The China Quarterly
Volume 196, Dec 2008
Special Section on New Frontiers in Survey Research
pp 755 - 758
An Introduction to Survey Research on Chinese Politics
Melanie Manion
Abstract: In a political environment that remains (at best) officially sceptical about the enterprise, representative surveys on Chinese politics have nevertheless grown substantially in number in the past two decades: political scientists trained and based outside mainland China conducted a mere two such surveys in the 1980s, but the number increased more than tenfold in the 1990s and continues to rise steadily.
pp 759 - 779
The Chinese Urban Caste System in Transition
Wenfang Tang and Qing Yang
Abstract: Using data from a 2004 national survey, we examine the recent trends in the conditions of migrant workers in China. Our discussion engages the debate in the existing literature between the migrant workers as victims of China's economic growth and as a newly emerging political force with growing bargaining power. The study focuses on three dimensions of migrant workers' status: their socio-economic conditions, relations with rural and urban residents, and conflict resolution behaviour. The findings indicate that while migrant workers continue to occupy more blue-collar and service jobs than urban residents, their economic, social and political status has improved. In some areas, migrant workers show even more political activism than both rural and urban residents. Migrant workers' growing social influence is a positive development in China's political diversification.
pp 780 - 804
Allies of the State: Democratic Support and Regime Support among China's Private Entrepreneurs
Jie Chen and Bruce J Dickson
Abstract: This article examines the intensity and sources of Chinese private entrepreneurs' support for the current political system. The study presented here is based on data from a representative sample of private entrepreneurs collected from five coastal provinces in late 2006 and early 2007. In general, China's private entrepreneurs tend to support the current party-state and to be in favour of the status quo. Subjective values are far more important than CCP membership and relationship to the state in determining which capitalists are regime supporters. Among all the factors analysed in this study, democratic values, life satisfaction, evaluation of government policy performance and perception of official corruption play the most decisive roles in shaping private entrepreneurs' support for the incumbent regime. Only red capitalists who are former cadres are likely to be reliable supporters of the regime when subjective values are also considered; other ties to the state do not create support for the regime. The degree of regime support also exhibits considerable regional variation. These findings have important implications for the survival of the regime and for the role of private entrepreneurs in a potential political change towards democracy.
pp 805 - 826
Understanding the Falsification of Village Income Statistics
Lily L Tsai
Abstract: Despite the general consensus on problems with official income statistics, quantitative data on the falsification of income statistics have been scarce. This article draws on original survey data from 2001 to provide estimates of the extent and magnitude of income data falsification by village cadres and uses statistical analysis to identify factors that are correlated with the inflation of village income per capita. Evidence from survey data as well as village case studies suggests that village cadres were less likely to inflate village income per capita when they were cadre-entrepreneurs, when they were located in villages with well implemented elections, when they were embedded in village-wide solidary groups such as temples and lineages, when they experienced less direct supervision from township officials, and when they relied less on revenue from village levies.
Research Articles
pp 827 - 844
Training China's Political Elite: The Party School System
David Shambaugh
Abstract: One of the most important, but under-researched and least well understood, instruments of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the extensive national network of Party schools (approximately 2,700). They serve as the key institution of mid-career training and indoctrination for all Party cadres, many government cadres, some military officers and selected businessmen. In addition to its training and indoctrination functions, the Party school system (particularly the Central Party School in Beijing) is also an important generator of policy initiatives. Not all Party schools are stalwart institutions, with some being involved in corruption scandals, but on the whole they have come to play an increasingly important role in the CCP's rebuilding efforts in recent years.
pp 845 - 863
All-China Federation of Trades Unions beyond Reform? The Slow March of Direct Elections
Jude A Howell
Abstract: Since the mid-1990s trade union leaders in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Shandong and other coastal provinces have been quietly introducing direct elections for grassroots trade union cadres, in order to nurture a stratum of grassroots trade union cadres who prioritize workers' interests. Yet these elections have not been generalized across the country, been institutionalized through legislation or drawn droves of international observers in the way that village elections did in the 1980s and 1990s. What might have promised to be China's 搒econd silent revolution?has failed to take off. This article explores the political, structural and institutional reasons behind the piecemeal and slow spread of direct basic union elections in China. In doing so it analyses the parameters constraining the reform of the All-China Federation of Trades Unions in the direction of a more effective, worker-oriented organization.
