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The article presents the paper "China's Political Party System," published by China's State Council Information Office in 2007. The document examines the political party system adopted by China, focusing on the role that multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party plays in China's social and political life. The author looks at China's basic political system as well as manifestations of socialist democracy. A brief introduction to the democratic parties of China is also presented.

This article provides the first comparative overview in English of Japanese colonial banks before World War II with an emphasis on their roles as banks of issue in Taiwan, Korea and Northeast China. It discusses at length similarities and differences in these banks’ note circulation patterns, in their note-reserve requirements and their actual application, and in their geographical spread and respective colonial mandates. There was some variation in Japanese bank note issuance in the colonial setting of Korea and Taiwan, in ‘Manchukuo’ and in those parts of China that remained nominally sovereign. But all Japanese colonial banks seem, in one way or another, to have astutely adjusted the spread of their note issue in order to control for flagging demand due to nationalist boycotts, or to conversely cash in on demand spurts for notes resulting from crises in the indigenous financial sector. The banks of issue under review here were theoretically subject to a 100 per cent reserve requirement, but the make-up of their metallic bullion reserve and the degree of their notes’ convertibility were very dissimilar, reflecting varying local conditions. Both in terms of reserve ratios, and note denominations—the banks prudently followed charter obligations that were devised by the Japanese Treasury but, at the same time, were reminiscent of the obligations that British overseas banks also had to abide by. Thus, the findings discussed here shed light on the inception and adaptability of Japanese colonial policy in the lead-up to the Pacific War. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the conviction that formulaic expressions in a language are carriers of stable thought patterns of its culture, the paper conducts a thematic analysis of Chinese educational idioms with the goal of exploring the traditional Chinese educational values reflected in the Chinese language use. Altogether, about 100 Chinese idioms that pertain to teaching, learning and parenting are identified from a Chinese Chengyu (idioms) dictionary. Findings of this study challenge the common practice of borrowing Western pedagogical discourses to justify curriculum change initiatives in China, arguing that the traditional Chinese educational discourses should be retained in order to secure a strong cultural identity for young generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's need for rapid economic growth and its hunger for natural resources significantly challenge its economic and policy vision of sustainability, social stability and economic development. The 'Beautiful China Initiative' plans to put China on the path of sustainable development in line with the United Nations' 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development GoaSls. The Chinese authorities are expected to reconsider traditional economic policy models to integrate environmental protection while ensuring that their economy proliferates. The shift from a traditional and heavy coal-dependent economy towards greener energy and a sustainable economic model brings additional challenges to China due to its historical dependence on coal as its energy engine. This research paper examines causality patterns between economic growth and fossil fuels energy consumption by analysing coal consumption and carbon dioxide emissions policies using Pesaran's autoregressive distributed lag model. The research findings offer insights into China's challenges to transition towards a more sustainable economic model, making the country's 'Beautiful China Initiative' quite complex as it needs to navigate through high levels of environment-friendly economic growth whilst trying to avoid the middle-income trap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China Story, also known as Xi Jinping's Chinese Dream of the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation, is widely accepted as the central narrative for the leadership's ideological and political legitimacy-building efforts. Despite its significance and the widespread attention it has received in the decade since its inception, surprisingly little literature has examined the Chinese Dream through the lens of narrative theory. This article seeks to close this gap by offering a structural narratological analysis of the China Story. It illuminates how the narrative comprises policy-oriented rhetorical frames that form overarching themes that direct party-state actions and support Xi Jinping's status as the 'core' leader. The paper argues that as a 'master narrative', it seeks to provide a spiritual foundation and a compelling vision of a strong, prosperous, and unified China under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a framework for China's gradual global integration. From historical exclusion, China became initially and partly incorporated to the world in the 1950s and 1960s while ignored by most of the countries. A quantitative breakthrough in the 1970s has led to a universal recognition, still formal and restricted throughout the 1980s and 1990s, making China a great power by the early twenty-first century. China's rise and gradual integration in the international community is interpreted here based on Marx's theory of ownership and Professor Charles Taylor's theory of recognition. Both regard status as a property which is an outcome not just of a unilateral individual claim but of multilateral social relations. Adapted to the international society, these theories underscore China's global integration. Therefore, China is now entitled to, and capable of, playing a more active and, moreover, leading global role, not just