China Overseas Investments

Questo studio si propone di analizzare alcune recenti dinamiche della
geopolitica dell'energia, focalizzando la trattazione degli argomenti sul
contesto e sulle fattispecie che compongono il quadro di costituzione del
partenariato energetico sino-iracheno, venuto in essere in un particolare
momento storico per la regione mediorientale, il ritorno in patria delle
truppe statunitensi alla fine della seconda Guerra del Golfo (2011).

On Saturday March 23, 2019, during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Rome, Italy formally joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the signing of an official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between both countries. This marked a significant milestone in the growth of the BRI.

The  article  describes  main  features  of  trade  and  investment  partnership between Latin-American countries and PRC in last 15 years. Presents the basic tools of strengthening and institutionalizing economic relations of these countries. Based on  statistics  and macroeconomic  data  author  estimates  the  perspective  of  future  cooperation. (in Russian)

When a billion Chinese jump, the earth definitely shakes.

Despite the huge potential for Chinese investment in UK infrastructure, many challenges still persist, none more so than a negative perception of Chinese investment, in particular when applied to nuclear energy. There is a historical  perception that China’s ability to build complex and large reactors may be as a result of cutting corner. There is, however, zero evidence to substantiate this - far from it, in fact. But it is no longer a case of the Chinese simply having the financial power; expertise now equals that and that makes for a very powerful equation and one the UK can certainly benefit from.

So while we ponder on how it might actually feel if one billion Chinese did jump in unison, China is looking beyond way its borders and instigating significant change where change would otherwise probably not be possible. While doing so, in the first 25 years of the 21st century, half of the world’s new buildings will be erected in China and 50,000 of them will be skyscrapers - equivalent to 10 New Yorks!

"Authors: Adam Horálek and Pavel Ptáček
"The book contains eight chapters in four major fields (each field contains two chapters) - environment, demography and population, economy, and geopolitics. As an introduction, the short outline of major reforms China took under the rule of Deng Xiaoping is used. In stead of conclusion, the vision of China in 2030 is incorporated according to the official plans and prognoses. The book is structured as a study text, including topics and questions for further reading and thinking about the topics. It is mainly focused on Chinese studies and Geography undergraduate as well as postgraduate students in Czechia (as it is in Czech).

Content:
Otec čínské transformace Deng Xiaoping
2. 1. Environmentální problémy současné Číny
2.2. Projekt jiho-severního transportu vody jako odpověď na deficit vody v severní Číně
3.1. Stárnutí populace Číny
3.2. Populačně-národnostní politika Číny
4. 1. Měnící se role Číny v globální ekonomice a její dopad na místní obyvatele
4.2. Rozvoj západu: analýza hlavní čínské regionální „kohezní“ politiky 21. století
5.1. Afrika jako sféra čínských zájmů
5.2 Energetická geopolitika Číny
Čína roku 2030
"""

This paper analyses the display of the power relations involved in the trajectory of China's land grabbing in Argentina. Through a study of the failed agri-food project of Beidahuang Group in Rio Negro, it shows the centrality of the dynamic configurations of material, discursive and institutional power surrounding Chinese investments to both facilitate land grabbing and condition its outcomes. Drawing on a neo-Gramscian approach, three configurations of power are identified in interaction with a logic of agricultural accumulation with hegemonic aspirations: the alignment of power relations; the challenges and the misalignment of these forces. Consequently, the project suspension results from a change in power relations caused by reactions from 'below' and 'above', although this does not affect the global primacy of agribusiness.

China’s economic growth has increased demand for agricultural goods. At the same time, prices are volatile and can lead to social instability. This has led the Chinese government to launch a series of measures to secure foreign supplies. Beijing has resorted to the international market, as well as state-supported agriculture projects abroad. Nevertheless, unlike in some countries, there is little evidence of a coherent government policy to support a major push into investment in agriculture abroad.

