Showing papers in "China Report in 2007"
TL;DR: Unlike the poverty in the developing world which is more likely associated with undevelopment or underdevelopment of industrial capitalism, the new poverty in advanced cities is induced by the deve...
Abstract: Unlike the poverty in the developing world which is more likely associated with undevelopment or underdevelopment of industrial capitalism, the new poverty in advanced cities is induced by the deve...
49 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore whether the future of FOCAC can and would strengthen relations between Africa and China and explore the threats that can undermine the relationship between African countries and China.
Abstract: FOCAC 2006 concluded a year that was dubbed by the Chinese leadership as China's ‘Year of Africa’. On the surface, the ‘Year of Africa’ demonstrated a striking success for China. However, there are important factors that can undermine the relationship between Africa and China. The aim of this article is to explore whether the future of FOCAC can and would strengthen relations between Africa and China. What are the threats to FOCAC's future? To what extent are the commitments of FOCAC realistic? And more importantly, whose interests does FOCAC serve?
42 citations
TL;DR: The China-Africa Summit of 4-5 November 2006 was the largest ever high-level conference on Africa held outside of the continent as discussed by the authors, and it pursued a gradualist and integrated approach towards cooperation that emphasised the mutuality and two-sidedness of the cooperation.
Abstract: The China-Africa Summit of 4–5 November 2006 was the largest ever high-level conference on Africa held outside of the continent. In its relations with African countries, China has traditionally avoided presenting itself as a donor, preferring to see itself as a large developing country working alongside other developing countries. It pursued a gradualist and integrated approach towards cooperation that emphasised the mutuality and two-sidedness of the cooperation. However, the various pledges, promises and targets included in ‘The Beijing Action Plan—2007–2009’ that was unveiled at the Beijing Summit gave it more of an aid flavour. While this need not make China into a Western or Japanese style donor, it will certainly have a series of consequences for China's relations with Africa.
36 citations
TL;DR: The entry of Chinese companies into Africa, largely state-directed in nature, is spurred on the need for energy security and new markets, as well as specifically political objectives as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: China's relations with Africa have grown exponentially over the past decade. During the 1990s, Sino-African trade grew by 700 per cent and many high-level visits occurred from 1995. China's heightened political interest in Africa has paved the way for the entry of Chinese companies of all sectors into Africa's economies. The entry of Chinese companies into Africa, largely state-directed in nature, is spurred on by the need for energy security and new markets, as well as specifically political objectives. Their engagement in Africa, though not without its challenges, has the potential to benefit both African countries and Chinese commercial interests.
33 citations
TL;DR: In recent years, China has strengthened its relations with African countries in all spheres, including political, economic and military, and China's rising profile in Africa is shaped by its desire to garner stra...
Abstract: In recent years, China has strengthened its relations with African countries in all spheres—political, economic and military. China's rising profile in Africa is shaped by its desire to garner stra...
20 citations
TL;DR: For example, the authors found that Chinese companies have little interest in joint ventures, although they regularly subcontract local companies and procure considerable quantities of local materials and labour, and the standards of work completed by Chinese companies are considerably higher in Zambia where regulations and building codes are more strictly enforced.
Abstract: Construction companies have played a key role as vanguards of China's engagement with Africa. China has a long history of relations with both Tanzania and Zambia, and the privatisation and deregulation of China's construction industry has been accompanied by a steady increase in the number of Chinese companies entering these two African countries. Differences in the construction industries of Tanzania and Zambia reveal interesting patterns in the participation of Chinese firms in these countries’ economies. In Tanzania, the Chinese are not yet in competition with indigenous companies which lack capacity for large-scale projects. The standards of work completed by Chinese companies are considerably higher in Zambia where regulations and building codes are more strictly enforced. The Chinese have little interest in joint ventures, although they regularly subcontract local companies and procure considerable quantities of local materials and labour. Western companies maintain a decreasing advantage in special...
19 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the history and experiences of the Chinese Indian community in Kolkata based on extensive interviews of the members of the community and outlines some of the main economic specialisations of Chinese immigrants, including carpentry, shoemaking, tannery and hairdressing.
