Showing papers on "East Asia published in 2005"

Observed trends in extreme precipitation events in China during 1961–2001 and the associated changes in large‐scale circulation

Abstract: [1] The observed trends in extreme precipitation events, and those in annual and seasonal mean precipitation in China during 1961–2001 are analyzed. The results show that the annual mean precipitation increases significantly in southwest, northwest, and east China, and decreases significantly in central, north and northeast China. The increasing trends in east China occurred mainly in summer, while the decreasing trends in central, north, and northeast China occurred in both spring and autumn. The increasing trends in most of northwest China occurred in all seasons. Patterns of the trends in extreme daily precipitation events are similar to those in the annual and seasonal mean precipitation except in the northwest China where most areas show increasing trends in extreme events only in summer. The extreme precipitation events in the Yangtze River basin increased dramatically by 10%–20% every 10 years in summer, consistent with the increasing trends in summer mean precipitation in the region. The circulation over East Asia shows a weakening trend in the summer monsoon over central-east China.

China's Global Hunt for Energy

Abstract: AN UNPRECEDENTED need for resources is now driving China's foreign policy. A booming domestic economy, rapid urbanization, increased export processing, and the Chinese people's voracious appetite for cars are increasing the country's demand for oil and natural gas, in dustrial and construction materials, foreign capital and technology. Twenty years ago, China was East Asia's largest oil exporter. Now it is the world's second-largest importer; last year, it alone accounted for 31 percent of global growth in oil demand. Now that China is the work shop of the world, its hunger for electricity and industrial resources has soared. China's combined share ofthe world's consumption ofaluminum, copper, nickel, and iron ore more than doubled within only ten years, from 7 percent in 1ggo to 15 percent in 2oO; it has now reached about 20 percent and is likely to double again by the end of the decade. Despite calls by Prime Minister WenJiabao and other politicians to cut consumption of energy and other resources, there is little sign of this appetite abating. Justin Yifu Lin, director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University, in Beijing, says the country's economy could grow at 9 percent per year for the next 20 years. These new needs already have serious implications for China's foreign policy. Beijing's access to foreign resources is necessary both for

Transforming the Developmental Welfare State in East Asia

Abstract: This article attempts to explain changes and continuity in the developmental welfare states in Korea and Taiwan within the East Asian context. It first elaborates two strands of welfare developmentalism (selective vs. inclusive), and establishes that the welfare state in both countries fell into the selective category of developmental welfare states before the Asian economic crisis of 1997. The key principles of the selective strand of welfare developmentalism are productivism, selective social investment and authoritarianism; inclusive welfare development is based on productivism, universal social investment and democratic governance. The article then argues that the policy reform toward an inclusive welfare state in Korea and Taiwan was triggered by the need for structural reform in the economy. The need for economic reform, together with democratization, created institutional space in policy-making for advocacy coalitions, which made successful advances towards greater social rights. Finally, the article argues that the experiences of Korea and Taiwan counter the neo-liberal assertion that the role of social policy in economic development is minor, and emphasizes that the idea of an inclusive developmental welfare state should be explored in the wider context of economic and social development.

Product fragmentation and trade patterns in East Asia

Abstract: International product fragmentation—the cross-border dispersion of component production/assembly within vertically integrated production processes—is an important feature of the deepening structural interdependence of the world economy. This paper examines the implications of this phenomenon for global and regional trade patterns, with special emphasis on countries in East Asia, using a new data set culled from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database. It is found that, while “fragmentation trade” has generally grown faster than total world trade in manufacturing, the degree of dependence of East Asia on this new form of international specialization is proportionately larger than that of North America and Europe. The upshot is that international product fragmentation has made East Asian growth increasingly reliant on extra-regional trade, strengthening the case for a global, rather than a regional, approach to trade and investment policymaking.

Harmony, Hierarchy and Conservatism: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Confucian Values in China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan

Abstract: This study examined 1,631 college students’ endorsement of traditional Confucian values in four East Asian cultural contexts (i.e., China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan). Findings showed that young people endorsed values of interpersonal harmony the most, followed by the relational hierarchy and traditional conservatism respectively. Results also indicated that participants in China provided the highest ratings for interpersonal harmony and relational hierarchy among the four cultures. Finally, results demonstrated that Japanese females were more conservative than Japanese males and females in China and Taiwan. Results were discussed in the philosophical tradition of Confucianism, globalization and culture change in the East Asian cultures.

