Chinese Politics

Review:
"Liu Yang’s catalogue for the terracotta warriors…is an outstanding contribution to the literature on the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi as well as a beautifully illustrated record of the seminal objects from the Terracotta Warriors Museum. Readers will not be disappointed: China’s Terracotta Warriors is much more than yet another book about China’s most glorious excavation site"―Nancy Steinhardt, Orientations

"The extensively illustrated catalogue, one of the most detailed overviews of the Qin and the First Emperor yet published, is vital for anyone even remotely interested in this pivotal period in Chinese art, culture and history."―Martin Barnes Lorber, Asian Art

"The Minneapolis catalogue stands out as one of the most informative and groundbreaking in the mass of books on the terracotta warriors. Within the plethora of books about the First Emperor of China and the terracotta soldiers placed at his tomb, this volume is exceptional in its placing of the First Emperor in his context—a young ruler of a vassal state of questionable 'barbarian' influences forging an empire out of the ruins of an old world, a world he conquered with a invincible army and governed with an iron fist." —Chao-Hui Jenny Liu, China Review International

"This dazzling catalogue by Curator Liu Yang traces the development of the Qin state from the 9th century BCE to the reign of the First Emperor, through an array of sculpted works and architectural remains from Shaanxi province....Written by an internationally renowned cast of scholars, the volume features detailed chapters of manageable length, making it accessible to the undergraduates but also relevant to advanced researchers.....Overall, this is a much-needed update on a well-trodden subjects." —A.R.Miller, Choice

Asya’nın yükselen iki önemli ekonomik gücü Hindistan ile Çin arasında 15 Haziran Galwan Vadisindeki çatışmada 20 Hindistan askeri hayatını kaybetmesiyle gerilim yükselmişti. Sonrasında Çin Dışişleri Bakanı Wang Yi ile Hindistan Ulusal Güvenlik Danışmanı Ajit Doval’ın telefon görüşmesi sonrası iki ülke askerlerini sınırdan uzaklaştırarak sorunda uzlaşmaya vardılar. Çatışma, Çin medyası ve toplumunda büyük bir etki yaratmamasına rağmen Hindistan toplumunda ve medyasında önemli bir etki yarattığını söylemek mümkündür. Özellikle Hintli uzmanların çatışması sonrası aşırı milliyetçi dil kullanması tansiyonu artırırken Çin’in işbirliğini sürdürmeye yönelik söylemleri tansiyonu düşürdü. İki ülkenin siyasi ve ekonomik işbirliğini görmezden gelen; çatışmanın büyüyeceği ve derinleşeceği yönünde tahmin yürüten Batılı analistlerin öngörüleri de tutmadı.

... a typical naive set of assumptions about "group oriented" cultures it that the participants within them are basically altruistic, self-effacing, self-sacrificing and sociable. A society of such individuals should exhibit the very best of human civilization working in equitable, democratic communities. By contrast, those from individualistic cultures should be cold, grasping, selfish, egotistical and almost incapable of the cooperation demanded by a civil society. Indeed, a society of individualists, by this stereotype would be a dog eat dog affair, dedicated to conflict, riven with disloyalty and betrayal, forever failing to build a stable and humanistic community.

Dokonując analizy Szanghajskiej Organizacji Współpracy (SOW) w aspekcie jej regionalnego i ponadregionalnego znaczenia politycznego i gospodarczego, niezbędne jest naświetlenie zmian na scenie politycznej, jakie stały się genezą powołania do życia tej organizacji. Pod względem geopolitycznych przetasowań w układzie sił na kontynencie kluczową rolę odgrywał, mało znaczący w okresie istnienia Związku Socjalistycznych Republik Radzieckich (ZSRR), region Azji Centralnej. Obszar ten, odległy geografi cznie od Polski, słabo rozwinięty gospodarczo i technologicznie, o niskiej sile nabywczej społeczeństw, cieszył się relatywnie znikomym zainteresowaniem polskich mediów i nie znajdował się w kręgu aktywności polskiej polityki zagranicznej, jak również nie był celem ekspansji gospodarczej. Nie jest to także region odgrywający pierwszoplanową rolę w badaniach naukowych, a wnioski z analiz stanowią tło dla prezentacji i analizy strategii politycznych światowych mocarstw. W istocie jednak ten bogaty w zasoby naturalne obszar Azji stanowi istotny poligon geostrategiczny, pełen nagłych wolt politycznych, albowiem Azja Centralna to obszar, na którym ścierają się interesy najsilniejszych światowych graczy.

