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Exploring the transitional role of the state in Taiwan's economic development, this book focuses especially on the impact of trade with mainland China. Tse-Kang Leng argues that the basic structure of political forces within Taiwan and its pattern of external economic relations have been transformed in the 1990s, with cross-Straits trade playing a key part. Although politically embarrassing to the government, this trade provides an economic opportunity that is irresistibly attractive to business interests.Thus, cross-Straits trade and investment have served as a fulcrum by which societal interests have moved an unwilling state. Going beyond the ?strong state? paradigm, the author's analysis of current cross-Straits economic policies reveals a sharp contrast between Taiwan's authoritarian past and its current era of democratization. Weighing the crucial forces at work in Taiwan?democratization, state-society interaction, and economic interdependence with mainland China?Leng provides a thorough analysis of Taiwan's political and economic development in the 1990s and beyond.
How do we understand the evolution of central-local relations in China during the reform period? This book addresses this question by focusing on eight separate issues in which the central-local relationship has been especially salient – government finance, investment control, regional development, administrative zoning, implementation, culture, social welfare and international relations. Each chapter introduces a sector and the way the center and various local governments have shared or divided power over the different periods of China’s reform era. The balance of power is gauged dynamically over time to measure the extent to which one level of government dominates, influences or shares power in making decisions in each of these particular domains, as well as what is likely to occur in the foreseeable future. The authors assess the winners and losers of these changes among key actors in China’s society. The result provides a dynamic view of China’s changing power relations.
This collection of articles from the Journal of Democracy considers the prospects for democracy in China. While China has achieved extraordinary economic success as it has moved toward open markets and international trade, its leadership maintains an authoritarian grip, repressing political movements, controlling all internet traffic, and opposing any democratic activity. Because of its huge population, more than half the people in the world who lack political freedom live in China. Its undemocratic example is attractive to other authoritarian regimes. But can China continue its growth without political reform? In Will China Democratize?, Andrew J. Nathan, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner...
The People’s Republic of China has experienced numerous challenges and undergone tremendous structural changes over the past four decades. The party-state now faces a fundamental tension in its pursuit of social stability and regime durability. Repressive state strategies enable the Chinese Communist Party to maintain its monopoly on political power, yet the quality of governance and regime legitimacy are enhanced when the state adopts more inclusive modes of engagement with society. Based on a dynamic typology of state–society relations, this volume adopts an evolutionary framework to examine how the Chinese state relates with non-state actors across several fields of governance. Drawing on original fieldwork, the authors identify areas in which state–society interactions have shifted over time, ranging from more constructive engagement to protracted conflict. This evolutionary approach provides nuanced insight into the circumstances wherein the party-state exerts its coercive power versus engaging in more flexible responses or policy adaptations.
'This is clearly a book with great breadth and diversity... a valuable addition to the literature about east and southeast Asia.' T Forsyth, Development Studies Institute London School of Economics and Political Science, in Land Degradation and Development As their economies and populations expand, almost all Asian countries are experiencing profound ecological problems at the national, regional and global level; be it air pollution in rapidly growing cities, trans-boundary water pollution or climate change. While the countries of East and Southeast Asia are the victims of environmental change, they are also complicit in causing it at home and abroad. As these countries move towards internat...
Critical reviews of various developments in China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Rethinking the Triangle: Washington-Beijing-Taipei is a book on foreign policy with a difference. Under the premise that the Cold War mentality is outdated, the book explores a new paradigm for the three parties' interrelationships based on inclusiveness and opportunity rather than each hedging against increasingly unlikely crises. It states that instead of seeing Taiwan as a security liability, the US should use it as a compatible point of contact to East Asia, and China should view the US-Taiwan relationship as an opportunity rather than as an intervention. Rather than focusing only on American policy options, the book treats the most important triangular interaction in Asia from the standpoint of each of its participants, by an expert from each country. The book also includes brief discussions by experts from Japan and Macau considering the general salience of the new paradigm for Asia. For readers' easy reference, it also includes a triangular chronology as well as a selection of major documents relating to the triangle.
For the past several decades, China has been transforming itself from an isolated and backward agrarian society into an economic superpower with global interests and responsibilities. Over 300 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty and China now enjoys the fastest growing and third largest economy on earth. Not surprisingly, numerous changes in China's foreign relations have accompanied the astounding transformations in the country's domestic politics and society. Perhaps most surprising to some observers is Beijing's aggressive foray into the so-called developing world. This co-edited book focuses on China's increasing engagement with many of the less developed countries-particular...
How did the once-secretive, isolated People’s Republic of China become the factory to the world? Shelley Rigger convincingly demonstrates that the answer is Taiwan. She follows the evolution of Taiwan’s influence from the period when Deng Xiaoping lifted Mao’s prohibitions on business in the late 1970s, allowing investors from Taiwan to collaborate with local officials in the PRC to transform mainland China into a manufacturing powerhouse. After World War II, Taiwan’s fleet-footed export-oriented manufacturing firms became essential links in global supply chains. In the late 1980s, Taiwanese firms seized the opportunity to lower production costs by moving to the PRC, which was seekin...
Democratization scholars believe that the next regional wave of transitions to democracy may unfold in East and Southeast Asia. In their introduction to the 1998 edition of Democracy in East Asia, Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner predicted that East Asia, with its remarkable diversity of political regimes, economies, and religions, would likely be the most critical arena in the global struggle for democracy, a prediction that has proven prescient. Although the recent political upheavals in the Middle East have understandably grabbed the world’s attention, there is reason to doubt whether the overthrow of some authoritarian regimes there will lead to the establishment of stable democracie...