non-Chinese Sources Research Articles

Inadequate demand and reluctant supply: The limits of Chinese official development finance for foreign renewable power

This paper examines the puzzle of why China has thus far channeled a tiny fraction of its massive official development finance (ODF) for energy worldwide to solar and wind power. With a supply/demand analytical framework, our empirical analysis and field research show that both the foreign demand for Chinese ODF and the supply by the country’s two global policy banks face limits. The external demand is limited because foreign countries often approach non-Chinese sources for solar and wind power development finance; even when they turn to China for renewable power finance, they request more Chinese ODF for their hydropower and coal-fired power expansion. Meanwhile, shaped by their experience in renewable power finance in China and worried about the bankability of the solar and wind power projects abroad, the two Chinese policy banks exhibit sharpened risk sensitizations and biases against renewable power projects abroad.

Toward a Sino-U.S. contestation? Re-examining "state-led" development finance

The past two decades have witnessed a significant expansion of China's overseas development finance. Is the rise of China as a major development player contesting the U.S.-led global order? Challenging conventional wisdom that captures a statist, illiberal China juxtaposed with a laissez-faire, liberal international order led by the U.S., this paper argues that China's development finance is not merely "state-sponsored" and that the U.S.-led international development regime is not entirely based on free-market economic principles. Triangulating data from both Chinese and non-Chinese sources and examining emergent studies conducted by Chinese and non-Chinese researchers, this paper highlights the "market-ness" of the Chinese means of development finance. Furthermore, the paper shows that southern development partners like China practice development finance in a way that is rather exchange-based, contrasting with traditional means of development assistance conducted by western industrial economies. The comparison suggests more complementarity than rivalry between the two countries' development finance approaches.

From the West to the East, from the Sky to the Earth: A Biography of Jamāl al-Dīn

Abstract Jamāl al-Dīn (Zhamaluding 札馬魯丁 d. ca.1289) is probably the most successful and best-documented Muslim astronomer who was active in the Mongol Yuan court. He migrated from Central or West Asia to China and introduced Islamic astronomical, geographical and cartographic knowledge into China. In spite of his high official position and the honorable titles that were granted to him, his biographic information in Chinese sources is scattered, and there is uncertainty in identifying him in non-Chinese sources. This paper attempts to reconstruct Jamāl al-Dīn’s life and activities by an in-depth reading and interpretation of the biographic information, supplementing and enriching it with biographies of Jamāl al-Dīn’s contemporary astronomers in the Mongol Empire. This article argues that Jamāl al-Dīn achieved success and honor due to his knowledge in various fields that interested the Mongols, his correct reading of the imperial ideology and the political map, and the extensive social networks he built for himself during the decades he lived in China.

The Da Ming Hunyi Tu: Repurposing a Ming Map for Sino-African Diplomacy

In 2002, an exhibition at South Africa's parliament included a reproduction of the Da Ming Hunyi Tu (Amalgamated map of the Great Ming), citing it as the earliest world map to depict the entire African continent. As part of its broader efforts to shape a narrative of long-standing and peaceful international relations with Africa, the People's Republic of China formally presented a replica of this map as a gift to the South African government in conjunction with the exhibition. In official statements and popular media coverage alike, the map was described as evidence of a distinctly Chinese approach to global relations, based on benevolence and mutual respect. In particular, the map was ahistorically intertwined with the legacy of Zheng He's diplomatic expeditions, which reached the East African coast in the early 1400s. To the cartographic historian, however, the depiction of Africa in the Da Ming Hunyi Tu is clearly derived from non-Chinese sources that predate Zheng He's expeditions. This article examines the ways in which the map has been divorced from its original context to suit modern needs, exemplifying the deployment of cartography to deflect anxieties about the nature of Chinese economic influence in South Africa.

