The China Quarterly
Volume 194, June 2008
Research Articles
pp 275 - 293
Environmental Cleanup and Health Gains from Beijing's Green Olympics
Robert W. Mead and Victor Brajer
Abstract: In announcing its bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing chose a “Green Olympics” theme to indicate that hosting the Olympic Games would serve as a catalyst for environmental improvements and sustainable development. With the Olympics now just a short time away, it is appropriate to examine the city's cleanup progress to date. This article does so, and also quantifies some of the health benefits of these cleanup activities, placing an economic value on the gains. Results for air pollution cleanup indicate an economic gain of nearly 50 billion yuan over a ten-year period, with a potential annual gain of 3.5 billion yuan for reaching air quality standards. Water pollution results suggest a potential annual gain of another 2.6 billion yuan.
Pp294-308
China's Foreign Policy in Sport: The Primacy of National Security and Territorial Integrity Concerning the Taiwan Question
Junwei Yu
Abstract: Traditionally, research that examines foreign policy in sport often revolves around the prestige, status, welfare and protection of ethnic or human kin. However, this article argues that from the outset, China's foreign policy on sport vis-à-vis Taiwan has placed national security and territorial integrity as its number one priority. Chinese leaders have developed a carrot-and-stick policy. On the one hand, an “Olympic formula” has been devised enabling Taiwan to participate in non-governmental international organizations such as the Olympics. On the other hand, a “one China principle” has been imposed, to treat Taiwan as a local province that ceases to be a sovereign state. The 2008 Beijing Olympics is a perfect arena for China to use the two doctrines interchangeably.
pp 309 - 326
Learning to Co-operate: China's Multilateral Approach to Asian Financial Co-operation
Injoo Sohn
Abstract: This study explains the ideational sources of China's proactive multilateral diplomacy towards Asian financial co-operation by employing a learning thesis. Challenging prominent materialist explanations (power-transition thesis, realist balancing thesis and economic utility thesis), this study argues that the collective learning of Chinese policy elites through cognitive dissonance, feedback effects and transnational persuasion explains much of the change in China's relational identity and philosophical beliefs regarding regional co-operation. These prior ideational shifts helped to determine China's behaviour change from its muted opposition to Asian financial co-operation in the 1990s to its active support of regional financial co-operation in the early 2000s, as evidenced in the emergence of the Chiang Mai Initiative, Chinese–Japanese–South Korean trilateral financial co-operation and the Asian Bond Fund Initiative. Chinese learning also suggests that more fundamental changes in China's national preference may make its support for Asian financial co-operation more consistent and stable in the foreseeable future than sceptics might anticipate.
pp 327 - 348
Feminization of Agriculture in China? Myths Surrounding Women's Participation in Farming
Alan de Brauw, Qiang Li, Chengfang Liu, Scott Rozelle and Linxiu Zhang
Abstract: The goals of this article are to help build a clear picture of the role of women in China's agriculture, to assess whether or not agricultural feminization has been occurring, and if so, to measure its impact on labour use, productivity and welfare. The article uses two high quality data sets to explore who is working on China's farms and the effects of the labour allocation decisions of rural households on labour use, productivity and welfare. It makes three main contributions. First, we establish a conceptual framework within which to define the different dimensions of agricultural feminization and its expected consequences. Second, as a contribution to the China literature and contrary to popular perceptions, we believe we have mostly debunked the myth that China's agriculture is becoming feminized; it is not. We also find that even if women were taking over farms, the consequences in China would be mostly positive – from a labour supply, productivity and income point of view. Finally, there may be some lessons for the rest of the world on what policies and institutions help make women productive when they work on and manage a nation's agricultural sector. Policies that ensure equal access to land, regulations that dictate open access to credit, and economic development strategies that encourage competitive and efficient markets all contribute to an environment in which women farmers can succeed.
pp 349 - 364
Corruption in Transitional China: An Empirical Analysis
Yong Guo
Abstract: Based on an evaluation of three methods adopted by current empirical analysis of corruption, this article argues for a statistical analysis method of studying corruption cases. It adopts three new indicators: the latency period of corruption, the number of newly occurring corruption cases and the cumulative number of cases. By applying these indicators to an analysis of 594 major corruption cases, the article develops a new method to describe the position of corruption in transitional China, and presents new evidence on characteristics and trends of corruption and its relation with China's economic transition.
