Pub Date : 2022-08-11DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2109008
David Shambaugh
ABSTRACT China’s 40 million party and state cadres all matriculate through an elaborate system set of more than 7000 institutions for mid-career cadre training. These mid-career training institutions have long been an integral part of the Chinese party-state but have become even more important during Xi Jinping’s tenure. Drawing on unique Chinese published sources and interviews, the article examines the history and current organization of the five separate institutional systems involved in civilian cadre training, the evolving reforms in them, and their role in sustaining CCP rule. These training school systems in China are becoming more rather than less important for these reasons. Thus, the entire training system nationwide needs to be better understood by scholars and analysts of the Chinese political system.
{"title":"Becoming a Ganbu: China’s Cadre Training School System","authors":"David Shambaugh","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2109008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2109008","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT China’s 40 million party and state cadres all matriculate through an elaborate system set of more than 7000 institutions for mid-career cadre training. These mid-career training institutions have long been an integral part of the Chinese party-state but have become even more important during Xi Jinping’s tenure. Drawing on unique Chinese published sources and interviews, the article examines the history and current organization of the five separate institutional systems involved in civilian cadre training, the evolving reforms in them, and their role in sustaining CCP rule. These training school systems in China are becoming more rather than less important for these reasons. Thus, the entire training system nationwide needs to be better understood by scholars and analysts of the Chinese political system.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"32 1","pages":"540 - 558"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46617549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-10DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2109843
Oscar Almén, G. Sundqvist
ABSTRACT This study investigates how the different political opportunity structures (POS) are related to NGO mobilization in two Chinese cities, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. Based on 48 interviews from 2016–2019, the study finds that variance in NGO mobilization is related to differences such as rules for NGO registration, more or less open-minded local leaders, and a relatively more independent media. NGO governance in Hangzhou is characterized as coopted participation. A few NGOs are allowed some influence in policy making, but in order to be allowed to mobilize, NGOs must accept a certain degree of cooptation. NGO governance in Guangzhou is characterized as constrained autonomy as the government plays a less active role in mobilizing NGOs, and more initiative for policy influence comes from the NGOs themselves.
{"title":"Local Governance Diversity in the Unitary Authoritarian State: NGO-State Relations in Guangzhou and Hangzhou","authors":"Oscar Almén, G. Sundqvist","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2109843","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2109843","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study investigates how the different political opportunity structures (POS) are related to NGO mobilization in two Chinese cities, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. Based on 48 interviews from 2016–2019, the study finds that variance in NGO mobilization is related to differences such as rules for NGO registration, more or less open-minded local leaders, and a relatively more independent media. NGO governance in Hangzhou is characterized as coopted participation. A few NGOs are allowed some influence in policy making, but in order to be allowed to mobilize, NGOs must accept a certain degree of cooptation. NGO governance in Guangzhou is characterized as constrained autonomy as the government plays a less active role in mobilizing NGOs, and more initiative for policy influence comes from the NGOs themselves.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"32 1","pages":"669 - 685"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49150639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-10DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2109842
D. Mierzejewski, Bartosz Kowalski, J. Jura
ABSTRACT The paper aims to discuss China’s behavior in the developing world through the lens of the domestic model of governance. It does so by seeking analogies between three forms of Beijing’s political approaches in domestic affairs: generating enthusiasm through slogan politics and promised incentives, informal networks, and coordinated development in China-led multilateralism with Africa and Central and Eastern Europe. By discussing the domestic-foreign policy nexus, the paper introduces the concept of China’s vertical multilateralism. Finally, by broaching a new theoretical understanding, the paper decodes China’s behavior in the regions mentioned above and provides an alternative model for understanding China’s foreign policy in the developing world.
