Showing papers on "East Asia published in 2015"

Marriage and Family in East Asia: Continuity and Change

Abstract: Trends toward later and less marriage and childbearing have been even more pronounced in East Asia than in the West. At the same time, many other features of East Asian families have changed very little. We review recent research on trends in a wide range of family behaviors in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. We also draw upon a range of theoretical frameworks to argue that trends in marriage and fertility reflect tension between rapid social and economic changes and limited change in family expectations and obligations. We discuss how this tension may be contributing to growing socioeconomic differences in patterns of family formation. This focus on East Asia extends research on the second demographic transition in the West by describing how rapid decline in marriage and fertility rates can occur in the absence of major changes in family attitudes or rising individualism.

Intercontinental Spread of Asian-origin H5N8 to North America through Beringia by Migratory Birds

Abstract: Phylogenetic network analysis and understanding of waterfowl migration patterns suggest that the Eurasian H5N8 clade 2.3.4.4 avian influenza virus emerged in late 2013 in China, spread in early 2014 to South Korea and Japan, and reached Siberia and Beringia by summer 2014 via migratory birds. Three genetically distinct subgroups emerged and subsequently spread along different flyways during fall 2014 into Europe, North America, and East Asia, respectively. All three subgroups reappeared in Japan, a wintering site for waterfowl from Eurasia and parts of North America.

Drought over East Asia: A Review

Abstract: East Asia is greatly impacted by drought. North and southwest China are the regions with the highest drought frequency and maximum duration. At the interannual time scale, drought in the eastern part of East Asia is mainly dominated by two teleconnection patterns (i.e., the Pacific–Japan and Silk Road teleconnections). The former is forced by SST anomalies in the western North Pacific and the tropical Indian Ocean during El Nino decaying year summers. The precipitation anomaly features a meridional tripolar or sandwich pattern. The latter is forced by Indian monsoon heating and is a propagation of stationary Rossby waves along the Asian jet in the upper troposphere. It can significantly influence the precipitation over north China. Regarding the long-term trend, there exists an increasing drought trend over central parts of northern China and a decreasing tendency over northwestern China from the 1950s to the present. The increased drought in north China results from a weakened tendency of summer ...

Effects of financial development indicators on energy consumption and CO2 emission of European, East Asian and Oceania countries

Abstract: The financial crisis is considered a major economic issue and energy consumption and pollution are believed to be one of the most important environmental concerns in the new millennium. The review on investigation of the nexus among energy consumption, GDP growth, financial development and CO2 emission has shown no definitive conclusion. Apart from that, the effects of financial development on energy consumption are not yet understood properly. Thus, this article investigates the effects of financial indicator shocks i.e. credit market and stock market shocks on energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions) and vice versa. Panel Vector Auto Regression (PVAR) models were employed to investigate the relationships in 13 European and 12 East Asia and Oceania countries from 1989 to 2011. Findings emphasize the important role of CO2 emission and energy consumption on explaining each other׳s deviation, with only the degree of effect differing. Although energy consumption and CO2 emission shocks on financial indicators such as private sector credit is not very pronounced in both groups of countries, but the strength of energy consumption shock on stock return rate in European countries is greater than East Asian and Oceania countries. Conversely shocks to stock return rate influence energy consumption especially in long horizon in case of East Asia and Oceania countries.

English language education among young learners in East Asia: A review of current research (2004–2014)

Abstract: The teaching of foreign languages to young learners is growing in popularity around the world. Research in this field, particularly of English as a second/foreign language education in East Asia, is a relatively new area of empirical inquiry, and it has the potential to make significant contributions to child second-language acquisition (Child-SLA) theory building, research methodologies, and policies in East Asia and beyond. This article reviews relevant peer-reviewed literature on English education among young learners in East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan). I begin by reviewing policy literature to illustrate the social and policy contexts of early English education, identifying major policy-related concerns. Next, I review empirical studies of English learning and teaching, organizing them by their relevance to the previously identified policy concerns. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.

