July 2018

Dear Friend,

July was the month of academic institutional engagements and significant events for the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS), as the ICS faculty continued to offer their analysis and views on issues relating to China and East Asia.

Activities

The ICS held three major events in July. The first was a special panel discussion on  India’s Policy towards China in the Changing Global Context on 6 July,organized in collaboration with India International Centre as part of the prestigious AAS-in-Asia Conference.  This widely-attended public eventwas moderated by me and the panelists were Amb. Shivshankar Menon, former National Security Advisor and Chairman, Advisory Board, ICS, Amb. Shyam Saran, former Foreign Secretary and Member, Governing Council, ICS and Dr. Jabin T. Jacob, Associate Editor, China Report (YouTube).

 

The ICS organized an intensive three-dayworkshop (9-11 July) on ‘Preparing Research for Publication’ in collaboration with Shiv Nadar University (SNU) and China Report, the quarterly journalof the Institute. Aimed at honing the skills of young academics and researchers on China and East Asia to prepare their work for publication in academic journals, this residential workshop at the SNU campus had the participation of scholars from different parts of the country. The team of mentors was led by Dr. Madhavi Thampi, Editor, China Report and included thefaculty/editorial team of the ICS, SNU and China Report.

 

We also had a seminar on Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy: Importance for India and the Indo-Pacific Region (Soundcloudon 16 July, co-organized with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington DC and India International Centre.

 

The Wednesday Seminars in the month ranged from the Islamic Revival and Muslim-to-State Relations in Modern and Contemporary China, to  China in the African Growth Story (Soundcloud), and to the 1962 war in Tawang.

 

Publications

ICS Emeritus Fellow, Prof. Tan Chung’s China: A 5000-Year Odyssey  on China’s historical evolution and complex vicissitudes, publishedby Sage Publications, was released.

 

The ICS Blogswere kept abuzz through the month with research posts – our Emeritus Fellow Amb. Kishan S. Rana wrote on ‘Environment Management: The Relevance of China’s Experience, while Research Assistant Ms. Prarthana Basu wrote on China’s Advancement in Quantum Communications. Our Research Interns, Ms.Shristi Singh, Ms. Fatima German, Ms. Sharanya Menon, Mr. Saurav Sarkar and Ms.Ramya Kannan also had blog posts on, China's National Carbon MarketChina and Trump Administration’s Decision to Quit UNHRCReview of a book on Dowager CixiPowerplay in the South China Sea Post Shangri La Dialogue and Building the New Capital Cities of Amaravati and Xiong’an respectively.

 

In the Media

Amb. Shivshankar Menon wrote a book review on Mr. Avtar S. Bhasin’s documentary study on India-China Relations 1947-2000 for  India Today. Amb. Shyam Saranwrote an article on the recent Sino-US trade wars titled "Trade wars are no longer about trade" for Hindustan Times. My predecessor,Prof. Alka Acharya penned her thoughts on closer Sino-Bhutanese relations in the context of growing Sino-Indian tensions in  BBC Hindi. ICS Adjunct Fellow Anurag Vishwanath wrote a review of Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty’s book China’s Transformation: The Success Story and the Trap for the  Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies.

 

Faculty Updates

ICS Honorary Fellow Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty and Research Associate Dr. P.K.Anand participated in the AAS-in-Asia Conference in Delhi on 6-7 July; while Prof. Mohanty was part of AAS Presidents’ Roundtable on Shifting Genealogies and Geographies of Fieldwork, Dr. Anand was part of a panel on Evaluating Labour in Contemporary Asia: Concepts and Contexts. Our Assistant Director, Dr. Madhurima Nundy,attended a two-day workshop and presented a paper on Health Sector PPPs as part of the network on 'Equalities in Public-Private Partnerships in Public Services' (EQUIPPS) on 17-18 July at the Education International, Brussels, co-organized by Birkbeck, University of London. I also spoke at a conference on the Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific organised by the Forum for Strategic Initiatives and others on 13 July.

 

As part of a new research project on 'China's Infrastructure Development in Tanzania and Kenya' Research Associate Dr. Veda Vaidyanathan established institutional affiliations with Policy Research for Development (REPOA), Tanzania and the Sino Africa Centre for Excellence (SACE), Kenya. Another of our Research Associates, Mr. Bhim Subba, was part of a panel discussion on ‘Impact of Removing Term Limits on Xi Jinping in China and for the World’ at National Defence College, New Delhi on 5 July.

 

Our outreach activities included my briefing for New Delhi-based Heads of Mission of thr Latin American and Caribbean countries on 25 July.

 

The ICS Website and following us on Facebook and on Twitter are among the several ways you can get the latest on our publications and activities. You can also sign up to receive the latest information about our events and publications as well as browse our  YouTube and SoundCloud channels.

 

I look forward to seeing you at more of our events.

 
 
 

Best Regards,
ASHOK K. KANTHA
Director
Institute of Chinese Studies

 

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