The return of strongmen politics, exemplified by Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, has raised questions about societal influence on authoritarian regimes' foreign policies. Despite authoritarian rule... Show moreThe return of strongmen politics, exemplified by Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, has raised questions about societal influence on authoritarian regimes' foreign policies. Despite authoritarian rule tightening, vibrant debates on foreign policy persist in China. Scholars have pinpointed actors capable of influencing China's foreign policy and identified channels for exerting this influence. However, conditions under which Chinese societal actors impact foreign policy remain unclear. This dissertation investigates the influence of experts from Chinese foreign policy think tanks and International Relations scholars. Analyzing 100 official foreign policy statements, 500 think tank reports, and around 2000 academic articles using frame analysis and quantitative content analysis, I found no perfect transmission between official and societal constructs of China's national interest. This necessitates considering the impact of domestic structures. I argue that societal actors' proximity to the state and the state's openness to societal input facilitate or constrain their influence on the official construction of the national interest. My examination of political institutions and state-society relations changes under Xi Jinping reveals shifts in the state's receptivity to societal input, differing for think tanks and scholars. Additionally, I introduce a new measure of think tanks' and scholars' proximity to the state, providing fresh insights for reevaluating societal actors' impact on authoritarian regime foreign policies. Show less
In this well-documented, bilingual, and richly illustrated catalogue, published for the long-anticipated exhibition Reflected Beauty: Chinese Reverse Glass Paintings from the Mei Lin Collection at ... Show moreIn this well-documented, bilingual, and richly illustrated catalogue, published for the long-anticipated exhibition Reflected Beauty: Chinese Reverse Glass Paintings from the Mei Lin Collection at the University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong (September 2021-January 2022), the authors give us a profound insight into the phenomenon of reverse painting on glass and mirror paintings, with a particular focus on those from the Mei Lin Collection assembled by the Sinologist, author, and translator Rupprecht Mayer and his wife Haitang Mayer-Liem. Composed of over one hundred works acquired in East Asia between 1968 and 2012, this is one of the world's most important collections of Chinese reverse glass paintings from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Show less
This research analyses to what extent China is achieving decent work based on a case study of decent working time. The word ‘achieving’ underlines that China is still in the process of securing... Show moreThis research analyses to what extent China is achieving decent work based on a case study of decent working time. The word ‘achieving’ underlines that China is still in the process of securing this aim. This research builds on a mixed methodology of case study, historical analysis, content analysis, structured critical analysis, and comparative law. The findings show that the development goal of decent work has not been achieved in China, but there are some significant developments. Particularly, many labour standards with regard to workers’ health and safety have markedly been intensified and increased, as have the making and enforcement of Chinese labour laws, which both are signals that China has created an environment receptive to further reform and development on its path to achieving decent work. Show less
This thesis examines how innovation is practiced, imagined, mobilized, and reinterpreted by China’s local developers and its subjects. The Chinese innovation movement is not the same as the ... Show moreThis thesis examines how innovation is practiced, imagined, mobilized, and reinterpreted by China’s local developers and its subjects. The Chinese innovation movement is not the same as the “disruptive innovation” of recent years mainly driven by digital technology in the European and North American contexts. The state plays a very salient role in innovation, investing in the social and economic system to provide a constant demand for innovation to unleash the dynamism of development.The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the state’s role in socio-economic transformation and its governance model in innovation activities. This thesis discusses the state-market-society relationship not merely from an institutionalist perspective that focuses on the interplay between the state, the market, and society. I discovered that the state creates a range of government institutions to regulate and shape society. Further, in recent years the local state has been an important producer of the emergence of China’s new civil society that drives innovation and entrepreneurship as ways to enhance social mobility. Show less
