ORIGINAL ARTICLES
- Cutting the Tail Off to Survive: China’s Tech Companies’ Business Strategy under U.S. Economic Sanctions
Zhu Zhang
Abstract
- China’s New Silk Road Economic Diplomacy in the Middle East: The Case of the UAE
Zeyad Jaffal
Abstract
- Between Dominance and Rising: The Role of Status Considerations in the United States’ Hong Kong Policy, 1997-2023
Colin Mianqing Xie, Khoo Ying Hooi, Roy Anthony Rogers, and Karl Chee Leong Lee
Abstract
- China’s Economic Diplomacy in Saudi Arabia and Qatar: An Effect on the Country’s Economic Growth
Hend Elmahly Mahmoud Sultan, Mohamed Mostafa Sayed Salem, and Eram Mohammed Abd El-Rahman
Abstract
- Ways of Understanding Chinese Expansion: Chineseness and Two Chinas
Abdürreşit Celil Karluk
Abstract
- Literature Review on the Image of the Communist Party of China in the Past 30 Years: Based on the Bibliometric Analysis of CiteSpace Software
Lu Wang and Xinli Zhao
Abstract
- Understanding China’s Motivations Behind Its Foreign Aid to Education
Wu Yue and Zeng Jingyan
Abstract
An Introductory Note for the Articles
- How have Chinese high-tech companies managed to grow and advance technologically under US economic sanctions? While most research on sanctions focuses on the strategies employed by sanctioning and targeted countries, it often neglects how affected firms adapt. This study by Zhu Zhang addresses that gap by analysing 314 Chinese entities on the US export control list and conducting case studies, with a primary focus on Huawei, to explore how Chinese tech firms respond to these restrictions and the broader implications for US–China competition. The research reveals that Chinese companies employ a ‘cutting the tail’ strategy, which involves reallocating resources, divesting from low-margin businesses and prioritising innovation. Despite initial setbacks, these tactics—bolstered by supportive national policies—have enhanced China’s technological self-sufficiency. The findings highlight potential unintended consequences, as US sanctions may inadvertently strengthen China’s global competitiveness and further fuel its techno-nationalism.
- The present study by Zeyad Jaffal explores the complex circumstances of China’s New Silk Road Economic Diplomacy (ED) in the Middle East, particularly an emphasis on the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As China is emerging as a global economic giant, the aggressive participation with the region under the New Silk Road plan has drawn considerable attention. By focusing on the UAE, this article provides a thorough examination of the varied methods and implications driving China’s ED. By using qualitative analysis, this study presents the important insights, challenges, benefits, implications and opportunities of China’s ED in the Middle East. The UAE, as a key participant in the region’s economic environment, provides a multifaceted background for comprehending China’s diplomacy. This study highlights the interrelated aspects involving economic collaboration, investments, development of infrastructure, and cultural exchange as key components of China’s New Silk Road project. Furthermore, the study sheds insight into the complex interplay between economic aspirations and geopolitical ambitions, as well as the consequences for the region’s security and international dominance dynamics. This study contributes to a larger recognition of the expanding scope of China’s ED in the Middle East and its profound implications for international order by exploring the situation of the UAE.
- After the 2019 Anti-extradition Amendment Bill Movement, the United States’s Hong Kong policy experienced significant changes. The change is closely related to the escalating rivalry between the United States and China. This article by Colin Mianqing Xie, Khoo Ying Hooi, Roy Anthony Rogers, and Karl Chee Leong Lee investigates the role of status considerations in the United States’s Hong Kong policy since 1997. The authors introduce entry-level and in-depth interpretive analyses to examine 3 Hong Kong–related legislative acts and 44 reports from the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, which is part of the U.S. Department of State. Wendtian constructivism, status anxiety and prospect theory are introduced to construct a conceptual framework that emphasises status considerations as a key factor in the United States’s Hong Kong policy. The findings indicate that the United States, as a dominant power in the international hierarchy, is likely to experience status anxiety in confronting China’s rise across status dimensions (economic and military capabilities as well as prestige), prompting a more aggressive approach to its China strategy, which will subsequently influence its Hong Kong policy.