State capitalism, institutional adaptation, and the Chinese miracle

Abstract: 1. Introduction: state capitalism and the Chinese economic miracle Kellee S. Tsai and Barry Naughton Part I. Evolution of the State Sector: 2. State-owned business and party-state regulation in China's modern political economy Margaret M. Pearson 3. The transformation of the state sector: SASAC, the market economy, and the new national champions Barry Naughton Part II. Outcomes and Processes: 4. Stability, asset management, and gradual change in China's reform economy Doug Guthrie, Zhixing Xiao and Junmin Wang 5. The emergence and evolution of Chinese business groups: are pyramidal groups forming? Dylan Sutherland and Ning Lutao 6. Competition and upgrading in Chinese industry Loren Brandt and Eric Thun Part III. The Big Picture: Historical, Social, and Systemic Perspectives: 7. Explaining the dynamics of change: transformation and evolution of China's public economy through war, revolution, and peace, 1928-2008 Morris L. Bian 8. The evolution of a welfare state under China's state capitalism Mark W. Frazier 9. Did China follow the East Asian development model? Andrea Boltho and Maria Weber.

The North China/Northeastern Asia Severe Summer Drought in 2014

Abstract: In summer 2014, north China and large areas of northeastern Asia (NCNEA) suffered from the most severe drought of the past 60 years. This study indicates that the East Asian summer precipitation in 2014 exhibited a tripole anomaly, with severe negative anomalies in NCNEA, strong positive anomalies in south China, South Korea, and Japan, and intense negative anomalies in the western North Pacific. Along with the severe tripole precipitation anomalies, there were strong intensities of the Silk Road pattern, the Pacific–Japan pattern, and the Eurasian teleconnection pattern, which were responsible for the strong precipitation anomaly in 2014 through changes to the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) and the East Asian trough. Further analysis indicates that the sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Pacific was nearly the warmest in the past 60 years and, together with the strong SST warming in the warm pool region, thus caused the strong Pacific–Japan teleconnection pattern, southward positi...

Southern East Asian origin and coexpansion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing family with Han Chinese

Abstract: The Beijing family is the most successful genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and responsible for more than a quarter of the global tuberculosis epidemic As the predominant genotype in East Asia, the Beijing family has been emerging in various areas of the world and is often associated with disease outbreaks and antibiotic resistance Revealing the origin and historical dissemination of this strain family is important for understanding its current global success Here we characterized the global diversity of this family based on whole-genome sequences of 358 Beijing strains We show that the Beijing strains endemic in East Asia are genetically diverse, whereas the globally emerging strains mostly belong to a more homogenous subtype known as "modern" Beijing Phylogeographic and coalescent analyses indicate that the Beijing family most likely emerged around 30,000 y ago in southern East Asia, and accompanied the early colonization by modern humans in this area By combining the genomic data and genotyping result of 1,793 strains from across China, we found the "modern" Beijing sublineage experienced massive expansions in northern China during the Neolithic era and subsequently spread to other regions following the migration of Han Chinese Our results support a parallel evolution of the Beijing family and modern humans in East Asia The dominance of the "modern" Beijing sublineage in East Asia and its recent global emergence are most likely driven by its hypervirulence, which might reflect adaption to increased human population densities linked to the agricultural transition in northern China

Why do East Asian children perform so well in PISA? An investigation of Western-born children of East Asian descent

Abstract: A small group of high-performing East Asian economies dominate the top of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings. This has caught the attention of Western policymakers, who want to know why East Asian children obtain such high PISA scores, and what can be done to replicate their success. In this paper I investigate whether children of East Asian descent, who were born and raised in a Western country (Australia), also score highly on the PISA test. I then explore whether their superior performance (relative to children of Australian heritage) can be explained by reasons often given for East Asian students’ extraordinary educational achievements. My results suggest that second-generation East Asian immigrants outperform their native Australian peers by approximately 100 test points. Moreover, the magnitude of this achievement gap has increased substantially over the last ten years. Yet there is no ‘silver bullet’ that can explain why East Asian children obtain such high levels of...