{"title":"The Domestic Mechanisms of China’s Vertical Multilateralism: The FOCAC and the 16+1 Format Case Studies","authors":"D. Mierzejewski, Bartosz Kowalski, J. Jura","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2109842","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2109842","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The paper aims to discuss China’s behavior in the developing world through the lens of the domestic model of governance. It does so by seeking analogies between three forms of Beijing’s political approaches in domestic affairs: generating enthusiasm through slogan politics and promised incentives, informal networks, and coordinated development in China-led multilateralism with Africa and Central and Eastern Europe. By discussing the domestic-foreign policy nexus, the paper introduces the concept of China’s vertical multilateralism. Finally, by broaching a new theoretical understanding, the paper decodes China’s behavior in the regions mentioned above and provides an alternative model for understanding China’s foreign policy in the developing world.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"32 1","pages":"652 - 668"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49457493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-09DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2109844
Suyuan He, Weiye Wang
ABSTRACT This article examines how resources were allocated from the central government to rural households through China’s targeted poverty alleviation program. The fieldwork in different regions from 2015 to 2019 revealed that local social rules and structures distorted the allocation of anti-poverty resources. In ‘solidarity’ villages, resources targeted disadvantaged groups recognized by local but not official rules. In ‘individualized’ villages without strong local rules, resources were given to ‘troublemakers.’ In ‘factional’ villages, a scramble for resources occurred. The anti-poverty resources activated the rural social structures and rules, which finally diversified the outcomes of resource flows. This study suggests that a deep understanding of local traditions is needed in policy design and implementation to tackle the existing social rules and achieve the original policy target.
{"title":"Social Resources Transfer Program under China’s Targeted Poverty Alleviation Strategy: Rural Social Structure and Local Politics","authors":"Suyuan He, Weiye Wang","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2109844","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2109844","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines how resources were allocated from the central government to rural households through China’s targeted poverty alleviation program. The fieldwork in different regions from 2015 to 2019 revealed that local social rules and structures distorted the allocation of anti-poverty resources. In ‘solidarity’ villages, resources targeted disadvantaged groups recognized by local but not official rules. In ‘individualized’ villages without strong local rules, resources were given to ‘troublemakers.’ In ‘factional’ villages, a scramble for resources occurred. The anti-poverty resources activated the rural social structures and rules, which finally diversified the outcomes of resource flows. This study suggests that a deep understanding of local traditions is needed in policy design and implementation to tackle the existing social rules and achieve the original policy target.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"32 1","pages":"686 - 703"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45105956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-08DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2107391
Jinghua Cheng, J. Zeng
ABSTRACT With the growing challenges brought by Artificial Intelligence (AI)’s rapid development, multiple global AI governance initiatives have been developed to set up AI norms and standards. With China’s open ambition to be an AI superpower in 2030, China is keen to play a leadership role in nascent global AI governance regimes. This article argues that China’s search for AI leadership is driven by not only domestic regulatory needs but also the desire to gain norm and agenda setting power. China’s leadership ambition in global AI governance lies in the wider context of its aspiration to shift from a norm-taker towards a norm-shaper, if not maker. Despite considerable efforts taken so far, however, this article suggests that China is facing enormous challenges to realize its leadership ambition. The current geopolitical landscapes have allowed China limited room in nascent global AI governance regimes to demonstrate its leadership credentials. It remains to be seen how China’s role may evolve with the development of global AI governance architecture.
{"title":"Shaping AI’s Future? China in Global AI Governance","authors":"Jinghua Cheng, J. Zeng","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2107391","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2107391","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT With the growing challenges brought by Artificial Intelligence (AI)’s rapid development, multiple global AI governance initiatives have been developed to set up AI norms and standards. With China’s open ambition to be an AI superpower in 2030, China is keen to play a leadership role in nascent global AI governance regimes. This article argues that China’s search for AI leadership is driven by not only domestic regulatory needs but also the desire to gain norm and agenda setting power. China’s leadership ambition in global AI governance lies in the wider context of its aspiration to shift from a norm-taker towards a norm-shaper, if not maker. Despite considerable efforts taken so far, however, this article suggests that China is facing enormous challenges to realize its leadership ambition. The current geopolitical landscapes have allowed China limited room in nascent global AI governance regimes to demonstrate its leadership credentials. It remains to be seen how China’s role may evolve with the development of global AI governance architecture.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"32 1","pages":"794 - 810"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43530590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-07DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2109007
Chenxi Wang, Weihuan Zhou
ABSTRACT This article contributes to the ongoing debate over China’s behaviour in the multilateral trading system established by the World Trade Organization (WTO). It offers a systemic review of all completed WTO disputes against China in the past two decades and a critical analysis of four political factors embedded in China’s impressive record of compliance. In doing so, it develops an analytical framework for future studies on China’s approaches to WTO compliance and its interaction with international trade rules more broadly. While China’s trade policy has become more sensitive to the changing external environment, this framework will remain highly relevant to studies of China’s behaviour on trade and other economic matters and ways to engage with the emerging global superpower in the years ahead.
