The China Quarterly

Vol. 203

Articles

pp 539 -559

More Than a Category: Han Supremacism on the Chinese InternetArticle author query

• leibold j 
•  
•  
• [Google Scholar]

James leibold

La Trobe University.

Abstract:Using the October 2008 slapping incident of historian Yan Chongnian 阎崇年 as a case study, this article attempts to contextualize and critically examine the articulation of Han supremacism on the Chinese internet. It demonstrates how an informal group of non-elite, urban youth are mobilizing the ancient Han ethnonym to challenge the Chinese Communist Party's official policy of multiculturalism, while seeking to promote pride and self-identification with the Han race (han minzu 汉民族) to the exclusion of the non-Han minorities. In contrast to most of the Anglophone literature on Chinese nationalism, this article seeks to employ “Han” as a “boundary-spanner,” a category that turns our analysis of Chinese national identity formation on its head, side-stepping the “usual suspects” (intellectuals, dissidents and the state itself) and the prominent role of the “foreign other” in Chinese ethnogenesis, and instead probing the unstable plurality of the self/othering process in modern China and the role of the internet in opening up new spaces for non-mainstream identity articulation

 

 

 

pp 560 -580

China Eyes the Japanese Military: China's Threat Perception of Japan since the 1980s

Article author query

• sasaki t [Google Scholar]

Tomonori Sasaki

Ministry of Defence of Japan.

Abstract:This article represents the first attempt to examine the Chinese elite's threat perception of Japan using statistics to analyse what, if any, differences exist among the People's Liberation Army, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese economic institutes. It seeks to answer two questions that have not previously been addressed in the literature. First, has there been a change in perception of the Japanese threat in these three sectors over time? And if so, what can we deduce about the causes of this change? This study finds that there have indeed been two major shifts in China's threat perception of Japan since the 1980s, one in the late 1980s and the other in the mid-1990s. It also finds that there were no differences between sectors as to the direction and timing of these shifts. It suggests that Japan's military build-up in the late 1980s and the strengthening of the US–Japan alliance from 1996 onwards are what prompted these shifts in China's threat perception.

 

 

 

pp 581-600

Globalization and Chinese Sport Policy: The Case of Elite Football in the People's Republic of China

Article author query

• tan tc [Google Scholar]
• bairner a [Google Scholar]

Tien-Chin Tan

National Taiwan Normal University.

Alan Bairner

Loughborough University.

Abstract :The aim of this article is to analyse China's engagement in global sport through an examination of the case of elite football. Although many studies exhibit a quite proper concern with the extent to which the deep structure of culture is affected by sports globalization, they generally fail to give significant consideration to the role of the state, because of excessive emphasis on other aspects of globalization such as commercialization, commodification and cultural homogenization. We attempt, therefore, to refocus on the role of the state and to investigate its relationship with global sport by adopting the theoretical framework of Held et al. (1999) as the main analytical tool for this study. By taking strategic approaches in the economic and cultural/ideological fields, the Chinese government has demonstrated, to some degree, its capacity to find effective ways to manage its relationship with global football. This was demonstrated particularly by the setting up of new governmental commercial agencies, updating sport and football regulations, and strengthening Chinese communist ideological education.

 

 

 

pp 601-618

The Hollow State: Rural Governance in China

Graeme Smith

Australian National University

Abstract:Over the last decade, rural township governments have been subjected to intensive streamlining and rationalization programmes. This article examines which ongoing reforms and processes are causing township governments to become “hollow shells,” and explores the effects of “hollowing out” on township government leaders, staff and rural residents. While the aim of local government reform was to transform extractive township governments into “service-oriented” agencies, this article finds that the current logic of rural governance has produced township governments which are squeezed from above and below. From above, township leaders face the political imperatives of inspections, annual assessments, the need to attract industrial investment and an ongoing process of “soft centralization” by higher levels of government. From below, township staff are drawn out to the villages to enforce family planning policies and maintain social stability. Unprecedented numbers are working as “sent-down cadres” in villages where their capacity to deliver services has been weakened by village amalgamations and the lifting of agricultural taxes and fees. Despite significant boosts to rural health and education investment, rural residents still face a level of government that regards them as problems to be dealt with, rather than citizens to be served.

 

 

 

pp 619-638

Chen Shui-bian: On Independence

Jonathan Sullivan

University of Nottingham.

Will Lowe

 Maastricht University.

