China Information recent issues

State Capacity, Local Fiscal Autonomy, and Urban--Rural Income Disparity in China

Ran Tao, , Kaizhong Yang, , Mingxing Liu, — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Continued urban—rural income disparity poses a serious policy challenge in China’s economic transition. As the Chinese economy booms and the state’s fiscal capacity grows, there should be a corresponding increase in the center’s capacity to redress urban—rural inequality. However, it seems that the stronger state extractive capacity since the mid-1990s has not translated into better urban—rural disparity outcomes. Based on a panel data set covering 270 prefectures in China between 1994 and 2003, the article evaluates the impact of local fiscal spending on urban—rural income disparity. Findings reveal a strong urban bias in China’s local fiscal system under an increasingly centralized fiscal system. The centralized fiscal model has in fact reinforced this tendency and ironically weakened the capacity of the central state in achieving the policy goal of reducing the urban—rural divide.

State Capacity and Support for Village Institutions in Rural Shaanxi

Kennedy, J. J. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

For successful political reforms, such as village elections or elimination of arbitrary fees, the central party-government must have the political capacity to implement new laws down to the village level. Thus for researchers as well as government officials, it is important to have accurate measures of reform success or failure. There are two equally important measures that are closely tied to state capacity. One measure is the top—down level of commitment that county and township officials have towards implementing reforms. That is, whether these new institutions exist and function at the village level. The second measure is the bottom—up villager evaluation of local institutional procedures and cadre behavior. Using data collected in one northwest province in 2000 and 2004, findings show that implementation of some reforms, such as village elections, is uneven, while other reforms, such as the 2002 tax-fee reforms, were more successful. There are two implications from this study. One is that the central party-government lacks the commitment rather than the capacity to fully implement village elections. The urgency of relieving villagers’ tax-fee burdens that were perceived as the source of rural unrest and instability was more important than the development of village elections. Second, in villages where the reforms are fully implemented, villagers make a clear conceptual distinction between popular support for the elected leaders and the election process. That is, they display disgust for the elected leaders and support for the election process and the village fee system. However, in villages where reforms are not fully carried out, villagers exhibit a more uniform lack of support for leaders and local institutions.

Management Corruption in China's Industrial Restructuring: How and Why State Assets Get Lost

Ting Gong, , Huangao Shi, — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Management corruption, defined as the drain on state assets caused by corruption of public managers, is rampant in China. This study analyzes the rise of management corruption by examining the changing forms and characteristics of corruption in the context of China’s industrial restructuring. It pays special attention to the typical asset-stripping strategies and tactics under certain institutional settings. By focusing on the new incentives and opportunities for management corruption and their linkage with the ownership restructuring scheme in the state economy, the article aims to reach a better understanding of not only management corruption per se but also the ways in which the Chinese state has responded, or failed to respond, to the problems and challenges that have accompanied its reform efforts. The findings of this study reveal the forces at work behind the massive drain on the state assets and point to the tension facing the Chinese state between the need for transforming the state economy and its capacity for monitoring and regulating the restructuring process. Corruption is a matter concerning not just the misconduct of public managers, but also institutional reconfiguration, policy framework, and the government’s regulation of state enterprises.

The Trial of Japanese War Criminals in China: The Paradox of Leniency

Jing Chen, — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

This article explores the trial of Japanese war criminals by the People’s Republic of China in the 1950s and explains why China decided to try these war criminals in a lenient and humanitarian way, why the trial was held only in 1956 and not earlier, and how these Japanese war criminals were persuaded to change their stance from stubborn denial to open confession of their guilt and regrets. Drawing on declassified documents concerning the trial released by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 2006, this article finds that the timing and the conduct of the trial were intertwined with China’s political strategy in relation to Japan at that period of time.