Southern East Asian origin and coexpansion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing family with

Abstract: The Beijing family is the most successful genotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and responsible for more than a quarter of the global tuberculosis epidemic. As the predominant genotype in East Asia, the Beijing family has been emerging in various areas of the world and is often associated with disease outbreaks and antibiotic resistance. Revealing the origin and historical dissemination of this strain family is important for understanding its current global success. Here we characterized the global diversity of this family based on whole-genome sequences of 358 Beijing strains. We show that the Beijing strains endemic in East Asia are genetically diverse, whereas the globally emerging strains mostly belong to a more homogenous subtype known as “modern” Beijing. Phylogeographic and coalescent analyses indicate that the Beijing family most likely emerged around 30,000 y ago in southern East Asia, and accompanied the early colonization by modern humans in this area. By combining the genomic data and genotyping result of 1,793 strains from across China, we found the “modern” Beijing sublineage experienced massive expansions in northern China during the Neolithic era and subsequently spread to other regions following the migration of Han Chinese. Our results support a parallel evolution of the Beijing family and modern humans in East Asia. The dominance of the “modern” Beijing sublineage in East Asia and its recent global emergence are most likely driven by its hypervirulence, which might reflect adaption to increased human population densities linked to the agricultural transition in northern China.

Arctic Sea Ice Decline Intensified Haze Pollution in Eastern China

Abstract: Air quality in eastern China has becoming more and more worrying in recent years, and haze is now No.1 air pollution issue. Results in this study show the decreasing Arctic sea ice(ASI) is an important contributor to the recent increased haze days in eastern China. The authors find that the number of winter haze days(WHD) in eastern China is strongly negatively correlated with the preceding autumn ASI during 1979–2012, and about 45%– 67% of the WHD interannual to interdecadal variability can be explained by ASI variability. Following previous studies on the impact of ASI loss on the northern hemisphere climate, the authors’ studies further reveal that the reduction of autumn ASI leads to positive sea-level pressure anomalies in mid-latitude Eurasia, northward shift of track of cyclone activity in China, and weak Rossby wave activity in eastern China south of 40N during winter season. These atmospheric circulation changes favor less cyclone activity and more stable atmosphere in eastern China, leading to more haze days there. Furthermore, the patterns of circulation changes associated with autumn ASI and WHD are in very good agreement over the East Asia, particularly in eastern China. The authors suggest that haze pollution may continue to be a serious issue in the near future as the decline of ASI continues under global warming.

The Tenacious Tributary System

Abstract: Recently, some writers on Chinese foreign relations have argued that the tributary system is a useful concept for describing imperial China's relations with its neighbors, and that it can even serve as a model for the future of international relations in East Asia. An examination of China's historical practice of foreign relations shows that there was no systematic tributary system, but instead multiple relationships of trade, military force, diplomacy and ritual. Furthermore, China's neighbors did not accept the imperial center's definition of hierarchy and subordination, but interpreted ritual relationships in their own way. Even in the 1930s, when scholars invoked Chinese history to advocate peaceful relations, they recognized the importance of military force, colonial settlement and domination in East Asian state relationships. The current myth of the tributary system ignores historical reality and misleads us about China's true position in East Asia and the world.