The internationalization of retailing: implications for supply network restructuring in East Asia and Eastern Europe

Abstract: This paper explores the implications of the rapid internationalization of a small cadre of retail transnational corporations over the last 15 years for supply network structures in a range of economies in Eastern Europe and East Asia. Five sets of ongoing restructuring dynamics are identified: the centralization of procurement, logistical upgrading, supply network shortening and new intermediaries, the imposition of quasi-formal contracts, and the development of private standards. It is suggested that these processes are leading to an ongoing 'shakeout' of the supply base that is favouring relatively large, well-capitalized suppliers. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.

Farmers of Forty Centuries Or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan

Abstract: Preface List of Illustrations Introduction I First Glimpses of Japan II Grave Lands of China III To Hongkong and Canton IV Up the Si-kiang, West River V Extent of Canalization and Surface Fitting of Fields VI Some Customs of the Common People VII The Fuel Problem, Building and Textile Materials VIII Tramps Afield IX The Utilization of Waste X In the Shantung Province XI Orientals Crowd Both Time and Space XII Rice Culture in the Orient XIII Silk Culture XIV The Tea Industry XV About Tientsin XVI Manchuria and Korea XVII Return to Japan Message of China and Japan to the World

The Grand Titration: Science and Society in East and West

Abstract: First published in 1969. The historical civilization of China is, with the Indian and European-Semitic, one of the three greatest in the world, yet only relatively recently has any enquiry been begun into its achievements in science and technology. Between the first and fifteenth centuries the Chinese were generally far in advance of Europe and it was not until the scientific revolution of the Renaissance that Europe drew ahead. Throughout those fifteen centuries, and ever since, the West has been profoundly affected by the discoveries and invention emanating from China and East Asia. In this series of essays and lectures, Joseph Needham explores the mystery of China's early lead and Europe's later overtaking.

Y-Chromosome Evidence of Southern Origin of the East Asian–Specific Haplogroup O3-M122

Abstract: The prehistoric peopling of East Asia by modern humans remains controversial with respect to early population migrations Here, we present a systematic sampling and genetic screening of an East Asian–specific Y-chromosome haplogroup (O3-M122) in 2,332 individuals from diverse East Asian populations Our results indicate that the O3-M122 lineage is dominant in East Asian populations, with an average frequency of 443% The microsatellite data show that the O3-M122 haplotypes in southern East Asia are more diverse than those in northern East Asia, suggesting a southern origin of the O3-M122 mutation It was estimated that the early northward migration of the O3-M122 lineages in East Asia occurred ∼25,000–30,000 years ago, consistent with the fossil records of modern humans in East Asia

The Formation of International Production and Distribution Networks in East Asia

Abstract: The international production and distribution networks consist of vertical production chains and distribution networks extended across a number of countries. This paper claims that the international production and distribution networks in East Asia present distinctive characters in their significance in the regional economy, their geographical extensiveness involving a large number of countries in the region, and their sophistication of both intra-firm and arm's-length relationships across different firm nationalities. The paper starts from reviewing crucial changes in policy framework observed in the developing East Asian countries a decade ago and sketching the theoretical thoughts explaining the mechanics of international production and distribution networks. Then, the empirical part of the paper examines the micro data of Japanese corporate firms to make a closer look at the nature of networks through the pattern of FDI after analyzing overall trade patterns of the major East Asian countries to confirm the importance of international trade of machinery parts and components. In addition, the paper quantifies the magnitude of economic activities of Japanese firms through different channels of transactions, using the firm nationality approach. The last part of the paper discusses policy implication of the networks.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Simulated change of the east Asian circulation under global warming scenario

Abstract: [1] Changes in east Asian circulation pattern are investigated by the most recent versions of coupled climate models, one a high resolution version of the CCSR/NIES/FRCGC model and the other an ensemble of 17 state-of-the-art models made available by the international modeling community. These recent model results appear to give more credence to the following aspects: weakened winter monsoon associated with the shallower and northeastward shifted planetary wave trough over the east coast of the Eurasian Continent and increased activity of east Asian monsoonal rain band in summer associated with the strengthening of anticyclonic cells to its south and north.