because of its unilateral claims and remarkable achievements, but also, and perhaps much more, because of its multilateral recognition—not in the formal diplomatic sense—of China's entitlement and capabilities of doing it. Also, in addition to joining, and occasionally heading, international organisations, China introduced its One Belt One Road initiative as a unique contribution of a model for the West, and especially for less-developed countries. While it is post-Mao China's domestic reform which attract most international attention and are regarded a revolutionary breakthrough with the past, the real and most innovative breakthrough is China's integration in the world. Domestic reforms were undertaken throughout Chinese history; international integration is new and unprecedented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines five issues: 1) Recent performance of developing countries in terms of growth, investment and integration with the world economy; 2) The impact of the crisis on these economies; 3) The response of policy makers in these economies to mitigate the adverse impact, in particular, the nature of the stimulus packages implemented in these economies; 4) The role developing countries can play in the recovery of the world economy; and 5) The role of China in the recovery, and, in particular, how to deal with the bilateral imbalance between the US and China. Special attention is paid to the behaviour of the economies of the developing country members of the G20 (DG20).1 Finally, the paper discusses what the crisis has revealed about the interests of Russia, India and China in the world economy and consequently a possible strategy for the G20 which would serve their interests. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines Kang Youwei’s perception of India as well as his impact on the Chinese discourse on India during the late Qing and Republican periods. The analysis is pursued on the basis of a letter entitled ‘A letter to Liang Qichao and other students on [the fact that] the Fall of India [as an independent country] was due to the Independence of Its Provinces’. Kang wrote this letter to Liang, his closest student and associate who was also a famous intellectual, when Kang was in Darjeeling in May 1902. Kang was keen to diagnose India’s collapse to British colonialism for the purpose of helping China avoid a similar fate. This essay argues that his journey to and writings about India were of great significance in shaping the modern Chinese perceptions of India. He, for the first time, explicitly made a comprehensive comparison between China and India and positioned India as a negative example for the Chinese. From then on, India’s image among many Chinese intellectuals was that of a failed nation unable to confront imperialism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The dynamism of China and India since their respective economic reforms began has been subject to much discussion and analysis. Though the current global financial crisis has dealt a sharp blow to Asian growth, China and India remain the fastest growing economies in Asia. The two Asian giants display some similarities in terms of being the most populous countries in the world and in terms of rapid growth (if at a slower pace) despite recession. But there are also several dissimilarities between the two. Their political systems, economic policies and areas of comparative advantage are different. If China is outperforming India in many areas, India is doing better in certain other key areas. This paper attempts a comparative analysis of the performance of the two economies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To most observers, Sino–Indian relations present a paradox—a seemingly intractable and staunchly contested dispute, persisting at the centre of a rapidly transforming relationship. Nearly a decade and a half of confidence-building measures between India and China has transpired during which a comprehensive set of mechanisms and procedures have been laid down to address their boundary dispute. An entire structure of dialogues at different levels and of diverse kinds—political, strategic, defence, economic—has evolved, with the objective of resolving such misunderstandings as arising from time to time, with speed and despatch. These achievements are the basis on which this paper asserts that the core issue of contention between India and China, the disputed boundary, has moved into a qualitatively different stage, which may be termed post-conflictual, that is, if current trends continue, force is unlikely to be used to settle the ongoing dispute. This article argues that the Agreements of 2003 and 2005 were a fundamental departure from the earlier approaches adopted by the two countries and a conscious attempt at charting a new way out of a tangled historical legacy riddled with contradictions and complexities. It seeks to examine the origins of this shift, the politics that underlay this vital ‘course correction’ by both sides and its hopefully far-reaching implications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper argues that more than their boundary dispute, it is the place of Tibet in the Sino–Indian relationship that is at the core of the continuing mistrust between the two countries. For China, pushing economic development as a panacea to ethnic grievances has been an insufficient strategy. To ensure sustainable political stability in Tibet, it is necessary to give India greater space in Tibet in the form of improved economic, tourist and religious exchanges as a way of relieving the sense of cultural siege that ethnic Tibetans suffer from. India meanwhile, having accepted Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, will have to reciprocate with a new ‘forward policy’ of its own allowing for greater Chinese access to its own markets and the removal of other discriminatory restrictions on Chinese travelling to India. The way ahead lies in converting Tibet’s political centrality into an economic centrality in the Sino–Indian bilateral relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper posits that China’s insistence on