Perspectives on Chinese Business and Law contributes to the debate and understanding on China by offering insights and perspectives from both Chinese and European scholars on themes related to business and economic affairs. The current foreign trade and business related legal framework of China are expressed along with certain historical and political analysis on ChinaÆs development.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/perspectives-on-chinese-business-and-law/FBC86FDFCD071ED943A41C0EB9C79CE4

Chinese national oil companies have long been seen as rampantly overpaying for overseas assets. This has serious implications for the sustainability of the Chinese SOE model. This paper examines in detail how the prices paid for overseas oil and gas compare with the rest of the world, against specific peers and in certain subsectors. The paper aims to provide public policy recommendations on further reform of the sector in China.

This paper looks at three potential factors that influenced the change in China's behavior towards the South China Sea dispute. These factors are one the interests and principles of China's foreign policy, two China's economic rise and three the impact of external factors on China's behavior. My paper attempts to prove that all these three factors exert certain influence on China's changing behavior. Nevertheless, the compelling of all the three factors is the China's changing understanding on external threats.

The recent lynching of a university student in Pakistan who had been falsely accused of blasphemy highlights the fact that terrorist and separatist violence are not the sole security threats facing the successful completion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Indeed, apart from the security threats posed by militant and separatist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Front and the Pakistani Taliban, CPEC’s planners and the Pakistani government need to prepare for the possibility of vigilante and mob violence instigated against CPEC personnel. Such violence could be triggered by false accusations, as was demonstrated by the brutal murder of Mashal Khan.

The automobile cars are usually designed to understeer and seldom do they oversteer. It's a main advantage in this particular era for the automobile cars to overcome these steering problems. All the people who drives usually prefers for an ease of steering and mainly in the urban cities they seek for the ease of steering as well as parking. It has become a challenging issue for modifying or bringing a change or solution for the underlying problems. Practically thinking about the solution for all the whereabouts of the current steering problems is challenging task. This was a great stimulation for us to undertake this particular project. In this project we have constructed the steering of wheels with 90° rotation. This is a new contemporary concept where we are developing the equipment by the arrangements with motor, chain drive, remote control, basic structure like chassis leg wheels etc., battery and control unit. The converted mechanical energy is stored in battery in the form of electrical energy.

Neste trabalho, mostramos um panorama geral dos investimentos da China em outros três países dos BRICS, Brasil, África do Sul e Índia. Em nossa leitura, os BRICS configuram um marco do início do século XXI e geraram a expectativa de construção de uma ordem mundial diferenciada à ordem baseada nos EUA como potência hegemônica. Consideremos que a capacidade real de os BRICS moldarem uma nova ordem mundial com bases mais justas foi limitada. Mostramos que, apesar de terem construído, na última década, diferentes espaços de cooperação e instituições comuns, a relação entre os BRICS é assimétrica, tendo em vista particularmente o peso econômico da China. Esta ascende enquanto uma potência econô- mica global em termos de comércio, investimentos, capacidade produtiva e tecnologia, se expandindo para outros países e regiões do mundo, dentre elas as regiões historicamente superexploradas no Sul Global: a África, América Latina e a Ásia.
Nesta pesquisa, buscamos evidenciar alguns padrões gerais da inserção dos investimentos chineses no Brasil, África do Sul e Índia, mostrando as principais empresas e bancos investidores, volumes de investimentos e setores prioritários, empresas e instituições locais parceiras, o arcabouço político e jurídico que facilita o investimento chinês em cada um desses países, bem como possíveis impactos sociais, ambientais e trabalhistas que possam estar envoltos nesses projetos. Longe de poder esgotar o tema, tendo em vista a dinâmica dos investimentos chineses e a complexidade de cada dos países, o trabalho procurou dar pistas e levantar informações que possam indicar aspectos e tendências relevantes.