Les médias officiels chinois sont contraints par les réseaux sociaux à s’adapter et à jouer un jeu concurrentiel auquel ils ne sont pas habitués. Amenés par de nouvelles règles du jeu à descendre dans une arène qui n’est pas la leur, ils sont souvent distancés par des opérateurs privés. S’ils bénéficient des subventions de l’État pour affronter dans de bonnes conditions la concurrence, la nécessité d’être encadrée par les directives qui régissent l’action des médias officiels constitue un obstacle dans cette lutte acharnée pour séduire les internautes chinois. La notion de « nouvelles faussées » devient un enjeu pour les médias officiels pour reprendre l’avantage et restaurer leur autorité menacée.

The Eighteenth Party Congress' Third Plenary Session's Decision maps out the country's plan for cultural and media development. There is nothing on the surface that suggests a radical departure from the tight control the Chinese party-state exerts. The Decision is full of paternalistic clichés about the development of socialist culture under the guidance of Marxism, media controls, and the unification between social benefits and economic benefits. But new elements embedded in the Decision contain potential seeds for at least a partial reordering of the dynamic tension between impulses demanding control and those calling for expression in the Chinese cultural and media realm, with control perhaps gaining ground. These elements also figure in China's recent effort to develop culture industries and rebalance domestic media control and international cultural expansion and influence. This essay does not aim to provide a comprehensive commentary on China's recent cultural policies as they relate to the Decision. Instead, it focuses on the intersection between cultural and media policies and the push and pull between the party-state and aggressive market-oriented media producers. Specifically, the essay will highlight some potential changes in the following six areas: (1) control mechanisms, (2) the prescribed nature of a media organization, (3) media censorship, (4) media consolidation and economies of scale, (5) the entry of private capital into the Chinese media industries, and (6) China's soft power and public diplomacy.

It is easy to dismiss the value of any written rules laid down by the Party because the latter seems to suffer little from cognitive dissonance when ignoring or violating them just for the sake of expediency. So, if the Party itself does not take its own rules seriously, why should we waste time studying them?

Beginning in the early 1950s there were tens of thousands of ethnic Chinese who chose to ‘return’ to the People’s Republic of China (prc). Until fairly recently, little attention has been given to the approximately 600,000 ethnic Chinese who chose to immigrate to China from locations throughout Southeast Asia, as well as further afield in the first few decades after the founding of the PRC. There were many factors influencing their migration to a country that many had never stepped foot on. However, it is clear that the Chinese state made a concerted attempt to rally the support (capital and immigration) of overseas Chinese communities. Many of the returnees were resettled on one of dozens of ‘Overseas Chinese Farms’ (huaqiao nongchang) scattered throughout the provinces of southern China. Outside of China they were considered ‘Chinese’ and foreign, juxtaposed against the local or ‘indigenous’ identities that had taken shape in
tandem with the independence of former colonies in Southeast Asia and the rise of modern nationalism. Upon their ‘return’ to what was, for many, an imagined ancestral homeland — a country many of them had never seen — they were confronted with a
different type of discrimination and suspicion than they faced ‘abroad’. This was despite, and in some cases because of, certain favorable policies enacted by the party state to assist in their relocation and assimilation into society. Ironically, some of the same policies that sought to gradually assimilate them into Chinese society actually reinforced their position as ‘permanent outsiders’: the creation of an official ‘huaqiao’ legal status;
institutionalized segregation in the form of huaqiao nongchang, huaqiao villages, and huaqiao schools; and a resultant pariah status that did not begin to recede until after the reforms of the late 1970s. While the concept of ‘huaqiao’ (overseas Chinese sojourners) was falling out of use among Chinese communities abroad, the word was taking on a new meaning in the prc, both for the Chinese party state, and for those who would come to self-identify as huaqiao/guiqiao.

Religious groups can reinforce, complement, or undermine authoritarian domination. This article investigates whether high-status Protestant churches act as democratising civil society organisations by gathering hundreds of Protestants openly outside state structures to change church registration policies. In so doing, they also seek to curtail state domination over religion and, by extension, over all groups in society.

This chapter examines the relationship between migration and economic security, focusing on the political, economic, and social factors inducing CHinese people's migration to the Russian Far East and on Russian reactions to their presence.  It is argued that inadequate economic security in dongbei motivates Chinese traders to try to improve their circumstances by seeking temporary employment across the border. Residents in the Russian Far East, however, interpret the stteps that Chinese traders take to improve their economic secuity as a threat to their own economic security, creating an 'economic security dilemma' with adverse consequences for Sino-Russian relations.

I have deliberately translated the contents table without reference to Jun Wenren's "Ancient Chinese encyclopedia of technology : translation and annotation of the kaogong ji (the artificers' record)" nor to Brian Vivier's compilation "Chart of Zhouli Offices, derived from Broman and Hucker. I thought it was useful to have one more translation for comparison.

Corrections and suggestions welcomed.

