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The flare-up of protests over Hong Kong's anti-extradition bill amendment in 2019 gave rise to a global wave of organising among the city's overseas diaspora of students and migrants, persisting after the city's protest movement declined due to COVID-19 and repression. Based on 85 in-depth interviews with overseas activists as well as journalistic and social media data on events in six cities, this article examines the diaspora's pro-democracy campaign. Easily surpassing the previous mobilisational waves of 1989 and 2014, the newer diaspora activism gave rise to more numerous and widespread organisations, which were mostly decentralised and loosely connected. Responding to the rise and fall of protests in the home city, campaigners shifted from supplying protest-related gear to sheltering fleeing refugees, with the diaspora activism evolving into a global resistance against China's authoritarian expansion. Counter-protests by pro-China supporters increased publicity for the campaign, but also brought threats to personal safety. With the exception of Taiwan, Hongkongers found it difficult to localise their agenda in host countries, and their efforts were frustrated by growing political polarisation in Western democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-2010s, China has experienced scores of cross-regional protests by claim-making groups, despite the Xi regime's tightening societal control. In this article, I examine this form of contention and differentiate three types of groups that make claims for rulemaking, rule-enforcement, and political reform. Then, I compare state responses to each type by focusing on three specific groups: veterans, investors, and leftist students. Instead of crushing all attempts at cross-regional mobilization, the regime has at times made concessions. It has been slow to resort to outright repression, especially when protesters have merely demanded policy change or enforcement. Although this repertoire of contention appears in only some of China's many protests, it is becoming more widespread and in some cases impacts government policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies regard responsiveness as an effective institution for Chinese government to mitigate social protests based on the premise that citizens adopt more institutionalized channels as soon as the regime makes it available. We challenge this notion by arguing that institutionalized and noninstitutionalized channels are not substituting but complements, and improving responsiveness to institutionalized participation may ironically lead to more protests. We collected a unique dataset and employed machine-learning to measure the quality of local responsiveness. We find that improving responsiveness has a positive effect on protests and identify updating citizens' beliefs on repression as major mechanism. The findings suggest the availability of new institutionalized channels may not have the intended substitutive effects on noninstitutionalized participation, and thus authoritarian co-optation could have unintended consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the political and diplomatic response from Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments towards China regarding its post-2014 Xinjiang security strategy. The policy, which includes repressive measures against Xinjiang Muslim minorities, has led to the detention of a significant number of ethnic Kazakh and Kyrgyz, thus calling for a reaction from their kin states. In order to explain the complexity of the problem, the article looks via a neorealist lens at the role of Kazakh and Kyrgyz human rights advocacy groups in urging local authorities to securely release ethnic Kazakh and Kyrgyz detained in Xinjiang's "vocational camps". It further explores official responses from Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments, identifying their considerations and foreign policy choices. This article concludes that Kazakh and Kyrgyz governments neither possess economic and political leverage to press on China over the Xinjiang issue nor are they willing to do so as this may jeopardize their cooperation with China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reveals the trends and characteristics of popular protests in China, drawing evidence from a database the author built by collecting more than 12,000 news stories on China's mass protests from 2000 to 2019. The data present the ups and downs of China's social protests over the past two decades, showing that social protest in China has been diffused widely throughout different social groups and has covered a vast variety of issues across a wide geographical area. However, despite the trend of subsiding protests after the mid-2010s, the Chinese state has a lower capacity to channel popular protests into institutionalized forms as in the norm in democratic polities. Under Xi Jinping's rule in 2013-19, the regime has been relying on increasing surveillance and repression to squash protest activities. Police have also been more inclined to arrest protesters. This study concludes that the dynamics of social protests in China are contingent on its state-society relations and the state's capacity of channeling contentious politics into more institutionalized forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews how protest events in China take forms that are notably distinct from those of the Marxist-Leninist regimes of the twentieth century. It chronicles the upward trajectory of protests in China, remarkable because the trend occurs in a governance structure that seeks to limit independent civil society and the collective expression of grievances. We review several dimensions in which claims and grievances cluster, most of which can be attributed to China's rapid development, and which potentially could develop into large and coordinated protest campaigns. As part of the party's concern with maintenance of social harmony, we trace the development of China's unique repertoire of repression, most notably the various dimensions of the techno-security state, its control of the internet, and development of high-tech surveillance and social control. We close with speculations about the future of social movements in China and