pp 864 - 883
Buddhism in Singapore朇hina Relations: Venerable Hong Choon and His Visits, 1982?990
Jack Meng Tat Chia
Abstract: Venerable Hong Choon (1907?0) made eight visits to China between 1982 and 1990. During these visits, the Venerable met national and religious leaders, made pilgrimages to sacred Buddhist sites, helped to restore the monasteries associated with his master Venerable Hui Quan, and officiated at religious ceremonies. This study aims to examine the diplomatic significance of Venerable Hong Choon's visits to China. It positions these religious exchanges within the broader context of Singapore朇hina relations since the reopening of China in the late 1970s, and argues that Buddhism played a role in fostering international relations between the two countries in the period prior to the official establishment of diplomatic ties. In the absence of formal diplomatic channels between Singapore and China, Venerable Hong Choon's religious visits could thus be seen as a form of informal diplomacy with the aim of confidence building.
pp 884 - 899
Can the Weak Defeat the Strong? Mao's Evolving Approach to Asymmetric Warfare in Yan'an
Andrew Bingham Kennedy
Abstract: Mao's confidence in military confrontations with more powerful adversaries continues to inspire Chinese strategists more than half a century later. This article explores the origins and development of Mao's thinking in this regard, focusing particularly on his years in Yan'an. Drawing on newly available sources, the analysis stresses the importance of experience, as opposed to ideology, in the development of Mao's martial confidence. For much of his time in Yan'an Mao was relatively circumspect in his military ambitions. Yet towards the end of this period his confidence rose considerably after successes against the KMT offensive in 1946. In short, Mao's martial confidence did not spring fully formed from his ideological convictions but emerged over time.
pp 900 - 911
Campaign Advertising and Democracy in Taiwan
Jonathan Sullivan
Abstract: This article sets out a framework for conceptualizing and researching an increasingly important element of electoral competition in Taiwan. Analysing the tone and content of television and newspaper advertising across three presidential campaigns, it provides empirical estimates that challenge some common stereotypes about advertising in Taiwan.
In Memoriam
pp 912 - 918
Lucian Pye, 1921?008
Ezra F Vogel
pp 919 - 923
Erik Z黵cher, 1928?008: Buddhism and the European Understanding of China
T H Barrett
Book Reviews
pp 924 - 925
The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money, and Minds, David M. Lampton . Berkeley and London: University of California Press, 2008. xiii + 364 pp. $21.95 ISBN 978-0-520-25442-8.
David Shambaugh
pp 925 - 927
The Chinese Party-State in the 21st Century: Adaptation and the Reinvention of Legitimacy, Andr?Lalibert?and Marc Lanteigne . London and New York: Routledge, 2007. 208 pp. ISBN 978-0-415-45056-0. ?5.00
Peter Sandby-Thomas
pp 927 - 928
Integrating China: Towards the Coordinated Market Economy, Peter Nolan. London, New York and Delhi: Anthem Press, 2007. Xii + 268 pp. ?0.00 ISBN 978-1-84331-273-6.
Doug Guthrie
pp 928 - 929
Some Assembly Required: Work, Community, and Politics in China抯 Rural Enterprises, Calvin Chen. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2008. xiii+ 224 pp. $39.95 ISBN 978-0-674-02783-1.