- This article by Hend Elmahly Mahmoud Sultan, Mohamed Mostafa Sayed Salem, and Eram Mohammed Abd El-Rahman demonstrates how theoretical and empirical integration to conducting a research study incorporating both theory and empirical works into an integrated interpretative analysis of China’s economic diplomacy towards Saudi Arabia and Qatar. While numerous books and articles have discussed the question of China’s relations with the Middle East more broadly, dominant scholarship focusing on China’s economic diplomacy approach in the Middle East misses theoretical and empirical integration-informed perspectives. By examining recent publications on China’s increasing role in the Middle East and showing how this theoretical and empirical integration can add significantly to their interpretations, the article highlights how the theoretical and empirical works of researchers and their subjects are a pressing concern in studies of China’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Overall, the article provides specific suggestions for integrating empirical work within theoretical work in the field, and it demonstrates how this integration is significant in assessing the tangible effects of China’s economic diplomacy towards Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the country’s economic growth.
- It is well documented that the distinct social, cultural and physical boundaries separating non-Chinese minorities from the Chinese, who inhabit about 65% of China’s territory, have been eroded by the persistent and pervasive multidimensional influence and direct intervention of the Chinese state. Consequently, these regions are undergoing a transformation that can be defined as ‘Cultural China’. This process is being facilitated by state-sponsored settler colonial policies and consistent Sinicisation practices. This article by Abdürreşit Celil Karluk aims to make a modest contribution to the existing literature on Chinese expansionism and colonialism by analysing Chinese–non-Chinese relations through the lens of the phenomenon of Chineseness. By focusing on the Chineseness and the existence of two Chinas within China’s political borders—cultural China and political China—the article seeks to answer following key questions: In what ways and through what processes are non-Chinese nations and regions Sinicised? What role does Chineseness play in shaping the dynamics of relations between Chinese and non-Chinese groups? How can China establish and sustain a long-term, and potentially permanent, presence in these regions? Furthermore, the article puts forward the argument that China may be perceived as an expansionist and colonialist state, thereby challenging the official Chinese narrative.
- The image of a political party significantly influences its credibility, soft power, discourse authority and leadership, thus making image building an integral part of party development. The image of the Communist Party of China (ICPC) is an important part of the Communist Party of China and China. This article by Lu Wang and Xinli Zhao utilises CiteSpace software to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the ICPC literature in the China Knowledge Network Database to explore the research status and trend. The results show that the research domain of the ICPC has been developing slowly over the past three decades, and it was not until 2021 that the theme began to develop at a high rate. At present, the core authors and institutions in the research field of the ICPC are loosely connected and have not yet formed a stable research team. In summary, the research fields of the ICPC include three themes about the connotation of ICPC, the communication strategy of ICPC and the representative figures of ICPC. The international communication of the ICPC has become a key topic and a frontier direction. This article comprehensively analyses the trend of the research field of the ICPC in the past 30 years and provides valuable research findings for further understanding of the ICPC research trends.
- After becoming the world’s second-largest economy in 2010, China has adopted a proactive stance toward foreign aid. Notably, the increasing investment in educational aid represents a significant yet under-explored topic. What motivates China’s educational aid, and what factors have catalysed these motivations? Existing literature has fallen into the debate over whether China’s educational aid is driven by altruism or self-interest; however, this article by Wu Yue and Zeng Jingyan aims to comprehensively and objectively analyse the motivational determinants of China’s educational aid by addressing these research questions. To this end, this article employs a mixed-methods approach, utilising Tobit models and examining the case of China’s educational aid to Africa. The findings indicate that China’s diplomatic motivations primarily drive its educational aid, rather than altruism or economic and trade interests. In the context of Sino-US competition, educational aid is a component of China’s public diplomacy, contributing to its image-building efforts and the diplomatic goal of fostering people-to-people connections under the Belt and Road Initiative. Furthermore, it plays a crucial role in disseminating China’s development model to recipient countries.