pp 365 - 379
Message in a Bottle: Lyrical Laments and Emotional Expression in Mandopop
Marc L. Moskowitz
Abstract: This article explores the ubiquitous themes of loneliness, isolation and anomie in Mandopop (Mandarin Chinese language pop music). This is not to imply that people in the PRC and Taiwan are lonelier than people from other countries but, rather, that being human they experience these emotions. What is distinctive here is that Mandopop becomes a primary conduit to express feelings that are sanctioned in daily speech. The article addresses these concerns and uses in-depth interviews in Shanghai and Taipei to find out why Mandopop's themes of loneliness and isolation are so resonant to its fans.
pp 380 - 394
Japanese Occupation, Shanghai Exiles, and Postwar Hong Kong Cinema
Poshek Fu
Abstract: This article explores a little-explored subject in a critical period of the history of Hong Kong and China. Shortly after the surrender of Japan in 1945, China was in the throes of civil war between the Nationalists and Communists while British colonial rule was restored in Hong Kong, The communist victory in 1949 deepened the Cold War in Asia. In this chaotic and highly volatile context, the flows and linkages between Shanghai and Hong Kong intensified as many Chinese sought refuge in the British colony. This Shanghai–Hong Kong nexus played a significant role in the rebuilding of the post-war Hong Kong film industry and paved the way for its transformation into the capital of a global pan-Chinese cinema in the 1960s and 1970s. Focusing on a study of the cultural, political and business history of post-war Hong Kong cinema, this article aims to open up new avenues to understand 20th-century Chinese history and culture through the translocal and regional perspective of the Shanghai–Hong Kong nexus.
State of the Field
pp 395 - 413
Studies of Contemporary Chinese Politics in Korea: An Assessment
Jae Ho Chung
Abstract: Given the extraordinary pace of across-the-board expansion in Korea–China relations, the lack of assessments on the state of studies of contemporary Chinese politics in Korea is a crucial void to be filled. This evaluative article first offers a socio-demographic sketch of the Korean scholarly community of contemporary Chinese politics. More specifically, it examines how the epistemological community has evolved over the last half century in terms of generational and orientational changes. The second section assesses scholarly outputs in the field of contemporary Chinese politics by looking at monographs, refereed journal articles and doctoral dissertations produced by Korean scholars. The article concludes with some suggestions for further advancement of the studies of contemporary Chinese politics, which may be applicable to Korea as well as to the peer communities in other countries.
Research Report
pp 414 - 423
Frontline Soldiers of the CCP: The Selection of China's Township Leaders
Stig Thøgersen
Abstract: China's township leaders have a bad reputation and the CCP is trying to find new ways to select them. This article first presents data on the education and careers of township leaders in one county in Yunnan, and then looks at two partly contradictory trends in cadre selection: exams and consultations.
In Memoriam
pp 424 - 427
Tomoyuki Kojima, 1943–2008
Ryosei Kokubun
Book Reviews
pp 428 - 429
Mao Zedong zhuan (Mao: A Biography). Luosi Telier [Ross Terrill]. Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe, 2006. 556 pp. RMB 55.00. ISBN 7-300-07010-8
Michael Schoenhals
pp 429 - 430
China's Elite Politics: Political Transition and Power Balancing. Zhiyue Bo. Singapore: World Scientific, 2007. xv + 449 pp. $75.00; £41.00. ISBN 978-981-270-041-4
Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard
pp 430 - 432
China Factors: Political Perspectives and Economic Interactions. Gordon C. K. Cheung. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Press, 2007. xii + 165 pp. $42.95; £32.95. ISBN 987-0-7658-0342-9
June Teufel Dreyer
pp 432 - 433
Imagined Enemies: China Prepares for Uncertain War. John Wilson Lewis and Litai Xue. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2006. xiv + 362 pp. $60.00. ISBN 0-8047-5391-1
Christopher Hughes
pp 433 - 435