Since China launched the 16+1 forum for meetings with the heads of state of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in 2012, European observers have been struggling to make sense of the Chinese approach. Jonathan Holslag’s assertion that China is pursuing a policy of ‘offensive mercantilism’ in Europe and elsewhere offers an innovative theoretical framework which may be able to facilitate understanding of China’s economic diplomacy in CEE. The paper will therefore apply Holslag’s framework to an analysis of China’s activity in CEE since 2012 with a view to assessing the extent to which offensive mercantilism can explain China’s strategy.

International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) Newsletter
News from Northeast Asia: Northeast Asia’s engagements with the Middle East
Regional Editor: Ilhong Ko
China’s relations with the Middle East: A perspective from the region - Ceren Ergenc
China and the Middle East: Old friends in a new era - Tingyi Wang
Relations between Japan and the Middle East - Akiko Yoshioka
Reinventing the Middle East? South Korea’s engagements
with the Gulf amid geopolitical conflicts - June Park

China’s increasingly significant economic and security interests in the Middle East have several impacts. It affects not only its energy security but also its regional posture, relations with regional powers as well as the United States, and efforts to pacify nationalist and Islamist Uighurs in its north-western province of Xinjiang. Those interests are considerably enhanced by China’s One Belt, One Road initiative that seeks to patch together a Eurasian land mass through inter-linked infrastructure, investment and expanded trade relations.
Protecting its mushrooming interests is forcing China to realign its policies and relationships in the region.

As it takes stock of the Middle East and North Africa’s volatility and tumultuous, often violent political transitions, China feels the pressure to acknowledge that it no longer can remain aloof to the Middle East and North Africa’s multiple conflicts. China’s long-standing insistence on non-interference in the domestic affairs of others, refusal to envision a foreign military presence and its perseverance that its primary focus is the development of mutually beneficial economic and commercial relations, increasingly falls short of what it needs to do to safeguard its vital interests. Increasingly, China will have to become a regional player in competitive cooperation with the United States, the dominant external actor in the region for the foreseeable future.

The pressure to revisit long-standing foreign and defence policy principles is also driven by the fact that China’s key interests in the Middle East and North Africa have expanded significantly beyond the narrow focus of energy despite its dependence on the region for half of its oil imports.1 Besides the need to protect its investments and nationals, China has a strategic stake in the stability of countries across the Eurasian landmass as a result of its One Belt, One Road initiative and the threat of blowback in Xinjiang of unrest in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

China has signalled its gradual recognition of these new realities with the publication in January 2016 of an Arab Policy Paper, the country’s first articulation of a policy towards the Middle East and North Africa. But, rather than spelling out specific policies, the paper reiterated the generalities of China’s core focus in its relations with the Arab world: economics, energy, counter-terrorism, security, technical cooperation and its One Belt, One Road initiative. Ultimately however, China will have to develop a strategic vision that outlines foreign and defence policies it needs to put in place to protect its expanding strategic, geopolitical, economic, and commercial interests in the Middle East and North Africa; its role and place in the region as a rising superpower in the region; and its relationship and cooperation with the United States in managing, if not resolving conflict.

La Singapore indipendente e la Repubblica Popolare Cinese (RPC) hanno una relazione storica varia e complessa. I due stati godono di legami economici eccellenti, che hanno rappresentato una chiave caratteristica delle interazioni bilaterali dall’inizio del processo di apertura e di riforme della RPC alla fine degli anni ’70 del XX secolo. Sostanziali scambi culturali, educativi, e turistici sono un tratto distintivo delle relazioni tra Singapore e PRC. Tuttavia, i rapporti diplomatici solo recentemente stanno tornando a un clima di generale cordialità dopo un periodo protratto di due anni di frizioni. Ci furono in verità altri più prolungati periodi di allontanamento tra Singapore e Pechino – Singapore scoraggiò i cittadini dall’avere contatti con la PRC durante la Rivoluzione Culturale e stabilì legami ufficiali con la PRC solamente nel 1992.

