Asian Studies Commons^™

China’S Communist Party: Two Glimpses Inside, Thomas Kellogg

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On August 16, 2010, China reached yet another milestone in its decades-long breakneck run of economic development: it became the world’s second largest economy. According to official economic data, China surpassed a still-struggling Japan, leaving it behind only the United States in terms of overall economic size. Some analysts predicted that China could pass the US to become the world’s largest economy as early as 2030.

Jean-Philippe Béja On Liu Xiaobo

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In only a few hours, word will come from Oslo and the world will know whether or not this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner is Chinese activist and author Liu Xiaobo, currently serving an eleven-year prison sentence for “subverting state authority.”Speculation about Liu’s odds has been running at a fever pitch this week, so much so that Irish bookmaker Paddy Power made an early payout to those who had put money on Liu by Tuesday. Authorities in Beijing, however, have made it clear that this is one international prize that China doesn’t want to win.

Book Review: Shanghai World Expo Guide 2010, Adam D. Frank

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On first blush, one would think that reviewing Nick Land’s Shanghai World Expo Guidebook 2010 would be an exercise akin to reviewing a movie poster for Avatar—a kind of 2-D portrait of a 3-D experience.

“Revolution By Eradication:” On The Khmer Rouge’S Making Of The Tragedy Of Cambodia, Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Killing of Cambodia: Geography, Genocide and the Unmaking of Space . By James A. Tyner. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2008. 209pp.

Thai Students' Usage Of Mandarin Second-Person Pronoun "Ni" And "Nin", Seubpong Changboonchu

Asian Review

There are two forms of single second-person pronouns in Modern Chinese language, namely ni and nin Various factors should be considered between two communicating parties about which term is better to be used. The Thai language's secondperson pronoun system is quite similar to that of Modern Chinese language, but the forms in Thai are more diverse. In this paper, questionnaires and interviews are used to investigate Thai students' use of ni and nin. The findings show that Thai students use second-person pronouns differently from Chinese people whose usage is closely related to their mother tongue and culture.

Contributors

Asian Review

No abstract provided.

Sexuality, Love, And Marriage Of Chinese Women As Reflected In Post-Mao Era Novels By Women Writers, Usama Mahapasuthanon

Asian Review

This paper examines the changing patterns of and attitudes on sexuality, love, and marriage of Chinese women in the Post-Mao era, especially after 1985, as reflected in novels written by renowned Chinese women writers. The study shows that Chinese women in the novels have challenged the Confucian code of conduct for women on the preservation of chastity, open sexuality, and even the intimacy with the same sex, which were also taboos under the Mao regime. Chinese women in this era are aggressive in terms of love. Love is a part of the search for their own identities, for the completion …

Women, Sexuality And Political Achievement In Thai Society And Thai Literature, Orathai Piayura

Asian Review

Thai culture discourages involvement in politics, especially by women. In addition, a fear of being scandalized by political competitors leads many Thai women with high competence not to get involved with politics. Instead of illustrating the real situation of female politicians, Thai women writers choose to show a different picture. Politics and politicians in works composed by Duangjai and M.L. Bunluea Theppayasuwan belong in an ideal or fantasy world. This fantasy is comparable with female fantasy about sex. Just as female sexual fantasy arises from an unconscious desire about female sexuality that cannot really happen in reality, political fantasy is …

How Predictable Is The Chinese Stock Market?, Fuwei Jiang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

We analyze return predictability for the Chinese stock market, including the aggregate market portfolio and the components of the aggregate market, such as portfolios sorted on industry, size, book-to-market and ownership concentration. Considering a variety of economic variables as predictors, both in-sample and out-of-sample tests highlight significant predictability in the aggregate market portfolio of the Chinese stock market and substantial differences in return predictability across components. Among industry portfolios, Finance and insurance, Real estate, and Service exhibit the most predictability, while portfolios of small-cap and low ownership concentration firms also display considerable predictability. Two key findings provide economic explanations for …

How Does Foreign Direct Investment Affect Growth In Developing Countries? An Empirical Investigation, E. M. Ekanayake, John R. Ledgerwood

Publications

This paper analyzes the effects of foreign direct investment on the economic growth of developing countries. The study uses annual data on a group of 85 developing countries covering Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean for the period 1980-2007. We explore the hypothesis that foreign direct investment can promote growth in developing countries. We test this hypothesis using panel data series for foreign direct investment, while accounting for regional differences in Asian, African, Latin American, and the Caribbean countries as well as the differences in income levels. While the findings of previous studies are generally mixed, our results …

How Subways And High Speed Railways Have Changed Taiwan: Transportation Technology, Urban Culture, And Social Life, Anru Lee

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Diasporic Cultural Citizenship: Negotiate And Create Places And Identities In Their Refugee Migration And Deportation Experiences, Shirley S. Tang