Research Note: Japan Studies in China in the Late 1980s: Implications for Reform, Social Change, and Sino-Japanese Relations

Chew, M. M. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

This article adopts a sociology of knowledge perspective to analyze Japan studies scholarship published in China in the late 1980s. The objective of the analysis is to interpret the significant body of scholarship in terms of three of its sociopolitical implications. Firstly, the role of scholarship in its advocacy of Japan as a development model for China will be examined, thereby uncovering one of the multiple historical sources for the Chinese reform. Secondly, Japanese studies scholars, despite their being establishment intellectuals, made bold proposals in the late 1980s for economic, political, and social change. Thirdly, this article will document the Japan studies scholars’ largely positive appraisal of Japan as well as their resistance of anti-Japanese sentiments in the Chinese state and society. Findings indicate that the scholarship deviated from the official line, critiqued the Chinese state, promoted radical reform proposals, positively evaluated Japan, and offered a Japanese model for China’s reform.

Book Review: Kjeld Erik BRODSGAARD, Hainan: State, Society, and Business in a Chinese Province. London and New York: Routledge, 2009. 188 pp., with index, notes, figures, and tables. ISBN: 978-0-415-46033-0 (hc). Price: {pound}80.00

Cheung, P. T.Y. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: Young Nam CHO, Local People's Congresses in China: Development and Transition. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. xiii + 191 pp., with notes, index, and tables. ISBN: 978-0-521-51562-7 (hc). Price: US$80.00

McCormick, B. L. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: Paul A. COHEN, Speaking to History: The Story of King Goujian in Twentieth-Century China. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009. xxiv + 354 pp., with notes, character list, images, bibliography, and index. ISBN: 978-0-520-25579-1 (hc). Price: {pound}23.95

Shin, L. K. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: Melvyn C. GOLDSTEIN, Ben JIAO, and Tanzen LHUNDRUP, On the Cultural Revolution in Tibet: The Nyemo Incident of 1969. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2009. xvi + 236 pp., with index, maps, images, references, glossary, notes, and appendices. ISBN: 978-0-520-25682-8 (hc). Price: {pound}14.95

Mackerras, C. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: J. Megan GREENE, The Origins of the Developmental State in Taiwan: Science Policy and the Quest for Modernization. London and Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008. ix + 224pp., with notes and index. ISBN: 978-0-674-02770-1 (hc). Price: {pound}32.95

Chu, W.-W. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: Chunhang LIU, Multinationals, Globalisation and Indigenous Firms in China. London and New York: Routledge, 2009. xv + 192 pp., with index, notes, figures, and tables. ISBN: 978-0-415-45190-1 (hc). Price: {pound}80.00

Peverelli, P. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: Sonny Shiu-Hing LO, The Dynamics of Beijing--Hong Kong Relations: A Model for Taiwan? Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008. 334 pp. ISBN: 978-962-209-908-1 (hc). Price: US$49.50

Cheung, C.-Y. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: Tomoko SHIROYAMA, China during the Great Depression: Market, State, and the World Economy, 1929--1937. Harvard East Asian Monographs 294. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2008. xvii + 325 pp., with notes and index. ISBN: 978-0-674-02831-9 (hc). Price: US$45.00

Gottschang, T. R. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: SU Chi, Taiwan's Relations with Mainland China: A Tail Wagging Two Dogs. London and New York: Routledge, 2009. xix + 342 pp., with index, notes, figures, tables, images, and chronology. ISBN: 978-0-415-46454-3 (hc). Price: US$150.00

Roy, D. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: Wanning SUN, Maid in China: Media, Morality, and the Cultural Politics of Boundaries. London and New York: Routledge, 2009. xvii + 206 pp., with index, bibliography, notes, glossary, appendix, and images. ISBN: 978-0-415-39210-5 (hc). Price: {pound}70.00

Tiantian Zheng, — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Book Review: Lin YI, Cultural Exclusion in China: State Education, Social Mobility and Cultural Difference. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. 192 pp., with appendices, references, and index. ISBN: 978-0-415-45761-3 (hc). Price: {pound}85.00