Abstract:Chen Shui-bian achieved an international reputation for his promotion of Taiwan independence. Whilst that reputation may have been well earned, the analyses on which this conclusion is based are frequently flawed in two ways. First, by using an undifferentiated notion of independence, they tend to conflate sovereignty with less threatening expressions of Taiwanese identity and pro-democracy discourse. Second, by failing to take into account the impact of immediate strategic context, analysts ignore a fundamental element of democratic political communication. In our empirical analysis of more than 2,000 of Chen's speeches, we seek to avoid both flaws by unpacking the concept of independence and taking into account Chen's strategic relationship with his primary audiences. Our findings challenge popular portrayals of Chen, but more importantly they have strong implications for policy makers and students of political rhetoric with regard to current and future ROC presidents

 

 

 

pp639-655

China-Bound for Jobs? The Influences of Social Connections and Ethnic Politics in Taiwan

Ming-Chang Tsai

National Taipei University.

Chin-fen Chang

Academia Sinica

• Article author query
• tsai mc [Google Scholar]
• chang cf [Google Scholar]

Abstract :Taiwan has long been recognized as a labour-absorbing society, but today approximately 3 per cent of its population is working in China, an increasingly important destination for regional immigration. In this article we go beyond conventional immigration economics to examine how social connections and ethnic politics affect Taiwanese motivations to move to China for employment. Results from a national random-sample survey conducted in 2005 are used to analyse the willingness and potentiality of Taiwanese to work in China. The findings indicate that besides human capital factors, social networks and political/ethnic identity offer insights to understanding migrations among Taiwanese, as well as why the vast majority have so little interest in going China-bound.

 

 

 

pp656-674

Promoting Hybridity: The Politics of the New Macau Identity

Wai-man Lam

The University of Hong Kong

Abstract:This article traces the unique process of reconstructing the identity of the Macau Special Administrative Region and its people after the political resumption to China in 1999, and the political and economic significance of the reconstruction. As in other postcolonial contexts, identity is an arena of political contest where various discourses that embody re-appropriation of political traditions and legacies criss-cross. In Macau, the post-handover identity comprises the local, the national and the international components, with Macau characterized as a historical, colonial/cultural hybrid and economic object. In fact, the Macau identity after 1999 represents a re-appropriation of the image of colonial Macau propagated by the Portuguese administration since the 1980s. Also, identity making has been a process of incorporating instead of repressing or eliminating the identities of “the other,” and building a stand-alone national identity is not the prime task in the reconstruction of an identity. Rather, multiple identity components are deliberately incorporated and promoted. The success of the process has fabricated Macau's relatively smooth reintegration with China and enhanced the legitimacy of its new government.

 

 

 

pp675-692

Nanjing's Failed “January Revolution” of 1967: The Inner Politics of a Provincial Power Seizure

Dong Guoqiang

Nanjing University

Andrew G. Walder

Stanford University

Abstract:Scholarship on factional warfare during the first two years of the Cultural Revolution has long portrayed a struggle between “conservative” factions that sought to preserve the status quo and “radical” factions that sought to transform it. Recent accounts, however, claim that the axis of political conflict was fundamentally transformed after the fall of civilian governments in early 1967, violating the central tenet of this interpretation. A close examination of Nanjing's abortive power seizure of January 1967 addresses this issue in some depth. The power seizure in fact was a crucial turning point: it removed the defenders of local authorities from the political stage and generated a split between two wings of the rebel movement that overthrew them. The political divisions among former rebel allies intensified and hardened in the course of tortuous negotiations in Beijing that were buffeted by confusing political shifts in the capital. This created a contest that was not between “conservatives” and “radicals” over the restoration of the status quo, but about the respective places of the rival radical factions in restored structures of authority

 

 

 

Research Report

pp693-707

The African Trading Community in Guangzhou: An Emerging Bridge for Africa–China Relations

Adams Bodomo

The University of Hong Kong

Abstract：This article analyses an emerging African trading community in Guangzhou, China. It is argued that migrant communities such as this one act as linguistic, cultural and economic bridges between their source communities and their host communities, even in the midst of tensions created by incidents such as immigration restrictions and irregularities. Socio-linguistic and socio-cultural profiles of this community are built, through questionnaire surveys and interviews, to address issues such as why Africans go to Guangzhou, which African countries are represented, what languages are spoken there, how communication takes place between Africans and Chinese, what socio-economic contributions Africans in Guangzhou are making to the Chinese economy, and how the state reacts to this African presence. Following from the argument that this community acts as a bridge for Africa–China relations it is suggested that both the Chinese and the African governments should work towards eliminating the harassment of members in this community by many Guangzhou law enforcement officials and instead harness the contributions of this community to promote Africa–China socio-economic relations

