Asia Europe Journal最新文献

{"title":"The road to hell is paved with good intentions—and EU spreadsheets","authors":"Heribert Dieter","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00773-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00773-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The European Union is following two incompatible economic strategies. On the one hand, the European Union wants to be a player in geopolitics and intends to use trade policy to increase its power in international relations. On the other hand, Brussels wants to set standards, particularly in three fields: the production of certain products shall have little or no CO² emissions, people in developing countries shall not be exploited and agricultural products shall not be coming from recently deforested land. Whilst the good intentions of the policy makers in Brussels are obvious and laudable, the effects of the three measures will reduce the European Union’s relevance in international economic relations. Rather than improving the welfare of people in developing countries, the EU’s policies are leading to self-isolation and a diminishing relevance of Brussels. Today, economies in Africa, Asia and Latin America have the option of doing business with China, Russia and non-aligned countries. A European Union that insists on unilateral measures in international trade weakens, rather than strengthens, its relevance in international affairs.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 on","pages":"17 - 25"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147606774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond confrontation? Comparing the determinants of Chinese and the European Union’s development finance to Africa","authors":"Manling Yang","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00771-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00771-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>China’s substantial flow of development finance (DF) to Africa has sparked abundant discussions on the divergent distributive politics between China and traditional donors. This article compares the DF allocation strategies of China and the European Union (EU) and investigates the underlying motives of why they favor certain recipients than others. The comparison is incorporated into two aid allocation models in current literature: donor interest and recipient demand. The analysis draws on data covering both Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Other Official Finance (OOF) over the period from 2000 to 2017. Mapping of the data reveals the divergent strategies of China and the EU in financing volumes, geographic allocation and sectoral targeting, paired with tactical convergence including overlapping recipient focus and a shared emphasis on economic infrastructure. Moreover, China’s DF conveys a mixed portfolio of OOF-dominant in aggregate yet concessional in many recipient countries. Using country-fixed effects regressions, the article finds that ODA allocations by both China and the EU are largely decoupled from economic covariates. However, EU ODA is systematically higher in more democratic and less politically stable countries. By contrast, both actors’ OOF is trade-sensitive but in different ways: China’s OOF comoves with both exports to and imports from China, whereas EU OOF declines with EU exports and rises with EU imports. The findings suggest that the distributive politics of China and the EU reflect a complex interplay of overlapping and cross-cutting factors, warranting context- and instrument-specific analysis.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 2","pages":"417 - 445"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Russia-Ukraine war and China’s diplomatic signaling to major European powers","authors":"Haixia Qi,&nbsp;Hao Qi,&nbsp;Bode An,&nbsp;Xuetong Yan","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00769-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00769-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, China’s diplomatic relations with major European powers have been significantly and adversely affected. Although China has been sending positive signals regarding conflict resolution and striving to promote peace talks, these powers have maintained a skeptical stance while cooperating with the USA to pressure China on issues such as the Taiwan question, the South China Sea disputes, and human rights. To explain the evolving dynamics of China-Europe relations, this article employs signaling theory, categorizing diplomatic signals along two dimensions—credibility and visibility—into four types: high-cost frontstage, low-cost frontstage, high-cost offstage, and low-cost offstage. Based on this typology, the authors conduct a comparative analysis of China’s diplomatic signaling toward major European powers, including France, Germany, the UK, and Russia. The findings are as follows: Against the backdrop of the Russo-Ukraine war, China’s diplomatic signals directed at different countries exhibit significant variation in both credibility and visibility. Toward Russia, China has further issued high-cost frontstage signals, building on a high level of political mutual trust, while also substantially increasing the use of low-cost signals, thereby consolidating bilateral relations. In contrast, toward major European powers, China’s signaling demonstrates clear differentiation: toward the UK, both high-cost and low-cost signals are relatively scarce, reflecting restrained signaling toward a country closely aligned with the USA. In comparison, toward France and Germany, China has maintained frequent frontstage interactions and sustained offstage communications aimed at stabilizing economic and trade relations, reflecting a “wedge strategy” targeting countries with aspirations for strategic autonomy. Overall, in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, China has sustained or adjusted its bilateral relations with various actors through differentiated signaling. However, critical external factors may influence the effectiveness and anticipated outcomes of these signals. Qi Haixia and Qi Hao are co-first authors.