The late 1990s saw the emergence on the Chinese poetry scene of a phenomenon called “Poetry of the Nineties” (九十年代诗歌). This happened before the decade in question had reached its end. Different... Show moreThe late 1990s saw the emergence on the Chinese poetry scene of a phenomenon called “Poetry of the Nineties” (九十年代诗歌). This happened before the decade in question had reached its end. Different from what one might expect, the expression does not denote a simple calendar chronology – as in poetry written in the 1990s – but instead points to a literary-critical category, and more specifically to a particular poetics and a network of associated authors and critics. This discrepancy of calendar chronology and literary criticism offers a point of entry into a pivotal moment in critical discourse on contemporary Chinese poetry. Pivotal as it may be, this moment has remained underresearched to date, especially as regards its history, which goes back to the 1980s, and as regards its consequences, which continue to affect scholarship today. The present study addresses this blind spot by asking: What does “Poetry of the Nineties” signify, to whom, and to what effect? It engages with this question by investigating how poetry written in the 1990s is represented in 21st-century Chinese scholarship, and how this representation can be explained. Show less
This dissertation studies the construction of Chinese nationalism by the Chinese government and media companies through mass communication of government-staged and abrupt events in the reform era... Show moreThis dissertation studies the construction of Chinese nationalism by the Chinese government and media companies through mass communication of government-staged and abrupt events in the reform era between 2008 and 2012. It examines how Chinese audiences express online nationalist sentiments, representing whether the communication of media events meets the social demands established by “dream discourses.” Using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, it focuses on two case studies: the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands incident. The dissertation finds that these mass media events play a significant role in shaping Chinese state nationalism and popular nationalism. The related mass communication helps the Chinese government increase or, at least, maintain its legitimacy through various strategies. The findings of this dissertation also show that as Chinese audiences have increasingly voiced themselves in the information age, the government will keep treating the robust, uneasy entanglement of nationalism, globalization, and digital media more cautiously for its social development and stability. Show less
This introduction provides the context and theoretical background that informs the studies in this volume. It introduces the volume’s common theme: the question of how different actors give shape... Show moreThis introduction provides the context and theoretical background that informs the studies in this volume. It introduces the volume’s common theme: the question of how different actors give shape to BRI projects. It outlines how, rather than treating nation states as singular, monolithic actors, this volume teases apart the way different people and organizations insert themselves into BRI decision-making and implementation. The chapter discusses how we might conceptualize agency in such contexts, drawing together the volume’s findings to arrive at four conclusions: 1) that in understanding the BRI, geographical context matters; 2) that the BRI is a pluralist endeavour rather than a single, unified agenda; 3) that BRI efforts often extend rather than challenge existing politics; and 4) that outcomes depend on the activities of local actors. Show less
This dissertation advances a new interpretation on the national formation of modern China through the lens of Chinese cinema. Primarily, this project explores how cinema—a modern invention imported... Show moreThis dissertation advances a new interpretation on the national formation of modern China through the lens of Chinese cinema. Primarily, this project explores how cinema—a modern invention imported from the West—has shaped China’s sociopolitical transition from a dynastic empire to a nation-state. It is argued that, the concurrence of motion picture’s arrival and nation-state’s advent in China at the turn of the twentieth century, is not to be considered as isolated events, but rather as a dialectical dynamism in which the imagined community of modern China has largely relied on cinema for its symbolic construction, and yet encountered constant resistance from cinematic representation. Viewing the formation of the Chinese nation-state from a cinematic perspective, this study centers on the conflicts between marginal figures and central categories in Chinese films. In approaching this unresolved dilemma, Jiyu Zhang dedicates his study to mapping out a dialectical relationship between China’s internal and external tensions. Through an extensive investigation of cinematic embodiment, Zhang hones in on four groups of characters that he terms the “central frontiers” of modern China’s cultural imaginary: children, women, ethnic minorities, and diaspora. Show less
Schneider, F.A.; Veere, A.P. van der; Lammertink, J.P.; Burgers, E.M.; Sicinski, R.G.; Zhang, S. 2020
