International and Area Studies Commons^™

Knowing China, Losing China: Discourse And Power In U.S.-China Relations, Shankara Narayanan

University Scholar Projects

The U.S. government’s 2017 National Security Strategy claimed, “China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.”[1] Three years later, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the U.S. foreign policy community’s discursive shift towards Realist competition with China, with officials from the past three presidential administrations coming to view China as a threat to democratic governance and America’s security posture in Asia. The discourse underpinning the U.S.-China relationship, however, remains understudied. During key moments in the relationship, U.S. policymakers’ Realist intellectual frameworks failed to account for Chinese nationalism, suggesting a problem embedded within …

Knowing China, Losing China: Discourse And Power In U.S.-China Relations, Shankara Narayanan

Honors Scholar Theses

The U.S. government’s 2017 National Security Strategy claimed, “China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.”[1] Three years later, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the U.S. foreign policy community’s discursive shift towards Realist competition with China, with officials from the past three presidential administrations coming to view China as a threat to democratic governance and America’s security posture in Asia. The discourse underpinning the U.S.-China relationship, however, remains understudied. During key moments in the relationship, U.S. policymakers’ Realist intellectual frameworks failed to account for Chinese nationalism, suggesting a problem embedded within …

Small-Family Mindset: An Analysis Of The Impact Of China's Family Planning Policies On Family Culture, Sarah Ansley Croft

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the impact of China’s family planning policies on women’s attitudes towards family culture and the implications on China today. The family planning policies began in the 1970s as an emergency measure intended to create a short-term voluntary small-family culture by decreasing fertility rates. My research, comprised primarily of primary and secondary qualitative sources, discusses the development and implementation of the policies, the economic reforms beginning in the 1980s, and their joint effects on fertility rates, sex ratio at birth, women’s liberation, and changes in family culture, particularly in rural areas. This study found that the family planning …

Perceptions Of Chinese Influence In Tanzania, Matthew Jacob Travers

Honors Theses

As soon as it gained independence from the United Kingdom in December 1961, Tanganyika, which would later become the United Republic of Tanzania, established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. The two countries have continued to promote friendly relations and an economic and political partnership, particularly through the Belt and Road Initiative and the Confucius Institute. Given international concerns over China’s interest in the African continent, this thesis seeks to evaluate the perceptions of Chinese influence in Tanzania on both a national and local level.

I used a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to analyze China’s …

From Memory To Present To An Uncertain Future: An Analysis Of History And Policy On Chinese Food Security, Justin Mascarin

Honors Projects

This paper seeks to analyze China’s historical relationship to famine to better understand contemporary Chinese policy on food security. The historical analysis focuses both at the political level and the level of the peasantry, with a particular focus on the Great Chinese Famine. This Chinese specific analysis in conjunction with an understanding of food security history helps to better understand two white papers on food security from the Chinese Government in 1996 and 2019. This paper finds these white papers to be response to deep rooted doubts in the ability for the Chinese Government to logistically support such a massive …

The Effects Of Covid-19 On China’S Luxury Retail Market, Shirlysia D. Daniel

Honors College Theses

The Coronavirus outbreak that occurred in 2020 negatively impacted the world globally. China handled the pandemic better than other countries due to their experience with prior virus outbreaks, SARS and MERS. It is important to research how the Coronavirus outbreak affected and is still affecting China’s economy, as it is a leading role in other countries’ economies as well. Before Covid-19, Chinese consumers made up one-third of global spending on luxury goods. Global luxury spending decreased drastically as many were impacted financially, emotionally, and physically. However, China’s success during the pandemic has been predicted to be the largest luxury retail …

Study On The Ideas For Developing M&A Funds In China In The Context Of Economic Transformation, Xiaoming Song

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

M & A fund is one category of private equity investment fund. In the past 25 years, private equity fund has grown into a considerable asset section. Since 2008, China's economy has experienced the pounding pain of structural transformation multiplied with other challenges, e.g. international economy’s lack of growth momentum, increased trade friction, aging population and so on. The trade friction between China and the United States has further exacerbated. Against this backdrop, from September 2018, there was a significant shift in the domestic central government’s economic policy, particularly the capital market policy, has undergone major changes with the repressed …

The Strategic Impact Of China's Artificial Islands In The South China Sea And Their Influence On U.S. And China Relations, Steven Roy Ma