Although there have been extensive studies on Chinese urbanization, few researches focus on the migrant workers in the world factory city and contextualize their livelihoods in those neighborhoods. This paper pays attention to the new-generation migrant workers' way of life in Shenzheng's Foxconn city, understood as a relevant pattern of China's urbanism. Based on first-handed surveys and interviews, we find strong evidences to support the argument, namely, that "social alienation" is a common experience to these workers. Moreover, this study illustrates the interplay of various institutional factors contributes to the alienated urbanism, including hukou system, urban policy, corporate strategies and labor control politics. Finally we argue the migrant labor regime squeezes the workers in developing their social support

As part of the gLAWcal - Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom) results and book series, a book was published CHINA’S INFLUENCE ON NON-TRADE CONCERNS IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW, Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Protection of Environment, Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, Labour Rights, Public Health, Food and Product Safety, Global Law and Sustainable Development Book Series, Routledge Publishing (London/New-York), September 2016, pp. 1-584 TO DOWNLOAD FRONT AND BACK COVER, TABLE OF CONTENTS, INTRODUCTION OF THE BOOK, FOREWORDS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, PLEASE SEE THE FOLLOWING LINK: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2876883 To purchase the book, you can refer to the publisher website: https://www.routledge.com/Chinas-Influence-on-Non-Trade-Concerns-in-International-Economic-Law/Farah-Cima/p/book/9781409448488

FP7-PEOPLE-2010 IRSES
Marie Curie Irses

The event is organized by

gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom)

Institutions organizing the Workshop within the LIBEAC Consortium:

University Institute of European Studies (IUSE) in Turin, Italy
University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
Peking University, School of Government, Center for European Studies (China)
Tsinghua University, Department of Philosophy (China)
Tsinghua University, School of Public Policy and Management (China)
Aix-Marseille University, CEPERC (France)

        Project LIBEAC
Liberalism in Between Europe and China

    WORKSHOP ON

SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND LEGAL PERSPECTIVE ON CHINESE –POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC – LIBERALISM TODAY

held at
Peking University, School of Government, Center for European Studies (China)

                                    Time: Morning, 8 Aug. 2014
                               
                      Beijing, China

8:00 - 8:30 Registration

8:30  Welcoming speeches

8:30 – 8:40
Addressing – Paolo Davide FARAH, West Virginia University (WV, USA), LIBEAC Legal Work-package Leader & Research Unit Coordinator at University Institute of European Studies – IUSE (Italy), gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom)

Addressing – Jean-Yves HEURTEBISE, LIBEAC Vice-coordinator at Aix-Marseille University, CEPERC - Research Center for Comparative Epistemology and Ergology (France); FuJen Catholic University (Taipei), Department of French Language and Culture; Kozmetsky Global Collaboratory in Stanford University (KGC, USA)

SESSION ONE

Chair and Moderator: Paolo Davide FARAH, LIBEAC Legal Work-package Leader & Research Unit Coordinator at University Institute of European Studies – IUSE (Italy)

8:45 – 9:25

LI Qiang, Assistant to the President, Peking University, School of Government,  Center for European Studies (China), LIBEAC Research Unit Coordinator at Peking University

The Influence of Liberalism in China

9:25 – 9:40  Discussants of the Paper – Vanessa KOPEC, Aix-Marseille University, CEPERC - Research Center for Comparative Epistemology and Ergology (France) & EU Commission Marie Fellow

Questions and Answers

9:40 – 10:20 Cui Zhiyuan, Tsinghua University, School of Public Policy and Management; LIBEAC Research Unit Coordinator at Tsinghua University, School of Public Policy and Management

Understanding Xi Jiping's Grand Strategy".