 

 

 

 

Review Essays

pp 708 -718

Power, Policy and Elite Politics under Zhao Ziyang

Alfred L. Chan

University of Western Ontario

Gaige licheng (The Journey of Reform). Zhao Ziyang. Hong Kong: New Century Press, 2009. vii + 370 pp. HK$128. ISBN 978-988-17202-7-6

Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang. Translated and edited by Bao Pu, Renee Chiang and Adi Ignatius. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. xxv + 306 pp. $26.00. ISBN 978-1-4391-4938-6

 

Heir apparent to Deng Xiaoping but illegally deposed as general secretary, Zhao Ziyang was held under house arrest after the Tiananmen events of 1989 until his death at 85 in 2005. A three-year special investigation to prove that Zhao “supported turmoil and split the party” simply fizzled out. In 2000, after many failed attempts to regain his freedom and to reverse the verdicts against the students and himself, he secretly recorded his memoirs for posterity. Gaige licheng, a transcript of about 30 cassette-tapes, was smuggled out of China and, together with an English translation entitled Prisoner of the State: The Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang, published on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown in June 2009.

 

 

 

pp719-724

The Peacock and the Dragon: How to Grapple with the Rising Global Ambitions of India and China

Emilian Kavalski

University of Western Sydney

 

China and India: Prospects for Peace. Jonathan Holslag. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. xii + 234 pp. $37.50; £26.00. ISBN 978-0-231-15042-2

 

China and India in the Age of Globalization. Shalendra D. Sharma. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. xi + 321 pp. £27.99. ISBN 978-0-521-73136-3

 

The Rise of China and India: A New Asian Drama. Lam Peng Er and Lim Tam Wei. Singapore: World Scientific, 2009. viii + 169 pp. £60.00. ISBN 978-981-4280-33-4

 

Coming to terms with the nascent international agency of regional powers with global intentions has become a dominant topic in the study of world affairs. This rash of attention to the emergent dynamics of international interactions has been facilitated by the break-up of the Cold War order which has allowed a number of actors to extend their international roles and outreach. India and China feature prominently among those actors and their agency in global life is subject to a growing public, policy, and scholarly scrutiny.

 

 

 

Book Reviews

pp725-726

The New Silk Road: How a Rising Arab World is Turning Away from the West and Rediscovering China. Ben Simpfendorfer. Basingstoke, Hampshire, and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. 201 pp. $42.00. ISBN 978-0-230-58026

John W. Garver

 

pp 726 -728

Remade in China: Foreign Investors and Institutional Change in China. Scott Wilson. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. xiv + 290 pp. £40.00. ISBN 978-0-19-538831-2

Doug Guthrie

 

pp 728 -729

China's Automotive Modernization: The Party-State and Multinational Corporations. Gregory T. Chin. Basingstoke, Hampshire, and New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2009. xi + 301 pp. £60.00. ISBN 978-0-230-22030-7

Gregory W. Noble

 

pp729-731

The Micro-foundation of China's Market Economy. Liu Xiaoxuan. Singapore: Cengage Learning, 2010. ix + 350 pp. $150.00. ISBN 9789814281966. originally published as: Dianding Zhongguo shichang jingji de weiguan jichu – qiye geming 30 nian. Shanghai: Shanghai gezhe chubanshe and Shanghai renmin chubanshe, 2008. 396 pp. RMB50.00. ISBN 9787543215436

 Calla Wieme

 Article author query

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pp731-733

Oil in China: From Self-Reliance to Internationalization. Lim Tai Wei. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2009. 184 pp. $78.00. ISBN: 978-9814273763

Oil and Gas in China: The New Energy Superpower's Relations with its Region. Lim Tai Wei. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2009. 190 pp. $75.00. ISBN: 978-9814277945

Bo Kong

 

pp733-735

China's Local Administration: Traditions and Changes in the Sub-national Hierarchy. Edited by Jae Ho Chung and Tao-Chiu Lam. London and New York: Routledge, 2010. xiii + 219 pp. £85.00; $140.00. ISBN 978-0-415-54788-8

