Search

In a time when the political developments in China have major implications for the stability of the existing international order, this topical book revisits an enduring topic pertaining to Taiwan's influence over China's future.Based on extensive fieldwork, this book gives a holistic account of Taiwan's mixed and overall declining agency in supporting the causes of democracy and human rights across mainland China and Hong Kong. With a carefully selected group of experts, Chen Jie explores how Taiwan's successful democratic transition and consolidation inspired many social activists and liberal intellectuals. With a focus on Taiwan's state and civil society, the book outlines how Taiwan's agency has waned significantly, largely due to the socio-political campaigns of de-Sinification. The book ultimately finds that Taiwan's role as a beacon of democracy is manifested by the island's existence as the only liberal democracy in the Chinese speaking world.The book's critical investigations into the prospects of political liberalization and democratization in China are vital for students and scholars of Asian politics and policy, human rights, and international relations. Its examination of the role of Taiwan in facilitating democratic transition is also beneficial for international democracy and human rights agencies and policymakers alike.

The overseas Chinese democracy movement (OCDM) is one of the world's longest-running and most difficult exile political campaigns. This unique book is a rare and comprehensive account of its trajectory since its beginnings in the early 1980s, examining its shifting operational environment and the diversification of its activities, as well as characterizing its distinctive features in comparison to other exile movements. Chen Jie takes an empirical approach to the history of the OCDM, drawing on extensive primary sources and his own significant field research, including interviews with major dissident figures. He explores the changing roles of activists since the events of Tiananmen Square and the movement's subsequent heyday, highlighting the diverse positions occupied today as a result of internal division and evolving geopolitical circumstances. Using the analytical framework of exile politics, Chen also examines such issues as China's relationship with Taiwan and the implications of the expanding global Chinese diaspora.Academics and postgraduate students studying Chinese politics and international relations, as well as those with an interest in diaspora studies, will find this book invaluable. It will also provide important understanding of Chinese exiles and activists to government officials and those working in international political foundations, funding bodies and human rights organisations.

Jie Chen and Bruce J. Dickson draw on extensive fieldwork as they explore the extent to which China's private sector supports democracy, surveying more than 2,000 entrepreneurs in five coastal provinces with over 70 percent of China's private enterprises.The authors examine who the private entrepreneurs are, how the party-state shapes this group, and what their relationship to the state is. China's entrepreneurs are closely tied to the state through political and financial relationships, and these ties shape their views toward democracy. While most entrepreneurs favor multi-candidate elections under the current one-party system, they do not support a system characterized by multi-party competition and political liberties, including the right to demonstrate. The key to regime support lies in the capitalists'political beliefs and their assessment of the government's policy performance. China's capitalists tend to be conservative and status-quo oriented, not likely to serve as agents of democratization.This is a valuable contribution not only to the debates over the prospects for democracy in China but also to understanding the process of democratization around the globe.