Postiglione, G. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:26:46 PDT

Comparing Formal and Informal Lobbying Practices in China: The Capital's Ambivalent Embrace of Capitalists

Kennedy, S. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

The marketization of China's economy and the attendant need for a supporting regulatory framework have resulted in extensive lobbying by Chinese and foreign industry. The central party-state has adopted an ambivalent posture toward this development. On the one hand, the government has encouraged the development of industry associations, public hearings, and comment-and-response periods for draft laws and regulations to routinize public policy consultations. On the other hand, the central party-state is deeply concerned about the political consequences of permitting greater social activism, and hence, it continues to constrain the maturation of these same formal institutions and processes. As a consequence, informal lobbying practices, such as direct lobbying and manipulation of the media, have become more prominent vehicles for industry involvement in the policy process.

Judicial Interpretation of China's Supreme People's Court as "Secondary Law" with Special Reference to Criminal Law

Keith, R. C., Zhiqiu Lin, — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

The analysis of the profile and role of China's Supreme People's Court needs updating. The Court is actively developing new interpretative formats that concern its relations with sister organizations and the National People's Congress. This article contextualizes these formats within China's changing institutional dynamics. China does not have a separation of powers; however, the Chinese system of justice does have its own separation of functions. The Court is playing a pivotal role from within the changing separation of functions, but the extent and quality of its independence from other organizations are open to question. In the context of deepening legal reform, the law is still incomplete and imperfect, and Court interpretation has often served as "secondary law." In short, pragmatic judicial interpretations have sometimes preceded legislation by Congress. Remedy such as secondary law might be justified as absolute administrative necessity given the outstanding structural problems that characterize China's criminal justice system, but it has attracted internal criticism that argues for narrowing the function of the Court to a more tightly disciplined judicial role as well as for plugging the holes in legal process and structure by creating guiding case law and supporting the "freedom of judge's decision making."

Labor Dispute Resolution in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone

Tsui, A. P.Y. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Based on case studies in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, this article analyzes the modern labor dispute resolution system in China. Although heralded as a bold step towards marketization with convergent characteristics of the Western market economies, the system suffers from institutional hangovers from the previous era and lacks certain Western benchmark features. Among the factors affecting the system's implementation, ownership is found to be the most important. State-owned enterprises show the highest probability of establishing a dispute resolution system, whereas a lower degree of compliance is found in the nonstate-owned enterprises where strong market forces prevail. The existence of a trade union seems to have no impact on workplace compliance.

Visual Representation of Internal Migration and Social Change in China

Kochan, D. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

During the 1980s and 1990s, a "dominant discourse" of internal migration developed in China, portraying the migrants' contribution to China's economic development while highlighting the social problems associated with rural-to-urban migration. In recent years one can trace a shift, evident in academic research, popular and media rhetoric, and policy formulation, toward a more migrant-centered narrative. This article aims to show that this change was in part the result of an emerging alternative discourse—initially created by a cultural avant-garde—representing a growing interest in migration and an ambivalent and even sympathetic view toward migrants, their social quandaries, impact on urban society, and opportunities for integration. In the examination of this alternative discourse, the article reviews contemporary visual representations of migration and the surrounding discussions (at public events, in scholarly works, and on the internet), which reveal the creation of a sociocultural "public sphere." By unearthing the alternative discourse, the dialectical connection between discourse and social change is brought to light, as these visual works not only reflected a complex reality but also contributed to remodeling it.