All Student Scholarship

This is an integrative literature review of various perspectives of different authors of previous scholarly articles discussing the impact of China’s artificial Islands in the South China Sea and how it affects U.S. China relations in the region. This research covers a range of parameters surrounding how the artificial islands were made and how they affect the overall security of naval operations and will also discuss international waterway rights within the South China Sea, one of the World’s biggest trading routes. A review of current events in the region is discussed highlighting the potential powder keg that could explode and …

Digital Readiness Index For Arbitration Institutions: Challenges And Implications For Dispute Resolution Under The Belt And Road Initiative, Allison Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Post-COVID-19, a paradigm shift has occurred in the adoption of technology in arbitration. Leading arbitral institutions have adapted quickly, highlighting the foresight of institutions who have existing technological infrastructure in place. This article proposes a ‘Digital Readiness Index’, which aims to evaluate arbitral institutions on their level of digital readiness based on five evaluative indicators. Cross referenced against Institute for Management Development (IMD’s) 2019 World Digital Competitiveness Rankings, the findings reveal synergies between an economy’s digital competitiveness and the adoption of technology in dispute resolution. To further the development of dispute resolution processes under the Belt and Road Initiative, strategic …

Government Management Capacities And The Containment Of Covid-19: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study Across Chinese Cities, Wenchao Li, Jing Li, Junjian Yi

Research Collection School Of Economics

Objectives: Better understanding of the dynamics of the COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus disease) pandemic to curb its spread is now a global imperative. While travel restrictions and control measures have been shown to limit the spread of the disease, the effectiveness of the enforcement of those measures should depend on the strength of the government. Whether, and how, the government plays a role in fighting the disease, however, has not been investigated. Here, we show that government management capacities are critical to the containment of the disease. Setting: We conducted a statistical analysis based on cross-city comparisons within China. China …

The United States And The "Chinese Problem" Of Southeast Asia, Wen-Qing Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This essay examines how US Cold War policy toward all of Southeast Asia arose from American suspicions that the region's Chinese diaspora would align itself with the Chinese communists against the west. In so doing, it explores how US distrust of the Chinese diaspora fell in step with a longer imperialist tradition practised not only by the European powers for centuries, but also the Japanese Empire during its brief ascendancy during World War Two. Additionally, the essay proposes that to move beyond the bilateral studies that dominate the histories of US-Southeast Asian relations to view the region as whole, it …

Wto Reform: A China Round, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Since its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), China's exports have been growing exponentially. In 2009, China became the world's top goods exporter. Four years later, China unseated the United States as the top trading nation in the world. In contrast to the burgeoning Chinese economy, the United States and Europe have been suffering from economic decline since the global financial crisis in 2008. China regards its rise as a long overdue restoration of its rightful position, as it has been the largest economy in the world for most of its history, except the brief aberration over the past …

Lokotopia: Expansion To China Doesn’T Have To Be A Gamble, Yiqing Pin Cai

MSc in Innovation Capstone Projects

Addressed the problem of Southeast Asian brands to enter the China market, reviewed existing market solutions, presented their solution which was tested through global Chinese consumers. Introduced LOKOTOPIA services, with some cases for market validation.

Bubox: Smart Textile Platform, Jiameng (Sissy) Yan, Kuanfu (River) Lee

MSc in Innovation Capstone Projects

Analyzed the global textile market, apparel market and trends. Found that textile sourcing was a pain point. They proposed a solution called BUBOX which would provide a customized monthly swatch box to offer smarter strategies that would be in line with buyer requirements and leveraging data technology.

The ‘Global South’ In The Study Of World Politics: Examining A Meta Category, Sebastian Haug, Jacqueline Braveboy-Wagner, Günther Maihold

Publications and Research

This introductory contribution examines the ‘Global South’ as a meta category in the study of world politics. Against the backdrop of a steep rise in references to the ‘Global South’ across academic publications, we ask whether and how the North–South binary in general, and the ‘(Global) South’ in particular, can be put to use analytically. Building on meta categories as tools for the classification of global space, we discuss the increasing prominence of the ‘Global South’ and then outline different understandings attached to it, notably socio-economic marginality, multilateral alliance-building and resistance against global hegemonic power. Following an overview of individual …

Building Quality? Migration, Suzhi, And Subaltern Masculinity In The Shanghai Construction Industry, Leif Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This doctoral dissertation providesa novel perspective on the everyday lives of construction workers in urban China, demonstrating the underpinnings of urban infrastructure and citizenship policy in affective and gendered relations surrounding the construction industry. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Shanghai, China, this dissertation makes a series of three related arguments: First, focusing on the role that migrant labor plays in the construction of urban infrastructure in Shanghai, I argue that the physical existence of infrastructure itself is inextricably tied to systems that govern rural-urban migration across China. Second, building from the Chinese concept of suzhi as both …