Harmony and Development: ASEAN–China Relations. Edited by Hongyi Lai and Lim Tin Seng. Singapore: World Scientific, 2007. xxviii + 164 pp. £30.00. ISBN 978-981-270-970-7 The Dragon Looks South: China and Southeast Asia in the New Century. Bronson Percival. Westport, CT and London: Praeger Security International, 2007. x + 200 pp. $49.95. ISBN 978-0-275-99426-6
Ramses Amer
pp 435 - 436
China's Industrial Policies and the Global Business Revolution: The Case of the Domestic Appliance Industry. Ling Liu. London and New York: Routledge, 2005. xviii + 190 pp. £70.00. ISBN 0-415-35560-5
Eric Thun
pp 436 - 438
Capitalism without Democracy: The Private Sector in Contemporary China. Kellee S. Tsai. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2007. xviii + 268 pp. $21.00; £10.50. ISBN 978-0-8014-7326-5
Jane Nolan
pp 438 - 439
Doing Business in Rural China: Liangshan's New Ethnic Entrepreneurs. Thomas Heberer. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007. xii + 268 pp. $50.00; £29.00. ISBN 978-0-295-98729-3
Charles (Chas) Mckhann
pp 439 - 441
Brand New China: Advertising, Media, and Commercial Culture. Jing Wang. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2008. xiii + 404 pp. £18.95. ISBN 978-0-674-02780-3
Chris Berry
pp 441 - 443
China's Urban Space: Development under Market Socialism. T. G. McGee, George C. S. Lin, Andrew M. Marton, Mark Y. L. Wang and Jiaping Wu. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. xxii + 260 pp. £75.00. ISBN 978-0-415-43805-6 Urbanization in China: Critical Issues in an Era of Rapid Growth. Edited by Yan Song and Chengri Ding. Cambridge, MA.: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2007. xvi + 302 pp. $30.00. ISBN 978-1-55844-175-0
Yue-Man Yeung
pp 443 - 444
Chinese Overseas: Migration, Research and Documentation. Edited by Tan Chee-Beng, Colin Storey and Julia Zimmerman. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2007. xxvi + 416 pp. $55.00. ISBN 978-962-996-328-6
Nyíri Pál
pp 445 - 446
A China More Just: My Fight as a Rights Lawyer in the World's Largest Communist State. Zhisheng Gao. San Diego, CA: Broad Press, 2007. xii + 255 pp. $14.95. ISBN 1-932674-36-5
Andrew Halper
pp 446 - 448
Chinese Modernity and Global Biopolitics. Sheldon H. Lu. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007. xiii + 265 pp. $22.00. ISBN 978-0-8248-3177-6
Tiantian Zheng
pp 448 - 449
A History of Contemporary Chinese Literature. Hong Zicheng (translated By Michael M. Day). Leiden: Brill, 2007. xx + 636 pp. € 99.00; $ 148.00. ISBN 978-90-04-15754-5
Rossella Ferrari
pp 449 - 451
The Jin Yong Phenomenon: Chinese Martial Arts Fiction and Modern Chinese Literary History. Edited by Ann Huss and Jianmei Liu. Youngstown, New York: Cambria Press, 2007. 335 pp. £55.95. ISBN 978-1-934043-08-0
Szu-Chi Chen
pp 451 - 452
Women in China's Long Twentieth Century. Gail Hershatter. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2007. 162 pp. £17.95. ISBN 978-0-520-09856-5
Delia Davin
pp 452 - 454
The Talented Women of the Zhang Family. Susan Mann. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2007. xvi + 322 pp. $21.95; £12.95. ISBN 978-0-520-25090-1
Harriet Evans
pp 454 - 455
Public Passions: The Trial of Shi Jianqiao and the Rise of Popular Sympathy in Republican China. Eugenia Lean. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, xiv + 290 pp. $45.00; £26.95. ISBN 978-0-520-24718-5
Susan Glosser
pp 456 - 457
Peasants and Revolution in Rural China: Rural Political Change in the North China Plain and the Yangzi Delta, 1850–1949. Chang Liu. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. xiv + 258 pp. £80.00. ISBN 978-0-415-42176-8
Lucien Bianco
pp 458 - 459
Exotic Commodities: Modern Objects and Everyday Life in China. Frank Dikötter. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. xvi + 382 pp. $35.00. ISBN 978-0-231-14116-1 Things Modern: Material Culture and Everyday Life in China. Frank Dikötter. London: C. Hurst & Co, 2007. xvi + 382 pp. £25.00. ISBN 978-1-85065-815-3
Susan Naquin
pp 459 - 461
Empire of Great Brightness: Visual and Material Cultures of Ming China, 1368–1644. Craig Clunas. London: Reaktion Press, 2007. 288 pp. £35.00. ISBN 978-1-86189-331-4
Jennifer Purtle
Books Received
pp 462 - 465
Books Received
Quarterly Chronicle and Documentation
pp 466 - 510
Quarterly chronicle and documentation
Contributors
pp 511 - 513
Contributors