Pub Date : 2020-08-01DOI: 10.1177/1868102620933899
Yayoi Kato
Many scholars recognise that ideology plays indispensable roles in sustaining the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party and enhancing its governing capacity. However, less attention has been given to how party ideology operates in public discourse and whether it truly functions as an effective political tool to facilitate support for party initiatives. This article conceptualises public discourse as a “language game” played by the rules set by the party and examines how party ideology is “operationalised” by multiple actors as political rhetoric for persuasion in contentious reform discourse. Through the analysis of more than 400 periodical articles published in Chinese media outlets, this study examines policy discourse over the mixed-ownership reform of state-owned enterprises from 2014 to 2016 as a case study. The analysis demonstrates that ideology assumes two opposing operational functions in public discourse, consensus-inducing and conflict-inducing, depending on how it is employed by participants in the discourse.
{"title":"Two Faces of Ideology: Double-Edged Functions of Ideology in the Reform Discourse Under Xi Jinping","authors":"Yayoi Kato","doi":"10.1177/1868102620933899","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620933899","url":null,"abstract":"Many scholars recognise that ideology plays indispensable roles in sustaining the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party and enhancing its governing capacity. However, less attention has been given to how party ideology operates in public discourse and whether it truly functions as an effective political tool to facilitate support for party initiatives. This article conceptualises public discourse as a “language game” played by the rules set by the party and examines how party ideology is “operationalised” by multiple actors as political rhetoric for persuasion in contentious reform discourse. Through the analysis of more than 400 periodical articles published in Chinese media outlets, this study examines policy discourse over the mixed-ownership reform of state-owned enterprises from 2014 to 2016 as a case study. The analysis demonstrates that ideology assumes two opposing operational functions in public discourse, consensus-inducing and conflict-inducing, depending on how it is employed by participants in the discourse.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"99 1","pages":"137 - 161"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87294196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-08-01DOI: 10.1177/1868102620983939
Barry Sautman, Xinyi Xie
Many in Hong Kong voice concerns about the fate of Cantonese, including nativists (“localists”) and the general public. Guangzhou is seen as a harbinger of diminishing Cantonese in Hong Kong. News and commentaries paint a gloomy picture of Cantonese in Guangzhou. Yet rarely do we read about surveys on the range of Cantonese use and identity in Guangzhou. Neither do we see analyses on how the social context differences between Hong Kong and Guangzhou may have contributed to the two cities’ unique language situations. Our study delineates the Guangzhou and Hong Kong language situations, comparing mother tongues, ordinary languages, and language attitudes. Cantonese is unrivalled in Hong Kong and remains vital in Guangzhou. We put the two cities’ different use frequency and proficiency of Cantonese and Putonghua (“Mandarin”) in the sociocultural context of motivation and migration. We conclude that some claims of diminishing Cantonese are unsupported. We also address how likely it is that Cantonese will diminish or even be replaced in Hong Kong.
{"title":"Today in Guangzhou, Tomorrow in Hong Kong? A Comparative Study of the Language Situation in Two Cities","authors":"Barry Sautman, Xinyi Xie","doi":"10.1177/1868102620983939","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620983939","url":null,"abstract":"Many in Hong Kong voice concerns about the fate of Cantonese, including nativists (“localists”) and the general public. Guangzhou is seen as a harbinger of diminishing Cantonese in Hong Kong. News and commentaries paint a gloomy picture of Cantonese in Guangzhou. Yet rarely do we read about surveys on the range of Cantonese use and identity in Guangzhou. Neither do we see analyses on how the social context differences between Hong Kong and Guangzhou may have contributed to the two cities’ unique language situations. Our study delineates the Guangzhou and Hong Kong language situations, comparing mother tongues, ordinary languages, and language attitudes. Cantonese is unrivalled in Hong Kong and remains vital in Guangzhou. We put the two cities’ different use frequency and proficiency of Cantonese and Putonghua (“Mandarin”) in the sociocultural context of motivation and migration. We conclude that some claims of diminishing Cantonese are unsupported. We also address how likely it is that Cantonese will diminish or even be replaced in Hong Kong.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"1 1","pages":"207 - 232"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88639766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-08-01DOI: 10.1177/1868102620981963
Ying Miao
This article examines “core socialist values” as a part of the China Dream discourse, in the context of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s search for alternative sources of legitimacy. Using the “visualising our values” poster collection and the “China Dream Child” campaign as case studies, this article argues that such narratives form a crucial part of the CCP’s continuing legitimisation strategy, where the party emphasises its role in providing moral authority and guidance for the general public. In order to lay such claims, the narratives focus on romanticising and homogenising both the imperial and the socialist past, while projecting a strong sense of optimism for the future, based on similar hopes of continuity and homogeneity.
