This research investigates China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) engagement in Serbia and Montenegro and has identified two potential conditions which explain the differences in the outcome of the...Show moreThis research investigates China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) engagement in Serbia and Montenegro and has identified two potential conditions which explain the differences in the outcome of the two countries. Between 2013 and 2022, China has engaged through the BRI with Serbia and Montenegro. This led to two different outcomes for the similar-looking countries, where Montenegro seemed less pleased with engagement than Serbia. This research aimed to identify underlying conditions that could explain the differences through a qualitative case study that applies historical institutionalism. The two countries were investigated individually to identify the levels of engagement and whether there were critical junctions in the two cases. The Serbian critical juncture is more of a pattern of (un)taken actions in decision-making by the Serbian government benefitting Chinese engagement. In the case of Montenegro, the Bel-Boljare highway can be identified as a clear critical juncture. However, due to certain assumptions in the media and political landscape, it has been portrayed as a Chinese debt trap. Consequently, the two cases were compared to see the similarities and differences and identify a possible explanation for why the outcomes differed. This study has identified two conditions that can explain the differences: the geographical position of Serbia and the geopolitical position of both countries.Show less
While small states lack the military and economic resources to affect the behaviour of other states, they do have access to other forms of power that they can utilize when in conflict with a major...Show moreWhile small states lack the military and economic resources to affect the behaviour of other states, they do have access to other forms of power that they can utilize when in conflict with a major power. This research examines the ways in which the Philippines, as a small state, uses these forms of power to overcome the structural constraints that it faces in its conflict with China, a major power, in their conflict over the South China Sea. These different forms of power are categorised into four types: particular-intrinsic, derivative, collective and legal. This research has found that by using certain types of power, the Philippines precludes itself from using other types of power. The different types of power, when used successfully, can also be used to amplify or enhance other types of power. Finally, this research has found that there are limits placed on the use of derivative power of major powers by different domestic interest groups.Show less
Procedural environmental justice is mostly studied using the framework provided by the Aarhus Convention. However, both the concept and the framework are of Western origin, which has generated...Show moreProcedural environmental justice is mostly studied using the framework provided by the Aarhus Convention. However, both the concept and the framework are of Western origin, which has generated resistance when it comes to applying it to non-Western contexts. Such is the case of China, where scholars and authorities ascribe environmental injustice to the urban/rural and east/west divides, rather than ethnic and race factors. Many of them thus argue that environmental justice, and its derived concepts, are not applicable to the Chinese context, as they are intrinsically linked to race. The present thesis contends that the applicability of the PEJ model in China can be ensured by incorporating the element of recognition into it. Following this theory, the author develops an improved, four-pillar PEJ model and tests it by applying it to the case of the Tarim Basin Uyghurs. This model adjusts the three original PEJ pillars established in the Aarhus Convention (access to relevant environmental information, participation in environmental decisionmaking, and review procedures to challenge environmental government decisions) to the Chinese context. The application of each of these pillars is accompanied by a comparison of the Convention text and the relevant Chinese legislation to demonstrate a converging trend between the two. A new, fourth pillar is also applied, focused on authority recognition of inequality. The application of the four-pillar model highlights the existence of a gap between the literature and the thesis findings, which highlights the value of using a model that is more sensitive to ethnic factors in non-Western contexts.Show less
This study applies the gravity model to explain Sino-European trade flows. It constructs a model with trade conformity to identify the logic underlying Chinese trade flows, trade complementarity to...Show moreThis study applies the gravity model to explain Sino-European trade flows. It constructs a model with trade conformity to identify the logic underlying Chinese trade flows, trade complementarity to test unused trade potential and predicts trade flows between China and the EU28 to estimate the unexhausted trade potential. The empirical results show that global Chinese trade flows follows a Heckscher-Ohlin model with dominant inter-industry trade. For Sino-European trade, Heckscher Ohlin explains EU exports. However for EU imports of China and total Sino-European trade flows, no model could be identified. The calculated Trade Complementarity Index shows that EU imports have a higher complementary with Chinese exports than EU exports and Chinese imports, indicating that the EU is a better export market for China than vice versa. The complementarity explains trade flows better than the conformity model and predicts unexhausted trade potential between the EU and China. Large unexhausted potential is mostly found in Chinese exports to the EU, indicating that China benefits most from improving trade relations between the EU and China. On the member state level, large heterogeneity in trade potential is found. A small number of member states outperform their predicted trade flows. Most EU member states have unexhausted export potential with China, and China has unexhausted export potential towards the majority of EU member states.Show less