10:20 – 10:35 Discussants of the Paper – Jean-Yves HEURTEBISE, FuJen Catholic University (Taipei), Department of French Language and Culture; LIBEAC Vice-coordinator at Aix-Marseille University, CEPERC - Research Center for Comparative Epistemology and Ergology (France); Kozmetsky Global Collaboratory in Stanford University (KGC, USA)

10:35 – 11:05 ZHU Tianbiao, Peking University, School of Government

Neoliberalism and China’s Compressed Development

11:05 – 11:20  Discussant of the Paper - Paolo Davide FARAH, LIBEAC Legal Work-package Leader & Research Unit Coordinator at University Institute of European Studies – IUSE (Italy)

11:20 - 11:40  Zhang Xiang, Tsinghua University, School of Public Policy and Management

K’ang Yu-wei's Thoughts about the Problem of the Relationship of Politics and Religion

11:40 – 12:00 Roundtable Questions & Answers

12:00 – 12:15 Break




Chair and Moderator: ZHU Tianbiao, Professor of Peking University, School of Government

12:15 – 12:30
Paolo Davide FARAH, West Virginia University (WV, USA), LIBEAC Legal Work-package Leader & Research Unit Coordinator at University Institute of European Studies – IUSE (Italy), gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Globalization and Liberalism toward Social, Economic, Environmental and Cultural Rights

12:30 – 12:45
Jean-Yves HEURTEBISE, FuJen Catholic University (Taipei), Department of French Language and Culture; Aix-Marseille University, CEPERC - Research Center for Comparative Epistemology and Ergology (France); Kozmetsky Global Collaboratory in Stanford University (KGC, USA)

The future of Chinese liberalism and the limits of Developmentalism

12:45 – 13:00
Fernando DIAS SIMOES, University of Macau, Faculty of Law (China) & Member of the Scientific Committee of gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom)

From Civic Behaviour to Environmental Citizenship

13:00 – 13:15
Round Table Discussion with all the participants

LI Qiang, Assistant to the President and Professor of Peking University, School of Government,  Director of the Center for European Studies (China), LIBEAC Research Unit Coordinator at Peking University

Vanessa KOPEC, Aix-Marseille University, CEPERC - Research Center for Comparative Epistemology and Ergology (France) & EU Commission Marie Fellow

ZHU Tianbiao, Professor of Peking University, School of Government

Jean-Yves HEURTEBISE, FuJen Catholic University (Taipei), Department of French Language and Culture; LIBEAC Vice-coordinator at Aix-Marseille University, CEPERC - Research Center for Comparative Epistemology and Ergology (France); Kozmetsky Global Collaboratory in Stanford University (KGC, USA)

Paolo Davide FARAH, West Virginia University (WV, USA), LIBEAC Legal Work-package Leader & Research Unit Coordinator at University Institute of European Studies – IUSE (Italy), gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom)

Fernando DIAS SIMOES, University of Macau, Faculty of Law (China) & Member of the Scientific Committee of gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom)


The event is organized by gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom) in collaboration with the following beneficiaries  and partner institutions of the European Union Research Executive Agency IRSES Project “Liberalism in Between Europe And China” (LIBEAC) coordinated by Aix-Marseille University (CEPERC): University Institute of European Studies (IUSE) in Turin, Italy and the University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy Peking University, School of Government, Center for European Studies (China), Tsinghua University, Department of Philosophy (China). Workpackages 2 and 4

As part of the gLAWcal - Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom) results and book series, a book was published CHINA’S INFLUENCE ON NON-TRADE CONCERNS IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW, Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Protection of Environment, Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, Labour Rights, Public Health, Food and Product Safety, Global Law and Sustainable Development Book Series, Routledge Publishing (London/New-York), September 2016, pp. 1-584 TO DOWNLOAD FRONT AND BACK COVER, TABLE OF CONTENTS, INTRODUCTION OF THE BOOK, FOREWORDS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, PLEASE SEE THE FOLLOWING LINK: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2876883 To purchase the book, you can refer to the publisher website: https://www.routledge.com/Chinas-Influence-on-Non-Trade-Concerns-in-International-Economic-Law/Farah-Cima/p/book/9781409448488