With societies around the world tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, the role of digital technology has come into focus as a means of augmenting efforts to manage disease and its impacts. What can... Show moreWith societies around the world tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, the role of digital technology has come into focus as a means of augmenting efforts to manage disease and its impacts. What can apps, big data, and digital analytics contribute to such efforts, and what risks do they pose? Asia provides important lessons. Not only have societies in the region long been at the forefront of technological development, but they have also proactively adopted digital solutions as they confront COVID-19. Importantly, Asia has a history of managing highly contagious diseases, and outbreaks like SARS in 2002 or H1N1 in 2009 have provided experiences in risk management and health provision that now powerfully inform both digital and non-digital responses to the current pandemic. The result is a diverse range of different approaches that can teach us much about the advantages and disadvantages of designing tech solutions to fight pandemics. Show less
During the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) philology dominated the scholarly discourse in China. Scholars worked extensively on received texts dating from around 500 to 200 BCE and employed their... Show moreDuring the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) philology dominated the scholarly discourse in China. Scholars worked extensively on received texts dating from around 500 to 200 BCE and employed their sophisticated methodology to them in order to distinguish the authentic from the spurious. This dissertation is a study of the discussions scholars had on the topic and argues that two factors decisively shaped Chinese textual scholarship of the 18th century. First, the conceptual framework on which it rested posited only one author for each text; second, scholars considered the sages of antiquity infallible paragons of virtue. However, received texts were at odds with both assumptions. As a result of this tension, scholars argued that the textual records could not be trusted and, based on their concept of authorship, pointed to insertions of unauthorized contributors. This dissertation shows that the narrow concept of authorship was the most determining factor in their philological work, forcing them to view received texts in a different light and giving rise to the wide-spread concern over forgeries. Show less
According to the controversial China—Raw Materials and China—Rare Earths decisions, China is prohibited from using export duties to address any environmental problems, including those associated... Show moreAccording to the controversial China—Raw Materials and China—Rare Earths decisions, China is prohibited from using export duties to address any environmental problems, including those associated with climate change. This is unfortunate because a number of climate studies have suggested that export duties can be useful to tackle carbon leakage in China, being the largest emitter and exporter of carbon dioxide emissions.This thesis argues that there is a need to consider ‘greening’ the absolute ban on China’s export duties. It accordingly proposes that, export duties - solely restricting exports - should be prohibited outright, while ‘export duties plus’ – restricting both exports and domestic consumption - should be allowed in pursuit of environmental advantages. There are three most feasible ways to achieve this balanced outcome: (i) a waiver as a stopgap measure, (ii) a Ministerial Decision or Declaration as a more flexible alternative, and (iii) a legal interpretation for the Appellate Body to distinguish between export duties and ‘export duties plus’ as a judicial correction. With regard to the proposed judicial correction, even if the Appellate Body is no longer operational, it remains relevant for the purpose of injecting valuable flexibility into the WTO’s precedent system. Show less
This thesis studied in depth the energy use and CO2 emissions of the industrial sector in China. As discussed in chapter 1, being responsible for about 84% of the Chinese CO2 emissions in 2015, the... Show moreThis thesis studied in depth the energy use and CO2 emissions of the industrial sector in China. As discussed in chapter 1, being responsible for about 84% of the Chinese CO2 emissions in 2015, the industrial sector plays a vital role in achieving the emission goals for China. The regional and sectoral heterogeneities have been considered since the industrial sector is distributed in different regions and consists of different sub-sectors. Chapter 2 studied the regional heterogeneity in industrial carbon intensity and its drivers in specific years of 1999. 2005, 2010 and 2015. Chapter 3 investigated the driving forces of industrial aggregate energy intensity (IAEI) and the contribution of each industrial sub-sector to the changes in IAEI. Chapter 4 studied to what extent performance convergence of energy-intensive industries across provinces can contribute to CO2 emission reductions and China’s emission goals. Chapter 5 provided a critical literature review on the historical drivers of industrial CO2 emissions and the projected ranges for future emissions against the backdrop of policy goals, both for the industrial sector as a whole, and for the major industrial sub-sectors (electricity generation, cement production, steel production, chemicals, petroleum and non-ferrous metals). Show less