A ‘Hermit Kingdom’ No Longer? Kim Jong-Un’S Two Years Of Diplomatic Summits And What North Korean Media Can Tell Us About Them, Jaimie Ding

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the English-language output of the Korean Central News Agency, the main news agency of North Korea. I conduct an analysis of the KCNA news coverage of a series of diplomatic summits that North Korean leader Ki Jong-un holds with Chinese president Xi Jin-ping, South Korean president Moon Jae-in, and U.S. president Donald Trump from 2018-2019. For this analysis, I coded for certain phrases and rhetoric and examined the content of each article to look at how news coverage of these summits reflects North Korea’s foreign policy goals and stances toward the respective countries. I found several recurring …

North Korea: How Fear Is Used To Control A Nation, Ashley Clisby

Capstone Showcase

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea, is most commonly known for its possession and testing of nuclear weapons and threatening to use these weapons of mass destruction. Less commonly talked about are the human rights violations that are being experienced by the citizens of North Korea. Most, if not all, of the information regarding North Korean human rights that have been reported on comes from individuals who have escaped the Kim regime. There is very limited information traveling in and out of North Korea that is not heavily monitored by the government. These individuals …

The Sri Lanka-China-India Triangle: A Regional Power Transition, Nandeeni Patel

CMC Senior Theses

In 2016, China became the largest importer of Sri Lanka goods and services, surpassing India. Since then, the Chinese government has signed significant trade, development, and security deals with the island nation. This thesis argues that Sri Lanka's domestic politics, centered around its decades-long civil war and consequent human rights concerns, have served as the crux of its triangular relations with two regional powers: India and China. The human rights issue, in tandem with Sri Lanka's agency as a small state, has drawn Sri Lanka to China. The China-Sri Lanka relationship and has now expanded to developing security and development …

Great Power Politics: The United States’ War On Disinformation With Consideration To Russian And Chinese Offensive Efforts, Jordan Venglass

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the growing national security threat posed by Russia and China’s willingness to exercise 21st century information warfare techniques against the United States and its areas of strategic interest. This study will describe the composition of these state’s foreign disinformation entities while providing several case studies that display their advanced capabilities and the direct effects that each poses on the general public both domestically and internationally. To best provide unbiased reporting and accuracy in each country’s analysis, this study will rely on the diversified use of government reports, legal documents, academic journals, and …

Lessons From Our Living Rooms: Illuminating Lockdowns With Technology Domestication Insights, Sun Sun Lim, Yang Wang

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

With at least half of humanity under lockdown to arrest the spread of COVID-19 (Sandford, 2020), adults have been working from home and children engaging in home schooling for months on end. Competing for scarce resources such as digital devices, bandwidth, as well as physical and personal space, families have had to contend with rising tensions around the quality of digital engagement, children’s learning abilities, parent-child relationships and overall familial wellbeing. This fraught situation shone the spotlight on the household context of technology use but also enabled us to marshal academic insights to advance advocacy and public education. The pandemic …

Getting Undergraduates Ready For China’S Belt And Road Initiative (Bri) Through An Overseas Experiential Learning Project, China And The World: Ancient And Modern Silk Road, Andrew Chin, Thomas Menkhoff, Hans-Dieter Evers, Hoong Hui Daniel Gn, Kevin Koh, Chester Wey Lee, Patrick Loh, Linda Low, Sebastian Tan, Teng Seng Teo, Natalie Yap

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper, we explain how an experiential learning course and study tour to Gansu Province (People’s Republic of China) enabled undergraduates at the Singapore Management University (SMU) to acquire 21st-century competencies and higher-order thinking skills by analyzing and evaluating specific aspects of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China–Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative — New International Land–Sea Trade Corridor (CCI-ILSTC) with emphasis on developing viable Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies aimed at selling Gansu produce in four Southeast Asian markets. We share how the course was designed to support the attainment of key learning goals and discuss how we turned pedagogical …

The Thais In Exile: Repression, Exile And Emergence Of The Guerilla In The North East Of Thailand (1960-1965), Alexandre Barthel

