{"title":"CFIUS 2.0: An Instrument of American Economic Statecraft Targeting China","authors":"Uday Khanapurkar","doi":"10.1177/1868102620906973","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620906973","url":null,"abstract":"On 13 August 2018, the president of the United States signed a bill to strengthen the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency executive body responsible for screening foreign investments made in the United States for national security risks. The move is primarily aimed at preventing Chinese firms from exploiting the US open capital markets to acquire technology. While much commentary exists spelling out the changes made to CFIUS by way of the legislation, their focus is largely on the legal and business ramifications of the policy at the firm level. This analysis assesses what CFIUS strengthening portends for the tech ambitions, examines the Chinese state’s response to the move, and observes its relevance to US–China economic decoupling.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"1 1","pages":"226 - 240"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77224156","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}
{"title":"Re-envisioning Citizen Diplomacy: A Case Study of a Multifaceted, Transnational, People’s Republic of China “Ethnopreneur”","authors":"Kian Cheng Lee","doi":"10.1177/1868102620907240","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102620907240","url":null,"abstract":"This article problematises the traditional conceptualisation of the “citizen diplomat” as being confined only to a single nation state sovereignty. At the nexus of transnational “ethnopreneurship,” dual embeddedness, neoliberalism, and post-materialism, citizen diplomats transcend territorially bound identities and perform unofficial dual-accredited roles in the enhancement of bilateral relationships. The protagonist in this case is a transnational People’s Republic of China ethnopreneur who adopts multiple forms of cultural commodification based on both Thai and Chinese resources. As a result, both territories have benefitted from the ensuing informal diplomatic interactions. Traversing the culturally distinctive city of Chiang Mai in Thailand and several flourishing cities in China, the article elucidates the importance of non-traditional diplomats. Put succinctly, it argues for a re-envisioning of transnational ethnopreneurial diplomacy so as to recognise multiple identities, cultures, and markets wherein positive-sum diplomatic returns are achieved. From an intra-Asian perspective, it seeks to remedy a scarcity in the literature – given that existing migrant studies are largely set in North American and European contexts.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"49 1","pages":"127 - 147"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83984057","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}
{"title":"Exploring Extended Kinship in Twenty-First-Century China: A Conceptual Case Study","authors":"Man Guo, Carsten Herrmann-Pillath","doi":"10.1177/1868102619845244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102619845244","url":null,"abstract":"Many observers of contemporary China notice the revival of the so-called traditional culture. This includes the public presence of rituals and artefacts that relate with traditional kinship, such as ancestral halls. This article explores a case in Shenzhen, the Huang lineage and the larger surname group. A methodological issue looms large: What exactly was the “tradition” that is perceived as reviving? The field of historical studies on Chinese kinship is a highly contested domain, especially regarding the nature and role of lineages. Therefore, we designed our article as a “conceptual case study”: we reflect upon the state of our knowledge about Chinese kinship in the traditional sense, develop a tentative conceptual framework, and apply this on our case. Central issues include the relationship between descent as constructed and performed via kinship rituals and patterns of cooperation among members of a lineage and the wider surname group.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"4 1","pages":"50 - 75"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90768252","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}
{"title":"Rediscovering the Transition in China’s National Interest: A Neoclassical Realist Approach","authors":"Xiaodi Ye","doi":"10.1177/1868102619876830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102619876830","url":null,"abstract":"Recently, China’s core national interest proposal has drawn significant attention from scholars, triggering a wide range of discussions on this interesting phenomenon. However, the existing literature remains largely limited to single-case studies and has neglected several crucial questions: What is the major difference between China’s national interest and core national interest? What factors may cause a transition from a national interest to a core interest? How can we understand this long-term transition? Based on these questions, this article constructs a neoclassical-based analytical framework to trace that transition, arguing that the major difference between these two concepts is the scope of their application. Meanwhile, the transition in China’s national interest can be categorised as “defensive national interest,” “constructive national interest,” and “adversary core interest” from the beginning of the 1980s to 2017 – with the scope expanded accordingly from the domestic and regional levels to the inter-regional one.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"1 1","pages":"105 - 76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77107895","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}
{"title":"Values Reconciliation: Constructing the Exemplary Ideal Personhood through Overseas Education","authors":"Juan Chen","doi":"10.1177/1868102619849761","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102619849761","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the values that Chinese middle-class families desire for their offspring to acquire, through an analysis of the families’ motivations for pursuing overseas higher education. Based on fieldwork with Chinese tertiary students in the United Kingdom, this article analyses the values – described in interviews by students and their parents and grandparents – that drive these families’ overseas higher education strategies. The results show that in contrast to the current (dominant instrumentalist) understandings of international student motivations, some Chinese middle-class families’ belief in higher education is about the development of a socialist ideal personhood and the wish to make significant social contributions. Ultimately, the author argues that some Chinese middle-class families are experiencing a transition, from egoism to altruism, and in future, fulfilling Confucian values and making social contributions is highly likely to become part of middle-class subjectivities.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"46 1","pages":"29 - 49"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91053561","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}