Abstract: This article examines the history and experiences of the Chinese Indian community in Kolkata based on extensive interviews of the members of the community. The migration of the Chinese to the Indian city, it suggests, took place in three distinct phases: the nineteenth century, when skilled workers from China came to the city seeking better employment opportunities; the early twentieth century, when social unrest and Japanese invasion brought Chinese refugees to Kolkata; and, the post-1945 period, when civil war between the Guomindang and the Communists triggered the flow of a third wave of Chinese immigrants. The article also outlines some of the main economic specialisations of the Chinese immigrants as they became residents of Kolkata, including carpentry, shoemaking, tannery and hairdressing.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a preliminary conceptual assessment of the international agency of the European Union (EU) and China in Central Asia is presented, with a brief appraisal of the prospective trends in EU-China interactions.
Abstract: This analysis undertakes a preliminary conceptual assessment of the international agency of the European Union (EU) and China in Central Asia. The contention is that the strategies advanced by both Brussels and Beijing in the region reflect not only their desire to introduce a framework of predictability allowing them to make feasible calculations about future intentions, but also the increasing ‘fragmegration’ of international life. The contention is that the external agency of the EU and China attests to the normative power of their foreign policies. However, the values and norms of the international agency of Brussels and Beijing reflect their distinct experiences and suggest their clashing interests. The article concludes with a brief appraisal of the prospective trends in EU-China interactions in Central Asia.
13 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the way Kolkata's ethnic economy, in which different caste, language and religious groups each inhabit different economic niches, furthered the Hakka's continued identification of themselves as "guest people" and distinguished between themselves and a variety of others, not only other Indian groups, but also the Cantonese and Hubeinese Chinese.
Abstract: This article is based on fieldwork conducted during the 1980s in a community of Hakka Chinese who had found a profitable niche in Kolkata's leather industry. It examines the way Kolkata's ethnic economy, in which different caste, language and religious groups each inhabit different economic niches, furthered the Hakka's continued identification of themselves as ‘guest people’. The Hakka distinguished between themselves and a variety of others, not only other Indian groups, but also the Cantonese and Hubeinese Chinese.
11 citations
TL;DR: This paper used the representation of the Chinese characters in the film Fire (1996) as a strategic site from which to examine the institutional marginalisation of India's Chinese minority co-religionists.
Abstract: This article utilises the representation of the Chinese characters in the film Fire (1996) as a strategic site from which to examine the institutional marginalisation of India's Chinese minority co...
TL;DR: In this article, a recognition of their common destinies as homes of human beings with complicated histories and of the need for cooperation to protect themselves against the forces of evil, in the shape of market fundamentalism, religious fanaticism and super-hegemonic imperialism can help them to guard...
Abstract: At different stages of their history, leaders of China, India and Russia, the most prominent constituents of the Eurasian landmass and home to one-third of the human population of the world, have formulated the aim of breaking out of the ‘backward’ state of their respective countries as a major goal of their movements, their strategies and their policies. Almost in all cases, such a state of backwardness has been perceived in relation to the ‘advanced’ Western countries, and more specifically to the industrialised countries of Europe and North America. All three countries have been caught several times in recent centuries in the cunning passages of history. All of them now see light at the end of the labyrinthine tunnel. A recognition of their common destinies as homes of human beings with complicated histories and of the need for cooperation to protect themselves against the forces of evil, in the shape of market fundamentalism, religious fanaticism and super-hegemonic imperialism can help them to guard ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a need for linking cultural diversity with biological diversity, so rich in the India-China context, as the basis for sustainable management of natural resources, leading towards human wellbeing, and thus contributing towards human security.