Trotter Review

In 2002, the oldest Khmer (Cambodian) American community organization in Massachusetts, the Cambodian Community of Massachusetts (CCM), closed its doors to constituents in the state’s North Shore metro region, where the adjacent gateway cities of Lynn and Revere were home to the country’s fifth-largest concentration of Cambodian Americans, according to the 2000 Census. Founded by Cambodian refugees and their supporters in 1981 as one of the first-generation mutual assistance associations encouraged by the federal Office for Refugee Resettlement, CCM had operate as an ethnic-based, multiservice agency that helped survivors of war and trauma in Cambodia to adjust to U.S. society …

Prevalence, Nature, Context And Impact Of Alcohol Use In India: Recommendations For Practice And Research, S. Prabhu, David A. Patterson Silver Wolf (Adelv Unegv Waya) Phd, Catherine N. Dulmus Phd, K. S. Ratheeshkumar

Brown School Faculty Publications

Presently alcohol policy in India takes a moral stand rather than a scientific approach towards understanding and dealing with the problem of alcoholism. To effectively address this social problem in India, public policy must take into account the nature, extent of the problem and the context in which it occurs. This literature review examines the nature, prevalence and impact of alcohol use and misuse in India, within its historical and cultural contexts, as a beginning step to inform policy. Recommendations for practice and future research directions are suggested.

Empire, Horses And Trade: An Examination Of Sixteenth Century Portuguese Efforts To Control Trade In Arab And Persian Horses Across The Arabian Sea, Chandra R. De Silva

History Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] Portuguese dominance over the trade in horses across the Arabian Sea from West Asia to the western littoral of India lasted approximately from the Portuguese capture of Goa in 1510 to their loss of Ormuz to the Persians in 1622. As will be evident from the subsequent discussion, Portuguese control was incomplete and its significance varied from area to area and also from time to time. Nevertheless, a study of their attempts to control this trade is useful for three major reasons.

Asia's Participation In Global Health Diplomacy And Global Health Governance, David P. Fidler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article provides a framework for thinking about Asian approaches to and impact on global health diplomacy and governance that might contribute to more sophisticated analyses on Asia in global health politics, diplomacy, and governance. First, the article examines the "rise of Asia" and "rise of health" as overlapping but unconnected developments in international relations. Second, it analyzes how the shift of power and influence towards Asia, largely caused by China's and India's emergence as great powers; affects global health politics and potential Asian contributions to global health diplomacy and governance in the future. Third, the article looks at normative …

The Role Of Ngos In The International Human Rights System: A Case Study—Ijm In Thailand, Tyler J. Bourke

Global Tides

International human rights have been codified in a number of declarations and conventions, but these rights are not always enforced. This paper will examine the right to citizenship and the other essential rights linked to it. When national governments are unable or refuse to grant citizenship to a group of people it results in a violation of international human rights norms. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play a key role in enforcing human rights standards in three ways: first, NGOs with lawyers on staff can work through national legal systems to ensure that rights, such as citizenship, are granted. Second, NGOs can …

Afghanistan And Central Asia: Nervous Neighbors And Mutual Liabilities?, Lucas Hori

Global Tides

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Afghanistan has received a great deal of international attention, while its Central Asian neighbors have been generally ignored. However, the former-Soviet republics are plagued by security threats of their own, which leaders are quick to blame on the volatile circumstances in Afghanistan. This paper examines the relationship between the two regions, focusing especially on cross-border drug trade, and radical Islamist groups, and claims that Central Asian leaders have over-exaggerated Afghanistan’s negative impact on their states. The piece also evaluates Central Asia's effects on Afghanistan. It concludes by offering suggestions for improving the turbulent …

China And Brazil: Potential Allies Or Just Brics In The Wall?, Anthony Petros Spanakos

Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Brazil is an increasingly important actor in global governance and for China specifically. Sino-Brazilian relations have deepened considerably but they remain concentrated in areas of trade and investment. There is also considerable overlap in interests between the two countries in other areas, such as diplomatic and political relations. At the same time, China must manage carefully important differences that exist over the enlargement of the UN and the potential challenge to the Brazilian industry.

Agency And Partnership Law [2009], Pearlie Koh, Stephen Bull

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The laws relating to the creation of an agency, implied authority, holding out and apparent authority, duties of the agent in relation to Agency law are discussed. The laws relating to partnership law and issues such as relationship of partners to third parties, relationships of partners between themselves and capacity to be a partner are highlighted.