Book Review: Gregor BENTON and Edmund Terence GOMEZ, The Chinese in Britain, 1800--Present: Economy, Transnationalism, Identity. Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. xv + 470 pp., with illustrations, tables, appendix, notes, and index. ISBN: 978-0-230-52229-9 (hc). Price: {pound}60.00

Douw, L. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Marie-Claire BERGERE, Capitalismes et Capitalistes en Chine, XIXe-XXe Siecle (Capitalisms and capitalists in China, 19th--20th centuries). Paris: Perrin, 2007. 460 pp. ISBN: 978-2-262-02265-5 (pbk). Price: {euro}21.50

Guiheux, G. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Calvin CHEN, Some Assembly Required: Work, Community, and Politics in China's Rural Enterprises. Cambridge, MA: Har vard University Asia Center, 2008. xii+224 pp., with tables. ISBN: 0-674-02783-1. Price: US$39.95

Eyferth, J. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Kathryn EDGERTON-TARPLEY, Tears from Iron: Cultural Responses to Famine in Nineteenth-Century China. Berkeley, LA, and London: University of California Press, 2008. 332 pp., with index. ISBN: 978-0-520-25302-5 (hc). Price: {pound}23.95

Weigelin-Schwiedrzik, S. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: David S. G. GOODMAN, ed., The New Rich in China: Future Rulers, Present Lives. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. xii + 302 pp., with index. ISBN: 978-0-415-45565-7 (pbk). Price: US$39.95

Smart, A. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Susan GREENHALGH, Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng's China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. xxii + 403 pp., with notes and index. ISBN: 978-0-520-25339-1 (pbk). Price: {pound}12.95

Suttmeier, R. P. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Xiaolin GUO, State and Ethnicity in China's Southwest. Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2008. xi + 346 pp., with index. ISBN: 978-90-04-16775-9 (hc). Price: US$148.00

Mullaney, T. S. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Carolyn L. HSU, Creating Market Socialism: How Ordinary People Are Shaping Class and Status in China. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007. x + 225 pp., with appendix, notes, and index. ISBN: 978-0-8223-4036-2 (pbk). Price: US$21.95

Wank, D. L. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Michael KEANE, Created in China: The Great New Leap Forward. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. xiii + 192 pp., with appendix, notes, and index. ISBN: 978-0-415-41614-6 (hc). Price: US$150.00

De Kloet, J. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: David M. LAMPTON, The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money, and Minds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. xiii + 364 pp., with figures and tables. ISBN: 978-0-520-25442-8 (pbk). Price: US$21.95

Kim, S. S. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Pierre F. LANDRY, Decentralized Authoritarianism in China: The Communist Party's Control of Local Elites in the Post-Mao Era. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. xvii + 295 pp. ISBN: 978-0-521-88235-4 (hc). Price: US$160.00

Yang, D. L. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Sonny Shiu-Hing LO, Political Change in Macao. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. xvi + 166 pp. ISBN: 978-0-415-39577-9 (hc). Price: US$160.00

Choi, A. H. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Rachel MURPHY, ed., Labour Migration and Social Development in Contemporary China. London and New York: Routledge, 2009. xii + 204 pp., with index, notes, figures, and tables. ISBN: 978-0-415-46801-5 (hc). Price: {pound}80.00

Smyth, R. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Suzanne PEPPER, Keeping Democracy at Bay: Hong Kong and the Challenge of Chinese Political Reform. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2008. x + 448pp., with index. ISBN: 978-0-7425-0877-4 (pbk). Price: US$39.95

Ma, N. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Jing WANG, Brand New China: Advertising, Media and Commercial Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008. xiii + 411 pp., with index. ISBN: 978-0-674-02680-3 (hc). Price: US$28.95

Latham, K. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Book Review: Ying ZHU, Television in Post-Reform China: Serial Dramas, Confucian Leadership and the Global Television Market. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. xxii + 177 pp. + index. ISBN: 978-0-415-42546-9. Price: {pound}75.00