{"title":"Romanticising the Past: Core Socialist Values and the China Dream as Legitimisation Strategy","authors":"Ying Miao","doi":"10.1177/1868102620981963","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620981963","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines “core socialist values” as a part of the China Dream discourse, in the context of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s search for alternative sources of legitimacy. Using the “visualising our values” poster collection and the “China Dream Child” campaign as case studies, this article argues that such narratives form a crucial part of the CCP’s continuing legitimisation strategy, where the party emphasises its role in providing moral authority and guidance for the general public. In order to lay such claims, the narratives focus on romanticising and homogenising both the imperial and the socialist past, while projecting a strong sense of optimism for the future, based on similar hopes of continuity and homogeneity.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"7 1","pages":"162 - 184"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89469451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-08-01DOI: 10.1177/1868102621990666
W. Rabe, Genia Kostka, Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla
Socio-economic development is often linked to efficient infrastructure provision. In China, the government has rolled out ambitious infrastructure projects as part of its national development strategy. There is much to praise about China’s infrastructure provision, such as its remarkable scale and speed of infrastructure delivery. However, based on studying 153 infrastructure cases between 1983 and 2018 and two in-depth case studies, we find that China’s infrastructure performance is not as positive as often assumed. We show that infrastructure projects continuously arrive significantly over budget. We argue that this cost performance depends – similar to Western countries – on inaccurately anticipating technical hindrances and geographical challenges. In addition, however, we identify another important and so far less discussed project performance determinant specifically relevant to the Chinese context: population resettlements and land acquisition.
{"title":"Socio-Economic Development and Infrastructure Cost Performance in China: Comparing Transport and Energy Sectors","authors":"W. Rabe, Genia Kostka, Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla","doi":"10.1177/1868102621990666","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102621990666","url":null,"abstract":"Socio-economic development is often linked to efficient infrastructure provision. In China, the government has rolled out ambitious infrastructure projects as part of its national development strategy. There is much to praise about China’s infrastructure provision, such as its remarkable scale and speed of infrastructure delivery. However, based on studying 153 infrastructure cases between 1983 and 2018 and two in-depth case studies, we find that China’s infrastructure performance is not as positive as often assumed. We show that infrastructure projects continuously arrive significantly over budget. We argue that this cost performance depends – similar to Western countries – on inaccurately anticipating technical hindrances and geographical challenges. In addition, however, we identify another important and so far less discussed project performance determinant specifically relevant to the Chinese context: population resettlements and land acquisition.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"22 1","pages":"185 - 206"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88607050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-09DOI: 10.1177/1868102620931862
Martin Thorley, Andreas Fulda
This article critically examines multinational corporation (MNC)–host government relations in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) through the prism of the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) corruption scandal. The article takes the episode as a revelatory case study and analyses it with a view to uncovering further data on the imperatives that govern interactions between the PRC and MNCs. Drawing upon the theoretical framework provided by David M. Anderson’s conception of leverage, the authors attempt to unite the two themes of cultural analysis and commercial analysis. By highlighting both the rising commercial risks for MNCs and considerable legal risks for Chinese and non-Chinese intermediaries working on their behalf, the case itself underlines a gulf between theoretical understanding and practical experience of engagement with China in this sphere. The authors argue that the GSK corruption case demonstrates both that MNC normative bargaining leverage (the use of standards and norms, considered legitimate by both sides, to gain advantage or protect one’s position) in the PRC is illusory and that the Chinese party-state possesses far greater negative bargaining leverage (leverage based upon the capacity to make the other side worse off) than typically assumed.
{"title":"The Importance of Leverage in GlaxoSmithKline’s China Engagement: A Revelatory Case Study","authors":"Martin Thorley, Andreas Fulda","doi":"10.1177/1868102620931862","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620931862","url":null,"abstract":"This article critically examines multinational corporation (MNC)–host government relations in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) through the prism of the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) corruption scandal. The article takes the episode as a revelatory case study and analyses it with a view to uncovering further data on the imperatives that govern interactions between the PRC and MNCs. Drawing upon the theoretical framework provided by David M. Anderson’s conception of leverage, the authors attempt to unite the two themes of cultural analysis and commercial analysis. By highlighting both the rising commercial risks for MNCs and considerable legal risks for Chinese and non-Chinese intermediaries working on their behalf, the case itself underlines a gulf between theoretical understanding and practical experience of engagement with China in this sphere. The authors argue that the GSK corruption case demonstrates both that MNC normative bargaining leverage (the use of standards and norms, considered legitimate by both sides, to gain advantage or protect one’s position) in the PRC is illusory and that the Chinese party-state possesses far greater negative bargaining leverage (leverage based upon the capacity to make the other side worse off) than typically assumed.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"48 1","pages":"233 - 254"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76902474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-20DOI: 10.1177/1868102620920738
Philipp C.D. Immel
This article analyses the implementation process of Beijing’s current urban master plan using the background of modernisation theory. The line of thought behind the new urban master plan follows a high-modernist ideology embedded in an environment of reflexive modernity. Intermediate goals of the urban master plan are to tighten population control and increase social legibility of the city, providing an additional explanation for state-led urbanisation besides economic reasons. Urban planning is thus used as a social control mechanism and has emerged as a new means to maintain social distinction, creating new forms of exclusion. It can be observed that disruptive Mao era style pushes are still being employed in the policy cycle even today. This becomes evident from the implementation style of urban planning, where campaign-style and regularised implementation methods are complementing each other. This is corroborated through documentary analysis, interviews, and fieldwork conducted by the author.
