This book reflects the author’s views on NGO development in China and includes recent papers, reviews, and policy suggestions he has written. This collection introduces the current state of research on NGOs and their development in China to an English-speaking audience, allowing them to understand China’s social reforms, which center on NGOs.
In recent years, China has not only expanded its economic presence worldwide but has also actively pursued initiatives to enhance its global leadership, promote international cooperation, and provide humanitarian aid. Concurrently, Chinese NGOs have played an increasingly active role in China's international diplomacy, initiating projects overseas and establishing offices in Belt and Road Initiative countries. This book delves into this trend by examining China's global strategy, the role of NGOs, and exploring the perspectives of these organizations themselves on their functions and roles in international politics. It presents a typology of NGOs within China's foreign policy, summarizing the diverse factors that influence their multifaceted involvement. The book reveals the divergence between Chinese and Western understandings of global governance and highlights the significance of the international engagement of Chinese NGOs as a new and noteworthy phenomenon in the fields of international relations and global governance.
This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of local governance in China, and offers original analysis of key factors underpinning trends in this field drawing on the expertise of scholars both inside and outside China. It explores and analyzes the dynamic interaction and collaboration among multiple governmental and non-governmental actors and social sectors with an interest in the conduct of public affairs to address horizontal challenges faced by the local government, society, economy, and civil community and considers key issues such as governance in urban and rural areas, the impact of technology on governance and related issues of education, healthcare, environment and energy. As the result of a global and interdisciplinary collaboration of leading experts, this Handbook offers a cutting-edge insight into the characteristics, challenges and trends of local governance and emphasizes the promotion of good governance and democratic development in China.
The contributions compiled in this issue engage in critical evaluation of China's "New Silk Road initiative" ("Belt and Road Initiative" [BRI]) by focusing on the potential long-term political and economic effects and implications for Sino-EUropean and Sino-African relations. The authors take the launching of the BRI (October 2013) as a starting point for a general, theory-guided qualitative re-evaluation of the basic patterns of Chinese foreign relations and global interactions under the fifth generation of Chinese political leaders. In 2013, the Chinese state president, Xi Jinping, framed BRI as a global connectivity network consisting of a multitude of overland passages and maritime transportation corridors. Xi Jinping's report to the 19th Party Congress (2017) set the BRI as an anchor concept of China's fine-tuned foreign strategy in the 21st century.
Demonstrating the crucial importance of local governance in China’s development and international relations, this topical Handbook combines theoretical approaches with novel methodological tools to understand state–society relations at the local level.
This book describes the development of human rights in the People's Republic of China since 1949. In particular, since the reform and opening-up, China has deepened its understanding of the rule of law and human rights, and realized the incorporation of human rights into the Constitution. The cause of human rights in China has entered a period of rapid development in a planned and step-by-step manner, and a path of human rights development suited to China's national conditions has been set out. China's international exchanges and cooperation in the field of human rights have gradually deepened and strengthened, and China has made unique contributions, becoming a participant, builder and contributor to international human rights governance.
Can China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promote sustainable development, alongside its primary aims of increasing commercial connectivity with China’s partners? In discussions of the BRI the focus has tended to be on the implications for infrastructure construction, connectivity, and economic diplomacy. Rather less attention has been paid to its potential impact on sustainability. The initiative has not only set principles to prevent climate change and promote sustainable development, but also pledged to align with the UN’s environmental objectives. The contributors to this volume describe and evaluate the consequent policy coordination in the areas of green finance, green energy, and sustainable development in the Belt and Road regions. They examine both the challenges and opportunities of these projects, and the role that Hong Kong can play in supporting their assessment, finance, and implementation. With contributions from authors based in mainland China, Hong Kong, Australia, Qatar, the UK, and the US – with experience in corporate social responsibility, international finance, environmental policy, and international relations – this book presents a thorough and rigorous analysis of the green side of the BRI. A valuable resource for scholars of the BRI and its many implications for China, its partners, and the development of sustainable infrastructure.
Published research in English is reviewed on the Nonprofit Sector (NPS) in mainland China since Mao’s death in 1976. A large, diverse, and rapidly growing NPS exists, but openly political Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) outside the Communist Party and its control are prohibited. China has civil society in the narrower sense: a substantial civil society sector or NPS exists. However, the party-state in China continues to play a dominating role in regard to the NPS, especially for registered NPOs. Freedom of association is still limited in China, especially for national associations, which are nearly all Government Organized Nongovernmental Organizations (GONGOs), not genuine NGOs/NPOs. The broader scope definition of civil society focuses on functioning civil liberties, and the ability of NPOs in general to influence significantly the government on various policy issues. In these terms, China has a weak but slowly emerging civil society with far more associational freedom than under Mao.
In China's Public Diplomacy, author Ingrid d'Hooghe contributes to our understanding of what constitutes and shapes a country's public diplomacy, and what factors undermine or contribute to its success. China invests heavily in policies aimed at improving its image, guarding itself against international criticism and advancing its domestic and international agenda. This volume explores how the Chinese government seeks to develop a distinct Chinese approach to public diplomacy, one that suits the country's culture and authoritarian system. Based on in-depth case studies, it provides a thorough analysis of this approach, which is characterized by a long-term vision, a dominant role for the government, an inseparable and complementary domestic dimension, and a high level of interconnectedness with China's overall foreign policy and diplomacy.
In the waning years of the Cold War, the United States and China began to cautiously engage in cultural, educational, and policy exchanges, which in turn strengthened new security and economic ties. These links have helped shape the most important bilateral relationship in the late-twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This book explores the dynamics of cultural exchange through an in-depth historical investigation of three organizations at the forefront of U.S.-China non-governmental relations: the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, the National Committee on United States-China Relations, and The 1990 Institute. Norton Wheeler reveals the impact of American non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on education, environment, fiscal policy, and civil society in contemporary China. In turn, this book illuminates the important role that NGOs play in complementing formal diplomacy and presents a model of society-to-society relations that moves beyond old debates over cultural imperialism. Finally, the book highlights the increasingly significant role of Chinese Americans as bridges between the two societies. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with leading American and Chinese figures, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese politics and history, international relations and transnational NGOs.