Olena Stepova, play with the myth of the proletarian Donbas, on the one hand, and debunk the popular perception of Donbas people as being in consent with the politics of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, on the other. They explore familiar tropes and images of Donbas and use guerrilla tactics (shock effects, provocativeness, and deception) to initiate public reaction to the war. Their works are united by their search for a shared communication space and direct access to the audience on occupied territories. These artists challenge the accepted perception of Donbas as a free but uncivilized space and participate in the creation of a new Donbas text. The interaction between politics, art, and activism makes their voices and vision powerful and infectious and can help achieve civic consolidation in Donbas.     

RISE OF THE DISLOYAL: INCREASING RESENTMENT IN NORTH KOREA

Why has loyalty to the Kim Family Regime and the Worker’s Party diminished over the past twenty years despite a rise in the average standard of living, greater social mobility, and a regime policy of benign neglect towards marketization? Unthinkable in the Kim Il Sung era, the increase in expressions of resentment toward the North Korean authorities represents a shift in the ideology, behavior, and motivation of the population. Four critical factors have heightened tensions between state and society in North Korea, leading to a reduction in loyalty among the general population. The author considers the impact of labor mobilizations, the declining importance of party membership, the influence of foreign media, and the rise of rent seeking and extractive policies. While all play a role, it is important and possible to identify the primary cause. Extractive policies and rent-seeking position the regime and the people in a directly adversarial relationship. All tiers and agencies of the government have become complicit in efforts to siphon off profits, control market actors through crony capitalism, rent seek, over-regulate, and compete against private market actors, causing the residents to express frustration and resentment towards a government that does not have their interests at heart.     

从形式回归走向实质回归——对婚姻法与民法关系的再思考

以《民法通则》的颁布为标志,从立法上宣告了我国婚姻法向民法的回归。婚姻家庭关系在本质上是一种私的关系,无论是从婚姻法的角度还是从民法的角度,都可以得出婚姻法属于民法（私法）以及民法（私法）包含婚姻法的结论。长期以来,婚姻法向民法的回归仅仅停留于形式,由此制约了婚姻法学的纵深发展,也妨碍了私法体系的统一完整。在法典化的背景下,实现婚姻法向民法的实质性回归,是关于婚姻法与民法关系的唯一正解,也是制定具有逻辑性、体系性和科学性的中国民法典的必由之路。     

提升中国文化软实力与文化“三自”

提升中国文化软实力，就要正确看待文化“三自”——文化自觉、文化自信、文化自强。提升文化自觉需要提升对文化发展作用、文化发展规律和文化建设责任担当的高度自觉；增强文化自信需要正确看待中国古代传统文化、中国特色社会主义文化、外国文化三种文化；实现文化自强，建设社会主义核心价值体系是关键，建立并完善社会主义文化发展和繁荣制度是保障，人民群众是根本依靠力量，推进文化体制改革是动力。     

CCP ELITE PERCEPTION OF THE US SINCE THE EARLY 1990S: WANG HUNING AND ZHENG BIJIAN AS TEST CASES

This article juxtaposes two of the most influential yet under-studied America watchers within the top echelon of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Wang Huning and Zheng Bijian. To be sure, the two have indelibly shaped CCP attitudes, yet surprisingly enough, although Zheng has been written about extensively in the English language, Wang has hitherto largely remained outside academics’ purview. This article also aims, in passing, to explore linkages between Wang and Zheng ideas and those of other well- known America watchers like Liu Mingfu and Yan Xuetong. The comparison offers clues as to the extent to which the current advisory shaping CCP thinking on the US differs from the previous generation, and as to whether CCP thinking is un-American or anti-American in essence. The conclusions ties the study together by arguing, based on Wang and Zheng's views, that New Confucianism may shape Chinese society in the future     

习近平基层党建思想的理论特征

习近平的基层党建思想,丰富了马克思主义建党学说,为新形势下做好党的基层工作提供了新的理论指导。其具有以下明显的理论特征:以满足人民需要为目的,促进全面发展的执政理念;以改革创新为动力,不断开创基层党建工作新局面的时代精神;以先进力量为表率,身体力行躬身示范的责任担当;以党章为根本标准,从严要求党员的坚定信心;以实事求是为思想指导,坚持求真务实的思维方法。     

MAINTAINING A UNITARY STATE: COUNTER-TERRORISM,SEPARATISM, AND EXTREMISM IN XINJIANG AND CHINA

This essay reviews the history of Uighur related terrorism in Xinjiang as well as elsewhere in China and discusses the political motivations and effectiveness of the Chinese government in suppressing terrorism. The essay assesses both the motivations of the Uighurs engaged in terrorism, as well as the motivations for counter terrorist by the Chinese authorities. A key objective of the essay is to determine what are the political and other reasons that drive the Chinese government’s counter terrorism strategy and tactics and whether these have been effective or counter-productive. The essay assesses the counter terrorism strategy of the Chinese government in Xinjiang Province and across China, the political motivations for the strategy, the impact and success or otherwise. The essay discusses if the government is combatting terrorism, or separatism, or extremism, the confusion of these terms, and whether this has had any impact on the effectiveness of counter terrorism.     

The power of everyday subordination: exploring the silencing and disempowerment of Chinese migrant domestic workers

This paper examines how Chinese female migrant domestic workers are influenced by different forms of subordination; how norms, practices, and power relations enable and legitimize their subordination; and the ways in which subordination elicits compliance while silencing and disempowering the workers. I advance a new perspective on subordination, linking forms of subordination with forms of consciousness. Consciousness of one’s treatment and how one is changed by it informs the decision of whether to remain silent. Compliance, silencing, and disempowerment are facilitated by recognizable and subtle forms of subordination that can directly control individuals’ actions, shift their perspectives, and cause them to act against their own interests. When workers are not conscious of the insidious impact of subtle subordination upon their attitudes, perspectives, and behavior, they are far less likely to resist.