{"title":"High-Modernist Urban Planning in Beijing for Population Control","authors":"Philipp C.D. Immel","doi":"10.1177/1868102620920738","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620920738","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses the implementation process of Beijing’s current urban master plan using the background of modernisation theory. The line of thought behind the new urban master plan follows a high-modernist ideology embedded in an environment of reflexive modernity. Intermediate goals of the urban master plan are to tighten population control and increase social legibility of the city, providing an additional explanation for state-led urbanisation besides economic reasons. Urban planning is thus used as a social control mechanism and has emerged as a new means to maintain social distinction, creating new forms of exclusion. It can be observed that disruptive Mao era style pushes are still being employed in the policy cycle even today. This becomes evident from the implementation style of urban planning, where campaign-style and regularised implementation methods are complementing each other. This is corroborated through documentary analysis, interviews, and fieldwork conducted by the author.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"13 1","pages":"291 - 311"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88048459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-06DOI: 10.1177/1868102620915000
Isabel Heger
In the course of state-led rural urbanisation over the past few decades, millions of Chinese peasants have been expropriated and relocated. After establishing a definition of these “landless peasants” as a heterogeneous social group connected mainly by the fact that its members had to give up their land-use rights, this article sets out to examine subsequent processes of identity formation – a topic that has been largely neglected in existing research. Drawing on Beck’s individualisation thesis, I suggest that structural and institutional changes in the process of rural modernisation have initiated a further thrust of individualisation in people’s lives which manifests not only in the objective domain of life situations but also in the subjective domain of identity. This hypothesis is substantiated through an ethnographic case study based on seven months of fieldwork (2016–2018) in Huaming Model Town in the Dongli District of Tianjin. As a first step towards conceptualising what landless peasants are becoming, I will propose to start focusing on recombinant identities and class differentiations evolving among the people.
{"title":"More Than “Peasants Without Land”: Individualisation and Identity Formation of Landless Peasants in the Process of China’s State-Led Rural Urbanisation","authors":"Isabel Heger","doi":"10.1177/1868102620915000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620915000","url":null,"abstract":"In the course of state-led rural urbanisation over the past few decades, millions of Chinese peasants have been expropriated and relocated. After establishing a definition of these “landless peasants” as a heterogeneous social group connected mainly by the fact that its members had to give up their land-use rights, this article sets out to examine subsequent processes of identity formation – a topic that has been largely neglected in existing research. Drawing on Beck’s individualisation thesis, I suggest that structural and institutional changes in the process of rural modernisation have initiated a further thrust of individualisation in people’s lives which manifests not only in the objective domain of life situations but also in the subjective domain of identity. This hypothesis is substantiated through an ethnographic case study based on seven months of fieldwork (2016–2018) in Huaming Model Town in the Dongli District of Tianjin. As a first step towards conceptualising what landless peasants are becoming, I will propose to start focusing on recombinant identities and class differentiations evolving among the people.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"49 1","pages":"332 - 356"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85320151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1868102620953439
Anastas Vangeli
This article analyses China’s Belt and Road as a medium through which novel regional development ideas and practices are being generated, (re)articulated, and diffused, via a case study of its implementation in the broader region of Central-East and Southeast Europe (CESEE). The example of CESEE shows that via the Belt and Road, Chinese actors have advanced comprehensive region work based on social interactions, which includes regular high-level diplomatic exchange and quasi-institutionalisation as well as people-to-people relations, resting on the potent geoeconomic imaginaries of the New Silk Roads. This approach, in the case of CESEE, has allowed for regional co-operation to advance even in times of friction and uncertainties. Nevertheless, as region work is essentially a contentious endeavour, China’s attempt at regionalism in CESEE has been challenged by the European Union (EU), the United States and regional actors who feel uneasy about China’s advance.