Exchange Rates under the East Asian Dollar Standard: Living with Conflicted Virtue

Abstract: The increasingly integrated economies of East Asia -- China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand -- face the dilemma of how to achieve exchange-rate security in the absence of a unifying "Asian euro." The US dollar has become the region's dominant intraregional trading currency as well as the monetary anchor to which East Asian economies informally peg their currencies. In this timely and original analysis of the benefits and risks of an East Asian dollar standard, Ronald McKinnon takes issue with the conventional view that urges flexible exchange rates on financially fragile economies. He argues instead that East Asian countries should coordinate their policies to keep their exchange rates stable against the dollar.McKinnon develops a conceptual framework to show where the conventional wisdom on exchange rates has gone wrong. Pressure on the "virtuous" high-saving dollar-creditor East Asian nations to appreciate their currencies leads to a "conflicted" choice between a possible deflationary slump if they do appreciate and threatened trade sanctions if they do not. Analyzing interactions among the East Asian economies, McKinnon explains the rationale, and the need, for greater exchange-rate security in the region, pointing to the soft-dollar pegs adopted by these nations as steps in the right direction. He suggests that the dollar standard in East Asia could be rationalized through collective action by national governments and considers the effect of American monetary and trade policies on the East Asian economy.

Remapping East Asia : the construction of a region

Abstract: An overarching ambiguity characterizes East Asia today. The region has at least a century-long history of internal divisiveness, war, and conflict, and it remains the site of several nettlesome territorial disputes. However, a mixture of complex and often competing agents and processes has been knitting together various segments of East Asia. In Remapping East Asia, T. J. Pempel suggests that the region is ripe for cooperation rather than rivalry and that recent "region-building" developments in East Asia have had a substantial cumulative effect on the broader canvas of international politics. This collection is about the people, processes, and institutions behind that region-building. In it, experts on the area take a broad approach to the dynamics and implications of regionalism. Instead of limiting their focus to security matters, they extend their discussions to topics as diverse as the mercurial nature of Japan's leadership role in the region, Southeast Asian business networks, the war on terrorism in Asia, and the political economy of environmental regionalism. Throughout, they show how nation-states, corporations, and problem-specific coalitions have furthered regional cohesion not only by establishing formal institutions, but also by operating informally, semiformally, or even secretly.

The peopling of East Asia : putting together archaeology, linguistics and genetics

Abstract: Introduction 1. Examining the Farming/Language Dispersal Hypothesis in the East Asian Context 2. From the Mountains to the Valleys: Understanding Ethnolinguistic Geography in Southeast Asia 3. The Origin and Dispersal of Agriculture and Human Diaspora in East Asia 4. Recent Discoveries at a Tapenkeng Culture Site in Taiwan: Implications for the Problem of Austronesian Origins 5. The Contribution of Linguistic Palaeontology to the Homeland of Austroasiatic 6. Tibeto-Burman vs. Indo-Chinese: Implications for Population Geneticists, Archaeologists and Prehistorians 7. Kra-dai and Austronesian: Notes on Phonological Correspondences and Vocabulary Distribution 8. The Current Status of Austric: A Review and Evaluation of the Lexical and Morphosyntactic Evidence 9. Sino-Tibetan-Austronesian: An Updated and Improved Argument 10. Tai-Kadai as a Subgroup of Austronesian 11. Proto-East Asian and the Origin and Dispersal of the Languages of East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific 12. The Physical Anthropology of the Pacific, East Asia, and Southeast Asia: A Multivariate Craniometric Analysis 13. Genetic Diversity of Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples: Possible Relationship with Insular Southeast Asia 14. Genetic Analysis of Minority Populations in China and its Implications for Multi-Regional Evolution 15. Comparing Linguistic and Genetic Relationships among East Asian Populations: A Study of the RH and GM Polymorphisms 16. Hla Genetic Diversity and Linguistic Variation in East Asia 17. A Synopsis of Extant Y Chromosome Diversity in East Asia and Oceania