{"title":"A Political Anatomy of China’s Compliance in WTO Disputes","authors":"Chenxi Wang, Weihuan Zhou","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2109007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2109007","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article contributes to the ongoing debate over China’s behaviour in the multilateral trading system established by the World Trade Organization (WTO). It offers a systemic review of all completed WTO disputes against China in the past two decades and a critical analysis of four political factors embedded in China’s impressive record of compliance. In doing so, it develops an analytical framework for future studies on China’s approaches to WTO compliance and its interaction with international trade rules more broadly. While China’s trade policy has become more sensitive to the changing external environment, this framework will remain highly relevant to studies of China’s behaviour on trade and other economic matters and ways to engage with the emerging global superpower in the years ahead.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"32 1","pages":"811 - 827"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42315595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-07DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2108681
Howard Wang
ABSTRACT Between 2014 and 2019, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders conducted an internal debate over whether to continue prioritizing economic development as the Party’s most important policy priority or whether to consider security equally as important. The debate has concluded as of 2020, and the CCP has embraced a new guiding principle that elevates security alongside development as a key policy focus. The CCP appears to have determined it can assert itself on a broad range of issues beyond those permitted by the ‘development-first’ approach it maintained since 2002, even at cost to economic growth. Following its new policy determination, the Chinese government’s behavior will be harder to shape using only tools that primarily threaten Chinese economic performance.
{"title":"‘Security Is a Prerequisite for Development’: Consensus-Building toward a New Top Priority in the Chinese Communist Party","authors":"Howard Wang","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2108681","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2108681","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Between 2014 and 2019, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders conducted an internal debate over whether to continue prioritizing economic development as the Party’s most important policy priority or whether to consider security equally as important. The debate has concluded as of 2020, and the CCP has embraced a new guiding principle that elevates security alongside development as a key policy focus. The CCP appears to have determined it can assert itself on a broad range of issues beyond those permitted by the ‘development-first’ approach it maintained since 2002, even at cost to economic growth. Following its new policy determination, the Chinese government’s behavior will be harder to shape using only tools that primarily threaten Chinese economic performance.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"32 1","pages":"525 - 539"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42111592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-07DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2109808
Clyde Yicheng Wang
ABSTRACT China’s external propaganda, or waixuan, is organized by two separate bureaucratic systems – the ‘propaganda system’ and the ‘foreign affairs system.’ This article examines waixuan’s changing strategies and the bureaucratic structure’s adjustments. It argues that since 2012, waixuan has moved on from its previous emphasis on traditional culture in the Jiang and Hu periods to promoting China’s development model. The Foreign Ministry bears the pressure to project the image of a great power, making waixuan increasingly ideology-oriented and inflexible. Meanwhile, the great power narrative provides both opportunities and pressure for the propaganda system to use waixuan to feed nationalism among domestic audiences, even though it has been cautious about nationalist mobilization. Such nationalism, in turn, further ideologizes waixuan, making it difficult to attract foreign audiences.