India, China, and the World: A Connected History by Tansen Sen

Reviewed by: India, China, and the World: A Connected History by Tansen Sen B. R. Deepak (bio) Tansen Sen. India, China, and the World: A Connected History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. xviii, 541 pp. Paperback $39.00, isbn 978-1-5381-1172-7. India, China, and the World: A Connected History by Tansen Sen, director of the Center for Global Asia and professor of history at New York University (NYU) Shanghai, is a critical and non-judgemental yet stimulating analysis of the relationship between India and China during the ancient, modern, and contemporary periods. It is thoroughly and scintillatingly argumentative, for in relying on the theoretical framework of circulatory connections between India and China and the world, he has challenged the nation-state's forced narratives of civilizational dialogue, geo-civilizational paradigm, and the more recent notion of Chindia, which according to him has diverted attention away from the contentious issues between the two on the one hand and made use of selective historical sources to glorify their past connections on the other. The book could be regarded as a sequel to his earlier works, especially Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400 (2003) and further develops the line of argument on the basis of interpretations and conclusions drawn in this book. It was perhaps coincidence that the book was launched roughly at the time when India and China came dangerously close to another armed conflict during the Doklam faceoff that lasted for 73 days and further vindicated the author's narrative that beneath the selective interpretation of historical sources to build a civilizational state narrative of the relationship lies a dangerous nation-state nationalistic agenda. He takes a long-term view of the relationship rather than adopting a linear and event-based approach to interpret the circulation of ideas and objects and argues that the pre-twentieth century interactions between the two should not be construed within the framework of [End Page 300] modern nation-states. Methodologically based on a mass of primary Chinese and non-Chinese sources, archival documents across the world, as well as secondary sources, this is a fascinating ground-breaking study. The author's mastery in classical and modern Chinese gives him a unique advantage akin to adding wings to a tiger enabling him to put the circulation of ideas, peoples, and objects between India and China and beyond into a kaleidoscopic perspective, thus making it a compelling study. The book is well-structured into five chapters, each chapter divided into sections and sub sections, which is helpful as it provides the reader a guideline of events mostly within a chronological setting but with extremely diverse themes which the author has intelligently interwoven with his main argument and theoretical framework. The first two chapters and the first section of the third chapter essentially compliment and are built on his earlier research Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade, where he argues that the Buddhist connections were multi-directional and multi-locational circulatory interactions that resulted in the dissemination of geographical, philosophical, and technological knowledge not only between India and China but also across the Eurasian and African landmasses and the Indian Ocean world. The knowledge that was transferred got intermingled as it travelled from one node of connection to another, albeit there remained misperceptions regarding the geographical locations of various polities inside tianzhu (ancient Chinese name for India) or in South Asia and their connections with tianzhu as such in the minds of the Chinese (p. 71). Equally stimulating and refreshing is the construct of "The Imperial Connections" in chapter 3. Here again, he challenges the notion of Zheng He as a peace-loving imperial envoy; Sen argues that even though China did not launch large scale occupation of foreign territories, it did intervene in local disputes and exert influence over strategic maritime choke points as demonstrated by Zheng He's voyages in the Indian Ocean (pp. 206–207). Early discourses on India by Qing visitors such as Huang Maocai, Ma Jianzhong, Wu Guangpei, and Kang Youwei perhaps were instrumental in building the present mainstream Chinese perceptions about colonial India, all of whom except Huang portrayed India as a failed state and...

Trends and Characteristics of the Researches in the Field of Central Asian History and the Liao-Jin-Yuan Dynasties during the Last 30 Years

This paper aims at finding major trends and conspicuous changes during the last thirty years, from 1985 to the present, in the field of Central Asian history as well as the history of Liao, Jin and Yuan dynasties. As a result of our review the present writer was able to find out three new distinctive developments since 1985. BR The first is the creation and the activities of academic associations and research groups specialized in the Mongol studies, the Altaic studies, the Central Asia studies, and the history of Song-Liao-Jin-Yuan dynasties. These organizations became the central field of scholarly activities.BR The second is the establishment of the study of Central Asian history as a branch of historical studies in Korea. Before 1985 scholars paid attention to it and published some works related to that field, but it was generally perceived as a part or an extension of Chinese history. After 1985 young scholars who were able to utilize the non-Chinese sources, such as those written in Mongolian, Turkic and Persian, began to publish their works, and Central Asia came to be regarded as an independent historical and cultural area.BR The third is the rapid expansion of the Mongol-Yuan historical studies. Compared to other areas of research like Qitan Liao or Jurchen Jin, the growing interest in the Mongol empire is quite astonishing. A number of scholars published their books and articles, scholarly books in English or in Japanese were translated, and the primary sources written in Persian and Arabic languages were also translated, which all reflect the degree of scholarly and popular interest in the history of the Mongol empire.BR In sum, the scholarly researches in the field of Central Asian history and Liao-Jin-Yuan dynasties have achieved a remarkable development. However, the institutional framework, such as the availability of faculty position in universities and the scope of the lectures in the curriculum, is lagged far behind. So what confronts the Central Asian scholars in future would be how to narrow down this gap and to make a stable condition for Central Asian studies.