David Wank
pp 930 - 931
How China Grows: Investment, Finance, and Reform, James Riedel, Jing Jin and Jian Gao . Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2007. xii + 208 pp. ?6.95 ISBN 978-0-691-12562-6. $42.00;
Doug Guthrie
pp 931 - 932
Business Networks and Strategic Alliances in China, Stewart Clegg, Karen Wang and Mike Berrell . Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2007. xv + 330 pp. ISBN 978-1-84542-306-3. ?9.95
Laixiang Sun
pp 932 - 934
China抯 Opening Society: The Non-State Sector and Governance, Zheng Yongnian and Joseph Fewsmith . London and New York: Routledge, 2008. xii + 244 pp. ?5.00 ISBN 978-0-415-45176-5. $150.00;
Michael S Lenihan
pp 934 - 935
China抯 Embedded Activism: Opportunities and Constraints of a Social Movement, Peter Ho and Richard Louis Edmonds . London and New York: Routledge, 2007. xviii + 258 pp. ?5.00; $150.00 ISBN 978-0-415-43374-7.
Zhengxu Wang
pp 935 - 936
The New Rich in China: Future Rulers, Present Lives, David G. Goodman. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. xii + 302 pp. ?0.99; $39.95 ISBN 978-0-415-45565-7.
Deborah Davis
pp 937 - 938
China on the Move: Migration, the State and the Household, C. Cindy Fan. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. xiv + 210 pp. ?5.00; $150.00 ISBN 978-0-415-42852-1.
Chlo?Froissart
pp 938 - 940
Postsocialist Modernity: Chinese Cinema, Literature, and Criticism in the Market Age, Jason McGrath. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008. xii + 300 pp. $60.00 ISBN 978-0-8047-5874-1.
Wendy Larson
pp 940 - 942
Worrying About China: The Language of Chinese Critical Inquiry, Gloria Davies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007. 342 pp. $39.95 ISBN 978-0-674-02621-6.
Rebecca E Karl
pp 942 - 944
China Watching: Perspectives from Europe, Japan and the United States, Robert Ash, David Shambaugh and Seiichiro Takagi . London and New York: Routledge, 2007. x + 261 pp. ?0.99; $43.95 ISBN 978-0-415-41397-4.
Christopher Howe
pp 944 - 945
Japan抯 Relations with China: Facing a Rising Power, Lam Peng Er. London and New York: Routledge, 2006. xii + 242 pp. ?5.00 ISBN 10-0-415-37217-8.
China抯 Economic Relations with the West and Japan, 1949?9: Grain, Trade and Diplomacy, Chad J. Mitcham. London and New York: Routledge, 2005. xxi + 281 pp. ?0.00 ISBN 0-415-31481-X.
Christopher Howe
pp 946 - 947
The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World, Lorenz M. Luthi. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008. xvii + 375 pp. ?6.95 ISBN 978-0-691-13590-8.
Steven M Goldstein
pp 947 - 948
Legal Reforms and Administrative Detention Powers in China, Sarah Biddulph. London and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. xvi + 484 pp.?5.00 ISBN 978-0-52186940-9.
Elisa Nosossi
pp 948 - 950
The Changing Chinese Legal System, 1978朠resent: Centralization of Power and Rationalization of the Legal System, Bin Liang. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. xx + 248 pp. $95.00 ISBN 978-0-415-95859-8.
Albert H Y Chen
pp 950 - 951
Delivering Justice in Qing China: Civil Trials in the Magistrate抯 Court, Linxia Liang. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. xv + 284 pp. ?5.00 ISBN 978-0-19-726399-0.
Billy K L So
pp 951 - 953
Writing and Law in Late Imperial China: Crime, Conflict and Judgment, Robert E. Hegel and Katherine Carlitz . Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2007. xv + 343 pp. $65.00 ISBN 978-0-295-98691-3.
Michael Palmer
pp 953 - 955
John Dewey in China: To Teach and To Learn, Jessica Ching-Sze Wang. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2007. 152 pp. $55.00 ISBN 978-0-7914-7203-3.
Huajun Zhang
pp 955 - 956
The Making of the Chinese State: Ethnicity and Expansion on the Ming Borderlands, Leo K. Shin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. xxii + 246 pp. $88.00 ISBN 978-0-521-85354-5.
C Patterson Giersch
Books Received
pp 957 - 959
(July朣eptember 2008)
Quarterly Chronicle and Documentation
pp 960 - 991
Quarterly chronicle and documentation
Contributors
pp 992 - 994
Contributors
Acknowledgements
pp 995 - 996
Acknowledgements