Abstract: Traditionally scientists have looked at agriculture merely as a production system It is only in recent times when issues of sustainability have been regularly cropping up, that there is a paradigm shift There is now an attempt to look at agriculture also as an ecological system India and China are two large rapidly industrializing countries that have a large and heterogeneous population load to carry India and China are also very ancient agricultural countries with a long and rich tradition of natural resource conservation linked sustainable management of agriculture There is a need for linking cultural diversity with biological diversity, so rich in the India-China context, as the basis for sustainable management of natural resources, leading towards human wellbeing, and thus contributing towards human security
TL;DR: The growing Japanese Nationalism has become a subject of intense debate during the last one decade, in particular after revision of the history textbooks, formal recognition of the ‘Kimigayo’ anthem and formalization of the national anthem.
Abstract: ‘Growing Japanese Nationalism’ has become a subject of intense debate during the last one decade, in particular after revision of the history textbooks, formal recognition of the ‘Kimigayo’ anthem ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a trilateral cooperation framework for the protection of the environment and economic development in China, India, and Russia, where China and India could work together to strengthen coordination in the field of environmental protection; establish institutional mechanisms for trilateral collaboration; and start a dialogue, share experiences and jointly train personnel on environment protection.
Abstract: There are linkages between the environment and economic development. International cooperation is essential for preserving the environment. China, India and Russia each consist of a large population, a vast territory and a fast growing economy. They could work together to strengthen coordination in the field of environmental protection; establish institutional mechanisms for trilateral cooperation; and start a dialogue, share experiences and jointly train personnel on environment protection. China and Russia could work together in preventing pollution in their border river basin. Important areas for cooperation between China and India would be in research and development of technology for utilising environmentally friendly wind, bio-mass and solar energy, and in improving the energy utilisation ratio.
TL;DR: The Nathu La trading route on the Tibet-Sikkim border that had been closed following the 1962 border conflict between India and China was re-opened by China in 2006 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: July 2006 saw China make two major statements of intent in its huge western region. The first of these was the opening of the 1,142km section from Golmud to Lhasa completing the Qinghai-Tibet railway (QTR). The other was the reopening of the 4,545m high Nathu La trading route on the Tibet-Sikkim border that had been closed following the 1962 border conflict between India and China. Besides a narrow perception of these and other Chinese infrastructure developments as creating a strategic threat, they might also be looked at in terms of creating long-term opportunities for India. Nathu La, part of the ancient Silk Route, is about halfway between Lhasa and Kolkata, the closest seaport and connects Yadong County in Tibet’s Xigaze Prefecture with the Indian state of Sikkim. Xigaze is just 250 km from Nathu La and Yadong just over 50 km, and there have been suggestions that India establish a full-fledged trading mission here. QTR and Nathu La are part of the Chinese flurry of road, rail and airport building activity all around Tibet trying to improve its connectivity with both the other parts of China as well as with the countries of South Asia.
TL;DR: Privatisation can be defined as the change in ownership of state-owned firms through sale of equity to private individuals or entities and leading to complete private control and management as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Privatisation can be defined as the change in ownership of state-owned firms through sale of equity to private individuals or entities and leading to complete private control and management. Means of privatisation are disinvestment through sale of private equity through the stock market; auction or negotiated sale of a controlling block or a majority shareholding to a chosen party; and sale through a voucher system that seeks to provide the ultimate owners (the people) or workers in enterprises an implicit stake in state-owned assets. Progress has been quick and substantial in Russia, slower but now significant in China, and halting and concentrated in profit-making enterprises in India. In all three cases privatisation seems to have been driven in practice by irrational short term considerations or purely ideological motivations. In any event, the acceptability of the process in an accounting sense and its integrity has been brought into question.
TL;DR: There are three schools of thought among Russian scholars on China and its SCO policy as mentioned in this paper, referred to as Optimists or Enthusiasts, think that the world needs a strong Russia as a stabilising factor in international affairs, Alarmists, assert that there is growing discord between a weak Russia and a fast growing China and that conflict between them is inevitable.
Abstract: There are three schools of thought among Russian scholars on China and its SCO policy. The first group, referred to as Optimists or Enthusiasts, think that the world needs a strong Russia as a stabilising factor in international affairs. The second group, referred to as Alarmists, assert that there is growing discord between a weak Russia and a fast growing China and that conflict between them is inevitable. Emphasising that China is stronger than Russia for the first time in two centuries, they argue that China's SCO policy is designed to buy time and strengthen itself with Russian assistance within the organisation till it becomes a super power. The third group, referred to as Realists are of the view that China is both a prospective partner and a potential adversary for Russia, and that this should be taken into account while shaping Moscow's SCO policy as well as in judging China's SCO policy.