Corporate Social Responsibility And The Legal Profession, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Ownership Structure, Financial Structure And R&D Investment: Evidence From Korean Firms, Yanghua Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Understanding factors that can enhance a firm‟s innovativeness is of critical concern in management research. Prior studies in strategy and financial economics have advanced our understanding of how resource allocation into innovation is shaped in a firm, mainly from the perspectives of ownership and financial structures. However, the extant literature is incomplete, because it treats ownership and financial structures as separate determinants, even though theoretical arguments and empirical evidences suggest that they are interdependent. This study investigates the determinants of firm‟s R&D investments by bridging ownership and financial structures. Ownerships held by inside and external owners are considered for ownership …

Explaining The Continuities And Changes In United States Policy In Relation To Taiwan For The Past Three Presidents, Alexander G. Chanock

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis attempts to explain the continuities and changes in United States policy in relation to the Taiwan-China conflict. The paper examines this in the context of the presidential administrations of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. This explanation is done by applying the three level-analysis approach of international relations to the policies of each president. The paper examines how individual-level, state-level, and systemic variances between the presidents affect the changes in policy towards Taiwan and China. After looking at all the different factors, the state-level factors mostly influence the continuities in policy while the individual and systemic …

Corporate Governance And Earnings Management Before Share Repurchase Announcements In Singapore, Jian Ming Chua

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Share repurchase in Singapore was legalized in 1998. It is well known that investors view share repurchase as good news. This study is based on share repurchase announcements from 2006 to 2009. The mean Cumulative Market-Adjusted Returns (CAR) for the period [0, +1] and [-1, +1] are significant at 1.25% and 1.33% respectively. In Singapore, there are positive abnormal returns following share repurchase announcements in support of the ―free cash flow‖ hypothesis. By using the Singapore Corporate Governance Index as a proxy, the weakly governed companies exhibit the strongest, positive and significant CAR of 2.62% for the period [0, +1]. …

Managing Female Foreign Domestic Workers In Singapore: Economic Pragmatism, Coercive Legal Regulation, Or Human Rights, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore's immigration discourse is deeply influenced by its need to “right-size” its population. As a society that has and remains in need of immigration, contemporary immigration and globalization have rigorously challenged the conventional thinking and understanding of citizenship, as well as notions of who belongs and who does not. Nevertheless, international marriages and pervasive in-and out-migration for purposes of employment, study, and family, conspire to make more pronounced the decoupling of citizenship and residence in Singapore. This transnational dimension sits uncomfortably with the policy makers' desire for, and the imperatives of, state sovereignty, control, and jurisdiction.Although one quarter of people …

The Sinification Of Western Company Forms In Modern China: A Hybridization Of Sinospheres And Anglospheres, Wai Keung Chung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Western company or corporate forms were introduced to China for more than a hundred years. What has been the impact of this Western institution on the traditional mode of Chinese family business? At the same time, has the traditional Chinese mode of doing business changed any of the fundamental features of this Western institution, and in the end created corporate forms with “Chinese characteristics”? This paper uses the historical sociology and economic sociology perspectives to analyse the interaction between traditional Chinese business and Western corporate forms during the late 19th earlier 20th century modern China. Traditional Chinese business convention for …

The Right To Survival In The Democratic People’S Republic Of Korea, Jiyoung Song

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

For the past decade, the author has examined North Korean primary public documents and concludes that there have been changes of identities and ideas in the public discourse of human rights in the DPRK: from strong post-colonialism to Marxism-Leninism, from there to the creation of Juche as the state ideology and finally 'our style' socialism. This paper explains the background to KIM Jong Il's 'our style' human rights in North Korea: his broader framework, 'our style' socialism, with its two supporting ideational mechanisms, named 'virtuous politics' and 'military-first politics'. It analyses how some of these characteristics have disappeared while others …

Celebrating Community: A Chinese Temple Procession Brings Chinese Culture To Life In Jakarta’S Streets, Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Chinese temples from all over Java staged what was probably Jakarta’s largest ever Chinese religious festival. Accompanied by musicians, lion and dragon dancers, hundreds of devotees paraded through the streets of Glodok, Jakarta’s Chinatown.

Affectivity And The Nature Of The Sage: Gleanings From A Tang Daoist Master, Alan Kam Leung Chan

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This essay explores the place of qing in conceptions of the nature and being of the sage, focusing on the Tang Daoist master Wu Yun. What it seeks to show is that assumptions about the attainability of “sagehood” and the “nature” (xing) of human beings inform the interpretation of qing. In this context, the idea that the sage is quintessentially wuqing, marked by the absence of desire and emotions, will be examined. I will close with a comparative note on a Confucian account of the same period—namely, the Fuxing shu by Li Ao.

The Beginning Of The End? Agricultural Modernization And Dissolution Of The Peasantry In Contemporary China, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Tang Poetry And The Reproduction Of Nation-Building Ideology In Chinese Society, Patchanee Tangyuenyong

Asian Review

This article analyzes poetry during the Tang dynasty by using the cultural dimension as an analytical lens. I have selected eightyseven Tang poems dealing with war that were compiled in the Complete Tang Poetry (全唐诗 Quán Táng Shī), commissioned by the Kangxi 康熙 emperor of the Qing 清 dynasty (1644-1911 AD). The research paper takes the approach of discourse studies, which postulates that language, literature, culture, and society are inseparably related. These poems were compiled by the Qing court to shape tradition and form a dominant ideology in the society. They contain hidden agendas on subjects such as race, class, …