{"title":"Belt and Road and China’s Attempt at Region Building in Central-East and Southeast Europe","authors":"Anastas Vangeli","doi":"10.1177/1868102620953439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620953439","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses China’s Belt and Road as a medium through which novel regional development ideas and practices are being generated, (re)articulated, and diffused, via a case study of its implementation in the broader region of Central-East and Southeast Europe (CESEE). The example of CESEE shows that via the Belt and Road, Chinese actors have advanced comprehensive region work based on social interactions, which includes regular high-level diplomatic exchange and quasi-institutionalisation as well as people-to-people relations, resting on the potent geoeconomic imaginaries of the New Silk Roads. This approach, in the case of CESEE, has allowed for regional co-operation to advance even in times of friction and uncertainties. Nevertheless, as region work is essentially a contentious endeavour, China’s attempt at regionalism in CESEE has been challenged by the European Union (EU), the United States and regional actors who feel uneasy about China’s advance.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"7 1","pages":"14 - 32"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79723489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1868102620911666
G. Shakhanova, Jeremy Garlick
The Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a key partner in China’s Belt, and Road Initiative (BRI), since it comprises the majority of territories which the BRI’s overland route, the Silk Road Economic Belt, needs to traverse as it crosses Central Asia on the way to Europe. The goal of this article is to explore the BRI in the context of BRI–EAEU coordination. The first part of the analysis focusses on the ways the Eurasian Economic Commission delineates the “Greater Eurasian Partnership” and counterposes it against China and the BRI. Then, the article compares two sets of interpretations of the BRI and “Greater Eurasian Partnership” obtained from interviews with elites in Kazakhstan and Russia. The interviews indicate that the BRI has had a much more forceful impact on local elites than Russia’s idea of “Greater Eurasian Partnership.”
{"title":"The Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union: Exploring the “Greater Eurasian Partnership”","authors":"G. Shakhanova, Jeremy Garlick","doi":"10.1177/1868102620911666","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620911666","url":null,"abstract":"The Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a key partner in China’s Belt, and Road Initiative (BRI), since it comprises the majority of territories which the BRI’s overland route, the Silk Road Economic Belt, needs to traverse as it crosses Central Asia on the way to Europe. The goal of this article is to explore the BRI in the context of BRI–EAEU coordination. The first part of the analysis focusses on the ways the Eurasian Economic Commission delineates the “Greater Eurasian Partnership” and counterposes it against China and the BRI. Then, the article compares two sets of interpretations of the BRI and “Greater Eurasian Partnership” obtained from interviews with elites in Kazakhstan and Russia. The interviews indicate that the BRI has had a much more forceful impact on local elites than Russia’s idea of “Greater Eurasian Partnership.”","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"19 1","pages":"33 - 57"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91297980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-04-01DOI: 10.1177/1868102620964219
A. Gerstl
To mitigate the risks and maximise the opportunities arising from China’s great power behaviour, Malaysia employed a hedging strategy during Mahathir Mohamad’s second term as prime minister. From 2018 until 2020, the middle power Malaysia applied direct engagement and elements of limited balancing and limited bandwagoning in a flexible yet consistent manner. Neither China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) nor its actions in the South China Sea caused a sea change in Malaysia’s hedging strategy. Crucially, the policies towards China were embedded in omnidirectional, friendly, and well-balanced relations with the United States, Japan, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Theoretically, this contribution applies an updated concept of hedging, initially introduced by Cheng-Chwee Kuik. As an important innovation, it adds a specific component to assess the perceptions of the political leader(s) of risks and opportunities related to the hedging target as well as the strategic value of potential balancing partners.
{"title":"Malaysia’s Hedging Strategy Towards China Under Mahathir Mohamad (2018–2020): Direct Engagement, Limited Balancing, and Limited Bandwagoning","authors":"A. Gerstl","doi":"10.1177/1868102620964219","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620964219","url":null,"abstract":"To mitigate the risks and maximise the opportunities arising from China’s great power behaviour, Malaysia employed a hedging strategy during Mahathir Mohamad’s second term as prime minister. From 2018 until 2020, the middle power Malaysia applied direct engagement and elements of limited balancing and limited bandwagoning in a flexible yet consistent manner. Neither China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) nor its actions in the South China Sea caused a sea change in Malaysia’s hedging strategy. Crucially, the policies towards China were embedded in omnidirectional, friendly, and well-balanced relations with the United States, Japan, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Theoretically, this contribution applies an updated concept of hedging, initially introduced by Cheng-Chwee Kuik. As an important innovation, it adds a specific component to assess the perceptions of the political leader(s) of risks and opportunities related to the hedging target as well as the strategic value of potential balancing partners.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"40 1","pages":"106 - 131"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88330051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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