{"title":"Hong Kong’s Growing Separatist Tendencies against China’s Rise: Comparing Mainland and Hong Kong College Students’ National Identities","authors":"Q. Pang, F. Jiang","doi":"10.1177/1868102619886597","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102619886597","url":null,"abstract":"Why have separatist sentiments increased in Hong Kong despite of China’s growing economic attractiveness? This question is critical for China–Hong Kong relations. However, few studies have explored it from a comparative perspective. This study compares Hong Kong and mainland college students’ national identities by making a series of interlocked surveys and interviews from 2012 to 2016. It shows that Hong Kong students have a much lower sociopolitical identity with China, which proves to be the primary cause for their separatist tendencies. Although they hold a comparably strong pan-Chinese economic identity, it does not strengthen their sociopolitical identity as it does for mainland students. This can be attributed to their post-materialist framework through which they are unlikely to believe that economic development alone can bring sociopolitical improvements. The findings imply that China faces serious difficulties in turning its economic strength into political charm in societies with strong post-materialist values.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"70 1","pages":"28 - 3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91201218","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}
{"title":"The Xi Paradox: Reconfigured Party Power, Long-Term Risks","authors":"P. Entwistle","doi":"10.1177/186810261804700301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/186810261804700301","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction to Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 3/2018: State and Society under Xi Jinping","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"10 1","pages":"16 - 3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90324064","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}
{"title":"Morality as Legitimacy under Xi Jinping: The Political Functionality of Traditional Culture for the Chinese Communist Party","authors":"Aleksandra Kubat","doi":"10.1177/186810261804700303","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/186810261804700303","url":null,"abstract":"Taking as an example Xi Jinping's use of the phrase “excellent traditional culture” (, youxiu chuantong wenhua), this article looks at the construction of a centrally sanctioned narrative of traditional Chinese culture in resources produced within the Party school system. The specific focus of analysis is on how these resources theorise the functionality of traditional culture for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a political organisation, and what culture-based solutions they put forward to tackle the problems with Party theory and ideology, the state governance model, and cadre performance. It is argued that by referencing traditional culture, and, in particular, by drawing on traditional moral virtues, the CCP realigns itself with societal expectations without making concessions over the ideological foundations of the party state.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"7 1","pages":"47 - 86"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78846802","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}
{"title":"Authoritarian Learning in China's Civil Society Regulations: Towards a Multi-Level Framework","authors":"Bertram Lang","doi":"10.1177/186810261804700306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/186810261804700306","url":null,"abstract":"How do authoritarian governments learn? What kind of events and experiences can lead them to adopt more or less restrictive policies towards social actors? And, how are such lessons from others' experiences integrated into new policies? These questions have been addressed and answered quite differently from various disciplinary perspectives, focusing either on international dynamics such as “authoritarian diffusion” or on domestic policy learning. This article seeks to integrate different perspectives on authoritarian learning by proposing a typological framework of positive and negative learning from three distinct sources: authoritarian peers, democratic countries, and subnational policy experiments. I argue that such a comprehensive framework better accounts for both the relative importance and for the interaction of different kinds of learning in national-level policy processes. To illustrate the framework's added analytical value, I use an exemplary case study of recent legislative changes to China's civil society policy, which have been alternatively interpreted as part of an authoritarian “wave” or as another step in incremental domestic learning processes.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"68 1","pages":"147 - 186"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83652610","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}
{"title":"China after Reform: The Ideological, Constitutional, and Organisational Makings of a New Era","authors":"Heike Holbig","doi":"10.1177/186810261804700307","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/186810261804700307","url":null,"abstract":"In late 2017, the Chinese Communist Party proclaimed the “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” Most observers interpreted this step as just another update of the party's ideological canon to accommodate Xi's ambition to increase his personal power, following in the footsteps of Mao Zedong. This contribution argues that we can achieve a better understanding of the claim about a “new era,” if this claim is analysed diachronically as an ongoing process of constructing “chrono-ideological narratives” that link past and future, as well as synchronically in the larger context of recent constitutional and organisational changes. It finds that the “new era” discourse might, in the longer term, have ramifications not only for China's domestic politics but also for the country's self-image in the international arena too.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"127 1","pages":"187 - 207"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75674463","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}