2006 Meeting of the Association of Chinese Political Studies

The Association of Chinese Political Studies (ACPS) of which Dr. Shiping Hua was the President held its 19th annual conference at the University of Louisville March 31-April 2, 2006.  The Institute for Democracy and Development and the McConnell Center for Political Leadership co-hosted the conference.  U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell gave a very well received keynote speech at the conference and approximately 70 papers were presented with more than 100 people in attendance.  Over half of the paper presenters had the opportunity to publish their creative works in three books and a special issue of an academic journal.  With permission from the publishers, we will gradually post these papers and keep them on the CAD website.

“Anticorruption and Building a Harmonious Society,” by Jinghao Zhou

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has placed “building a harmonious society” at the top of its work agenda, but it is obviously not an easy task.  China’s rampant corruption is one of the serious challenges for the CPC that may limit its ability to achieve this goal. It is widely acknowledged that corruption is not confined to one particular place in the world (Gillespie and Okruhlik, 1991, p. 77), but has existed in every country throughout history (Levy, 1995, p. 1). No political system is free from corruption. Although the democratic system inevitably produces a great amount of literature on corruption, the topic of corruption remains sensitive in Mainland China.
Anticorruption and Building a Harmonious Society (PDF)

“Building a new conceptual framework for U.S.-China relations,” by Jianwei Wang

 One constant challenge for the policy makers in China and the United States since the end of the Cold War has been how to find a mutually agreeable new conceptual framework for the relationship between the two giants. During the Cold War period, the nature of the relationship was utility-oriented than anything else. Both countries did not seek convergence of their ideologies or values, but rather the convergence of their interest. That interest was narrowly defined in a conceptual framework of anti-Soviet expansionism. For the purpose of thwarting the perceived Soviet threat, China and United States formed a quasi-strategic alliance against the common adversary. That kind of overarching framework, although very limited, served a function of controlling the conflict of interests and values in other secondary domains such as trade, the Taiwan issue, and human rights. Both sides were very careful not to let the friction in one specific issue area to “spill over” to damage the perceived predominant common strategic interest.
Building a new conceptual framework for U.S.-China relations

“Dynamics of News Media Regulations in China: Explanations and Implications,” by Xi Chen

Ever Since Hu Jintao formally took office as the president of the PRC in 2003, there have been various speculations and doubts about the governing style and trends of the fourth generation of leadership in China.  Some are arguing that the absence of revolutionary experiences among the younger generation of leadership led by Hu makes it very likely for them to further downplay the role of ideology and adopted more liberal and open stance towards both the economic and political reform in China. (Yang, 2004) Others, however, are more pessimistic about the future of China because of the failure of the Medicare reform, the occasional strengthening of the media control and the ever-increasing social problems prevailing in Chinese society now. (Gilley, 2004; Dickson, 2003)  What is the real direction of the new generation of leadership? To help partially understand the question, this paper will study the development of Chinese news media regulations under Hu’s administration, which is directly indicative of the freedom of speech in China. By tracing the dynamics of the government regulations on news media, the paper will map out the evolving roles of the mass media in today’s China and their implications on Chinese politics. The research result is expected to improve our understanding of China’s future development course, and would help to provide a more satisfying answer to the question “whether China under Hu’s administration is heading towards or away from democracy”.
Dynamics of News Media Regulations in China

“The Culture Revolution and its Impact on the Fourth Generation of the Communist Leadership,” by C. X. George Wei

A great political and ideological battle launched by Mao Zedong through the mass movement, the Cultural Revolution (CR) has enormous impact on China and society in general and on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its leadership in particular. Many Communist leaders of the first generation including Liu Shaoqi, Tao Zhu, and He Long were not able to endure the brutal political struggle of the Cultural Revolution and passed away before it ended. Many Communist leaders of the second generation such as Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun and Ye Jianying managed to survive of the Cultural Revolution but their view of Mao’s policy and way of ruling the country was no longer as the same as before. The third and fourth generations of the Communist leaders were less impacted by the Cultural Revolution since they either just started their political career or climbed on the low steps of the political stair as the Cultural Revolution began. Yet, the impact of the Cultural Revolution on these younger generations, especially the fourth generation of the Communist leaders should be more emphasized because they ruled and would rule the country for a much longer period of time. To systematically analyze the impact of the Cultural Revolution on the fourth generation of the Communist leadership as whole, not mention all the generations, is beyond the scope of this paper, but with the analysis that focuses on the impact of the Cultural Revolution on Hu Jintao, the number one figure of the current CCP leaders, this paper attempts to depict the way and the extent that the Cultural Revolution impacted the fourth generation of the Communist leadership and therefore the possible policy orientation of the CCP today and in future.