¿ Hubo democracia en China? Frecuentemente se dice que la democracia es algo exclusivo de Occidente y que no existió nada semejante en China.Sin embargo, si consultamos con detalle los textos del Periodo de Los Reinos Combatientes, podemos observar que existió algo semejante a la democracia en aquel entonces. Este texto nos muestra que el rey de Qi promulgó un decreto según el cual serían premiados aquellos que le criticasen.

From the very beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, debates about its origin became substantially ideologised. The main ideological competition comprises the opposition of the two poles, the West understood in the collective sense, and China. Despite the WHO Commission regarded the version of artificial SARS-CoV2-origin that escaped from the laboratory in Wuhan, the least probable, many Western politicians continued to use speculations about "Chinese biological weapon" in 2021. The Chinese authorities have countered these speculations with impressive successes in the fight against the epidemic and a willingness to engage with other countries through the new Health Road initiative. Confucian values are cited as one of the foundations of Chinese achievements, which, however, are of universal human significance. The article provides an overview of the current situation.

Based on eight in-depth interviews, this article analyses the quandary faced by liberal mainland Chinese student migrants in Hong Kong. On the one hand, the liberal pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong are deeply intertwined with the rise of localism, which is based on a dichotomy between Hong Kong and mainland China. On the other hand, a rising, development-centric nationalism in mainland China reduces Hong Kong protesters to unemancipated British colonial subjects. However, in the context of this "double marginalisation," liberal Mainland students guard a form of liberalism that transcends both Hong Kong localism and Chinese nationalism. They debunk the stereotype of mainland Chinese students being apolitical and therefore provide an alternative definition of being Chinese. They challenge the view that mainland Chinese can only be emancipated outside mainland China to destabilise a Fukuyamian linear interpretation of history. They use four tactics to cope with double marginalisation: understanding localists, befriending expatriates, assuming professionalism, and becoming apolitical.

Contested Memories in Chinese and Japanese Foreign Policy explores the relationship between the construction and the contestation of collective memories and the process of elaboration of foreign policy in the cases of China and Japan. The author looks at how different interpretations of national myths, glories, and traumas influence political leaders choices in foreign policy. The book presents an innovative theoretical framework to explain the relationship between collective memory and foreign policy, based on the interpretive approach, and rooted into concepts such as beliefs, traditions, dilemmas, and narratives. The Japanese case highlights how in the post war period the basic Japanese strategy, the Yoshida doctrine, rested on a compromise between conservative and progressive traditions, rooted on the shared idea of victimization. After the end of the Cold War this compromise unravelled. Conservatives aimed at turning Japan into a " normal nation " , with a less " self punitive vision of history ". Progressives, on the contrary wanted to build a more positive relations with the rest of Asia, building a shared discourse about the past. The Chinese case highlights an even deeper evolution in terms of collective memory. Mao promoted a " victor narrative " based on the class struggle against the Nationalist and the triumph of the Revolution. During the Reform era the Communist Party shaped a new narrative rooted on the memories of the century of humiliation and the historical necessity of the CPC, as saviour of the Chinese nation. More recently Beijing leaders also re-evaluated the role of the Confucian tradition, considered the origin of the Chinese weakness both by Mao and by earlier Chinese reformers. This book is directed to academics, students and practitioners interested to East Asia, Japanese and Chinese history and foreign policy as well as to role of identity and memory in international politics. The book analyzes how the construction and contestation of collective memories influences key foreign policy choices.

As Irene Eber writes in her foreword to this book, "This is a ground-breaking work".
She is right, for it is indeed a work of utmost importance-and for many different
reasons. First of all, it is a work that explores and introduces a realm that has-particularly
in the Western world-hitherto not been researched, although it certainly
deserves to be thoroughly and meticulously investigated. Secondly, in explaining
Mao Zedong's philosophical thought, it brings forward many innovative ideas,
which allow us to see and to understand certain aspects of the Chinese ideational
tradition and its fusion with the Western philosophy in a different, more sensible and
fruitful manner. In addition, the book is essential because it deals with a highly topical
issue, one that can certainly help us improve our understanding of contemporary
China, its ideologies, its intercultural relations, and its vital connections to its rich
intellectual tradition.
The author of this highly

Dall'incontro della Cina imperiale con l’Occidente nel XIX secolo, il volume effettua un percorso – che giunge fino ai nostri giorni – attraverso temi cruciali come identità e nazionalismo, Stato e governo, partito e organizzazione, risorse umane, informazione e media. Temi che continuano ad avere un notevole riscontro nel dibattito intellettuale e politico nella Cina di oggi, e che proprio nel loro rapporto con il passato trovano una rinnovata importanza e attualità. Il filo rosso che unisce e rende omogenee le scelte tematiche che danno corpo al volume è quello di narrazione. Non si tratta di descrivere l’accaduto quanto piuttosto di mettere l’accento sulla rappresentazione e il racconto che la Cina ufficiale (e non) registra mediante il documento scritto.

