This book brings together a group of experts on Taiwan who attempt to analyse change on this dynamic island during the whole of the twentieth century. Thus, in contrast to many works on Taiwan, the nine papers show just how important the Japanese colonial antecedents were to the formation of today's Taiwan and help us to understand the complexity of the problems this island will face in the twenty-first century. The work of the various authors, many of them young Taiwanese, also show clearly that a simple divide of Taiwan's twentieth century history with the retrocession to Chinese rule in 1945 is not adequate for understanding the development of this island.
Covering a range of African countries from Equatorial Guinea to Tanzania, this volume adds to a growing literature on the emerging relationship between China and Africa, presenting work that is based on primary research. It includes articles on a wide range of subjects, including China's energy policy, labour relations, trade networks and cultural perceptions. The various essays chart the rise of a multiplicity of different actors in the relationship, emerging patterns of globalization and development, and rhetoric and representation.
This volume looks at the development of Chinese-European relations since China embarked on its open policy and the European Union evolved into the major economic and political force in Europe. The papers suggest that political communication has not significantly modified Europe's relations with China and that both Europe and China tend to view their relations with each other in terms of their relationships with the USA. Articles include: Human Rights, Europe and the People's Republic of China; Relations and Mutual Strategic Perceptions: China and the European Union; EU Economic Relations with China: An Institutionalist Perspective; The Role of Hong Kong and Macau in China's Relations with Europe; A Functional Relationship: Political Extensions to Europe–Taiwan Economic Ties; Economic Relations between Taiwan and Europe; Cultural Relations between China and the Member States of the European Union.
This volume presents a concise history of how China's Communist Party (CCP) selected a new generation of leaders in late 2002 and why the individuals, in their late 40s and 50s, were so well qualified to govern China. These leaders are trying to lead China to become a regional and world power in which their people can enjoy a modest living standard and take pride in the nation's achievements. Addressed to the expert or ordinary reader, these essays see China's leaders as challenged by a new trend, visible only in the last decade, of a widening gap between the losers in society and the winners of the recent economic and political reforms. The leaders of the largest, single ruling party and state authority in the world must somehow reverse that trend if China is to survive as one nation. This volume explains they are doing that by reconfiguring their huge command economy, promoting a market economy, and undertaking gradual political reforms. It is unflinching in its discussion of how
The new campaign to 'Open Up the West' that commenced operations in January 2000 is interesting not only because of its dramatic goal of developing the western and interior regions of the People's Republic of China but also because of the ways it has been articulated. Although presented in some ways as a major state project, it was introduced almost casually into the political process, with none of the usual fanfare and perhaps even more remarkably with no great commitment of state resources. Moreover, though it has been in progress for only a relatively short period it is already clear that uncertainties attend its aims, progress and potential impact. The contested nature of the campaign to Open Up the West becomes particularly apparent if, as is the case here, the topic is approached from provincial and local levels as well as from the national perspective. This book was first published in 2004.