Schneider, F. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:47:21 PDT

Competition and Cooperation among Asian Enterprises in China

Sato, Y. — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:24:13 PST

The Asian economy has experienced tremendous changes since the late 1980s, such as the serious stagnation of the Japanese economy, the rise of many non-Japanese Asian firms, particularly in Taiwan and South Korea, and the emergence of China as an economy endowed with abundant low-cost production resources as well as a huge market. This special issue explores how Asian enterprises interact with one another amid these structural changes, with China as the arena. First and most importantly, our studies illustrate many cases of competitive and cooperative relationships among Asian firms, various kinds of cooperation in particular, which reflects the narrowing gaps among Japanese, Taiwanese, and Korean firms. Second, we also demonstrate the evolutionary process of resource/capacity building and strategic choices. Third, mutual trust built up through long-term association plays a crucial role in the collaboration between Japanese and Taiwanese firms. Fourth, although we focus on Asian enterprises, our research also shows that the multinationals from America and Europe continue to be important actors in the regional economy. Fifth, China is both a facilitator of cooperation and a stage providing opportunities for the latecomers to challenge firms from advanced countries.

Japanese--Taiwanese Joint Ventures in China: The Puzzle of the High Survival Rate

Ito, S. — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:24:13 PST

Joint ventures in China between Japanese and Taiwanese firms have been increasing since the end of the 1980s. However, the literature suggests that the performance of joint ventures with third-country-based firms is the lowest among all types of joint ventures. The reasons attributed are that this type of joint venture lacks local access through a local partner and entails higher organizational costs, stemming from the large cultural distance between investing parties at both the national and corporate levels. Proving otherwise, this article preliminarily shows that the termination rate of Japanese—Taiwanese joint ventures in China is not necessarily high compared with that of overall Japanese investments in China. Joint ventures with Taiwanese companies improve local access for Japanese partners by making it easier to: (1) access Taiwanese affiliates with a large economic presence in China; (2) facilitate smooth entry into the local market by utilizing distribution networks that Taiwanese parties possess there; and (3) gain local information from Taiwanese partners whose language and culture are similar to China's. The article also suggests that organizational costs are reduced because of the mutual trust built as a result of the long history of collaboration between Japanese and Taiwanese partners.

Strategic Choices of Convenience Store Chains in China: 7-Eleven and FamilyMart

Sato, Y. — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:24:13 PST

Two large Japanese convenience store chain companies, namely 7-Eleven Japan and FamilyMart, both of which set up businesses in China in 2004, have followed entirely different strategies. FamilyMart chose a team management strategy which is distinguished by fully utilizing the resources of its Taiwanese subsidiary and forming a partnership with a big Taiwanese business group, Ting Hsin International Group in China. By contrast, 7-Eleven Japan built up its China subsidiary almost wholly by itself, a policy that can be described as a managing-alone strategy. The differences in strategy stem fundamentally from differences in the two companies' experience of international management and from the knowledge derived from that experience. And their choice of strategies has also been shaped by the interactions between two Taiwanese business groups, namely the Ting Hsin International Group and the President Group. Furthermore, we find that FamilyMart's strategy enabled it to build up its operations more quickly than the policy adopted by 7-Eleven Japan. Although the latter's strategy is more time-consuming, it offers a stronger possibility of establishing a more efficient and more transparent business model than the approaches followed by other convenience store chains.

Taiwanese-owned Footwear Factories in China: Organizational Capability and Brand Partnership

Liu, R.-J., Lin, M.-L. — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:24:13 PST

The development of the global athletic shoe industry has undergone rise and fall in America, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan over the last 40 years or more. Taiwanese enterprises have led Taiwan and China's footwear growth from production to product development since 1990 and they have built up a long-term cooperative relationship with international brand companies. Furthermore, Japanese management technology was introduced in 2000. Factories in China implemented the lean production system and moved toward target cost management. Taiwanese enterprises have not only succeeded in collaborating with the European, American, and Japanese brands to manufacture in China, but they have also replaced the Japanese footwear factories and taken the lead from Korean manufacturers. This article examines how Taiwanese enterprises compete and collaborate with leading brand companies, while reviewing the literature and constructing an analytical framework based on two axes: manufacturing organizational capability and partner relationship. Observations will include the most recent cases of leading brands in America and Japan, Nike and Asics, as well as their respective Taiwanese-owned shoe firms in China, with the aim of uncovering the reasons for their superior position. Findings show that the competitive capability of Taiwanese-owned shoe firms comes from introducing Japanese management technology to strengthen their manufacturing organizational capability and building up partnerships with brand companies. Both factors interact and mend the product value chain gap to create advantages for original equipment manufacturing/original design manufacturing. It is important to upgrade capabilities independently, while maintaining long-term cooperation and learning with partners.