“Together They Might Make Trouble”: Cross-Cultural Interactions in Tang Dynasty Guangzhou, 618–907 c.e .

The city of Guangzhou and its surrounding territory—called Lingnan—was seen during the Tang as a wild frontier zone of strange and mysterious creatures and people. Increasing this frontier nature was the presence of merchants from all over the Indian Ocean basin. By analyzing written documents produced during the Tang—from both Chinese and non-Chinese sources—a better understanding can be had of what cross-cultural interactions were possible at this point in world history. While the situation in Tang dynasty Guangzhou was certainly not a utopia of cross-cultural acceptance, nuanced investigation of the interactions between locals and foreigners reveals much more than hostility and violence. The exchanges that took place in Tang Guangzhou had a definite impact on how societies saw China and how China viewed other nations. This paper contributes to scholarly discussions of cross-cultural exchanges, borderlands, maritime trade and trade diasporas, and how to evaluate premodern Chinese history.

China's rare earth sector – between domestic consolidation and global hegemony

Purpose – China holds a global monopoly of up to 97 percent for rare earth elements (REEs), which are indispensable for all kinds of twenty-first century high-tech applications. Since China has disrupted its exports and started discriminating between domestic and foreign demand, REEs have become a geostrategic resource. In March 2012, Japan, the USA and the European Union jointly filed a World Trade Organization dispute settlement case against China. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate why China implemented export quotas and tariffs on REEs and how the state is engaged in this sector domestically and abroad. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis frames China as a “competition state” and connects domestic with foreign economic policy on REEs. It uses data from Chinese official documents and non-Chinese sources. Findings – Better government control aims to consolidate the sector and lay the foundation for three other goals, namely: the establishment of integrated and innovative Chinese corporatio...

The Bengal Connections in Yunnan

Yunnan, a southwestern frontier province in China is located in mainland Southeast Asia and is inhabited by diverse cross-regional ethnic groups. This essay attempts to reveal the Bengal connections in historical Yunnan from the medieval age to the early modern period through a scrutiny of Chinese and certain non-Chinese sources. It first discusses the use of cowry currency in Yunnan and other areas around the Bay of Bengal, and then constructs historical routes linking the Bengali world and Yunnan, both by land and sea. Furthermore, the spread of Buddhism into Yunnan is highlighted to demonstrate Bengali cultural influence. The Bengal connections in Yunnan hence, shed some light on both historical Yunnan and the formation of Chinese frontiers.

A Statistical Evaluation of the Chemical Composition of Heroin Samples with the View to Discriminating Between Their Possible Sources

The concentrations, in parts-per-billion, of 39 trace elements were measured for each of 139 heroin samples that were known to have come from either Chinese or non-Chinese sources. It was found that after dichotomizing the distribution of the concentration of each element, a statistical model based on a linear combination of only eight elements, each significant at the 20% level of significance, explained as much as 78% of the variation in the probability of a heroin sample being of a Chinese source. This model had a high ability to discriminate between heroin samples from Chinese and non-Chinese sources, with a positive predictive value of 95% and a false positive rate of 15%.

A Report on the "Stories of Mulberry Village" Experiment

I have always wanted to create a production, starting with the conception of the script, which would present my thoughts on the development of Chinese modem theatre. I want to further the tradition of realistic drama, to learn the aesthetic principles of China's traditional arts from an advanced perspective, to draw critically from all valuable sources of experimental theatre, including modern theatre. In short, I want to capture the development of theatre arts in the process of dialectically integrating various Chinese and non-Chinese sources. In the winter of I986, I decided to use Zhu Xiaoping's three related stories about the village of Sangshu Ping, literally Village, as the basis for this experiment. These stories touched me deeply. They show our nation's extraordinary resilience and vitality, offer courageous reflections on our nation's fate, and have profound historic substance. Zhu's work also, in my opinion, calls for fundamental social reform. I took major members of the experiments' creative team to the northwestern mountain area twice, where Sangshu Ping is set, in order to do fieldwork for the production. We tried to familiarize ourselves with the characters in their home surroundings, deepen our understanding of the original stories, and enrich our own life experience and thinking. Thereafter, according to the aesthetic principles I had set out and united by a cohesive conception of the drama, Chen Zidu, Yang Jian, and Zhu Xiaoping (the author of the original stories) wrote the script of Stories of Mulberry Village. Chen later also codirected the production.