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Hans Hendrischke

 

pp735-736

Allies of the State: China's Private Entrepreneurs and Democratic Change. Jie Chen and Bruce J. Dickson. Cambridge, MA, and London, England: Harvard University Press. x + 220 pp. £33.95; €40.50; $45.00. ISBN 978-0-674-04896

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Anders C. Johansson

 

pp737-738

The Struggle for Sustainability in Rural China: Environmental Values and Civil Society. Bryan Tilt. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. xvi + 216 pp. $29.50; £20.50. ISBN 978-0-231-15001-9

Li Ying

 

pp738-740

Chinese Policing: History and Reform. Kam C. Wong. New York: Peter Lang, 2009. xii + 263 pp. $33.95. ISBN 978-1-4331-0016-1Article author query

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Hualing Fu

 

pp740-741

Leprosy in China: A History. Angela Ki Che Leung. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. xi + 373 pp. $50.00; £35.50. ISBN: 978-0-231-12300-6Article author query

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Bridie Andrews

 

pp741-744

State and Ethnicity in China's Southwest. Xiaolin Guo. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2008. viii + 346 pp. €99.00; $148.00. ISBN 978-90-04-16775-9

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Charles F. McKhann

 

pp744-746

Hong Kong Movers and Stayers: Narratives of Family Migration. Janet W. Salaff, Siu-Lun Wong and Arent Greve. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2010. viii + 259 pp. $30.00; £20.99. ISBN 978-0-252-07704-3Book query

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Hong Kong: Migrant Lives, Landscapes, and Journeys. Caroline Knowles and Douglas Harper. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2009. vi + 270 pp. $19.00; £13.00. ISBN 978-0-226-44857-2Article author query

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Ronald Skeldon

 

pp746-747

Taiwan, Humanitarianism and Global Governance. Alain Guilloux. London and New York: Routledge, 2009. xvii + 204 pp. £75.00. ISBN 978-0-415-46953-1Article author query

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Kerry Brown

 

pp747-749

China with a Cut: Globalisation, Urban Youth and Popular Culture. Jeroen De Kloet. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2010. 255 pp. €42.00. ISBN 978-90-8964-162-5Article author query

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Rachel Harris

 

pp749-750

Chinese Ecocinema: In the Age of Environmental Challenge. Edited by Sheldon Lu and Jiayan Mi. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2009. xiii + 370 pp. £20.95. ISBN 978-962-209-086-6Article author query

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Mary Mazzilli

 

pp750-752

Gender, Discourse and the Self in Literature: Issues in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Edited by Kwok-Kan Tam and Terry Siu-Han Yip. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Chinese University Press, 2009. xxx + 261 pp. $42.00; £37.50; €42.00. ISBN 978-962-996-399-6Article author query

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Kaby Wing-Sze Kung

 

pp752-753

Hong Kong's Watershed: The 1967 Riots. Gary Ka-Wai Cheung. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2009. viii + 241pp. HK$195.00. ISBN 978-962-209-089-7

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Ian Scott

 

pp753-754

Heroes of China's Great Leap Forward: Two Stories. Edited by Richard King. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2010. 132 pp. £15.00. ISBN 978-0-8248-3436-4

 

pp755-756

How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century. Tonio Andrade. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. xix + 300 pp. $60.00; £35.50. ISBN 978-0-231-12855-1

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Evan Dawley

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Yixin Chen

 

pp756-757

Two Suns in the Heavens: The Sino-Soviet Struggle for Supremacy, 1962–1967. Sergey Radchenko. Washington, DC and Stanford, CA: Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Stanford University Press, 2010. xvii + 315 pp. $65.00. ISBN 978-1-8047-5879-3Article author query

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Pp758-759

Prescribing Colonization: The Role of Medical Practices and Policies in Japan-Ruled Taiwan, 1895–1945. Michael Shiyung Liu. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian Studies, 2009. x + 286 pp. $25.00. ISBN 978-0-924304-57-6

Ming-Cheng Miriam Lo

 

 

pp759-761

Women Journalists and Feminism in China, 1838–1937. Yuxin Ma. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2010. xv + 447 pp. $129.99; £ 76.99. ISBN 978-1-60497-660-1

Qian Zhu

 

 

pp761-763

China Watcher: Confessions of a Peking Tom. Richard Baum. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2010. xiii + 328 pp. $29.95. ISBN 978-0-295-98997-6

Judy Polumbaum

 

 

pp764-767

Books Received