Edited by Li Shenming and Zhang Yuyan from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, this timely book unveils China's current political concerns and security fears. Readers outside of China can now discover China's worries and fears, helping to contextualise the latest Chinese diplomatic and international relations policies. The research-based content includes authoritative Chinese academic analysis on the very latest situations around the world. These include: dramatic changes in the Middle East and North Africa; the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan; key developments amongst China's near neighbours; continuing European financial woes; evolving climate change and energy policies; perceived terrorism threats; comment on the various military and conflict situations around the world. This detailed report outlines exactly how China views the world, plus the reader will benefit from insightful material by leading Chinese academics on the growing prominence of the Chinese government on the global political stage. Published by Paths International, in association with China's Social Sciences Academic Press, this title is one of a series of annual reports offering an opportunity to access the latest material on China's international relations strategies. These books are highly detailed and research-led, supplying expert analysis from key Chinese policy advisors.

This edited volume reviews important contemporary issues through relevant case studies and research in China and Australia, such as the challenges posed by climate change, the development of eco-urban design, research on sustainable habitats and the relationship between ecology, green architecture and city regeneration, as well as, in general, the future of the city in the new millennium. The authors represent a broad selection of international experts, young scholars and established academics who discuss themes related to urban–rural destruction and economic and spatial regeneration techniques, the sustainable reconversion of natural landscapes and eco-urban design in the context of the current evolution of architectural and urbanism practice. The book aims to explain the conditions in which the contemporary debate about urban regeneration and rural revitalisation has developed in Australia and China, presented by different theoretical and methodological perspectives. It also provides a multifaceted and critical analysis of relevant case studies and urban experiences in Australia and China, focusing on environmental disruption, resized urban interventions and the need for more efficient and sustainable forms of regeneration and urban renewal practice in urban–rural contexts. This book will be an invaluable resource for architects, planners, architectural and urban historians, geographers, and scholars interested in modern Australian and Chinese architecture and urbanism.

This book proposes that the short-term goal of the current reform of the international monetary system should be a combination of controlling 'imbalances' and 'the risk of the dollar', namely using the balance of payments coordination mechanism to suppress risks by exchange rate cooperation. The reforms of international reserve currencies, international financial institutions, and international financial regulation provide a good external environment for the stable development of the world economy. The book discusses the mechanisms that will continue to support the hegemony of the US dollar and the US dollar system in the future, including the commodity dollar return mechanism, the international debt repayment mechanism, the petroleum dollar pricing mechanism and the dollar rescue mechanism in financial crisis. The book predicts that the current international currency system dominated by the US dollar will remain sustainable for a long time. Finally, the book proposes four strategies for China's participation in the reform of the international monetary system.

This book presents a unique array of insights into Hong Kong's transition to China since the 1 July 1997 handover, from several perspectives around the region. Scholars from China, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand undertake an analysis and synthesis of particular regional viewpoints on the transfer of sovereignty. Each contribution is positioned in relation to the three interconnected themes of economic transformation, political and legal developments, and identity which run through the volume. The sometimes contradictory and provocative insights highlighted by the authors emphasize the inherent complexities of Hong Kong's transition and the range of alternative regional perspectives it engenders.

This insightful book investigates the historical, political, and legal foundations of the Chinese perspectives on the rule of law and the international rule of law. Building upon an understanding of the rule of law as an 'essentially contested concept', this book analyses the interactions between the development of the rule of law within China and the Chinese contribution to the international rule of law, more particularly in the areas of global trade and security governance.

China is historically famous for its high demographic dividend and its huge working population, and this has driven tremendous economic growth over the past few decades. However, that population has begun to shrink and the Lewis turning point whereby surplus rural population has been absorbed into manufacturing is also approaching, leading to great change in the Chinese labor market. Will this negatively affect China’s economic growth? Can the "Middle-Income Trap" be avoided? What reforms should be made on the labor supply side? This book tackles these key questions. This book is a collection of 14 papers presenting the author’s observations, analysis, and opinions of China’s long-term economic development from the demographic perspective, while analysing real economic problems from the past and including policy recommendations. It provides a critical reference for scholars and students interested in Chinese economic development and demographic perspectives on economic development.

Recent events—from strife in Tibet and the rapid growth of Christianity in China to the spectacular expansion of Chinese Buddhist organizations around the globe—vividly demonstrate that one cannot understand the modern Chinese world without attending closely to the question of religion. The Religious Question in Modern China highlights parallels and contrasts between historical events, political regimes, and cultural movements to explore how religion has challenged and responded to secular Chinese modernity, from 1898 to the present. Vincent Goossaert and David A. Palmer piece together the puzzle of religion in China not by looking separately at different religions in different contexts, but by writing a unified story of how religion has shaped, and in turn been shaped by, modern Chinese society. From Chinese medicine and the martial arts to communal temple cults and revivalist redemptive societies, the authors demonstrate that from the nineteenth century onward, as the Chinese state shifted, the religious landscape consistently resurfaced in a bewildering variety of old and new forms. The Religious Question in Modern China integrates historical, anthropological, and sociological perspectives in a comprehensive overview of China’s religious history that is certain to become an indispensible reference for specialists and students alike.

With a population of nearly 1.5 billion and the world’s second largest economy, China is a major player in the world today, and yet many in the West know very little about contemporary China. This book provides a clear, authoritative and up-to-date history of China since 1949, drawing on extensive research to describe and explain the key developments and to dispel the many myths and misconceptions surrounding this twenty-first-century superpower. In contrast to many commentators who overstate the novelty of the Communist regime, Guiheux emphasizes instead its complex political heritage, highlighting the many continuities it shares with the reformers and revolutionaries of the early twentieth century. At the same time, the ability of China’s authoritarian regime to transform the economy and society is key to understanding its breakneck trajectory of modernization – an ability that, as Guiheux explains, far outweighed the importance and effectiveness of Mao’s utopian vision. Guiheux also aims to ‘de-exoticize’ China. While not on the path of a Western-style modernity, China has experienced the same phenomena that have characterized every historical process of modernization: industrialization, urbanization, bureaucratization and globalization. This expertly researched history of the People’s Republic of China will be essential reading for all students and scholars of Chinese history and politics, and for anyone interested in contemporary China.

Most current research on the evolution of China’s propaganda discourse only touches upon recent variations of official propaganda rhetoric grounded in popular media. Here, the research is extended by tapping into the most recently released popular cultural media narratives such as online documentaries, films, TV drama serials and education programs, all of which are enlisted and co-opted by the state for propaganda goals. This book maps out the cutting-edge expansions of official propaganda that are embedded in the entertainment industry of contemporary China. Its case studies bring to light the progression of the mainstream propaganda discourse in terms of its merging, cooperation and compromise with the commercial features of both the traditional and newly-emerging entertainment media. In particular, it examines a group of mass entertainment products which include two best-selling mainstream blockbusters, two on-line commercial web documentaries, the China Central Television Moon Festival Gala series, socialist revolutionary TV drama serials, and a prime time science and education program. In so doing, it forefronts the up-to-date developments and novelties of state propaganda: its motives, reasoning and approaches within the mediasphere of today’s China. Illustrating how the CCP propaganda apparatus and tactics evolve and become embedded in popular media products, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese studies, Media Studies and Popular Cultural Studies.