\u0000</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 on","pages":"215 - 243"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147607248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"EU–China relations after the 2024 European elections: a European perspective","authors":"Bart Dessein,&nbsp;Jasper Roctus","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00770-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00770-z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"23 4","pages":"457 - 460"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145800002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pursuing practicality and autonomy in the Indo-Pacific: the case of ROK-India Special Strategic Partnership","authors":"Hyun Ji Rim","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00768-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00768-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Indo-Pacific theater is emerging as a region that calls for complex geostrategic calculations. As two rising middle powers in the theater, South Korea-India Special Strategic Partnership has more than sufficient drivers for closer bilateral cooperation. This paper examines drivers for active rapprochement between Seoul and New Delhi and implications for stronger bilateral cooperation. On the backdrop of middle power theory and evolving alliance structure in the Indo-Pacific theater, it argues that mutual attraction exists for both parties in strengthening their bilateral relationship pursuing practicality and autonomy in the complex Indo-Pacific security settings via military collaboration, securing supply chain resilience, and reinforcing infrastructural development while aligning Indo-Pacific strategy for sustainable economic growth for years to come.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 3","pages":"817 - 836"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149098988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"EU influences on ASEAN forest management: collective solutions or divergent narratives?","authors":"Julie Gilson","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00767-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00767-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>As two key trading and political partners, the European Union and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations cooperate on a complex range of issues today, including a mutual concern for the environment and attention to climate change. One key environmental issue is the future of forests: both the EU and ASEAN have rich forest histories and continue to trade extensively in timber and non-timber products, and both share a concern for how to manage the future of this vital planetary resource. Today’s forest agreements and declarations, including those between the EU and ASEAN, make frequent reference to the concept of ‘sustainable forest management’ (SFM). This article examines the origins of this concept, the Western, colonially derived, neoliberal and anthropocentric norms it embodies, and its ability both to foster and hamper greater forest cooperation between these two regions. Adopting a Decolonial Ecofeminist approach in order to investigate the multidimensionality of SFM, this article charts the various ways in which a particular discourse of forestry has emerged between the EU and ASEAN to enhance ‘green diplomacy’ or to perpetuate ‘green colonialism’.</p>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 2","pages":"589 - 606"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10308-025-00767-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A study of the carbon emission reduction effects of the digital economy: evidence from China’s prefecture-level cities","authors":"Ruoxi Zhong,&nbsp;Qiang He,&nbsp;Xin Deng,&nbsp;Yanbin Qi","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00766-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00766-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>As the world’s leading carbon emitter, China is committed to advancing global energy conservation and emission reduction efforts. Cities in China play a crucial role in promoting green and low-carbon development. They are not only critical economic units but also key drivers in achieving China’s “double carbon” goals. Additionally, the digital economy (DIG) has emerged as a significant force for driving high-quality economic and social development, making it essential for cities to achieve sustainable and green transformation. This paper focuses on exploring the impact of the DIG on the carbon reduction capacity (CRC) and the underlying mechanisms using panel data from 281 prefecture-level cities in China spanning the years 2006 to 2019. This paper constructs models incorporating spatial measures, mediating effects, and panel thresholds to examine the potential non-linear characteristics of the DIG’s impact. This paper’s findings include the following: the CRC and the DIG exhibited an upward trend during the study period in China. The DIG has a significant positive effect on improving the CRC, with industrial structure upgrading playing a mediating role in this impact. There is a threshold effect in the contribution of the DIG to the CRC. When the DIG exceeds the threshold value of −1.8917, its impact coefficient on the CRC increases from 0.2208 to 0.2366. The local DIG can positively spill over to improve the CRC of surrounding areas through spatial effects. The findings of this paper have important implications for other developing countries and large carbon-emitting countries in effectively implementing carbon reduction policies and promoting low-carbon urban development. They also provide valuable policy references for addressing global climate change and achieving high-quality development in China.