Suchergebnisse

Economic literature in developed countries suggests that demand for alcoholic beverages is sensitive to price, with an estimated price elasticity ranging from −0.38 for beer and −0.7 for liquor. However, few studies have been conducted in developing countries. We employ a large individual-level dataset in China to estimate the effects of price on alcohol demand. Using the data from China Health and Nutrition Survey for the years 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006, we estimate two-part models of alcohol demand. Results show the price elasticity is virtually zero for beer and only −0.12 for liquor, which is far smaller than those derived from developed countries. Separate regressions by gender reveals the results are mainly driven by men. The central implication of this study is, while alcohol tax increases can raise government revenue, it alone is not an effective policy to reduce alcohol related problems in China.

The Indo-Pacific region has become a central focus of great power competition. Not surprisingly, a rising China seeks to play an important, if not a leading role in the transformation of Asia's present regional order. The United States, meanwhile, as the unipole, has strong incentives to prevent the rise of a peer competitor. Facing certain structural and domestic constraints, China is disinclined to resort to the strategy of violent revision or subversion historically pursued by previous rising powers. Instead, China has pursued a gradual change of the existing regional order through a combination of internal balancing and external reassurance strategies. Specifically, China's quest for great power status in the region, particularly in response to the Indo-Pacific strategy adopted by the United States since the Trump administration, has prompted its proactive shift to counterbalance the US' vision of order in the region. This paper argues that the balance of power and the balance of alignment constitute two key variables that affect the prospect of Sino-US competition for a preferable regional order. Beijing's balancing strategies have significantly enhanced its economic and military capabilities, reducing the gap with the United States on the one hand and attracted certain regional states to join China-led regional initiatives on the other. However, owing to the complex balancing dynamics in the region and the agency of small and middle powers, the balance of alignment supports neither American nor Chinese dominance of Asia. Contrary to the 'new Cold War' narrative, the contest for order does not entail dividing the region into two rival blocs, but rather creating certain overlapping groupings and coalitions led by the two great powers. It consequently also signifies that the current order transition under a new bipolarity will be prolonged and relatively stable compared to the Cold War bipolarity. (Pac Rev/GIGA)

In response to the changing geopolitical landscape in Asia, both China and the United States attempt to alter the regional order in their own favour, both in the economic and security realms. This article shows how diverging views on future arrangements are leading to strategic shifts and increasing tension between these two Great Powers. As part of its quest for Great-Power status, China has been actively pushing its regional initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), as well as adopting assertive security policies towards its neighbours. In contrast, in order to counter China's growing influence America's regional strategy is undergoing a subtle shift from 'rebalancing to Asia' to focusing on the 'Indo-Pacific' region. However, amid an intensifying trade war and other challenges facing the region, China has chosen to moderate its proactive foreign policy-orientation in the past few years. In particular, China has made attempts to downplay its domestic rhetoric, rebuild strategic relationship with India and Japan, and to reassure ASEAN states in the South China Sea. In response to the Indo-Pacific strategy, it would be more effective for China to articulate a more inclusive regional vision and promote an institutional framework that also accommodates a US presence in the region.

After the end of the Cold War, East Asia did not enter a period fraught with tension and conflict, but surprisingly maintained a relatively long period of peace. The existing literature on the East Asian security order mainly emphasizes structural or processual factors, but these approaches cannot provide an adequate explanation of the interior dynamics and mechanisms of the East Asian security order. The main reasons for the inherent instability in the current system are still unclear. In this paper, the author presents a functionalist explanation and argues that the United States and China's separate provision of the two most important public goods-security expectations and economic benefits-laid the foundation for the current security order in East Asia. However, with the rise of China and the U.S. pivot toward Asia, supplying these two types of regional public goods becomes more difficult than it was previously, and this new scenario will cause instability in the existing order. (Issues Stud/GIGA)

Based on the three essays in the present issue, this introduction aims to offer a key for the search of breakthrough in the studies of Overseas Chinese by constructing a table with two axes, the unity of analysis and the autonomy of the actor. Therefore, the table not only positions the three essays, and explains their contributions with reference to the field, but also highlights the importance of reflexivity in the studies of Overseas Chinese. This academic enterprise concerns the immigrant, which stands at the core of political debate. Moreover, it concentrates on the Chinese whose identity is particularly delicate because of China's dramatic fall and remarkable rise in the modern time. As a result, the reflexivity offers a key to face the nationalist sentiment, against and for China, and plays a role for a better communication, both in science and in politics, in a more and more diversified world.