Asian Review

While Thailand’s fate during the Cold War may seem more enviable than that of most of its Southeast Asian neighbors, the country nonetheless experienced greater unrest as the United States were sinking into the War in Vietnam. And the North-East, the poorest region of the kingdom, was among the most affected by the violence which broke out between the Thai armed forces and the Communist Party. In this part of Thailand, the development of the communist forces was possible largely due to the proximity of Laos.The dynamic between the Vietnamese Revolution and the foreign reaction then began to reach the …

Rethinking China Trade Policy: Lessons Learned And Options Ahead, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Looking back at the China trade policy of the Trump administration, the biggest lesson is that unilateralism simply doesn’t work, at least not against a major power like China. Despite the tumultuous two-and-half-year trade war and the Phase 1 deal hailed as an “unprecedented” deal promising “a more balanced trade relationship and a more level playing field for American workers and companies,” there has been little progress on the issues U.S. businesses and the Trump administration objected to in China’s trade and economic policies. It is not only the U.S. government that needs a more viable approach. Many companies would …

Global Stablecoins And China’S Cbdc: New Moneys With New Impacts On The Financial System?, Wei Shen, Heng Wang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Digital currencies are reshaping the financial, monetary, and regulatory landscape. There are at least two routes for the development of digital currencies. One is global stablecoins (e.g., Diem that is previously named Libra), issued by private players, while the other is central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by central banks, with China’s CBDC as an example and possibly the first CBDC that will be issued by a major economy. Albeit in their rudimentary stages, global stablecoins and China’s CBDC are likely to disrupt the current financial system and challenge existing financial regulation. This article examines two crucial but under-explored questions: …

China’S Bilateral Investment Treaties, Heng Wang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter focuses on the changes and trends in Chinese bilateral investment treaties and relatedly investment rules of China’s free trade agreements. It analyzes a number of questions: what is the changing context of China’s bilateral investment rulemaking? How to understand the evolution of China’s bilateral investment treaties? What are the major features in China’s recent practice? What are the shifts on investment dispute settlement?

Public Health Insurance And Pharmaceutical Innovation: Evidence From China, Xuan Zhang, Huihua Nie

Research Collection School Of Economics

Developing countries are characterized by low levels of pharmaceutical innovation. A likely reason is their small market size, which is not because of the population size but because of low levels of income and lack of health insurance coverage. This study exploits a natural experiment from the implementation of a public health insurance program for rural residents in China (New Cooperative Medical Scheme [NCMS]) to examine whether the pharmaceutical industry increases innovation regarding diseases covered by the NCMS that are prevalent in rural areas. We examine the 1993–2009 patent data to gauge pharmaceutical innovation in China. Diseases with a 10% …

The Evolutionary Global Vision Of Chinese Political Philosophy; China's Socio-Economic Transformation In The 21st Century, Meryem Gurel

Master's Projects and Capstones

Evolving relations of East Asia due to trade liberalization raised the search for financial stability for institutional development. It also increased the importance of China integrating the global economy into renewing its political philosophy in the new century. This capstone project aims to examine why China has transformed its socio-economic structure by generating outward investments and how it has affected international political relations in terms of the role of the economic institution Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Quantitative methodology aims to examine the impact of China’s export trade on income distribution and economic growth through linear regression analysis for the …

Alternative Education Spaces And Pathways: Insights From An International Christian School In China, Menusha De Silva, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The nascent scholarship on geographies of alternative education focuses on alternative education spaces, most located in the UK, that resist and/or negotiate neoliberal restructuring of education, some of which cater to socially marginalised groups. In contrast, through an ethnographic focus on an underground Christian international school in China, we examine an alternative education space that responds to parents’ aspirations for their children to be inculcated with global cultural capital, Chinese values and Christian beliefs. These aspirations are not fulfilled in mainstream state schools or international schools in China, but are demanded by parents looking for a “superior” set of skills …

Firm Productivity And The Variety Of Inputs And Outputs: Evidence From Chinese Trade Data, Ken Onishi, Jianhuan Xu, Guang Yang

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper studies how the trade liberalization in China changes the firm productivity. We develop a framework to estimate revenue productivity (TFPR) and real productivity (TFPQ) with multi-product firms. We find that the aggregate TFPR increases 30\% from 2002-2007 and TFPQ increases 22\%, suggesting that the observed TFPR increase is mainly driven by real productivity change rather than the markup change. We further decompose the change of productivity into three channels: (1) access to foreign inputs; (2) technology upgrade; (3) resource re-allocation within the firm. We find the most significant channel is the last one, which explains half of the …