{"title":"Changing Strategies and Mixed Agendas: Contradiction and Fragmentation within China’s External Propaganda","authors":"Clyde Yicheng Wang","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2109808","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2109808","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT China’s external propaganda, or waixuan, is organized by two separate bureaucratic systems – the ‘propaganda system’ and the ‘foreign affairs system.’ This article examines waixuan’s changing strategies and the bureaucratic structure’s adjustments. It argues that since 2012, waixuan has moved on from its previous emphasis on traditional culture in the Jiang and Hu periods to promoting China’s development model. The Foreign Ministry bears the pressure to project the image of a great power, making waixuan increasingly ideology-oriented and inflexible. Meanwhile, the great power narrative provides both opportunities and pressure for the propaganda system to use waixuan to feed nationalism among domestic audiences, even though it has been cautious about nationalist mobilization. Such nationalism, in turn, further ideologizes waixuan, making it difficult to attract foreign audiences.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"32 1","pages":"586 - 601"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42912544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-07DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2109811
Enze Han, Sirada Khemanitthathai
ABSTRACT This article studies contemporary Chinese engagement with Thailand in the context of migration. It argues the past of Chinese migration to Thailand shapes how the contemporary bilateral relations is perceived. In the context of Chinese engagement with Thailand, we should keep in mind the long history of Chinese migration and at times hostile policies the Thai government implemented to deal with such large numbers of migrants. Anti-China rhetoric thus has historical roots in the Chinese migration experience in Thailand, and one can argue that this history still frames some of the explicit or implicit Sinophobia within contemporary Thai society. Such historical legacies and the peculiar status of the Sino-Thai thus have created a varied reaction towards the recent Chinese presence in Thailand.
{"title":"Through the Prism of Migration: History of Migration and Contemporary Chinese Engagement with Thailand","authors":"Enze Han, Sirada Khemanitthathai","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2109811","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2109811","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article studies contemporary Chinese engagement with Thailand in the context of migration. It argues the past of Chinese migration to Thailand shapes how the contemporary bilateral relations is perceived. In the context of Chinese engagement with Thailand, we should keep in mind the long history of Chinese migration and at times hostile policies the Thai government implemented to deal with such large numbers of migrants. Anti-China rhetoric thus has historical roots in the Chinese migration experience in Thailand, and one can argue that this history still frames some of the explicit or implicit Sinophobia within contemporary Thai society. Such historical legacies and the peculiar status of the Sino-Thai thus have created a varied reaction towards the recent Chinese presence in Thailand.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"27 26 1","pages":"620 - 634"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59730671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-05DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2109813
Wei Ye
ABSTRACT Whilst China’s increasing foreign aid in education to Africa, its soft power remains insufficient. ‘Telling China’s story well’ attributes the lack of soft power to inadequate communication. This article argues that the ‘story’ rather than ‘telling’ matters. It reveals that the education-for-economic development paradigm adopted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Education’s reluctance toward Africa jointly shape China’s ineffective practice in the international discourse. Institutional changes since 2018 can hardly alter this bureaucratic divide as the imbalanced capacity of China’s economy and education remains. This article contributes to bureaucratic politics in foreign policymaking by identifying ministerial influences subject to their relevance to foreign policy rather than their occupancy of resources in the issue area.
{"title":"Fragmented Soft Power: Bureaucratic Politics and China’s Foreign Aid in Education to Africa","authors":"Wei Ye","doi":"10.1080/10670564.2022.2109813","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2109813","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Whilst China’s increasing foreign aid in education to Africa, its soft power remains insufficient. ‘Telling China’s story well’ attributes the lack of soft power to inadequate communication. This article argues that the ‘story’ rather than ‘telling’ matters. It reveals that the education-for-economic development paradigm adopted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Education’s reluctance toward Africa jointly shape China’s ineffective practice in the international discourse. Institutional changes since 2018 can hardly alter this bureaucratic divide as the imbalanced capacity of China’s economy and education remains. This article contributes to bureaucratic politics in foreign policymaking by identifying ministerial influences subject to their relevance to foreign policy rather than their occupancy of resources in the issue area.","PeriodicalId":47894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary China","volume":"32 1","pages":"635 - 651"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44714320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}