Learning from Customers: Growth of Taiwanese Notebook PC Manufacturers as Original Design Manufacturing Suppliers

Kawakami, M. — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:24:13 PST

This article explores the firm-level competitive edge that underlies the dominance of Taiwanese manufacturers in the global production of notebook PCs. Based on the study of the business flow of original design manufacturing trade and the author's interviews with outsourcing and subcontracting firms, the article argues that the successful formation of multifaceted capabilities in product development, mass production, and logistics, as well as the creation of information advantages, underpin the drastic rise of Taiwan's position in the global competitive landscape. The article also examines the mechanism through which such firm-level competitiveness has been created, and it argues that the unique attributes of the notebook PC value chains have allowed Taiwanese firms to effectively absorb technology, know-how, and information by interacting with and learning from a wide variety of customers, and thus enhance their competitiveness as original design manufacturing suppliers.

Competition Based on Marketing Resources: Catch-up Strategies of South Korean Firms in China

Huang Lin, — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:24:13 PST

The purpose of this article is to examine the development process of marketing-resources-based competition in the Chinese market by using three case studies of South Korean firms: Samsung, LG, and Hyundai. This study first asks how Korean firms were able to develop a strong market position in China despite their inferior technology relative to Japanese firms and their late entry into the Chinese market vis-a-vis Japanese, American, and European firms. The second question is how Korean firms were able to overcome the challenges of fierce price competition in China and, in particular, how firms were able to evade confrontation with the Chinese firms. In this article, the strategies of latecomers in the global competitive market will be examined. The process of market entry and market position establishment by Korean firms in China will be described. This article also shows how the firms develop branding and marketing communication strategies. Product development capabilities with speed and differentiation are the basis of Korean firms' competitiveness in the Chinese and global markets. The conclusion posits the major findings within the perspective of marketing-resources-based competition and discusses the implications and limitations.

MNCs' Offshore R & D Mandates and Host Countries' Locational Advantages: A Comparsion Between Taiwan and China

Chen, S.-H., Chen, Y.-C., Wen, P.-C. — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:24:13 PST

Offshore R & D by multinational corporations (MNCs) has increasingly involved the developing world in East Asia, initially Taiwan and Korea but more recently China and India. However, the R & D mandates of foreign R & D facilities in this region tend not to follow the paths of evolutionary models. To explain this phenomenon, this article presents a conceptual framework, essentially based on Dunning's eclectic paradigm, with a strong flavor of the evolutionary approach to technology, but which, in some cases, also allows for leapfrogging competition. In terms of empirical work, the article also explores the relationship between MNCs' overseas R & D mandates and the locational advantage of the host country by conducting case studies on flagship MNCs' R & D facilities in the information technology sector on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The results show some interesting contrasts across the Taiwan Strait that run counter to the evolutionary perspective. There are grounds to suggest that such contrasts have much to do with the locational advantages Taiwan and China each possess. Further implications are drawn to enrich the current understanding of R & D internationalization.

Searching for a Chinese Civil Society Model

Salmenkari, T. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:26 PDT

This study hypothesizes that the Chinese state uses NGOs as objects of consultation for improving its policymaking in the same way it consults mass organizations, democratic parties, and official professional associations to obtain specialist information. This model of consultation is based on the mass-line model and on its application within democratic centralist administrative hierarchies. The investigation shows that, apart from their main social or environmental tasks, Chinese NGOs indeed inform the state, many of them with policy formulation in mind. It also shows that the Chinese state uses democratic centralist vocabulary to describe the tasks that it assumes NGOs should undertake. However, apart from the mass-line type of consultation, both NGOs and the state have other conceptions about the proper roles for NGOs. The state now promotes the idea of civil society as an independent service provider, while NGOs seek an even larger sphere of social autonomy and self-organization.