From the encounter of imperial China with the West in the Nineteenth century, the volume follows an itinerary - up to the present - through crucial issues such as identity and nationalism, state and government, party and organization, human resources, information and media. Themes that keep on having a great relevance in the intellectual and political debate in China today, and that in their link to the past are continually rebuilt, reinforcing their importance and modernity. The thread of persisting narratives unites and makes homogeneous the thematic choices of the present volume. The aim is not to describe historic events, but rather to put an emphasis on the representation and the story that the official China (and others) records using written documents.

Doomsday predictions on China and on Xi’s future, must be made with caution. Projections that Xi faces ingrained resistance from intra-party factionalism, or is locked in a battle for control, and that his apparent failures in handling the economy or the pandemic may lead to thwarting of his ambitions are either overblown, or mere wishful thinking. In fact, the widely prevalent theory that Xi may be forced to make key concessions on admitting his followers into the CCP’s highest decision-making body in exchange for another stint is unsupported by any concrete evidence.

Le récit des crimes du 7 janvier 2015 comme leur motif le plus évident - les caricatures du prophète Mahomet - ont fait le tour du monde, nourrissant des réactions et des interprétations multiples et divergentes malgré l’unanimisme des condamnations. Les lignes qui suivent se penchent sur la réception de cette tragédie en Chine. Ce texte ne s’aventure pas sur les causes multiples et complexes qui ont rendu possible ces drames sauf à préciser qu’une idéologie mortifère et totalitaire s’est épanouie sur une pluralité de facteurs et de temporalités indémêlables. Parmi les enjeux de dimension globale soulevés par ces évènements, il est possible d’identifier pêle-mêle les pratiques terroristes de l’islamisme radical, la place des minorités dans les états-nations contemporains, la question du blasphème visant des figures politiques ou religieuses, la liberté d’expression et ses limites. Dans la longue durée, ces évènements percutent aussi la condition postcoloniale du monde, et le legs d’une hégémonie non seulement géopolitique et économique mais aussi culturelle et épistémologique des sociétés occidentales. Si les sujets évoqués dans les lignes précédentes ont bien été mobilisés parmi les interprétations « chinoises » de ces attentats, la distance culturelle, politique et affective avec les évènements a parfois empêché les commentateurs chinois de saisir certains aspects du drame propres à un imaginaire national, un contexte idéologique et un langage politique spécifiquement français. La résonance globale de ces évènements ne saurait ainsi occulter que leur interprétation se déploya au sein d’un imaginaire institué déterminé par des enjeux politiques, idéologiques et linguistiques propres à la société chinoise. Parler d’une réception « chinoise » comporte le risque d’une simplification abusive et d’une essentialisation discutable d’un espace social, politique et culturel hétérogène. Un imaginaire dominant quelque peu paresseux qui réduit la « Chine » à son régime politique autoritaire empêche trop souvent de saisir les nuances, les variations et les dynamiques internes à la société chinoise. Des points de vue parfois divergents ont pu apparaitre dans les commentaires et les interprétations des évènements de janvier 2015, en fonction du statut des auteurs, des rubriques ou des titres de presse. Cette absence d’opinion unanime fut encore plus flagrante sur les réseaux sociaux pendant les quelques jours qui ont suivi les évènements. Plus tardivement, des articles de facture plus théoriques se sont confrontés au sujet dans des revues académiques et à partir de perspectives disciplinaires variées telles que la sociologie des media, les sciences de la communication, la philosophie, les études françaises. Des publications de think tanks rattachés au Parti ont aussi proposés des analyses visant à rappeler la doxa marxiste-léniniste sur la nature et le rôle de la presse dans les sociétés occidentales. Qu’il s’agisse de la presse, des textes académiques ou des interventions d’acteurs étatiques, la position dominante peut se synthétiser à grand traits de la façon suivante : une condamnation unanime et ferme du terrorisme associée à des marques appuyées de solidarité avec les victimes et, quasi-simultanément, l’apparition de critiques à l’endroit des journalistes de Charlie Hebdo en tant qu’ils incarnaient une position, un discours et des valeurs « occidentales » antagonistes avec le modèle défendu par l’Etat-Parti.
Ce sont les fondements idéologiques et politiques, mais aussi parfois épistémologiques et historiographiques, de cette critique, que cet essai se propose d’interroger, sachant que la fonction métonymique de « Charlie » en tant que symbole global de « valeurs occidentales » putatives ne s’est évidemment pas limitée pas au contexte chinois. Dans quelle mesure, et comment, ces évènements ont-ils trouvé une résonance discursive et des correspondances idéologiques dans l’espace politico-médiatique chinois ? Quelle fut la fonction de cette critique du journal satirique dans le contexte idéologique et politique chinois ? Bref, de quoi les caricatures de Charlie Hebdo ont-elles été le nom en Chine continentale ?