Институт за азијске студије

Asian issues vol. 5, no. 1/2019

Gerd Kaminski - Tianxia and Chinese Foreign Policy

Abstract:

ncreasing power and self-confidence plus rising nationalism have been responsible for the development of the sino-centric Tianxia School. The vanguards of this school are Zhao Tingyang and Yan Xuetong. Tianxiaguan – Tianxiaism challenges the classical Western rules of international relations and peace – keeping by offering a Chinese pattern which is based on the experiences of Zhou Dynasty and the later tributary state system. This group of Chinese scholars believes that the Tianxia model would be more successful than the United Nations. After much attention during the start of the school and some commitments to the principles of Tianxia thinking during the first years of Xi Jinping’s administration the influence of the school seems to be fading and a return to Deng Xiaoping’s cautious foreign policy rather likely.

Keywords:

Tianxia, Tianxiaism, Zhao Tingyang, Yan Xuetong, Zhou Dynasty, Tributary State System, China – Centrism, Confucianism, Deng Xiaoping, Xi Jinping

Giovanni Nicotera - Development and Fate of Muslim Radicalism in China

Abstract:
The economic growth and development delivered by the Chinese Communist Party to its people have not brought peace to Xinjiang. On the contrary. After decades of relative tranquillity that had followed the founding of the People’s Republic, violent extremist attacks have been carried out by Uyghurs on and off not only in this northwestern region, but in several other provinces, regions and municipalities. For several reasons, the Uyghurs have felt left behind as they have seen their liberties and traditions threatened and trampled. In addition, an unstable Central and South Asian environment, together with the possibility of travelling, available to some of them in the past and the opportunity to learn on the Internet, all have contributed to the radicalization of this ethnic group. As a result, some of them have decided to resort to violence. Beijing could have revisited its overall policies against ethnic minorities to assess where they have failed, but it has chosen instead an alternative strategy based on control and on the use of force. This strategy appears to be successful in keeping in check violence and restoring peace in the restive region, but brings with it probably the end of an old culture
 Keywords: Xinjiang, Uyghur, OBOR, radicalism, minorities, artificial intelligence, administrative detention.

Wang Peng - Study on the Evaluation of China’s Environmental Regulation Effect: A Spatial Perspective Based on Industrial Green Development

Abstract:

On the basis of a comprehensive understanding of green growth and efficiency, this paper constructs the metrics of industrial green development in China and adopts the spatial
Durbin model to analyze the panel data of provincial industrial sector during 1998 and
2012, aiming to test the effect of China’s environmental regulation empirically by taking
the spatial influence of regional environmental regulation into account. It is found that: (1)
no matter which spatial weight matrix, geographic adjacency, economic development
level or geographical economic adjacency, is used, China’s environmental regulation
is significantly effective to industrial green development as a whole. However, regional
environmental regulation does not effectively promote the industrial green development
of the region, but has a significant positive spillover effects on other regions. So, the effectiveness of China’s overall environmental regulation is mainly decided by the spatial
spillover effects from other regions. (2) Industrial green development in the region may
be transferred through pollution-intensive industries, thus has an adverse spatial impact
on the industrial sectors of other areas. (3) Firm size, industrial capital intensity and industrial innovation help promote regional industrial green development, while ownership
structure and external trade play an unfavorable role. What’s more, the promoting effect
of foreign direct investment is not significant.

Keywords:

 Environmental Regulation, Green Total Factor Productivity, Industrial Green
Development, Spatial Durbin Mode

Xianbin Wang - Investment Approval System Reform and Investment Growth

Abstract:

The relationship between administrative regulation and economic prosperity is an important issue of public economics. This paper exploits the 2004 China investment approval
system reform as a quasi-natural experiment, and identifies the impact of investment approval control loosening on investment by Difference-in-differences method. Based on the
data of China’s industrial enterprises in 2001-2007 years, we find that the relaxation of
investment approval control significantly promotes the growth of fixed assets investment in
corresponding industries. This effect has region and enterprise heterogeneity. The investment growth of higher productivity enterprises is faster, and the effect of reform is more
significant in provinces with lower government efficiency. This study provides theoretical
support and empirical evidence for orderly easing the government’s regulation of micro
economic activities to promote economic development.

Keywords:

 Investment Approval System, Investment Growth, Reform, China