Dental perspectives on the population history of Southeast Asia

Abstract: This article uses metric and nonmetric dental data to test the "two-layer" or immigration hypothesis whereby Southeast Asia was initially occupied by an "Australo-Melanesian" population that later underwent substantial genetic admixture with East Asian immigrants associated with the spread of agriculture from the Neolithic period onwards. We examined teeth from 4,002 individuals comprising 42 prehistoric and historic samples from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Melanesia. For the odontometric analysis, dental size proportions were compared using factor analysis and Q-mode correlation coefficients, and overall tooth size was also compared between population samples. Nonmetric population affinities were estimated by Smith's distances, using the frequencies of 16 tooth traits. The results of both the metric and nonmetric analyses demonstrate close affinities between recent Australo-Melanesian samples and samples representing early Southeast Asia, such as the Early to Middle Holocene series from Vietnam, Malaysia, and Flores. In contrast, the dental characteristics of most modern Southeast Asians exhibit a mixture of traits associated with East Asians and Australo-Melanesians, suggesting that these populations were genetically influenced by immigrants from East Asia. East Asian metric and/or nonmetric traits are also found in some prehistoric samples from Southeast Asia such as Ban Kao (Thailand), implying that immigration probably began in the early Neolithic. Much clearer influence of East Asian immigration was found in Early Metal Age Vietnamese and Sulawesi samples. Although the results of this study are consistent with the immigration hypothesis, analysis of additional Neolithic samples is needed to determine the exact timing of population dispersals into Southeast Asia.

The role of the East Asian active margin in widespread extensional and strike-slip deformation in East Asia

Abstract: East Asia is a region of widespread deformation, dominated by normal and strike-slip faults. Deformation has been interpreted to result from extrusion tectonics related to the India–Eurasia collision, which started in the Early Eocene. In East and SE China, however, deformation started earlier than the collision (latest Cretaceous to Palaeocene), suggesting that extrusion tectonics is not the (only) driving mechanism for East Asia deformation. It is suggested that the East Asian active margin has influenced deformation in East Asia significantly. Along the margin, Cenozoic back-arc extension took place behind several adjoining arcs, implying eastward rollback of the subducting slab and collapse of the overriding plate towards the retreating hinge-line. We show that extension took place along a c . 7400 km long stretch of the East Asian margin during most of the Cenozoic. Physical models are presented simulating overriding plate collapse and back-arc extension. The models reproduce important aspects of the strain field in East Asia. For geometrical and rheological conditions scaled to represent East Asia, modelling shows that the active margin can be held responsible for deformation in East Asia as far west as the Baikal rift zone, located c . 3300 km from the margin.

China and Socialism: Market Reforms and Class Struggle

Abstract: China is the fastest-growing economy in the world today. For many on the left, the Chinese economy seems to provide an alternative model of development to that of neoliberal globalization. Although it is a disputed question whether the Chinese economy can be still described as socialist, there is no doubting the importance for the global project of socialism of accurately interpreting and soberly assessing its real prospects. China and Socialism argues that market reforms in China are leading inexorably toward a capitalist and foreign-dominated development path, with enormous social and politcal costs, both domestically and internationally. The rapid economic growth that accompanied these market reforms have not been due to efficiency gains, but rather to deliberate erosion of the infrastructure that made possible a remarkable degree of equality. The transition to the market has been based on rising unemployment, intensified exploitation, declining health and education services, exploding government debt, and unstable prices. At the same time, China's economic transformation has intensified the contradictions of capitalist development in other countries, especially in East Asia. Far from being a model that is replicable in other Third World countries, China today is a reminder of the need for socialism to be built from the grassroots up, through class struggle and international solidarity.

Rethinking regionalism: Europe and East Asia in comparative historical perspective

Abstract: Regionally based processes of political and economic integration, security co-operation, and even social identification have become increasingly important and prominent parts of the international system. Nowhere have such processes gone further than in Western Europe. Somewhat surprisingly, similar patterns of regional integration have been steadily developing in East Asia - a region many observers consider unlikely to replicate the European experience. This paper uses an historically grounded comparative approach to examine the historical preconditions that underpinned the formation of the European Union, and then contrasts them with the situation in East Asia today. While the overall geopolitical and specific national contexts are very different, such an analysis highlights surprising similarities and differences, particularly in the role played by the United States in both periods. A comparative analysis allows us to understand and rethink the incentives for, and constraints on, regional integrative processes.

Does China follow “the East Asian development model”?

Abstract: The Chinese way of development shares many characteristics with the East Asian developmental state model. Key elements of this shared development model include state control over finance, direct support for state owned enterprises by the government, import substitution industrialisation in heavy industry, a high dependence on export markets and a high rate of domestic savings. Even the reform of corporate governance is not likely to change the basic features of the East Asian model in China. Among East Asian countries, China shares more similar characteristics with Taiwan rather than with Japan or Korea since China, like Taiwan, also has an economy of dual structure that divides the public and non-public sectors.