The Anticult Initiative and Hong Kong Christianity's Turn from Religious Privilege

Nedilsky, L. V. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Excluding others from membership tends to reveal the instability of anyone's terms of belonging in society. Hong Kong's Anticult Initiative of 2001 sought to establish the legal difference between cult and religion and to exclude some from the protections offered by freedom of religion. In the context of Hong Kong's own renegotiation of political authority with China this initiative prompted Protestant and Catholic leaders to reflect on the peculiarities of their own faith and reassess their position in a post-1997 polity. This article analyzes public discourse, both newspaper editorials and interviews, to document a turn in self-perception away from privilege and toward vulnerability. Now that Christians can imagine themselves, like the assumed target of the anticult initiative, Falun Gong, vulnerable to restrictions on their freedom of religion, they indicate an acceptance of their unstable position and an emerging willingness to take on new concerns and allies. In the face of exclusivity, liberal Christians manage a shift toward greater inclusiveness whose extent is yet uncharted.

Utilizing Satire in Post-Deng Chinese Politics: Zhao Benshan Xiaopin vs. the Falun Gong

Gao, J., Pugsley, P. C . — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Although China's institutional campaign against the Falun Gong has been closely observed and analyzed, researchers have failed to take note of the subversive power of satire utilized in the comic theatrical skits (xiaopin) of popular comedian Zhao Benshan to ridicule the Falun Gong. This exemplifies the Chinese Communist Party's long-established political practice of "educating the masses." Based on an analysis of what are now commonly referred to as "Zhao Benshan xiaopin" and their perceived impact on the Falun Gong issue, this article examines how satirical power in post-Deng Chinese politics has been employed, and it outlines the key features of the practice. This article reviews the use of satire as a political weapon in contemporary Chinese politics, before turning to focus on four relevant Zhao Benshan xiaopin and the way in which they create popular metaphors for propagating official views in the anti-Falun Gong campaign.

Book Review: Ildiko BELLER-HANN, M. Cristina CESARO, Rachel HARRIS, and Joanne SMITH FINLEY, eds, Situating the Uyghurs between China and Central Asia. Aldershot, Hampshire, and Burlington,VT:Ashgate Publishing Company, 2007. xxvi + 249 pp. ISBN: 978-0-7546-7041-4 (hc). Price: {pound}55.00

Mackerras, C. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Book Review: Noureddine BERRAH, FEI Feng, Roland PRIDDLE, and Leiping WANG, Sustainable Energy in China: The Closing Window of Opportunity. Washington, D.C.:The World Bank, 2007. liii + 273 pp., with boxes, figures, tables, and index. ISBN: 978-0-821-36753-7 (pbk). Price: US$45.00

Vermeer, E. B. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Book Review: Sarah BIDDULPH, Legal Reform and Administrative Detention Powers in China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. xvii + 484 pp. with tables. ISBN: 978-0-521-86940-9 (hc). Price: US$112.00

Sapio, F. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Book Review: Chak Kwan CHAN, King Lun NGOK, and David PHILLIPS, eds, Social Policy in China: Development and Well-Being. Bristol:The Policy Press, 2008. 248 pp. ISBN: 978-1861348807. Price: {pound}22.99

Lau, M. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Book Review: Christian CHUA, Chinese Big Business in Indonesia:The State of Capital. London and New York: Routledge, 2008.xvi + 176 pp.,with figures,tables, notes, and index. ISBN: 978-0-415-45074-4 (hc). Price: {pound}75.00

Dieleman, M. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Book Review: Antonia FINNANE, Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History, Nation. London: Hurst Publishers Ltd., 2007. xvii + 359 pp., with illustrations, notes, and index. ISBN: 978-1-85065-860-3 (hc). Price: {pound}25.00

