China

China

China turns to ecology in search of ‘civilisation’

From obscure origins, China’s ecological civilisation model has grown into an international movement In 2007, then Premier Hu Jintao announced that China would become an ‘ecological civilisation’, eschewing the previous development model that had seen economic growth take priority over environmental health. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a history of using the concept of […]

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Navigating China’s archives

Restricted access to the Chinese Foreign Ministry archive is a great loss for China scholars This June I published my first book, China–Japan Relations after World War Two: Empire, Industry and War, 1949–1971 (Cambridge University Press). The book examines a key puzzle in the China–Japan relationship: why, in the immediate aftermath of their bitterest war

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Television dating shows—China’s new matchmakers

Love and marriage in today’s China are increasingly being conducted in the spotlight If not bread and butter, television dating shows have become an important ingredient of the Chinese diet. For singles, they are a platform for seeking potential spouses. For the mass audience, they are a topic for gossip. For the cultural elites, they

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Asian pop: China’s new power confrontation

China’s heavy-handed approach towards a young flag-waving Taiwanese pop star may have influenced the recent Taiwan election result The recent Taiwanese election resulted in a landslide victory for the Democratic Progressive Party. From May, the Taiwanese ‘separatists’ will have the majority in the legislative assembly for the first time ever. Although Tsai Ing-Wen’s victory in

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Beyond ‘four dishes and one soup’: China’s hidden economic epidemic

Rising concerns about the blow-out in government expenses in China echo the causes behind the collapse of the North Song Dynasty more than 1000 years ago Western businesspeople are used to claiming expenses: while it is not universal, the costs of travel and daily necessities for work are often covered by employers rather than individuals.

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