TL;DR: The first ever peaceful transfer of power in the millennia-old history of the Chinese civilisation was witnessed by Chen Shui-bian, who belonged to the openly pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as President of Taiwan.
Abstract: My arrival in Taiwan coincided with a remarkable and truly historic event: the first ever peaceful transfer of power in the millennia-old history of the Chinese civilisation. I arrived just five days before the swearing in of Chen Shui-bian, who belonged to the openly pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as President of Taiwan or more correctly of the Republic of China. He had secured victory by a whisker and, truth be told, entirely fortuitously, as the GMD (Guomindang) vote was divided between the official candidate and a defector who ran as an independent. The Guomindang (GMD), reputed to be the world’s richest political party, had been in power continuously for almost nine decades, first in mainland China from the 1920s to 1949 and then in Taiwan till May 2000. The DPP had been in existence for only twelve years. This twelve-year period saw the miraculous transformation of a one-party State, ruled under martial law for forty years by people who had fled mainland China after their defeat in the civil war, into a rather robust and rambunctious democracy. This remarkable political transformation must be considered an even greater achievement than the much-acclaimed Taiwanese economic miracle. For all these reasons, the psychological ambience in Taipei was highly charged— a sense of euphoria and exultation that something unexpected and utterly dramatic was about to happen; the inhabitants of the island, though overwhelmingly of Han Chinese ethnicity, but who had lived in Taiwan for generations and considered themselves as Taiwanese, had wrested power from the mainlanders who had arrived in 1949, and become masters of their own destiny. However, a sense of deep anxiety was
TL;DR: The authors examines the travel accounts of two Bengali travellers who visited China in the early twentieth century and finds that the writings of Indian travellers in Republican China have attracted limited attention, however, their travel accounts have attracted little attention.
Abstract: The writings of Indian travellers in Republican China have attracted limited attention. This article examines the travel accounts of two Bengali travellers who visited China in the early twentieth ...
TL;DR: There has been a tendency in transitional economies, in recent times, marked by faster global integration and the rise of highly visible high-tech industrial sectors of the economy, to see agriculture more as a pre-modern drag than a contributor, right kind of noises and concerns for food security notwithstanding.
Abstract: There has been a tendency in transitional economies, in recent times, marked by faster global integration and the rise of highly visible high-tech industrial sectors of the economy, to see agriculture more as a pre-modern drag than a contributor, right kind of noises and concerns for food security notwithstanding. India, China and Russia, in that order, must realise that agriculture will continue to be around in its present form for a much longer time than they would wish. The manufacturing industrial sector is likely to coexist with a large population persisting in agriculture. Obsession with a certain kind of ‘modern’ industrialisation, mistakenly attributed to the West, and impatience with agriculture will not help. Nor will technocratic solutions to agricultural problems. For instance, large scale mechanised farming may neither be inevitable nor necessarily desirable. Nor may the labour transfer from agriculture to non-agriculture be as quick as expected. It is in this context and on the basis of a fa...
TL;DR: The article and book reviews included in this issue of China Report resulted from symposiums held in New York and Kolkata in 2006-07 as discussed by the authors. But very few people knew about the history and experiences of the Chinese community in India.
Abstract: The articles and book reviews included in this issue of China Report resulted from symposiums held in New York and Kolkata in 2006–07.1 The theme of these symposiums was the Chinese Indian community in Kolkata and featured Rafeeq Ellias's moving documentary on the Chinese Indians called The Legend of Fat Mama. Two issues were evident to the participants and audiences of these symposiums. First, very few people knew about the history and experiences of the Chinese community in India. Second, although exchanges between Kolkata, which was named the capital of British India in 1772, and China seem to have started in the last quarter of the eighteenth century and flourished during nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, little attempt has been made to study these interactions. This issue is the first step in redressing some of these deficiencies. Only two aspects related to the ‘unexplored’ links between Kolkata and China are highlighted in this collection. The first three articles and the two book reviews f...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed to structure the trilateral interaction in terms of cooperative competition and well-coordinated cooperation, by each agreeing to specialise in a particular sphere or sector.