Live long and prosper : aging in East Asia and Pacific

Abstract: The population in East Asia and Pacific is aging rapidly, raising concerns about the implications for the region’s economic future. This report aims to crystallize what is known about the rapidly changing and diverse demographics of East Asian and Pacific countries. It documents policy frameworks on aging and explores the implications of alternative reform options. Its purpose is not only to provide a comprehensive review of aging in the region and associated policy responses, but also to encourage policy debate by facilitating comparison of policy regimes across the region. Aging raises many challenges and risks, which East Asian and Pacific countries are well positioned to manage - provided they make policy choices that promote appropriate behavioral change by households and employers. The overview is organized as follows: the first section reviews the demographic and epidemiological transitions in East Asia and Pacific. The second section discusses the living standards and other indicators of welfare of older people in the region, such as sources of support and living arrangements. The third section discusses the effects of aging on growth, the labor force, savings, and government budgets, and the ways in which countries can manage them. The fourth section looks at challenges facing pension, health, and long-term care systems. The final section provides some concluding thoughts.

Changes in weather and climate extremes over Korea and possible causes: A review

Abstract: Weather and climate extremes exert devastating influence on human society and ecosystem around the world. Recent observations show increase in frequency and intensity of climate extremes around the world including East Asia. In order to assess current status of the observed changes in weather and climate extremes and discuss possible mechanisms, this study provides an overview of recent analyses on such extremes over Korea and East Asia. It is found that the temperature extremes over the Korean Peninsula exhibit long-term warming trends with more frequent hot events and less frequent cold events, along with sizeable interannual and decadal variabilities. The comprehensive review on the previous literature further suggests that the weather and climate extremes over East Asia can be affected by several climate factors of external and internal origins. It has been assessed that greenhouse warming leads to increase in warm extremes and decrease in cold extremes over East Asia, but recent Arctic sea-ice melting and associated warming tends to bring cold snaps to East Asia during winter. Internal climate variability such as tropical intraseasonal oscillation and El Nino-Southern Oscillation can also exert considerable impacts on weather and climate extremes over Korea and East Asia. It is, however, noted that our current understanding is far behind to estimate the effect of these climate factors on local weather and climate extremes in a quantitative sense.

Methane emissions in East Asia for 2000–2011 estimated using an atmospheric Bayesian inversion

Abstract: We present methane (CH4) emissions for East Asia from a Bayesian inversion of CH4 mole fraction and stable isotope (δ13C-CH4) measurements. Emissions were estimated at monthly resolution from 2000 to 2011. A posteriori, the total emission for East Asia increased from 43 ± 4 to 59 ± 4 Tg yr−1 between 2000 and 2011, owing largely to the increase in emissions from China, from 39 ± 4 to 54 ± 4 Tg yr−1, while emissions in other East Asian countries remained relatively stable. For China, South Korea, and Japan, the total emissions were smaller than the prior estimates (i.e., Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research 4.2 FT2010 for anthropogenic emissions) by an average of 29%, 20%, and 23%, respectively. For Mongolia, Taiwan, and North Korea, the total emission was less than 2 Tg yr−1 and was not significantly different from the prior. The largest reductions in emissions, compared to the prior, occurred in summer in regions important for rice agriculture suggesting that this source is overestimated in the prior. Furthermore, an analysis of the isotope data suggests that the prior underestimates emissions from landfills and ruminant animals for winter 2010 to spring 2011 (no data available for other times). The inversion also found a lower average emission trend for China, 1.2 Tg yr−1 compared to 2.8 Tg yr−1 in the prior. This trend was not constant, however, and increased significantly after 2005, up to 2.0 Tg yr−1. Overall, the changes in emissions from China explain up to 40% of the increase in global emissions in the 2000s.

