I ORIGINAL ARTICLES
- China’s Ukraine Policy: Unchanged Rhetoric Despite Changing Conjuncture
Ümit Alperen
Abstract
- Russia–China Strategic Alignment: Are They Headed Towards a Military Alliance?
Rajan Kumar
Abstract
- Sustainable Energy and China: The Importance of Institutional Authority
Galip Ferhat Akbal
Abstract
- The Dilemma and Promotion of Chinese Nationalism: Xinjiang Cotton Incident as a Case Study
Wing-hung Mok and Franky Ka-hin Choi
Abstract
- English as a Medium of China’s National Storytelling
Dejiang Lin and Wei Liu
Abstract
- Factors Behind Chinese Citizen Support to Implementation of Social Credit Policy
Gilang D. Putra, Bagus Sigit Sunarko, and Agung Purwanto
Abstract
II COMMENT
- Eurocentric Fables of International Debt and China
Bhabani Shankar Nayak
Abstract
An Introductory Note for the Articles
- This article by Ümit Alperen discusses China’s approach to the Ukraine crisis and the factors that shape China’s attitude to this situation in the comparative timelines of the 2014 and 2022 crises. Despite the changes in China’s security perceptions and the balance of power in the international system, China’s rhetoric about the ongoing Ukraine crisis has vague rhetoric similar to the crisis in 2014. While China regards the 2014 Ukraine crisis as a regional crisis, it sees the recent situation as a crisis with global effects. China’s approach to the Ukraine crisis, which is on its way to becoming a global power, is shaped within the framework of multiple contradictory parameters. First, at the discursive level, the ‘five principles of peaceful coexistence’ have formed the discursive framework of Chinese foreign policy since the 1950s. Second, the rapidly developing China–Russia relations after the Cold War, and third, the increasing threat China perceives from the United States, which it sees as a global hegemonic power, and in this context, its global policies. As a result, it is possible to define China’s approach to the Ukraine crisis as passively pro-Russian.
- In a short span, Moscow and Beijing have transformed their ties from Cold War hostility to a remarkably cordial and dynamic partnership. This transition enables them to expand their regional influence, resist Western pressure and play a dominant role in the Global South. Together, they possess resources, demonstrate determination and have military capability to challenge the superiority of the West. However, their growing strategic cooperation has fuelled speculations about a potential military alliance. This article addresses the following questions: first, how deep is the partnership between the two states? Second, how has US policy contributed to closer ties between the two states? Third, what is the extent of military co-operation between the two states? Are they headed towards a formal military alliance? And finally, how has this partnership fared during the Russia–Ukraine war? This article by Rajan Kumar critically examines policy documents, statements of important leaders and views of experts from Russia, China and the United States. It draws inferences from data on Russia–China economic exchanges, defence agreements and declarations at bilateral and multilateral forums.
- It is not possible that fossil fuels keep on their existence as a main energy source for the future when they are evaluated with the effects on the global environment. In addition to this, due to the limited source and the increased consumption parameters, coal, petroleum and natural gas are not also seen as sustainable energy sources in the long term. However, renewable energy provides the competing circumstances with fossil fuels as a framework of cost-benefit analysis. Minimised the efficiency problems, renewable energy sources overcome the storage problems with the developments of electrochemical storage systems. On the other hand, the support of the political will is crucial to consolidating of this advantageous position. As it is seen in some countries, it gives positive results if the authorities focus on the development of renewable energy in their strategical policies, their steps to reduce the importation of fossil fuels and they encourage the industry for the renewable energy investment. China attaches importance to energy diversity. Galip Ferhat Akbal argues China has significantly increased its installed capacities thanks to central control and a focus on renewable energy.
- This article by Wing-hung Mok and Franky Ka-hin Choi explores the mechanisms and experiences of how nationalism in post-Deng Xiaoping China’s leadership played a role in the Xinjiang Cotton Incident in March 2021. By adopting reflective approach and various theories, it depicts how nationalism consolidates the legitimacy of authority, revealing two sides of the coin. Influenced by ideopolitical education and the emphasis on the internet in guiding public opinion since the Jiang Zemin era, people’s general response to the incident was basically on a par with official discourse, which is sentimental. The article concludes by commenting on China’s advantages and difficulties in governance by controlling irrational nationalism.
- Foreign language education may serve many goals, but national storytelling would not be an obvious one. Due to the position of English as an international language, it has become an increasingly important tool for intercultural communication and international public relations for countries whose official language is not English. In this study, Dejiang Lin and Wei Liu look into the case of China, where English has been seen as the most important medium of China’s national storytelling. Chinese youths are encouraged to learn English well and to equip themselves with the competence to tell China’s stories well in English. As a key theoretical underpinning in this study, national stories are taken as national identities to live by. To better understand this relationship, the authors invited 100 undergraduate English Majors in a provincial Chinese university to each tell a China story in English. By subjecting the 100 China stories told by 100 Chinese youths in English to a rigorous thematic analysis, the authors hoped to determine in this study what Chinese national identity is constructed through this national storytelling exercise. More importantly, by examining the Chinese case of English as a medium of national storytelling, this study aims to shed light on the specific purpose of English as a global medium for communicating a country’s national narratives and national discourses.
- The social credit system was implemented in China by the Xi Jinping government officially in 2020. In implementing this policy, there are many arguments that argue this policy has the potential to cause human insecurity from the Chinese people because this policy is widely considered to be used as a tool to control people’s behaviour. Even so, this policy has high support from the Chinese people as evidenced by the high support for the implementation of the social credit system, and the high participation of the Chinese people in the trial of the social credit system in different provinces. Using disciplinary power theory, this article by Gilang D. Putra, Bagus Sigit Sunarko, and Agung Purwanto analyses what factors influence public support for the implementation of social credit policies by the Chinese government. This article also looks at how the Chinese government’s efforts in shaping obedience in Chinese society through the implementation of social credit policies. This article argues that the Chinese government succeeded in utilising appropriate means to make people support the implementation of the social credit policy even though the policy has the potential to cause human insecurity.
- The article by Bhabani Shankar Nayak outlines different trajectories of the international debt trap diplomacy, which uses debt as a tool to control resources and to undermine state and governments in countries outside the Westphalian outlook. The debt is not only an economic tool but also a weapon of political leverage. Developed countries use debt as tool of their economic and political agenda to dominate world economy and politics in order to pursue the project of debt led capitalist dependency as a dominant global system. The article argues that it is time to democratise rules, regulations and institutions that govern international debt to ensure egalitarian political economy of development focusing on people and the planet. It engages with alternative Chinese debt based engagement with Africa.
III BOOK REVIEWS
- Monique Taylor, China’s Digital Authoritarianism: A Governance Perspective, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.
Dharmendra Kumar
Abstract
- Bruce A. Elleman, China’s Naval Operations in the South China Sea: Evaluating Legal, Strategic and Military Factors, Kent: Renaissance Books, 2018.
Anshu Kumar
Abstract
- Frank Dikötter, China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower, New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022.
Souvik Chatterjee
Abstract