Abstract: The region, Central Asia, and the regional organisation, SCO, were of significance for China, India and Russia with respect to dealing with threats to security posed by non-state actors such as terrorists and drug-traffickers. The three could also cooperate with regard to energy resources, transport and investment in the region. However, competition could not be ruled out and hence it was necessary to structure their interaction in terms of ‘cooperative competition’ and well-coordinated trilateral interaction, for example, by each agreeing to specialise in a particular sphere or sector.
TL;DR: This paper arranged lecture-wise to be followed by full-length bibliographies to deal with the wide panorama of Chinese civilization and India-China relations, and these notes with short bibliographical to the lectures deal with a wide range of topics.
Abstract: These notes with short bibliographies to the lectures deal with the wide panorama of Chinese civilization and India–China relations. They are arranged lecture-wise to be followed by full-length pap...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that the meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of China, India and Russia should constitute a regular consultation mechanism and that each delegation should formulate its own proposals for trilateral interaction.
Abstract: The article suggests proposals for future Trilateral Cooperation between China, India and Russia. The meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of China, India and Russia should constitute a regular consultation mechanism. Meetings between ministers of science and technology and ministers of energy should also be arranged. Trilateral consultation could also continue within other broader multilateral forums and organisations. Prior to each academic trilateral meeting each delegation should formulate its own proposals for trilateral interaction. During the meeting the proposals on which all three are in agreement can be identified. This latter set of proposals agreed to by all three delegations must then be presented by each delegation to their respective governments. The delegations would then have to prevail on their governments to consider, adopt and implement this set of proposals. Those proposals that are not agreed to by all three can be set a side for further research and consultation.
TL;DR: The Ninth India-China-Russia Academic Trilateral Conference was held in New Delhi from 7th to 9th December 2009 as discussed by the authors, which was preceded by the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) Summit at Ekaterinburg in June 2009 and by the ninth meeting of the foreign ministers of China, India, and Russia in Bengaluru, India in October 2009.
Abstract: The Ninth India-China-Russia Academic Trilateral Conference was held in New Delhi from 7th to 9th December 2009. With this Conference, the third round of the trilateral exchanges which had commenced in Moscow in September 2001 came to a close. This trilateral academic exchange involves the following institutions from the respective countries—the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), Beijing, the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS), Delhi and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Institute of Far Eastern Studies (IFES), Moscow. The Ninth Conference was preceded by the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) Summit at Ekaterinburg in June 2009 and by the ninth meeting of the foreign ministers of China, India and Russia in Bengaluru, India in October 2009.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that urbanisation is the inevitable outcome of world economic development and an unavoidable stage, as also an important factor, promoting and boosting economic development across the world.
Abstract: Urbanisation is the inevitable outcome of world economic development and an unavoidable stage, as also an important factor, promoting and boosting economic development across the world. There are t...
TL;DR: In the second week of May 2006, the writer delivered a series of lectures to major US think tanks and met senior State Department officials, with a view towards understanding how America views, perceives and reacts to emerging Asia and a rising China as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: At the invitation of the US State Department to visit Washington DC and New York in the second week of May 2006, the writer delivered a series of lectures to major US think tanks and met senior State Department officials (and also wrote this article in mid 2006), with a view towards understanding how America views, perceives and reacts to ‘emerging Asia’ and a ‘rising China’, which many believe could drastically change the current international economic and political landscape in the next five to ten years. The writer's particular interest was focused on America's appraisal of the ‘China threat’ today, as extensively made out in the American media over the past two years. The discussions also centred on how Americans perceive the evolving regional Asian architecture (especially when the United States was conspicuously excluded from the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on 14 December 2005), and the future place of the United States in Asia (especially in contending with significant Chinese ‘advances’ into ...