Impact of China`s WTO Accession on East Asia

Abstract: The industrialized and newly industrializing economies (NIEs) in East Asia will benefit from China`s WTO accession, and the developing economies in the region may incur small welfare losses. China will increase its demand for high-end manufacturing products from Japan and the NIEs and farm products, natural resources, and manufactured goods from developing East Asia. New foreign investment may flow into these expanding sectors. The overall impact on foreign investment is likely to be positive in the NIEs but negative in developing East Asia. The NIEs may face heightened competition in global markets as China`s comparative advantage shifts into high-end products. (JEL F11, F13, F15)

Meeting the China Challenge: The U.S. in Southeast Asian Regional Security Strategies

Abstract: List of AcronymsAMM ASEAN Ministerial MeetingAPEC Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationARF ASEAN Regional ForumASEAN Association of Southeast Asian NationsBIMSTEC Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic CooperationBTA bilateral trade agreementCSI Container Security InitiativeEAI Enterprise for ASEAN InitiativeFDI foreign direct investmentFTA free trade agreementIDSS Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (Singapore)]I jemaah Islamiah group (Singapore)MOFA Ministry of Foreign AffairsMOU memorandum of understandingPRC People's Republic of ChinaPSI Proliferation Security InitiativeQDR Quadrennial Defense ReviewROK Republic of KoreaSAF Singapore armed forcesSG secretary-generalTIFA Trade and Investment Framework AgreementWTO World Trade OrganizationTraditional friends and allies of the United States in East Asia acknowledge that a key determinant of security in the region has been the U.S. presence and its role as the "ultimate guarantor" of stability (Heisbourg 1999-2000: 15-16). During the Cold War, noncommunist Southeast Asian states viewed American military intervention, bilateral alliances, and trade and investment as not only helping to contain Soviet- or Chineseinspired communist insurgency but also as critically assisting the development of the region. In the post-Cold War period, regional uncertainties about the potential dangers attending a rising China have led some analysts to conclude that almost all Southeast Asian states now see the United States as the "balancer of first resort," both in the military and politicaleconomic spheres (Khong 1996: 1).The literature, however, is relatively taciturn on the specifics of this Southeast Asia-United States-China security dynamic. It tends to assume that Chinas rise is leading to a systemic power transition scenario in which the region will have to choose between a rising challenger and the incumbent power. The de facto expectation is that these countries will want to balance against China on the basis that a rising China is threatening. Thus they will flock toward the United States as the lead balancer. Yet, as other scholars have pointed out, some key states in East Asia, including U.S. allies like South Korea and Japan, face complex pressures with regard to China's growing role in the region, and they have not chosen to balance against China (Kang 2003). Indeed, most states in the region do not perceive themselves as having the stark choices of either balancing against or bandwagoning with this powerful neighbor.1 For Southeast Asia, there is a consensus among analysts that the subregion has adopted a twin "hedging" strategy of deep engagement with China on the one hand and, on the other, "soft balancing" against potential Chinese aggression or disruption of the status quo. The latter strategy includes not only military acquisitions and modernization but also attempts to keep the United States involved in the region as a counterweight to Chinese power (see Khong 2004; Storey 1999-2000).This study probes the nature of the Southeast Asian regional security dynamic by investigating the regional security strategies of three key states: Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Working from the premise that the United States is the vital security player in the region, the focus here is on how these states envisage the United States acting out its role as security guarantor vis-a-vis the China challenge. In other words, this study is primarily interested in fleshing out Southeast Asia's so-called hedging strategies against China-and particularly the role of the United States in these strategies.In the abstract, hedging refers to taking action to ensure against undesirable outcomes, usually by betting on multiple alternative positions. In our case, hedging may be defined as a set of strategies aimed at avoiding (or planning for contingencies in) a situation in which states cannot decide upon more straightforward alternatives such as balancing, bandwagoning, or neutrality. …

Educational production in East Asia: The impact of family background and schooling policies on student performance

Abstract: East Asian students regularly take top positions in international league tables of educational performance Using internationally comparable student-level data, I estimate how family background and schooling policies affect student performance in five high-performing East Asian economies Family background is a strong predictor of student performance in South Korea and Singapore, while Hong Kong and Thailand achieve more equalized outcomes There is no evidence that smaller classes improve student performance in East Asia But other schooling policies such as school autonomy over salaries and regular homework assignments are related to higher student performance in several of the considered countries

Free Trade Areas in East Asia: Discriminatory or Non-discriminatory?

