Trajectories to becoming international relations actors in china’s BRI initiative: a comparative study of the Guangdong and Yunnan provinces
TL;DR: This article studied how different provinces within China act as international relations players of their own accord, while Chinese paradiplomacy has received growing academic attention, little is known about how different province within China acts as international relation players.
Abstract: While Chinese paradiplomacy has received growing academic attention, little is known about how different provinces within China act as international relations players of their own accord. This pape...
Citations
More filters
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Zheng et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that central-local relations have become increasingly reciprocal in the post-Mao era because of three factors: coalitions have emerged between reformers in the central government and local leaders, after the former implemented nationwide major reforms which the latter succeeded in initiating.
Abstract: De Facto Federalism in China: Reforms and Dynamics of Central-Local Relations, by Zheng Yongnian. Singapore: World Scientific, 2007. xxvi + 429 pp. US$87.00/£47.00 (hardcover). Zheng Yongnian argues that, by using a simplistic dichotomy between "unitary states" and "federalism", researchers looking at relations between the centre and local governments in China have failed to see that formal organizational changes have lagged behind important informal behavioral changes in these relations. He uses the concept of de facto federalism to describe this singular pattern (p. 29). After explaining why the structural, procedural and cultural approaches to the study of central-local relations are lacking when each is taken individually, Zheng introduces the new institutional approach to provide an integrated approach for analyzing this central-local dynamics. In Chapter 2, he introduces the three institutions that he sees embedded in China's de facto federalism: coercion, bargaining and reciprocity. Chapter 3 argues that central-local relations have become increasingly reciprocal in the post-Mao era because of three factors. First, coalitions have emerged between reformers in the central government and local leaders, after the former implemented nationwide major reforms which the latter succeeded in initiating. Second, the reform era eroded the authority of central leaders in Beijing, reducing the role of Party ideology. Finally, a system of local elections gave legitimacy to local leaders. In the three chapters that follow, Zheng looks at three case studies illustrating this pattern of reciprocity. He observes that the Jiangsu provincial government obtained considerable autonomy in de facto federalism but did not use this to adopt policies differing from those of the central government. This tacit understanding between the central and provincial governments was possible because both levels of government agreed on the goals of economic growth. One of the positive fallouts of that decentralization is that it convinced the central government that granting some measure of autonomy to the province did not have adverse consequences for the country's unity. In the next chapter, Zheng looks at the relations between the central and Zhejiang provincial governments, but also at Wenzhou municipality, thereby adding a level of complexity and nuance to his study of decentralization. He shows that Wenzhou, a dynamic centre for the private sector up to the 1960s, departed the most from the socialist model, and therefore received little support from the central government at the beginning of the reform process, when the reformers' hold on the central government had yet to be entrenched. Zheng argues that, despite conflicts between the local government and the centre over the pace and the extent of reform, the central government did not reclaim the powers which it had delegated to the province, but instead provided incentives to local leaders to ensure their cooperation with the centre. The third case study focuses on Guangdong, a province which gave great difficulty to the central government because of the strength of localism, and where a policy of recentralization has been applied more recently. The chapter explains the quandary the central government faces when trying to clamp down too harshly on localism: central leaders fear the risk of the political fragmentation inherent in strong localism, but they also recognize its importance in fostering economic growth. However, Guangdong, where the reassertion of central control remains to be firmly implemented, may represent an exceptional case. In Chapter 7, Zheng looks at the options available to provinces lacking the resources and endowment of rich coastal provinces examined in his previous chapters. When provinces lack the resources to bargain, they may face difficulty in gaining support from the centre and in benefitting from reciprocity. In his study of the Economic Cooperation Association of Southwest China (ECASC), which includes Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet, Zheng documents the strategy of collective bargaining adopted by provinces with little resources in order to obtain support from the centre. …
46 citations
19 citations
TL;DR: While most scholars agree that China's central authorities are no longer the sole actors controlling socio-political life in the country, few have paid adequate attention to the proactive role of C... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: While most scholars agree that China’s central authorities are no longer the sole actors controlling socio-political life in the country, few have paid adequate attention to the proactive role of C...
14 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, a hybrid analytical construct by combining Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) theory and modifications tailored to the case of China is developed, employing the bureaucratic politics model to China's decision making during the China-Vietnam standoff in 2014 and adjusting the traditional model with intervening variable.
