Search

The paper considers Lieyu island from a relational geography perspective, relative to the islands of Kinmen, Xiamen, and Taiwan. Lieyu retains its natural landscape and military heritage in part due to its remote location and military restrictions relative to nearby Kinmen Island. Local politicians harness Lieyu's archipelagic relationality and sense of underdevelopment relative to other islands in its archipelago to gain financial subsidies for infrastructure development. Such infrastructure projects (including fixed links) endanger Lieyu's sense of islandness and island place. We introduce the term 'compensatory destruction', which involves destroying existing place-based values or attributes in the process of implementing new values in the name of development. Although compensatory destruction is not necessarily bad, care must be taken to ensure that development projects serve the needs of the community as a whole and are adequately assessed and evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how nationalist narratives from Taiwan grappled with incorporating their 'island frontier' into conceptions of a Chinese unitary state. In the post World War II era, after the Chinese Nationalist government-in-exile re-established itself on the island of Taiwan, US-dominated scholarship strategically framed Taiwan as a convenient substitute for the study of China. This framing went hand in hand with the re-sinicization project on the island vigorously pursued by the Nationalists after they took control over the island after the collapse of the Japanese Empire. The Nationalist agenda emphasized the historical connection between the island and mainland China in order to politically create an imagined, and imagining, national community across the Strait. This paper critically investigates how continent-based nationalist narratives have sought to incorporate offshore islands into their unitary framework. It does so by deploying the concepts of geobody, geomancy, geochronology, geosymmetrical analogies, and regional demarcation to explore the geographical ideas on the construction of the postwar national imaginary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely recognized that Taiwanese democrat Wan-chu Lee, a so-called half-mainlander who spent a good part of his career in China, was in general in favor of democracy in his coping with the national issue. However, this paper argues that his understanding of the Chinese nation is primarily a cultural nation and he gave this cultural identity an authentic reading that is not to be transcended by his promotion of democracy. Despite that the prospect for democracy was aborted by the actual development in China, his identification with cultural China never faded away. This paper traces the evolution of his cultural identity and how he was able to stay with it throughout his career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper uses the content analysis method to review the research papers on public relations published in the past 10 years, concludes the current situation and trend of public relations research, and reveals the variations and laws of public relations research in China. In addition, this paper also compares the public relations literatures published in Mainland China with those in Taiwan, which benefits the understanding of the research situation and trend on public relations across the Strait. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the recent incursion by China (meaning both Beijing and Taipei) into the Caribbean and Pacific. The general contours of Chinese trade and investment are discussed to provide a background context for a more specific exploration of Chinese aid, especially to small islands across the two regions. A review of recent literature primarily from Western sources reveals that the main strategic use of aid by Beijing (People's Republic of China - PRC) has been to support the demands of its growing economy but secondarily to isolate Taiwan (Republic of China - ROC) diplomatically. This conclusion, illustrated with several case vignettes, is based on the focus of Chinese aid on those islands retaining diplomatic links with Taipei as well as on the political manoeuvreing this Cross-Strait rivalry has spawned. The paper further suggests that the types of projects Beijing and Taipei have funded, like those of their Western counterparts before them (Australia, Japan, United States), yield limited long-term island development gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of organizational climate and structure on knowledge management and firm innovativeness from the social capital and social network perspectives. Design/methodology/approach -- The empirical study employed a questionnaire approach. The sample for this study was drawn from the population of the top 5,000 Taiwanese firms listed in the yearbook published by the China Credit Information Service Incorporation. Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses in a sample of 146 Taiwanese firms. Findings -- The findings suggest that knowledge management is positively related to firm innovativeness. In addition, the effect of knowledge management on innovativeness is positively moderated by supportive climate and decentralized, integrated, and less formalized structure. The study also examines the effects of organizational climate and structure on knowledge management and the results indicate that innovative and supportive climate are positively related to knowledge management. When the organizational structure is less formalized, more decentralized and integrated, knowledge management is more enhanced. Practical implications -- Firms need to be aware of the critical role of organizational structure and climate in the transition process of knowledge management to innovative products or services. Originality/value -- This study contributes to the literature by investigating the relationships among organizational contexts of climate and structure, knowledge management, and firm innovativeness from the social capital and social network perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how Taiwanese overseas investment creates an ethnic Chinese skilled labor market in Asia. Low costs, no language barrier, and the cultural "lived Taiwan experience" are the benefits. Through three different channels--internal corporate transfer, social networks, and placement agencies--skilled labor from the People's Republic is mobilized to work overseas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the impact of ongoing cross-strait economic integration on the development of China and Taiwan. The overall impact has been positive for both economies. Taiwan's industrial employment remains robust even as it transforms into a knowledge-based economy. Taiwanese investment has spurred China's technological development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]