the role of its young generation. Today's young generation is mostly politically quiescent, taking advantage of unprecedented prosperity and opportunities, but it is also potentially "triggered" by examples of numerous protests and potentially empowered by social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What impact is the current rise in workplace conflict having on governance in China? This article argues that, over time, protests are driving the state in two directions at once: towards greater repression and greater responsiveness. Using an original dataset of strikes, protests and riots by Chinese workers between 2003 and 2012, along with government budgetary and judicial statistics, the article demonstrates that significant, positive correlations exist at the provincial level between increased unrest on the one hand and both increased spending on the People's Armed Police (repression) and increasing numbers of pro-worker and split decisions in mediation, arbitration and court cases (responsiveness) on the other. Feedback effects exist with regard to responsiveness, though: more cases in which workers win something in turn seem to spur greater unrest. The article closes by noting the changes since Xi Jinping took office and examining the implications of the findings for China's political development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2016 seemed to mark a critical juncture in China’s non-profit sector as the government passed several laws and regulations, including the Charity Law. This study examines this development as part of the historical evolution of legal regimes governing NGOs, and considers the contexts of these recent legal changes. By doing so, this paper aims to infer the implications for the governance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in China. Compared to previous laws and regulations, those introduced by Xi Jinping’s administration suggest the party-state’s heightened willingness to acknowledge the numerical growth and diversification of NGOs and their contributions to Chinese society. However, the new laws and regulations also indicate the government’s willingness to adopt a more explicit divide-and-rule approach to NGOs. On the one hand, the government aims to actively incorporate those NGOs that it considers useful and innocuous into an increasingly institutionalized system of social governance and rule of law. On the other, the government is likely to apply the policy of outright rejection and repression to those it identifies as threatening the party-state’s authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines “thugs-for-hire” in state repression. Local governments regularly deploy third-party violence to evict homeowners, expropriate land from farmers, manage illegal street vendors, and deal with petitioners and protestors in China. Violence is effective in implementing unpopular and illegal policies and also allows local authorities to evade responsibility for using violence and maintain a veneer of lawfulness. However, it may run the risk of backfiring and imposing costs vis-à-vis the legitimacy of the local state and of the Communist regime as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the development of nursing education becomes increasingly internationalized, it is tempting to focus on universal aspects of the discipline rather than explicitly emphasizing the distinct national cultures and contexts within which our profession and its educational styles and approaches have evolved. Capitalizing on an opportunity for comparative critical reflection on the relevant political, economic and social histories that have underpinned the development of nursing education in China, Brazil and Canada – three countries united by shared values about equity and access to health services – we sought to deconstruct the manner in which these forces have shaped the national differences in the way we conceptualize and deliver nursing education. On this basis, we examined the implications for the advancement of nursing education within each national context, recognizing the fundamental relevance of indepth critical reflection for optimizing nursing's advocacy capacity within each of our national health care and policy systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li-Fei-Xiao-Yan prescription (LFXY) has been clinically used in China to treat inflammatory and infectious diseases including inflammatory lung diseases. The present study was aimed at evaluating the potential therapeutic effects and potential mechanisms of LFXY in a murine model of lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced acute lung injury (ALI). In this study, the mice were orally pretreated with LFXY or dexamethasone (positive drug) before the intratracheal instillation of LPS. Our data indicated that pretreatment with LFXY enhanced the survival rate of ALI mice, reversed pulmonary edema and permeability, improved LPS-induced lung histopathology impairment, suppressed the excessive inflammatory responses via decreasing the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) and chemokine (MIP-2) and inhibiting inflammatory cells migration, and repressed oxidative stress through the inhibition of MPO and MDA contents and the upregulation of antioxidants (SOD and GSH) activities. Mechanistically, treatment with LFXY significantly prevented LPS-induced TLR4 expression and NF-κB (p65) phosphorylation. Overall, the present study suggests that LFXY protected mice from acute lung injury induced by LPS via inhibition of TLR4/NF-κB p65 activation and upregulation of antioxidative enzymes and it may be a potential preventive and therapeutic agent for ALI in the clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents the Chinese feminists who were arrested in 2015 for planning to commemorate International Women's Day by handing out stickers about sexual harassment on public transportation in China. She reflects on the repression of the brave and necessary move of Chinese activists including Li Maizi, Wei Tingting, Zheng Churan, Wu Rongrong, and Wang Man. The author believes that China's Feminist Five has shown the feminist celebration of single, sexually non-normative, and often child-free women and how they can pose a direct threat to the authority of the Communist Party.