Abstract: The debates on regional trade arrangements in East Asia focus on whether the RTAs can be net trade creating or diverting, and whether they impede multilateral trade liberalisation or not. This paper attempts to answer these questions by quantitatively estimating the economic impact of possible East Asian free trade areas based on a bilateral gravity model, and evaluating the main characteristics of the proposed FTAs. We find that the trade creation effect expected from the proposed East Asian FTAs such as a China-Japan-Korea or an ASEAN plus three (China, Japan, Korea) FTA will be significant enough to overwhelm the trade diversion effect. We also judge that East Asian FTAs will likely be a building block for a global free trade.

A New Direction for China's Defense Industry

Abstract: : Since the early 1980s, a prominent and consistent conclusion of Western research on China's defense-industrial complex has been that China's defense R&D and production capabilities are rife with weaknesses and limitations. In this study, we call into question this conventional wisdom. Our research found that certain Chinese defense enterprises are designing and producing a wide range of increasingly advanced weapons that, in the short term, are relevant to the Chinese military's ability to prosecute a possible conflict over Taiwan but also to China's long-term military presence in Asia. This study puts forward an alternative approach to assessing China's defense-industrial capabilities: From the vantage point of 2005, it is time to shift the focus of research to the gradual improvements in and the future potential of China's defense-industrial complex. This report is intended to help the U.S. Air Force assess the ability of Chinese defense industries to design and produce more capable weaponry in the coming decades. The study assesses institutional changes in the operations of defense-industry enterprises in four sectors: missiles, shipbuilding, military aviation, and information technology/defense electronics. The study, sponsored by the U.S. Air Force's Director for Operational Plans and Joint Matters (AF/XOX) and the Combatant Commander of the Pacific Air Force (PACAF/CC), is part of the RAND Corporation's ongoing research on China and China's military establishment. It is a companion study to " Keith Crane, Roger Cliff, Evan Medeiros, James C. Mulvenon, and William Overholt. Modernizing China's Military: Opportunities and Constraints, MG-260-AF, 2005. The information in this report is current as of January 2005.

China English, at home and in the world

Abstract: First describing the rapid growth of English as a lingua franca in Europe and East Asia, and having drawn attention to similarities and differences in the evolution of the varieties of English worldwide, the author focuses on China where, as in so many other domains, growth and change are currently very rapid. She reports in particular on an investigation into 586 Chinese English teachers' attitudes to both the standard varieties of the language around the world and a new variety, China English. A majority of the teachers surveyed considers that China English will eventually become a standard variety of the language in its own right, and at least stand alongside the current national favourite, American English. In addition, the teachers' views on both the cultural content of teaching materials and the use of native speakers of English in Chinese institutions of education reflect both China's openness to the world and a strong adherence to its own culture. The signs are, she argues, that China English is on its way to becoming another world variety, which will happen when it has been adequately described, codified and officially recognized.

Early paleolithic of China and eastern Asia

Abstract: In attempting to understand the course of human evolution and the nature of hominid adaptation over the past few million years, it is necessary to consider prevailing evidence from all parts of the world. Eastern Asia provides a range of important questions and challenges with regard to this evolutionary puzzle. Although evidence for earlier ape evolution is present in China (for example, at Lufeng in Yunnan Province), the earliest evidence for hominid presence appears to be in the Early Pleistocene, apparently the result of a migration of hominids to and subsequent adaptation within Eastern Asia. The archeological record provides a closer look at some technological aspects of this adaptation during the Early and Middle Pleistocene, showing both distinctive contrasts and intriguing continuities relative to the rest of the Old World.

New Interregionalism? The EU and East Asia

Abstract: This article examines the types of region–to–region dialogue evident in relations among the states of the European Union and East Asia, with a particular focus on ASEM and the EU–ASEAN dialogue. It examines how the EU utilizes interregionalism as one mechanism for managing economic and political relations with a growing yet disparate region. For the states of East Asia, ASEM offers a means of dealing collectively with twenty–five European states, provides a first–hand examination of the practices of regional integration and establishes a framework in which East Asia can present itself as a regional political and economic entity and realize the ‘third side’ in a global triangle of regional blocs. Building upon a particular historical trajectory of relations among the states of the EU and East Asia, ASEM represents an important space for articulating not only the nature of region, but also the role of non–state actors, which have increasingly come to occupy a significant position in transnational a...