2013年9月，中国主席习近平在位于哈萨克斯坦阿斯塔纳的纳扎尔巴耶夫大学演讲中提到了丝绸之路经济带的战略远景一一这将是一个跨越中国、中亚以及中东最后延伸到欧洲的经济发展区域，也是一个远远超越古代丝绸贸易路线的区域。一个月后，习近平在印尼国会演讲，提到21 世纪海上丝绸之路的战略远景一一这将是沿着南中国海和印度洋主要港口和贸易航线的经济发展区域。这两项战略远景构成了" 一带一路"的战略框架。在一带一路所涵盖的广袤区域，大量基础设施工程的实施投人， 将会给中国带来资金和新的专业技术以及工业技术。从机场铁路建设到深水港口的离开发，这些项目将为中国公司走向全球化和多样化提供重要契机。当然，受益的不仅仅是中国的公司，中国的伙伴国也将得益于这些基础设施的发展，得以剌激经济增长，同时，无需担心中国会干涉他们本国的内政事务。中国政府对" 一带一路"战略有着长远的眼光。

The study aimed to address three main questions. Firstly, do Chinese mining, oil and gas (MOG) operations in Africa occur in areas of conservation value as defined by the Integrated Biodiversity and Assessment Tool (IBAT) and Conservation International (CI)’s geographic areas of interest? Secondly, if there are common areas of interest which countries and which companies should CI focus its efforts on with respect to engaging Chinese actors. Thirdly, how should CI strategically pursue possible collaboration with select Chinese companies in order to ensure the conservation of biodiversity and the ecosystem services that underpin human wellbeing in Africa.

This article is an attempt to clarify the current state of EU-China relations based on a critical analysis of recent developments and emerging trends within a framework of International Relations theory. It compares Chinese attitudes to the EU with European attitudes towards the People´s Republic of China, in order to highlight areas in which the approaches of the two sides tend to be at cross purposes. A clearer understanding by each side of the other´s perspective can pave the way to improved relations and avoid impasses, confusion and head off potential conflicts of interest before they appear.

History and proximity have been integral to foreign aid and trade in aviation services in Africa. Due to colonial administrative, trade and cultural ties, West European influence has always been strong. Post-colonial geopolitical realignments of newly independent African countries deflected some of their international air routes behind the Iron Curtain. North American presence was always weak, except in aircraft sales. From the 1990s, Turkey and Persian Gulf countries have made rapid inroads into African air traffic. Mainland China’s involvement in African aviation is qualitatively and quantitatively different, and is in step with its rail, road and energy infrastructure investments in Africa. This paper contextualizes and outlines the Chinese emphasis on airport finance, design and construction on the continent; Chinese airline service is secondary (and Africa-dominated), and joint operational ventures are in their infancy. The prominence of one foreign country in airport provision in Africa, the recency of Chinese involvement, its pace, its price-tag, its conditionality, and minimal concurrent Chinese airline route building to and from Africa, fix the novelty and perhaps significance of Chinese involvement in African aviation.

Abstract (English)

This paper analyzes the multilateral Brazilian foreign policy, making the country a regional pivot in Latin America, a leading nation among developing countries, and an emerging world power. Without the status of nuclear power, Brazil establishes asymmetrical alliances to earn a place in a reformed UN Security Council, but must contend the seat with accredited competitors, such as India, as well a strategic partner, and counteract some riotous neighbors, as Mexico and Argentina. Meanwhile, through the establishment and the membership in several international organizations and multilateral mechanisms, Brasília developes a worldwide policy, maneuvering between new and old alliances, and playing a 'winning and losing carambole game'. Will the chrysalis turn into a butterfly?

Resumo (Português)

Este trabalho analisa a política estrangeira multilateral do Brasil, fazendo o país um pivô regional na América Latina, una nação liderante entre os países em desenvolvimento e uma potência mundial emergente. Sem o estado de potência nuclear, o Brasil estabelece alianças estratégicas para ganhar um lugar num Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas reformado, mas tem que competir por este lugar com concorrentes acreditados, tal como a Índia, assim como um parceiro estratégico, e para contrapor-se à alguns vizinhos tumultuosos, tal como o México e a Argentina. Enquanto isso, através do estabelecimento e da afiliação a muitas organizações internacionais e mecanismos multilaterais, Brasília desenvolve uma política mundial, manobrando entre alianças novas e antigas, e jogando carambola com possibilidade de conseguir o perder. A crisálida vai virar borboleta?