The STM report: An overview of scientific and scholarly journal publishing fourth edition

Abstract: STM publishing takes place within the broader system of scholarly communication, which includes both formal and informal elements. Scholarly communication plays different roles at different stages of the research cycle, and (like publishing) is undergoing technology-driven change. Categorising the modes of communication into one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many, and then into oral and written, provides a helpful framework for analysing the potential impacts of technology on scholarly communication ( The annual revenues generated from English-language science, technical and medical (STM) journal publishing are estimated at about $10 billion in 2013, (up from $8 billion in 2008), within a broader STM information publishing market worth some $25.2 billion. About 55% of global STM revenues (including non-journal STM products) come from the USA, 28% from Europe/Middle East, 14% from Asia/Pacific and 4% from the rest of the world. The USA continues to dominates the global output of research papers with a share of about 23% but the most dramatic growth has been in China and East Asia. China’s double-digit compound growth for more than 15 years led to its moving into second position, with 17% of global output. It is followed by the United Kingdom (7%), Germany (6%), Japan (6%), and France (4%). The rank order changes for citations, however, with the US strongly in the lead with 36% and China at 11th place with 6%.

A holistic picture of Austronesian migrations revealed by phylogeography of Pacific paper mulberry

Abstract: The peopling of Remote Oceanic islands by Austronesian speakers is a fascinating and yet contentious part of human prehistory. Linguistic, archaeological, and genetic studies have shown the complex nature of the process in which different components that helped to shape Lapita culture in Near Oceania each have their own unique history. Important evidence points to Taiwan as an Austronesian ancestral homeland with a more distant origin in South China, whereas alternative models favor South China to North Vietnam or a Southeast Asian origin. We test these propositions by studying phylogeography of paper mulberry, a common East Asian tree species introduced and clonally propagated since prehistoric times across the Pacific for making barkcloth, a practical and symbolic component of Austronesian cultures. Using the hypervariable chloroplast ndhF-rpl32 sequences of 604 samples collected from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceanic islands (including 19 historical herbarium specimens from Near and Remote Oceania), 48 haplotypes are detected and haplotype cp-17 is predominant in both Near and Remote Oceania. Because cp-17 has an unambiguous Taiwanese origin and cp-17–carrying Oceanic paper mulberries are clonally propagated, our data concur with expectations of Taiwan as the Austronesian homeland, providing circumstantial support for the “out of Taiwan” hypothesis. Our data also provide insights into the dispersal of paper mulberry from South China “into North Taiwan,” the “out of South China–Indochina” expansion to New Guinea, and the geographic origins of post-European introductions of paper mulberry into Oceania.

China's search for security

Abstract: AbbreviationsIntroductionPart I. Interest and Identity in Chinese Foreign Policy1. What Drives Chinese Foreign Policy?2. Who Runs Chinese Foreign Policy?Part II. Security Challenges and Strategies3. Life on the Hinge: China's Russia Policy During the Cold War and After4. Deciphering the U.S. Threat5. The Northeast Asia Regional System: Japan and the Two Koreas6. China's Other Neighbors: The Asia-Pacific7. China in the Fourth RingPart III. Holding Together: Territorial Integrity and Foreign Policy8. Problems of Stateness: Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan9. Taiwan's Democratic Transition and China's ResponsePart IV. Instruments of Power10. Dilemmas of Opening: Power and Vulnerability in the Global Economy11. Military Modernization: From People's War to Power Projection12. Soft Power and Human Rights in Chinese Foreign PolicyPart V. Conclusion13. Threat or Equilibrium?NotesAcknowledgmentsIndex