An interview with Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is presented, which was presented on video at the Fear of Art conference held on February 12, 2015 at the New School in New York City. When asked about why his art was censored in China, he replied that they were censored due to his political position and the artworks' nature. Other topics include the Chinese government's methods to repress artists, Weiwei's solo exhibition, and the changes in his art since he was arrested in 2011.

To investigate dynamic changes in plantar pressure in Chinese diabetes mellitus patients and to provide a basis for further preventing diabetic foot. This is a cross-sectional investigation including 649 Chinese diabetes mellitus patients (diabetes group) and 808 "normal" Chinese persons (nondiabetes group) with normal blood glucose levels. All the subjects provided a complete medical history and underwent a physical examination and a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. All subjects walked barefoot with their usual gait, and their dynamic plantar forces were measured using the one-step method with a plantar pressure measurement instrument; 5 measurements were performed for each foot. No significant differences were found in age, height, body weight, or body mass index between the two groups. The fasting blood glucose levels, plantar contact time, maximum force, pressure-time integrals and force-time integrals in the diabetes group were significantly higher than those in the nondiabetes group (p<0.05). However, the maximum pressure was significantly higher in the nondiabetes group than in the diabetes group (p<0.05). No difference was found in the contact areas between the two groups (p>0.05). The maximum plantar force distributions were essentially the same, with the highest force found for the medial heel, followed by the medial forefoot and the first toe. The peak plantar pressure was located at the medial forefoot for the nondiabetes group and at the hallucis for the diabetes group. In the diabetes group, the momentum in each plantar region was higher than that in the nondiabetes group; this difference was especially apparent in the heel, the lateral forefoot and the hallucis. The dynamic plantar pressures in diabetic patients differ from those in nondiabetic people with increased maximum force and pressure, a different distribution pattern and significantly increased momentum, which may lead to the formation of foot ulcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spring 2005, villagers in Dongyang County, Zhejiang were unhappy. For four years they had been complaining about pollution emitted by 13 factories located in the Zhuxi Chemical Park, but nothing had been done. So they set up a tent encampment to block delivery of supplies to the factories. At first, they employed restrained tactics, including going about daily life in the tents, badgering cadres sent to demobilize them, and kowtowing. After a harsh repression produced hundreds of injuries and left dozens of damaged vehicles and other evidence of police action strewn about, the tent-sitters switched to more aggressive tactics, including denouncing local leaders, carrying out mock funerals, interrogating factory owners and ransacking the homes of ‘traitors’. The authorities' ill-considered and poorly-timed repression led to tactical escalation, helped draw thousands of people to the scene, and ultimately resulted in the chemical park being closed. This episode speaks to the ‘dissent–repression nexus’ and suggests that repression can be counterproductive when it encourages protesters to ratchet up their tactics and a ‘protest spectacle’ ensues. In today's China, striking displays and theatrical performances, especially in the wake of a crackdown, can attract an audience, bring in financial support and create a carnival-like atmosphere in which popular acclaim, the breakdown of social order and the inversion of power hierarchies grants protesters leverage and induces the authorities to make concessions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

China exhibits the typical symptoms of a financially repressed economy, such as regulated interest rates, a dominance of state ownership, and managed credit allocation. A repressed financial system acts as a double-edged sword: on the one hand, the system may help China accomplish extraordinary economic growth by subsidizing investment and production, but on the other hand, it endangers China's economic health by damaging economic efficiency, slowing job creation, and distorting the country's economic structure. Therefore, a more market-oriented financial system is required to rebalance China's distorted economy and make China's economic growth more sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses aspects of religious freedom in Tibet, China. Topics discussed include the history of religious repression and violations of religious freedom in Tibet, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Cultural Revolution which took place from the 1960s-1970s.

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This article examines the impact of financial repression on economic growth during China's reform period. The aggregate financial repression index suggests that China's financial liberalization has been steady but gradual. Empirical estimation confirms that, on average, repressive policies helped economic growth, thanks probably to the prudent liberalization approach. But the impact turned from positive in the 1980s and the 1990s to negative in the 2000s, suggesting rising efficiency losses in recent years. Specifically, we find that lending to the state sector, interest rate regulation and capital account control were the main factors constraining China's economic growth in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes how three intersecting forces, the ideology of socialist collectivism, the structure of the work unit system and the socialist ownership of the body, account for sexual repression in the Maoist period in China. Transformation of history in the form of an assemblage of the return of love discourse; Emergence of desire-centered subjectivity; Impact of the transformation from Maoist socialism to post-Mao reform period.

The roles and rules of advertising as it is practised in China have vacillated greatly over the years. Periods of condemnation of advertising have been followed by its acceptance, followed again by its repression and sometimes abolition, and then by periods of rapid expansion. The result has led to confusion, indecision, and sometimes a bewildering array of laws, practices and functional interrelationships among the players, both domestic and foreign. This article examines the role and development of the advertising industry under Chinese socialism, and attempts to clarify the current state of affairs of the industry in terms of its structure and regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]