The Culture Revolution and its Impact on the Fourth Generation of the Communist Leadership (PDF)

“From Peasants to Professional Soldiers: Social Transition and Military Modernization in China,” by Xiaobing Li

President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States in 2006 has re-opened academic debate on the “China threat,” dominating attention and dividing scholars. Political analysts and strategy experts are attempting to determine if China threats America and security in the Pacific region and at what level the threat exists at. The China threat argument is based on the assumption that China’s dramatic economic development will inevitably result in the strengthening of its military power and its desire for expansion. (Babbin and Timperlake, 2006 and G. Chang, 2001).Others may disagree and offer different views. (Finkelstein and Gunness, 2006 and Shambaugh, 2005 and 2002) Nevertheless, both sides of the argument pay their attention to the links between the military modernization and economic factors.
From Peasants to Professional Soldiers (PDF)

“Market Economy and Social Justice: the Predicament of the Underprivileged,” by Yanmin Yu

As China’s economic growth continues, more and more people in China have become affluent and have joined the middle-class ranks. At the same time, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening, so much so, that the gap may lead to social instability which may derail the economic development. The frequent mine explosions and the large number of deaths of mine workers, the irregular wage payment or non-payment to migrant workers, and the skyrocketing medical charges are just a few examples.

Any society in transition experiences difficulties. The magnitude of the difficulty in China however is alarming. This paper attempts to examine the potential causes of the problems suffered by migrant workers, coal miners, and hospital patients and to discuss the consequences if those problems are not dealt with properly.
Market Economy and Social Justice (PDF)

“The Internet and the Opportunities and Challenges for China: The Case of Internet Cafes,” by Junhao Hong

Internet cafes bear uniquely important socio-political significance in China because China’s unique economic, political and social situations have made Internet cafes a crucial force for both the construction of an information society and the promotion of social and political changes.  Internet cafes have been an important vehicle for accelerating China’s informatization process, and in the same time, they have also been a catalyst for the country’s democratization process. Nevertheless, just due to this dual role and dual function of the Internet and Internet cafes, they are viewed both as opportunities for the country and challenges to the political system and communist ideology. As a result, in the last few years the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the central government have implemented a dual policy on Internet in general and on Internet cafes in specific: making efforts to promote the informatization process but struggling to resist the democratization process. Consequently, Internet cafes in China have had the fastest development in the world and have been playing a profound role in the building of an information society, but they also have encountered much more restrictions than Internet cafes in other countries.
The Internet and the Opportunities and Challenges for China (PDF)

“Intercultural Incommensurability and the Globalization of Chinese Medicine: The Case of Acupuncture,” by Robert St. Clair, Walter E. Rodriguez, Andrew M. Roberts, and Irving G. Joshua

It is normally assumed that the globalization of medical practice emanates from the West, but the Chinese practice of acupuncture has proven this hypothesis incorrect. Western medicine has not rejected the concept of acupuncture. It has embraced it and has investigated the benefits that such practices provide. Since Western medicine is already framed within the epistemological context of germ theory, the problem becomes one of finding a way in which such a disparate tradition can be incorporated into current models of medicine. The explanation of this journey begins with Kuhn’s theory of scientific revolutions and how that model constitutes modern scientific practice. The germ theory of modern medicine is introduced and compared to the Chinese medical model of acupuncture. The incommensurability between those two models is discussed within the context of the globalization of Chinese medicine. It is argued that instead of rejecting such practices, modern medicine has incorporated them into a new theory which they call medical acupuncture, a model concomitant with the tenets of western scientific research.
Intercultural Incommensurability and the Globalization of Chinese Medicine (PDF)

“Sources of (Mis)perception and (Mis)understanding Between US-China Communication,” by Wenshan Jia

Using the ethnographic method of participant-observation and casefocused thick description, I have found that in intercultural communication between Chinese and Americans, many misperceptions and misunderstandings occur which neither side is aware of due to differences in communication patterns at the psycho-cultural or deep culture level. However, an educated level of awareness of such differences at the deep culture level could help reduce the chances of formulating and escalating such misperceptions and misunderstandings and in turn enhance the chances to conduct more constructive interactions between the two cultures at all levels and all sectors. The current paper aims to uncover such sources and processes and to propose ways to ease future Sino-American interactions in political, business and social contexts from the perspective of intercultural communication.
Sources of (Mis)perception and (Mis)understanding Between US-China Communication (PDF)