Although the US and its Western allies had long relationship with Africa in various categories of aid and development, China’s recent entry into the Dark Continent caused huge displeasure to the traditional donors. The Asian giant’s economic investment in Africa was so huge that it engaged scholars to analyze the trend from various perspectives including politics, economics, commerce, governance, human rights as well as security. The move also became an awakening or a reawakening for the US and its think tank in that, with the magnitude of rich resources under its soil, Africa is to be redefined in a more appealing fashion very unlike the Dark Continent the West had misinterpreted it for calculated hidden interests. It is based on this background that this study problematises the nature of the competition between the two giants and the implications it may hold for Africa.

In 2013 Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Together, both development initiatives promise to deepen China’s economic connections with the world’s key growth regions including Southeast Asia through the development of infrastructural megaprojects and increased trade. Domestically, the “Belt and Road” is envisioned to be a key driver of growth for China’s new normal of single-digit economic growth. For Southeast Asia, these megaprojects promise to catalyze and reshape the region’s next several decades of economic development. This paper will examine the prospects for accelerated economic growth and regional economic integration promised by the “Belt and Road” projects, as well as the social, political, and environmental challenges that can be expected from the implementation of these megaprojects.

China’s stock markets are barely 25 years old however, they already boast more members than China’s communist party, “90 million individual investors, compared with 87.8 million members of the Communist Party” (Faux 2015).


First, this paper will explore investor behaviors which caused volatility in the Chinese stock market. Next, it will explore government intervention to support the stock market. Finally, it will explore the implications a Chinese stock market crash could have on Chinese domestic and foreign economies.

In Indonesia, Chinese voluntary associations took on a new level of importance after the fall of Suharto’s New Order regime in 1998 that ushered in a revival of Chinese identity politics. At the same time, Sino-Indonesian relations are blossoming, and the rise of China as a global power means that Indonesia can only benefit from stronger ties with China in the future. In this new atmosphere of cooperation, I argue that Chinese Indonesian individuals and voluntary organizations play a crucial function as trade and cultural intermediaries. Drawing on both empirical and qualitative fieldwork data, in this paper, I examine how members of Chinese voluntary organizations view their ethnicity, national belonging, and strategic position in the contexts of post-Suharto Chinese identity politics and Sino-Indonesia relations. More broadly, this paper also offers a critical analysis of the internal dynamics of contemporary Overseas Chinese voluntary organizations and the role they play in building trade and sociocultural relationships between China and other countries.
In Indonesia, Chinese voluntary associations took on a new level of importance after the fall of Suharto’s New Order regime in 1998 that ushered in a revival of Chinese identity politics. In an era where expressions of Chineseness are no longer forbidden, many within these associations have actively re-established cultural, emotional and socio-economic ties with China, resulting in a phenomenon commonly termed ‘re-Sinification.’ At the same time, Sino-Indonesian relations are blossoming, and the rise of China as a global power means that Indonesia can only benefit from stronger ties with China in the future. In this new atmosphere of cooperation, Chinese Indonesian individuals and voluntary organisations play a crucial function as trade and cultural intermediaries, which means that for the first time in decades, Chineseness has become a valuable social capital rather than a political liability.

Drawing on both empirical and qualitative fieldwork data, in this paper, I examine how members of Chinese voluntary organisations view their ethnicity, national belonging, and strategic position in the contexts of post-Suharto Chinese identity politics and Sino-Indonesia relations. More broadly, this paper also offers a critical analysis of the internal dynamics of contemporary overseas Chinese voluntary organisations and the role they play in building trade and socio-cultural relationships between China and other countries.