Abstract: This article sheds light on developing a hybrid analytical construct by combining Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) theory and modifications tailored to the case of China. It employs the bureaucratic politics model to China’s decision making during the China–Vietnam standoff in 2014 and adjusts the traditional model with intervening variable – the party ranking system and Democratic Centralism doctrine. I argue that the bargaining game among different actors who have diverse agendas led to the shift in China’s strategy. It would concurrently advance FPA studies while developing a future avenue for research on foreign policy formulation of China.
9 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: It is argued that certain duties of patients counterbalance an otherwise unfair captivity of doctors as helpers and that vulnerability does not exclude obligation.
Abstract: There has been a shift from the general presumption that “doctor knows best” to a heightened respect for patient autonomy. Medical ethics remains one-sided, however. It tends (incorrectly) to interpret patient autonomy as mere participation in decisions, rather than a willingness to take the consequences. In this respect, medical ethics remains largely paternalistic, requiring doctors to protect patients from the consequences of their decisions. This is reflected in a one-sided account of duties in medical ethics. Medical ethics may exempt patients from obligations because they are the weaker or more vulnerable party in the doctor-patient relationship. We argue that vulnerability does not exclude obligation. We also look at others ways in which patients’ responsibilities flow from general ethics: for instance, from responsibilities to others and to the self, from duties of citizens, and from the responsibilities of those who solicit advice. Finally, we argue that certain duties of patients counterbalance an otherwise unfair captivity of doctors as helpers.
17,373 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The authors examines the emergence, role and future of the EU as an actor in world politics and examines the core areas of European foreign policy: economy; trade; the environment; development; common foreign and security policy; international security (including the proposed European defence force) and identity.
Abstract: This book examines the emergence, role and future of the EU as an actor in world politics It looks at the core areas of European foreign policy: economy; trade; the environment; development; common foreign and security policy; international security (including the proposed European defence force) and identity These are analyzed both theoretically and empirically The book is unique in synthesizing theory from both the European Union and the international organization's literature This fully updated new edition explains and analyzes the latest theoretical developments
933 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: Rosenau's Turbulence in World Politics is an entirely new formulation that accounts for the persistent turmoil of today's world, even as it also probes the impact of the microelectronic revolution, the postindustrial order, and the many other fundamental political, economic, and social changes under way since World War II as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In this ambitious work a leading scholar undertakes a full-scale reconceptualization of international relations Turbulence in World Politics is an entirely new formulation that accounts for the persistent turmoil of today's world, even as it also probes the impact of the microelectronic revolution, the postindustrial order, and the many other fundamental political, economic, and social changes under way since World War II To develop this formulation, James N Rosenau digs deep into the workings of communities and the orientations of individuals that culminate in collective action on the world stage His concern is less with questions of epistemology and methodology and more with the development of a comprehensive theoryone that is different from other paradigms in the field by virtue of its focus on the tumult in contemporary international relations The book depicts a bifurcation of global politics in which an autonomous multi-centric world has emerged as a competitor of the long established state-centric world A central theme is that the analytic skills of people everywhere are expanding and thereby altering the context in which international processes unfold Rosenau shows how the macro structures of global politics have undergone transformations linked to those at the micro level: long-standing structures of authority weaken, collectivities fragment, subgroups become more powerful at the expense of states and governments, national loyalties are redirected, and new issues crowd onto the global agenda These turbulent dynamics foster the simultaneous centralizing and decentralizing tendencies that are now bifurcating global structures "Rosenau's new work is an imaginative leap into world politics in the twenty-first century There is much here to challenge traditional thought of every persuasion" --Michael Brecher, McGill University
817 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that the Silk Road vision is more of a "spatial fix" than a geopolitical manoeuvre, and that the spatial paradigms inherent in the Silk Roads vision reveal the reproduction of capitalist developmental ideas expressed particularly in the form of networks, which themselves have become a feature of contemporary global political economy.
Abstract: This paper argues that the Chinese government’s ‘belt and road’ initiative – the Silk Roads vision of land and maritime logistics and communications networks connecting Asia, Europe and Africa – has its roots in sub-national ideas and practices, and that it reflects their elevation to the national level more than the creation of substantially new policy content. Further, the spatial paradigms inherent in the Silk Roads vision reveal the reproduction of capitalist developmental ideas expressed particularly in the form of networks, which themselves have become a feature of contemporary global political economy. In other words, the Silk Roads vision is more of a ‘spatial fix’ than a geopolitical manoeuvre.
222 citations