\u0000</p>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 2","pages":"607 - 639"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Structural transformation within a neo-liberal state architecture: evidence from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor","authors":"Muhammad Tayyab Safdar","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00765-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00765-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>China has emerged as an important development partner for many developing countries, especially after the Belt &amp; Road Initiative’s (BRI) launch in 2013. The BRI’s supporters argue that China aims to contribute to long-term structural transformation in host countries through a holistic development model which includes trade, aid and investment. Through this model, informed by China’s development experience, the Chinese seek to promote long-term structural transformation in partner countries in the global South. While China’s motivations for promoting such a development model have received substantial attention in the literature, this paper addresses the issue of structural change and industrial policy from the perspective of host countries, especially those that have remained peripheral to the dynamic process of industrialisation in Asia. Using evidence from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the BRI, the paper critically evaluates the host state’s capability to bring about structural change. Despite substantial Chinese investment in Pakistan’s power sector under CPEC, industrial linkages remain limited. The country is not part of the dynamic value chains that link China with regions like Southeast Asia. The paper argues that the lack of Chinese investment in Pakistan’s manufacturing sector is a function of the country’s political settlement, which promotes unproductive rent-seeking. It shows that decades of neoliberal reforms in Pakistan have hollowed out the state’s ability to develop and implement an active industrial policy. The interaction of neoliberal reforms with the local political economy generates perverse incentives whereby policymakers promote investment in rent-thick areas like power generation and real estate. Without state capacity within the host countries, the paper questions Chinese policymakers’ ability to contribute to long-term structural change in developing countries like Pakistan and looks at the long-term implications for the BRI’s sustainability.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 2","pages":"517 - 539"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Navigating minefields and headwinds: National security, demographic shifts, climate change and fiscal policy in Lithuania","authors":"Serhan Cevik","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00762-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00762-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Lithuania has experienced significant growth since gaining independence, reaching the upper echelons of the European Union (EU). However, continuing this rapid income growth in the future will be increasingly challenging due to rising fiscal pressures and a shrinking and aging population. This paper analyzes key fiscal challenges and explores policy options to address them. While immediate risks include military spending and higher borrowing costs, these concerns are overshadowed by long-term pressures associated with climate change and demographic shifts. Lithuania's population is rapidly declining, and the old-age dependency ratio is projected to more than double over the next two decades and half. As a result, long-term spending pressures could amount to 11.2 percent of GDP by 2050, which is about one-third of the current level of government spending. Concerns about debt sustainability prevent the option of financing additional expenditures through increased debt. Therefore, a comprehensive strategy is necessary to tackle these long-term fiscal challenges. This strategy should include changes to tax policy aimed at raising additional revenue while primarily focusing on reducing expenditure through reforms in the pension and healthcare systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 2","pages":"351 - 372"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10308-025-00762-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148193813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"EU’s derisking from China: a daunting task","authors":"Françoise Nicolas","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00750-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00750-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>With economic security as a major concern, the EU has recently turned to “derisking” from China. The EU strategy entails reducing critical dependencies and vulnerabilities, including in EU supply chains, and diversifying where necessary, while recognizing the importance and need to maintain open channels of communication. An analysis of the bilateral trade relations over the past decade suggests that derisking still remains elusive. In contrast to the USA, the EU has not reduced the share of Chinese products in its imports. Overall, there has been little or no diversification in some unsophisticated, labor-intensive, low-value-added sectors where it was not expected. At the same time, the EU’s exports to China have remained relatively constant, although direct export exposure to China differs significantly across member states. The picture emerging from the observation of direct investment flows to China is more mixed, with EU greenfield investments on the rise, while European M&amp;As have slowed sharply. Moreover, there is a growing concentration of EU FDI in China among a small number of firms, countries, and sectors. While the jury is still out on the success of the EU’s derisking attempts, many factors do not bode well for the future of the strategy. For derisking to materialize, several conditions need to be met, including better and tighter coordination between EU member states, and this is no easy task. However, with problems and possible solutions now clearly identified, what remains to be done is to walk the talk.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"23 4","pages":"469 - 478"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145796508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}