Contemporary impressions of Taiwan’s relations with Southeast Asia tend to focus on flows of labor, capital, tourism, and marriage. Countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand carry the impression that they are the origins of cheap, sometimes easily exploitable, migrant labor for employers in Taiwan. Many people in Taiwan also see the former two countries as sources of brides for lower-income men. These same countries, along with Cambodia and, to a lesser degree, Malaysia, are locations where Taiwanese capital is invested in factories for low-cost labor, proximity to Taiwan and China, and the relative absence of political contentiousness for being Taiwanese. With the advent of cheap air travel, Taiwan and Southeast Asia also offer the middle class in these areas options for quick holiday getaways. These interactions and the condescension toward Southeast Asia that sometimes accompany them belie the rich history of interactions that Taiwan and Southeast Asia share.

http://www.nbr.org/research/activity.aspx?id=831

This report assesses potential threats and risks that could affect the implementation of the CPEC project in terms of insecurity and violence that pervade Pakistan, internal political and economic constraints, and also global and regional geostrategic impediments. The purpose is to understand and evaluate Pakistan’s security, political and economic environment and regional geostrategic dynamics in the medium to long term to explore feasibility prospects for the corridor and also to manage potential threats, if any, that could hamper the implementation. Most importantly, the report discusses the security aspect in detail in which the probability of threats vis-à-vis extremist militancy, nationalist insurgency and criminal violence are analyzed with the main focus on areas across Pakistan which will be traversed by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

This article examines the openly adversarial neoconservative foundation under George Bush to the supposedly more ‘engaged’ diplomatic interaction under Barack Obama. What will be exposed is a fairly uninspired and non-innovative American policy that not only fails to consider Russian initiatives from Russia’s own national security perspectives, but aims to contain it within a continued Cold War box that not only sours opportunities for collaboration but guarantees the absence of partnership in areas of global security. This piece examines the consequences of imagining Russia only as nemesis.

The massive overseas expansion of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is a central aspect of China’s ‘rise’ to great-power status. There is significant disagreement, however, over how to interpret SOEs’ role. Are they instruments of Chinese statecraft, being directed purposefully from Beijing as part of a ‘grand strategy’? Or are they relatively autonomous, profit-maximising businesses, their free-wheeling behaviour often undermining Chinese foreign policy? Finding that there is evidence for both theses, we provide a framework to explain this. We propose theorising party-state/SOEs relations using the concepts of state transformation and regulatory statehood. We show that the Chinese state’s fragmentation, decentralisation and internationalisation since the late 1970s has substantially increased SOE autonomy and weakened but also transformed the executive’s control, reconfiguring it towards a regulatory mode of governance. Party-state/SOEs relations are thus characterised not by direct command and control but weak oversight and ongoing struggles within the party-state. We illustrate this using a case study of China Power Investment Corporation and its Myitsone hydropower dam project in Myanmar. Here, a central SOE clearly defied and subverted central regulations, profoundly damaging Sino-Myanmar state-to-state relations. Party-state authorities are now struggling to rein in this and other central SOEs.

La inversión extranjera directa (IED) es una fuerza impulsora de la globalización y un motor importante del crecimiento económico. La IED no solo puede aportar capital a una economía, sino que también puede contribuir a la modernización industrial por la transferencia de las tecnologías y los conocimientos, y puede crear los empleos. Por lo tanto, los países en desarrollo, así como los países desarrollados, tratan de atraer la IED. En este contexto, la estadística de IED es importante para facilitar el establecimiento de las regulaciones y las estrategias sobre la utilización de la IED. Sin embargo, los diferentes países tienen distintos marcos reguladores de la IED y siguen diferentes métodos de la recopilación de los datos sobre la IED. La inconsistencia, la incompatibilidad y la pobre calidad de las estadísticas de IED impiden el análisis empírico y comparable de la IED desde y hacia los países en desarrollo.