Routledge handbook of memory and reconciliation in East Asia

Abstract: Introduction Part I: Domestic Trauma and Prospects of Reconciliation 1. The Changing Circle of Alliance and the National Day Parade in China Tim F. Liao and Libin Zhang 2. Cacophonous Memories: Revision of the Official Narrative on the War of Resistance against Japan in Post-Mao China and its Limitations Rui Gao 3. Memory and Reconciliation in Post-Mao China, 1976-1982 Bin Xu 4. Memory and Others: Japan's Mnemonic Turn in the 1990s Kazuya Fukuoka 5. Reconciliation Prospects and Divided War Memories in Japan: An Analysis of Major Newspapers on the Comfort Women Issue Shunichi Takekawa 6. (In)visible Women: Gendering of Popular War Memories through the Narrative of the Battleship Yamato for Six Decades in Postwar Japan Kaori Yoshida 7. Memory Wars and Prospects for Reconciliation in South Korea Don Baker 8. Tracing Memories of Tauchi Chizuko: Korean Memories of Historical Shame and the "Japanese Mother of Korean War Orphans" Mikyoung Kim 9. Critical Assessments of the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission Dong-Choon Kim 10. On Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Korean "Collaborators" of Japanese Colonialism Jeong-Chul Kim Part II: Bilateral Conflicts and Lessons of Reconciliation 11. People's Diplomacy: The Japan-China Friendship Association and Critical War Memory in the 1950s Franziska Seraphim 12. Troubled Seas: Japan's Pacific and East China Sea Domains and Claims Gavan McCormack 13. The Role of Compensation in Sino-Japanese Reconciliation: Compensation as a Means to Restore Justice Ja-hyun Chun 14. Reconciliation and the Goguryeo/Gaogouli Disputes between China and South Korea David Hundt and Baogang He 15. Manchuria: An Imagined Space for Emancipation, Conflict, and Reconciliation Sunyoung Park 16. Comfort Women Controversy and Its Implications for Japan-ROK Reconciliation Yangmo Ku 17. Korea-Japan Reconciliation and the Dokdo (Takeshima) Issue Seokwoo Lee and Hee Eun Lee 18. Transitional Justice, Reconciliation and Political Archivization: A Comparative Study of Commemoration in South Korea and Japan of the Jeju April 3 incident Sungman Koh 19. The Reparation Movement: Lingering Legacies of DPRK-Japan Collusion Tessa Morris-Suzuki 20. Semantic Approach for Inter-Korea Reconciliation: Reflection on Conceptual Division and Political Divergence Myoung-Kyu Park 21. Reuniting Families, Reframing the Korean War: Inter-Korean Reconciliation and Vernacular Memory Nan Kim Part III: East Asia's Challenges of Reconciliation 22. The San Francisco Peace Treaty and the Regional Conflicts: The Cold War Legacies Kimie Hara 23. Japanese Perceptions of Territorial Disputes and Its Implications for Reconciliation Mikyoung Kim 24. East Asia and Cosmopolitan Memory Hiro Saito 25. Divided Memories and Historical Reconciliation in East Asia Gi-Wook Shin 26. Historical Memory and Reconciliation in China's Relations with Its Neighbors Xiaoming Zhang Conclusion

A review of seasonal climate prediction research in China

Abstract: The ultimate goal of climate research is to produce climate predictions on various time scales. In China, efforts to predict the climate started in the 1930s. Experimental operational climate forecasts have been performed since the late 1950s, based on historical analog circulation patterns. However, due to the inherent complexity of climate variability, the forecasts produced at that time were fairly inaccurate. Only from the late 1980s has seasonal climate prediction experienced substantial progress, when the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere project of the World Climate Research program (WCRP) was launched. This paper, following a brief description of the history of seasonal climate prediction research, provides an overview of these studies in China. Processes and factors associated with the climate variability and predictability are discussed based on the literature published by Chinese scientists. These studies in China mirror aspects of the climate research effort made in other parts of the world over the past several decades, and are particularly associated with monsoon research in East Asia. As the climate warms, climate extremes, their frequency, and intensity are projected to change, with a large possibility that they will increase. Thus, seasonal climate prediction is even more important for China in order to effectively mitigate disasters produced by climate extremes, such as frequent floods, droughts, and the heavy frozen rain events of South China.