the ‘return’ to China of the territory constituting Arunachal Pradesh, and even China’s insistence on Indian cession of a salient of territory in the Tawang area of that region, is a form of Chinese deterrence of what Beijing takes to be potentially dangerous ‘anti-China’ behaviour by India. Deep divergence of Chinese and Indian perceptions of Tibet, plus the history of Indian support for unarmed and armed Tibetan resistance to Chinese Communist rule of Tibet, makes Beijing fearful that India might again, someday, work to undermine Chinese rule in Tibet. An open territorial dispute serves as a standing threat to ‘teach India a lesson’, underlining for New Delhi the need for great circumspection in dealing with China. Indian strategic alignment with the United States exacerbates Chinese fears. The intensity of China’s implicit threat can be turned up or down by Beijing as the perversity of Indian policy indicates. Keeping the border issue open dovetails with China’s continuing entente with Pakistan and may even be based on an understanding between Beijing and Islamabad. A premise of this argument is that mainstream Indian opinion is willing to translate the line of actual control into an international border. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1976 India and China resumed their diplomatic interactions, which had been interrupted by the 1962 War. For the ensuing three decades both sides have been engaged in discovering a process that can identify the contours of a solution to the boundary question. The orthodox historiography of the post-1976 phase portrays India as a relatively intransigent actor still clinging to the past (pre-1962) and unwilling to truly explore a solution to the dispute. India is also painted as an unimaginative interlocutor, unable to offer proposals or counter-proposals; it is China that has supposed to have steered India toward a common position. This paper offers a nuanced corrective. India was not the only unyielding actor in this dyad; China too, despite its oft-expressed intent for a comprehensive settlement has been less than enthusiastic in translating its principles toward concrete proposals. Nevertheless, a modicum of progress has been attained, which is reflected in important bilateral agreements in the 1990s and 2000s. The author gets to the essence of the dispute and attempts to interpret the negotiating postures of both sides and conjectures why progress might have stalled since the mid-2000s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present paper argues that there is an absence of a clear policy of rural industrialization in India to absorb labour from agriculture that can help increase labour productivity and improve rural incomes. Agricultural growth, combined with clear policy of rural industrialization, is important for an equitable rural–urban growth. To this end, equitable land distribution, rural infrastructure and services, human capital development (literacy and health) and governance are very crucial—in the attainment of all of which China attained a fair degree of success. Therefore, these are some of the lessons that Indian policymakers may take from the Chinese model of rural development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The characteristic feature of the geo-economic space of the People’s Republic of China is that 70 per cent of the minority population of the country is concentrated in its western region. The uneven development of the early reform period mostly affected the minority-populated areas. China’s westernmost administrative division Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is one such region which has been restive since 1990 due to an ongoing separatist movement led by Uyghurs, the majority ethnic group of the region. Alongside the regional imbalances in economic development during the reform period, due to geographical as well as historical factors, and long-term policy, a phenomenon of localized economic development has emerged that marginalized the minorities of Xinjiang to a great extent. The paper focuses on the intraregional economic disparities of the region and the economic deprivation of the Uyghurs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Anniversaries are occasions for celebration and for taking stock of past problems as well as successes as a basis for looking ahead. But it is important to acknowledge first the enormity of the achievements of the People’s Republic. The sixtieth anniversary has been marked in Beijing by a display of China’s military strength and its wealth. The “sick man” of Asia of a century ago has been transformed into one of the world’s economic power-houses. Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. The Chinese economy ranks as the largest in the world. It has become one of the world’s greatest trading nations and its influence is growing in every continent. However, in assessing the significance of these sixty years this paper will focus on three themes: history; foreign relations and future prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The study examines China’s performance in science and technology (S&T) during 1997–2007, based on several parameters including the country’s annual average growth rate, global publication share and rank, strong and weak subject areas (in terms of national priority, international collaborative share and global share), institutional profiles of select top institutions, the overall international collaboration profile and major collaborative partners, patterns of communication in national and international journals and characteristics of its top highly cited papers. The study also compares similarities of China’s research profile with nineteen other top productive countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information about several papers discussed at the Seventh China-India-Russia Academic Trilateral Conference, held October 2007 in Moscow, Russia is presented. Topics include regional cooperation, regional economic development, globalization, international trade agreements, and the effect of academic studies on the foreign policies of Russia, China, and India.