Suchergebnisse

"This book explores non-electoral means of public participation in contemporary China, both as an outcome of and a key contributor to the party-state's efforts to improve its governing capacity. Examining consultative meetings, public hearings and the use of surveys and questionnaires in Zhejiang province, on an empirical level, the study evaluates the historical development, and institutional backgrounds of these mechanisms, as well as provides a critical assessment of their achievements and failures. At the same time, on a theoretical level, this book contributes to the broader scholarship on contemporary Chinese politics and political development within one-party regimes, as well as debates about state building and democratization. Relying on the distinction between access to and exercise of power, it concludes that non-electoral public participation is in fact a function of state building. Developing a state capable of producing effective solutions to governing challenges, it is argued, requires public participation in the governing process. With analysis informed by interviews with local-level policy-makers and officials, academics and citizens' representatives and activists, Public Participation and State Building in China will be a valuable research resource for students and scholars of Chinese politics, political science and civil society"--

Development of '16 + 1' framework substantially depends on how Central and Eastern European countries understand their fast-evolving relationship with China. This article investigates and analyses related perceptions and discusses their implications for '16 + 1'. Focusing on the Sino-Serbian relationship, the study reveals that the understanding of China and its growing involvement in the region oscillates between the extremes, yet that both positive and negative evaluations are not supported by the available empirical evidence and informed by a proper understanding of the context within which the relationship takes place. This is likely to result in a sense of disillusionment, as well as heightened concerns about the relationship with China, casting shadow over the prospects of the China-CEE relations. (J Contemp China/GIGA)

Chapter 1: Answering the "China Question": Local responses to Global China -- Chapter 2: China's rise, the Belt & Road Initiative, and the future of the global order -- Chapter 3: Understanding and Responding to Global China in the West -- Chapter 4: Contesting China in Europe: Contextual Shift in China-EU relations and the role of "China Threat" -- Chapter 5: BRI Engagement and State Transformation in the Middle East: A Case Study on Turkey -- Chapter 6: Societal Contestations and Adaptations to the Belt and Road Initiative in Kazakhstan -- Chapter 7: The political performance of contestation and adaptation in Australian-Chinese relations -- Chapter 8: Contesting China's Politics of Routes: The India Way -- Chapter 9: BRI Engagement and State Transformation in the Middle East: A Case Study on Turkey -- Chapter 10: Brazil-China relations: contestation, adaptation, or transformation? -- Chapter 11: Epistemic considerations on the studying of Chinese financing infrastructural projects in Africa -- Chapter 12: ASEAN States' Hedging against the China Question: Contested, Adaptive, Transformative -- Chapter 13: Agents of the Belt and Road initiative or agents of agency? Fijian state and civil society perceptions of Chinese companies.

Vying for high-speed railway projects overseas has become a prominent feature of China's diplomacy in recent years, including in Southeast Asia. These efforts have been widely depicted within the premises of the China Threat narrative - as a part of Beijing's agenda to alter the power balance in Southeast Asia at the expense of the economic, political, and security well-being of countries in the region. This paper challenges such interpretations and concludes that these projects do not have either the intention or capacity to facilitate such a hostile and far-reaching agenda toward the region. (Pac Rev/GIGA)

China and Japan are intensively vying for high-speed rail markets in Southeast Asia. Focusing on the developments surrounding the bid for Indonesia's first high-speed rail project from Jakarta to Bandung, this paper investigates Japan and China's relative strategies, and considers the policy options available to ASEAN to manage the risks rooted in Sino-Japanese competition in the sector.

AbstractIn the last few years, the demands of homeowners in Chinese cities have gradually shifted away from economic rights and towards political ones. At the same time, alliances across different communities have emerged and vigorous attempts to form citywide solidarities have been made. In this process, a group of dedicated leaders has emerged, contributing greatly to the escalation of collective actions. This article focuses on a core group of Beijing activists behind the organization, expression and participation of homeowners' associations. Relying on data collected from interviews, documents and participatory observations conducted over a period of more than two years, we were able to pin down the socio-economic, social and political backgrounds of these leaders, as well as their attitudes, objectives and repertoire of actions. We describe leaders as falling into a two-by-two typology that is defined by a motivation dimension and an activeness dimension. Depending on his or her goals and approaches, a protest leader can be variously viewed as a political actionist, a frustrated changer, a double harvester or a tiger rider. These different types of leaders are all in one way or another promoting socio-political changes in China.