Chinese Hegemony: Grand Strategy and International Institutions in East Asian History

Abstract: Chinese Hegemony: Grand Strategy and International Institutions in East Asian History joins a rapidly growing body of important literature that combines history and International Relations theory to create new perspectives on East Asian political and strategic behavior. The book explores the strategic and institutional dynamics of international relations in East Asian history when imperial China was the undisputed regional hegemon, focusing in depth on two central aspects of Chinese hegemony at the time: the grand strategies China and its neighbors adopted in their strategic interactions, and the international institutions they engaged in to maintain regional order-including but not limited to the tribute system. Feng Zhang draws on both Chinese and Western intellectual traditions to develop a relational theory of grand strategy and fundamental institutions in regional relations. The theory is evaluated with three case studies of Sino-Korean, Sino-Japanese, and Sino-Mongol relations during China's early Ming dynasty-when a type of Confucian expressive strategy was an essential feature of regional relations. He then explores the policy implications of this relational model for understanding and analyzing contemporary China's rise and the changing East Asian order. The book suggests some historical lessons for understanding contemporary Chinese foreign policy and considers the possibility of a more relational and cooperative Chinese strategy in the future.

Prevalence of dementia in East Asia: a synthetic review of time trends

Abstract: Objective This study aims to synthesise evidence on time trends of dementia prevalence in East Asian countries including Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan and assess the impact of the societal changes on future prevalence. Method Relevant reviews and recent nationwide studies in East Asia were identified to investigate changes in prevalence of dementia over time taking into account the potential impact of methodological factors and study designs. Results The robust evidence that has been interpreted to suggest a substantial increasing trend over time is less compelling once fundamental differences in study methods and populations across individual surveys are considered. In Japan, longitudinal studies in small areas suggest the potential increase of prevalence after 2000. Increasing trends in China, South Korea and Taiwan over the last 20–30 years are based on the literature review without adjustment for methodological differences. Economic development and huge societal changes alongside the rise of non-communicable disease in East Asia could lead to increasing prevalence of dementia in the future once those cohorts with high risk of dementia reached their older age. Conclusion Current evidence is not sufficient to suggest increasing trends of dementia prevalence in East Asia. Longitudinal studies with representative samples and stable methodology are needed to provide fundamental information of the epidemiology of dementia and identify important risk factors in East Asian societies. © 2015 The Authors. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in Asia: a re-examination of the native range and invasion to southeastern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Abstract: Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) is an invasive ladybird spreading in several continents. It is native to East Asia, but its range in Asia has until now been poorly understood. The most complete map of the range of Harmonia axyridis in Asia has been compiled (432 localities). Harmonia axyridis occurs in the south-east of West Siberia, the south of East Siberia, the south of Russian Far East, the east of Kazakhstan, the north of Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and the north of Vietnam. Southeastern Kazakhstan and the north of Kyrgyzstan are not a part of the native range: the large Balkhash Desert is situated between this mountainous region and the nearest part of the native range (Altai mountains). The analysis of dates and places of findings indicates that Harmonia axyridis appeared in southeastern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan after the construction of the Turkestan-Siberian Railway. It is hypothesized that the beetles crossed the desert along this railway.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: The Construction of Power and the Struggle for the East Asian International Order

Abstract: 1. Power, Order and Biogeography 2. The East Asian International Orders 3. The AIIB Tied in a Belt 4. The AIIB versus the World Bank and the ADB 5. A New Hegemonic Order in East Asia? Appendix. Comparing the Articles of Agreement for the IBRD, the ADB and the AIIB

Asian Families at the Crossroads: A Meeting of East, West, Tradition, Modernity, and Gender