Abstract In 2012, China established the 17+1-forum together with Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC). It combined the forum in 2015 with the Belt and Road Initiative, an enormous Chinese...Show moreAbstract In 2012, China established the 17+1-forum together with Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC). It combined the forum in 2015 with the Belt and Road Initiative, an enormous Chinese infrastructure investment project. The EU deems the forum problematic because it divides Member States (MSs) in terms of relations with China, preventing the EU from taking a common position on China. The EU fears that this and other consequences will deteriorate its functioning and security. However, despite the EU’s fears, twelve EU MSs still participate in the forum. This raises an important question: Why do governments of BRI-17+1-forum participants that are also EU MSs choose to cooperate with China, despite that the EU fears that this will deteriorate its functioning and security? The literature gives several arguments for this, but this thesis will only test whether one of these arguments, whether these EU MSs have come to see cooperation with China in the forum as “a viable alternative to the EU project” respectively, is a valid answer to this question. Based on case studies of Hungary, Lithuania, and Slovakia and the application of shelter theory, it is concluded that this argument played a role in the decision of these countries to participate in the BRI-17+1-forum. However, the study also shows that Lithuania, and to a lesser extent Slovakia, have started to consider the forum less important because expectations are not met and because of the risks involved in cooperating with China.Show less
This thesis researches the different view of China on soft power by analysing China's media discourse in Chinese English-language media channels on Covid-19. The Chinese government has a more...Show moreThis thesis researches the different view of China on soft power by analysing China's media discourse in Chinese English-language media channels on Covid-19. The Chinese government has a more different stance in believing that soft power can be generated and created, similar to hard power being created with the use of greater military force and economic power. Soft power, in Nye’s view, is a by-product of other things, not something you can “create” in and of itself. A notable shift in narrative can be identified between the two periods and media channels selected for this thesis. Consequently, China’s attempt at creating soft power is made visible by this shift in narrative.Show less
This thesis researches the different effects that Chinese FDI has on the economy of Brazil as well as on Sino-Brazilian international relations. In particular, it takes the case study of Brazilian...Show moreThis thesis researches the different effects that Chinese FDI has on the economy of Brazil as well as on Sino-Brazilian international relations. In particular, it takes the case study of Brazilian oil company Petrobras and its cooperations with Chinese oil company Sinopec. The main argument provided in the thesis is that although FDI had an impact in the development of Sino-Brazilian economic relations, other factors, such as patterns of trade, played a larger role here.Show less
Chinese dynasties are often described in terms of “universal emperorship”, because their territory was vast and they had a large influence on the wider region. This has also been applied to the Han...Show moreChinese dynasties are often described in terms of “universal emperorship”, because their territory was vast and they had a large influence on the wider region. This has also been applied to the Han dynasty, which is the first major Chinese dynasty. However, there is much evidence suggesting that the Han empire used a more limited notion of empire, which challenges the theory of universal emperorship. Therefore, this paper explores the question: to what extent does the foreign policy of the Han dynasty reflect the principle of universal emperorship? To answer this question, historical evidence about the foreign policy of the Former Han dynasty is analyzed according to three aspects of universal emperorship: political emperorship, geographical emperorship and cultural emperorship. This case study yields the conclusion that the foreign policy of the Han empire does not reflect the theory of universal emperorship. Instead, the Han dynasty accepted the independence of other states, and sought for equal relations with their leaders. This result suggests that the association between Chinese empires and universal emperorship has to be revised.Show less
This Masters’ thesis aims to answer the question of how China employs the pursuit of equitably distributed economic growth within the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster (or shorter: Cheng-Yu cluster)...Show moreThis Masters’ thesis aims to answer the question of how China employs the pursuit of equitably distributed economic growth within the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster (or shorter: Cheng-Yu cluster) in promoting the cluster in East Asian international production networks (IPNs). A proper and efficient division of labor across multiple locations – when well managed and guided by the government – factors significantly in the success of the city cluster, which is part of IPNs. This thesis intends to contribute to earlier research on the cluster by looking at the geographic differences in terms of development within the cluster. I conclude that the Chinese government envisions the promotion of the Cheng-Yu cluster in East Asian IPNs through the pursuit of equitably distributed economic growth by way of assigning roles to specifically defined cities, but the allocation of roles is very broad and a more well-defined distribution of roles may benefit the equitability of growth distribution and the effective incorporation in IPNs.Show less
