“A handshake across the Himalayas:” Chinese investment,hydropower development,and state formation in Nepal

Abstract

This article examines contemporary patterns of Chinese infrastructure development in Nepal’s Rasuwa District and the ways in which Nepali actors engage with Chinese investments to advance projects of state formation. Particularly in the wake of political volatility and natural disaster, Chinese interventions support the material and imaginative projects of a Nepalese state seeking stability, security, and economic growth. Long perceived as peripheral to the state center, Rasuwa is rapidly becoming central to Sino-Nepal relations, particularly in the context of bilateral investments in hydropower and transportation infrastructure. Drawing on data generated from 30 months of fieldwork in Nepal, we argue that Chinese development in Rasuwa: a) undergirds territorializing practices of the Nepalese state; b) represents a “gift of development” that connects Nepali ambitions of bikas (development) with Chinese anxieties over exile Tibetan populations; and c) reflects a strategic reorientation of geopolitical alliances between Nepal, China, and India. Challenging studies that depict Chinese development as an overwhelming extractive force, we instead show how small states like Nepal in fact use Chinese interventions to advance domestic projects of state formation and national security at home. On the basis of this study, we expand understandings about the place and priority of infrastructure in national state-making agendas, illustrate uneven local experiences with international development interventions, and highlight new configurations of Chinese investment and development abroad – characterized in Nepal as a “handshake across the Himalayas.”     

Legal protection of cultural heritage in China: a challenge to keep history alive

This article provides an in-depth examination of the current Chinese legal regime for cultural heritage protection from two perspectives, i.e. from that of legislation and law enforcement and highlights the deficiencies thereof. The article argues that China has to improve and reform its domestic law to rectify the blatant shortcomings of the existing statutes and to implement the international instruments that it has concluded or acceded to; Moreover, China should reform its administrative system of cultural heritage protection to overcome the obstacles to efficient law enforcement whose success, in turn, depends on the comprehensive reform promised by the Communist Party of China.     

Democracy and national destinies on Taiwan

In the case of Taiwan, experts have debated whether passionate national loyalties (Taiwanese or Chinese) facilitated or stymied democratization. This paper argues that nationalism facilitated political change in Taiwan. In fact, democratization during the 1980s and the 1990s was spurred in part by the pursuit of two conflicting national destinies. The Chinese Nationalist Party legitimized reform as the end of a century‐long process for the reconstruction of the Chinese nation. To many Nationalists, particularly those born on the mainland, Taiwan was the fulfilment of Sun Yat‐sen's vision of China known as the Three Principles of the People. At the same time, many opponents of the regime saw successful reform as one step towards the realization of a Taiwanese nation. Dominated by those who identified themselves as Taiwanese, generally those of Chinese descent whose ancestors had lived on Taiwan prior to 1945, these activists hoped to take power through the ballot box, then implement a series of policies to strengthen an island‐wide identity.     

The two starting points of World War II: a reexamination from a global perspective

Although the factual chronology of World War II is not in dispute, how to best make sense of these facts and how to objectively evaluate that history have always been limited by political circumstances and personal biases. Viewing WWII seven decades later, we need to move away from Eurocentrism and to stop seeing the war from the prism of a European war or Pacific war. The entire history of WWII, from beginning to end, including its several phases characterized by fermentation, outbreak, climax, and conclusion, is extremely complex. This paper argues that the war has two origins or starting points because it resulted from disparate prewar conditions in Europe and Asia. Viewed from this perspective, the strategic importance of the China Theater in WWII and the enormous sacrifices and contributions the Chinese people made to the victory over Fascism and for world peace ought to be given due credit.     

How Chinese scholars think about Chinese foreign policy

China’s assertive diplomacy in recent years has ignited intense debates among international relations (IR) scholars. Some argue that China’s assertive behaviour is rooted in its perception of increasing power and capabilities. Others suggest that it is US policies that triggered China’s assertive reactions. Relying on an original survey of China’s IR scholars conducted in Beijing in 2013 and using structural equation modelling, we empirically examine Chinese IR scholars’ attitude towards Chinese power versus the United States, their perceptions of US policy in Asia, and their preference for an assertive Chinese foreign policy. We find that both the power perception and policy reaction arguments make sense in accounting for Chinese IR scholars’ attitude regarding China’s assertive diplomacy. However, our research suggests that a more pessimistic view on Chinese power is more likely to be associated with a preference for an assertive foreign policy.     

抗战时期国民政府的侨汇管控及其成效

本文以美国斯坦福大学胡佛研究院档案馆藏蒋介石日记、台湾"国史馆"藏蒋介石档案和外交部档案、广东省档案馆藏财政厅档案、中国第二历史档案馆和重庆档案馆编四联总处史料集、民国报刊杂志等原始史料为依据,考察了国民政府管控侨汇的机构、政策、流向变迁历程及其成效。认为战时侨汇是外汇的重要组成部分,是国家金融抗战和军事国防联动布局的关键物资,国民政府对侨汇管控有其金融抗战和国防战略部署的双重需要。抗战时期国民政府的侨汇管控存在着复杂的政策调整和隶属机构的变迁,这些措施增加了海外侨汇流入祖国。四联总处、财政部、中国银行和中央银行对战时侨汇管控做出重要贡献。文中1940—1945年度中国银行经收美元和英镑外币侨汇数额的统计图,填补了战时侨汇本币和外币统计数据欠缺的空白。     

论当前中外社会地理观

社会地理学是人文地理学重要的分支,在我国刚刚兴起。
当前国外社会地理学的研究,重视紧迫的社会问题,重视社会问题中受害的一方,重视社会问题的空间过程和区域特征,重视城市研究。
社会地理学研究有很高的社会和经济价值,建设我国自己的社会地理学很有必要。     

中国人口地理学研究的回顾与展望

中国人口地理学直至20世纪30年代前后才形成。新中国成立后,开始得以发展。自党的十一届三中全会后,因贯彻改革开放的方针,促进了人口地理学的蓬勃发展。文章最后,展望了人口地理学的发展趋势。     

中国现代旅游地理学研究的发展与展望

本文综述了70年代末中国人文地理学复兴以来研究旅游地理学的进展与趋势,并提出它对中国旅游业发展与人文地理学的学科建设起到举足轻重的作用。     

西北干旱区城市建设与可持续发展

概述了西北干旱区城市发展现状,系统地分析了其城市可持续发展面临的主要问题,进而提出了西北地区城市可持续发展的设想及其对策,为缩小我国东西部发展差距提供了科学的决策依据