Turner, M. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Book Review: Baogang HE, Rural Democracy in China: The Role of Village Elections. Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. xii + 277 pp., with tables, notes, and index. ISBN: 978-0-230-60016-4 (hc). Price: US$74.95

Levy, R. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Book Review: Thomas HEBERER and Gunter SCHUBERT, Politische Partizipation und Regimelegitimitat in der VR China. Band 1: Der urbane Raum (Political participation and regime legitimacy in the PR China.Volume 1: urban areas). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag fur Sozialwissenschaften, 2008. 226 pp. ISBN: 978-3-531-15690-3. Price: 29.90

Alpermann, B. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:27 PDT

Book Review: Linda JAKOBSON, ed., Innovation with Chinese Characteristics: High-Tech Research in China. Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. xxii + 178 pp., with figures, abbreviations, and index. ISBN: 978-0-230-00692-8 (hc). Price: {pound}55.00

Suttmeier, R. P. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: Ashild KOLAS, Tourism andTibetan Culture in Transition: A Place Called Shangrila. New York: Routledge, 2008. xii + 154 pp., with glossary, notes, and index. ISBN: 978-0415434362 (hc). Price: {pound}75.00

Schrempf, M. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: Natasha KUHRT, Russian Policy towards China and Japan: The El'tsin and Putin Periods. Abingdon: Routledge, 2007. 228 pp., with notes and index. ISBN: 978-0-415-30578-5 (hc). Price: {pound}75

Ferdinand, P. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: James LEIBOLD, Reconfiguring Chinese Nationalism: How the Qing Frontier and Its Indigenes Became Chinese. New York and Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. xi + 271 pp., with notes and index. ISBN: 978-1-4039-7479-2 (hc). Price: {pound}42.50

Shin, L. K. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: Richard MADSEN, Democracy's Dharma: Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2007. xxvi + 191 pp., with notes, glossary, and index. ISBN: 978-0520252288 (pbk). Price: US$12.95

Chiu, H.-Y. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: Gordon MATHEWS, Eric Kit-wai MA, and Tai-Lok LUI, Hong Kong, China: Learning to Belong to a Nation. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. xiv + 197 pp., with notes and index. ISBN: 978-0-415-42654-1 (hc). Price: US$150.00

Pepper, S. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: Yasuyuki MIYAKE, The political economy of China's reform regime. Kyoto: Minerva Publishing, 2006. viii + 243 pp. ISBN: 4-623-04548-X. Price: {yen}5,250

Kajitani, K. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: David SHAMBAUGH, China's Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation. Washington, D.C. and Berkeley, CA: Woodrow Wilson Center Press and University of California Press, 2008. xiv + 234 pp., with notes and index. ISBN: 978-0-520-25492-3 (hc). Price: {pound}23.95

Yongnian, Z. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: Czeslaw TUBILEWICZ, Taiwan and Post-Communist Europe: Shopping for Allies. New York: Routledge, 2007. xiv + 242 pp. ISBN: 978-0-415-42252-9 (hc). Price: {pound}85.00

Cabestan, J.-P. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: Wen-Hsin YEH, Shanghai Splendor: Economic Sentiments and the Making of Modern China, 1843--1949. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2007. xiii + 305 pp., with notes, glossary, and index. ISBN: 978-0520249714 (hc). Price: {pound}23.95

Murthy, V. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: Xiantao ZHANG, The Origins of the Modern Chinese Press: The Influence of the Protestant Missionary Press in Late Qing China. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. 178 pp. with notes and index. ISBN: 978-0-415-38066-9 (hc). Price: US$150.00

Brokaw, C. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT

Book Review: ZHANG Zhen, ed., The Urban Generation: Chinese Cinema and Society at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 2007. x + 447 pp., with photos. ISBN: 978-0-8223-4074-4 (pbk). Price: {pound}15.99

Yiu Fai Chow, , De Kloet, J. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:31:28 PDT