Abstract: East Asian societies have undergone major changes in the past few decades as their relatively authoritarian and interventionist governments have, ironically but enthusiastically, embraced neoliberalism in the process of rapid globalization. As they have experienced the powerful forces of Westernization and modernization, these societies have struggled to maintain historical traditions. These traditions, heavily influenced by patriarchal Confucian values, devalue women and restrict them to the family domain. East Asian families thus find themselves subject to contradictory forces, experiencing both rapid changes and stubborn continuities.Overall, these East Asian societies-which here is being used as a cultural rather than geopolitical term, including China, Korea, Japan and Singapore in this special section-show both similarities and variations in terms of changes in marriage and family. Still, these countries continue to constitute a cultural-institutional block. Their social and familial changes tend to be similar to one another and in some ways distinct from other nations with advanced economies. Like many parts of Europe, they have low fertility and have increasingly postponed and likely forgone marriage. Yet they differ from Western Europe and North America in that they have relativelylowcohabitationandacloselinkbetween fertility and marriage.This raises again an old question in family studies and demography: Are family and demographic changes around the world converging or diverging? Will East Asia follow what has already happened and is happening in the West today? How are family transitions in East Asia related to the Second Demographic Transition currently occurring in the West?My aim in this introductory article is not to settle the converging-versus-diverging debate but to highlight the value of empirical research that is attempting to capture the sometimes-changing, sometimes-stable attributes of Asian families and societies. I further encourage the development of new concepts and theories that are rooted in a deep understanding of the complexity of cultural and institutional contexts in Asian societies. Not until we have more high-quality theoretically informed research with a deeper understanding of Asian contexts can we have a better sense of whether the above questions are meaningful and deserve answers.Specifically, first, by sketching patterns and differences in marriage and family behavior in this region, I emphasize a contextual understanding of marriage and family in this region. Second, I introduce theoretical frameworks from Western literature that are relevant to family transitions in East Asia. I encourage an integration of Western and local research. Third, by introducing the six articles that comprise this special section, I encourage more innovative empirical research and the development of concepts and theoretical perspectives from the local context.MARRIAGE PATTERNS IN EAST ASIAMarriage, Fertility, and CohabitationThroughout East Asia, marriage rates have declined drastically, and the age at first marriage has increased rapidly, with some societies even passing their Western counterparts (Frejka, Jones, & Sardon, 2010; Jones, 2007, 2012; Jones & Gubhaju, 2009; Jones & Yeung, 2014). Between 1970 and 2010, women's singulate mean age at marriage increased from early 20s to around 30 in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. In contrast, the marriage age in China is still concentrated in the 20s (Ji & Yeung, 2014; Jones & Yeung, 2014). Throughout East Asia, declines in marriage are greatest among educated women and economically disadvantaged men, as both have difficulty finding a mate (Ji, Chen, & Jones, 2014; Ji & Yeung, 2014; Jones & Gubhaju, 2009; Qian, 2012; Tian, 2013).The total fertility rate in all East Asian societies dropped below the replacement level in the 1990s. In 2010, the total fertility rate was 1. …

Dynamics of corporate social responsibility in Asia: Knowledge and norms

Abstract: This article investigates Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia through two related themes: research knowledge and ethical norms. ‘CSR in Asia’ research is shown to be growing, particularly in East Asia. Compared with Western CSR literature, it is shown to be dominated by empirical, particularly quantitative, research. More substantively, this research is dominated by an issue focus on ethical norms, though this is in real decline. In this light, this article offers a closer investigation of the nature of ethical systems underpinning Asian business, and a comparison of Asian and Western conceptions of the community as a stakeholder.

Coupling of South and East Asian Monsoon Precipitation in July–August*

Abstract: The concept of the “Asian monsoon” masks the existence of two separate summer rainfall regimes: convective storms over India, Bangladesh, and Nepal (the South Asian monsoon) and frontal rainfall over China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula (the East Asian monsoon) In addition, the Himalayas and other orography, including the Arakan Mountains, Ghats, and Yunnan Plateau, create smaller precipitation domains with abrupt boundaries A mode of continental precipitation variability is identified that spans both South and East Asia during July and August Point-to-point correlations and EOF analysis with Asian Precipitation–Highly-Resolved Observational Data Integration Toward Evaluation of the Water Resources (APHRODITE), a 57-yr rain gauge record, show that a dipole between the Himalayan foothills (+) and the “monsoon zone” (central India, −) dominates July–August interannual variability in South Asia, and is also associated in East Asia with a tripole between the Yangtze corridor (+) and northern and