A Genealogical Study of Ch'i-T'ung-Man during The Sung Period

Historical studies of China and Southeast Asia have recently focussed on South China and Southwest China. In particular, much work has been done on the history and culture of non-Chinese groups, that is, ethnic groups in South China.This is not to say that there is no room for more study. Much of what has been done is rough as yet, and requires organization and synthesis. Understanding of the racial structure of ethnic groups in South China is especially complicated as the genealogies of the, Yao the Miao, the Liao, the Hakka and the Hung are not distinct.Professor Yoshiro Shiratori has begun to elucidate the complicated genealogical structure of ethnic groups in South China. He focussed on, the t'u-ssu system, which had been established by the Chinese in order to govern their non-Chinese conquests, and he classified and distributed the t'u-ssu clans in order to elucidate their genealogy and historical background. This is without question a pioneering effort in studies of South China tribal history and culture. Professor Shiratori believes that the study of the historical background of each racial group is invaluable in reconstructing the history of this region.In line with Professor Shiratori's point of view, the present writer proposes to inquire into the genealogy of Chi'i-t'ung-man during the Sung dynasty, to determine their racial origins, clan history and distribution.Almost all the Sung Ch'i-t'ung-man trace their descent to Yao and the Keh-lao. The Yao first inhabited the Lake Tun-t'ing region gradually spreading out until, by the Sung Period, they covered area, from the northern part of Kwangsi Province to the northern part of Kwangtung Province. The names of some Yao clans are Ch'in', Yao, Lo, Lei and Yuan; others tracing their descent to the Yao are P'eng, Su, Huang, Teng, T'ang, Pan, Fang, Zhong, Li and Ch'en. Certain others, such as T'ien, Hsian, Shu, T'an were initially barbarian chiefs mentioned in ancient documents, and became Chinese government offcials under the official chi-mi policy. Eventually their names were entered in the Chinese census register, and their barbarian origins became obscured and ultimately disappeared. Accordingly it is practically impossible to trace theirr genealogy in non-Chinese sources, although they invariably do derive from the Yao.The Keh-iao, on the other hand, produced such clans as Yang, Wu and Wei, of which Yang was an eminent barbarian clan remarkably active in the period of the Southern Sung dynasty. The eh-lao was more advantaged by its contact with Chinese civilization than other tribes, and developed a rather high level of culture. The Keh-lao originally inhabited the boundary area of Szechwan and Hupei. Like the Yao, they also gradually spread, and by the Sung, populated as widely distant geographical Hunan and Kweichow.It was during this same Sung period that the Yao and the Keh-lao came into contact and mixed in the district of the Ch'i-t'ung-man. This inevitably resulted in change in their respective cultures, though, to be sure, they Were both heavily influenced by the dominant Chinese culture.In the same district, other tribes, such as the Miao and the T'ung, appeared subsequent to the Yuan period. Future studies will focus on the issues of racial between the Yao the Miao and the T'ung, and between the Keh-lao and the Liao.

Medicine and Public Health in China Today

SINCE CHINA is a great country with a population of more than 600 million and a territory as big as the United States, its accomplishments in medicine and public health during the last 10 years are worthy of study. To cope with the demand of national industrialization and reconstruction, much attention has been paid to public health and medicine in an effort to prevent disease and promote health and thus increase productivity. Since public health practice is closely related to political systems and governmental structures, in addition to indicating actual achievements, it serves as an indirect reflection of the political and socioeconomic status of present-day China. The main sources of the information in this article are various medical and public health journals published in Chinese and English during the past 10 years. The Chinese Medical Journal of the Chinese Medical Association has a complete English edition. Also, many journals of the various medical specialties print English abstracts. English translations of scattered articles from original Chinese medical publications have been published by the U.S. Department of Commerce in the past 2 years. They are valuable to scientists interested in the details of research in specific fields. It is the primary intention of the author to evaluate critically achievements in medicine and public health in China during the past decade rather than review the literature. Also, I will emphasize achievements and new developments unfamiliar to the Western World and the future trends of medicine and public health in China. Most Chinese and English language publications issued in China have been reviewed as well as reports from nonChinese sources.