China’s contemporary foreign policy project, dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or the ‘New Silk Road’, which was initiated in 2013 to foster a ‘community of shared destiny’ through...Show moreChina’s contemporary foreign policy project, dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or the ‘New Silk Road’, which was initiated in 2013 to foster a ‘community of shared destiny’ through infrastructure development, has remained a prominent contemporary issue for Southeast Asian states that are situated in one of China’s key geographical areas of interest for the BRI’s designated ‘Maritime Silk Road’. While on the one hand presenting itself as a solution to the region’s infrastructural challenges through investments, it simultaneously continues to clash with a number of states within Southeast Asia over territorial disputes within the South China Sea (SCS). In this sense, what China has gained in means of hard power, it can be argued to lack in soft power within the current regional order – a power vacuum that the implementation of developments under the banner of the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) component of the BRI could potentially resolve for China. In attempting to find an answer to the question “How has China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road affected state cohesion within Southeast Asia?”, a comparison has been made between five claimant states within the SCS region (the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam) to see how each of their positions has potentially been altered in light of China’s MSRI, and thereby ultimately their overall cohesion. By applying a congruence analysis, the explanatory power of realist and constructivist theoretical approaches have been tested to determine which variables have been decisive in foreign policy decision-making for the observed cases. While the variables related to realism have been concluded to be more decisive for a decrease in cohesion amongst the claimant states for the time being, developments under the banner of the BRI as well as the SCS disputes are in constant flux. Therefore no definitive conclusion can be drawn yet with respect to the direction of regionalism in Southeast Asia and the most suitable theoretical explanation thereof.Show less
This thesis explores the deeper impact of the newly discovered Guochao-trend in China through a lens of consumer nationalism and a comparison with the South Korean wave.
China had garnered so much success with the exportation of porcelain in Europe around the late 16th century, however much later towards the end of the 17th century there is an abrupt downfall. This...Show moreChina had garnered so much success with the exportation of porcelain in Europe around the late 16th century, however much later towards the end of the 17th century there is an abrupt downfall. This thesis aims to show how European ideology and advancement played a key role in the downfall of Chinese porcelain in Europe. China was a role model when it came to the making of porcelain, with their mysterious techniques and the use of ingredients not yet known to the Europeans. They were placed on a pedestal and regarded as one of the best at this craftsmanship. However, that mystery surrounding the production of porcelain died down after the Europeans figured out the techniques and the ingredients used. China was also highly regarded at one point in time by the Enlightened thinkers of Europe. However as the years progressed more negative views were brought to light and the once highly regarded China was now seen as inferior and backwards.Show less
This thesis revolves around the representation of exile in Chinese exile literature, specifically the fiction of Ma Jian: how is exile represented in Ma Jian’s fiction? The aim of the project is to...Show moreThis thesis revolves around the representation of exile in Chinese exile literature, specifically the fiction of Ma Jian: how is exile represented in Ma Jian’s fiction? The aim of the project is to primarily shed a light on the ‘personal’ engagement of exile by Ma Jian, as exile is neither a mechanical nor a predictable affair, as it crucially involves individual choices and strategies by the author in question. Secondly, to show the importance and significance exile still has nowadays, as characterized and interrelated with the given socio-political, economic, and cultural context.Show less
Chinese migrant workers, who have moved from rural to urban areas to work, are structurally marginalized in cities and rarely get to speak for themselves in public discourses. In this thesis, I...Show moreChinese migrant workers, who have moved from rural to urban areas to work, are structurally marginalized in cities and rarely get to speak for themselves in public discourses. In this thesis, I explore how migrant worker women’s voices were negotiated in the community theater project The Maternity Chronicles (生育纪事). The relationship between director and participants in community theater is inherently inequal. In this case, migrant worker women themselves played a significant role in most parts of the making of this play, thanks to the community leadership, the attitude of the director, and choices of form. Including the women in the play required not only a space for them to speak, but also active encouragement to take that space. The Maternity Chronicles provided a platform for migrant worker women and others to speak about their experiences with abortion, which is normally considered taboo. The methods of community theater in combination with the tight social fabric and trust within the community facilitated the process of breaking this taboo. This theater project also shows the important emotional function of having voice for those who speak and get to tell their stories. As a community theater project, The Maternity Chronicles aimed to prioritize the voices of participants, and I think it succeeded in creating a space for participants to speak as individuals and as part of the community. We still need to ask to what extent individuals can speak and dissent when they speak as part of a group. Intergenerational differences and claims to the ownership of the experiences portrayed exemplify the diversity that exists within the group of migrant worker women.Show less
