Browsing by Subject "China"

This paper constructs and analyses a variation on a DSGE model with a shadow banking system integrated in the financial sector by Falk Mazelis. Shadow banking is fundamentally described as credit intermediation outside the regular banking system and the description is specified in this paper during the process of historical review of the Chinese financial sector. Excess credit in the shadow banking sector and theoretical studies of banks’ and shadow banks different reaction to monetary policy shocks are the main motives behind this study. The Mazelis model builds upon a Gertler-Karadi DSGE model of financial intermediation with unconventional monetary policy. After mapping previous literature on banking, shadow banking and DSGE modelling the detailed model of Mazelis is adjusted by altering the monetary policy rule and four model parameters towards Chinese economical characteristics. The adjustments are and argued with data, previous literature, and theoretical arguments motivated by the historical review. The main objective of this approach is, trough the variation, to capture the effect of Chinese economical characteristics towards an economy with modelled shadow banking sector. The implications of the original model are considered as a foundation for the altered model. In the original model after tightening monetary policy, regular banks reduce the amount of loans on their balance sheet while shadow banks increase lending. This reduces the real effects of the shock, but at the same time shadow banks amplify the reaction of key variables to real shocks and can make the financial sector and the whole economy more unstable. The analysis of the altered model provides suggestions that the implemented Chinese characteristics make the economy slightly more vulnerable to a monetary policy tightening reducing capital and consumption. In addition, simulated shocks to productivity and monetary policy amplify the reactions of the financial sector in bank and shadow bank loan supply suggesting that the altered model can make the economy all the more unstable. The DSGE framework used in this paper does not try to model Chinese economy, but rather provides hints of economic elements in it and highlights specific aspects of it.

Over the course of the last decades, China’s rise has been among the most essential phenomena in world politics. Along with it, the consensus among scholars is that in the era of president Xi Jinping, China has abandoned the “hide and bide” principle and become an active norm leader in the global arena. This study examines China’s influence and activity in the United Nations General Assembly, the organ which has the broadest agenda within the UN system and in which every state has equal representation. This work fills the gap in recent research on the General Assembly by studying resolutions adopted between 2013 and 2018 that China participated drafting. Hence, the study expands the scope of China's known activity in international affairs. This study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative content analysis. By using mixed methods, it was possible to extract numeric data from the sample (n=351) but also to take a closer look at the language of the resolutions. Furthermore, the data also revealed the countries that supported and opposed China-sponsored resolutions, determining the group of countries that enabled China’s rise in the General Assembly. The analysis showed that China’s global responsibility campaign stretched to the General Assembly in which it actively participated in decision making. While the majority of the resolutions that China sponsored were in line with the overall sentiment, clashes occurred especially in the subjects concerning individual freedoms and human rights. In these spheres, the individual-centered order led by the United States competes with China’s state-centered order. China appears to have gained the upper hand by having the support of circa 120 states, mostly in the developing world. The study concludes that China is the most active global power in the General Assembly, and with the help of the majority of the UN member states, has managed to promote its worldview in the resolutions.

The question of reunification, or ‘the Taiwan issue’, stands as one of the paramount geopolitical conundrums of the 21st century. China asserts that Taiwan is an inalienable part its historical geo-body and socio-cultural chronicles under the unifying idea of ‘Chineseness’. Nevertheless, since Taiwan’s democratization process began to thrive in the 1990s, perceptions of national identity have diverged drastically from those in mainland China. Corollary, the appeal for reunification in Taiwan is almost non-existent, and hence achieving peaceful unification under the ‘one country, two systems’ proposal seems highly unlikely. Furthermore, the United States assumes a pivotal role in cross-strait geopolitics, intricately tangling the question of Taiwan into the broader scheme of great power politics. This thesis examines the intricate dynamics of the Taiwan issue by analyzing the practical geopolitical reasoning of the PRC intellectuals of statecraft over Taiwan. The theoretical and methodological foundations of this study draw from critical geopolitics and critical discourse analysis. The primary empirical research materials comprise the three Taiwan white papers published by the PRC. In addition, the analysis is supplemented by other official documents as well as vast array of research literature published on cross-strait geopolitics. Building upon Ó Tuathail’s theorization of practical geopolitical reasoning, the paper presents the ‘grammar of geopolitics’ of the Taiwan issue from the perspective of the PRC. Within this analytical framework, three guiding geopolitical storylines were identified: 1) Historical Sovereignty, 2) National Unity under ‘Chineseness’, and 3) Separatism and External Powers as Antagonist Forces. The results reveals that the CCP has constructed the imperative of reunification as an historically and geographically bound inevitability. Nevertheless, China's increasing geopolitical anxiety over achieving the objective of reunification with Taiwan is evidential in its discourses. This increasing geopolitical anxiety is likely to compel the CCP to adopt more coercive actions in the near and mid-term future if it deems it necessary. Given the developments in Taiwan, Sino-U.S. relations and domestically in China, it seems probable that pressure on Taiwan will continue to mount throughout the 2020s. Much of the strategic calculations and geopolitical discourses constructed regarding the Taiwan issue can be attributed to the CCP's concerns about its own legitimacy to rule. Within its geopolitical discourses, the issue of reunification is rendered to an existential question for China and arguably it constitutes a significant part of the modern CCP’s raison d'être. China’s increasing self-confidence as a superpower is continually trembling the dynamics of international affairs and the geopolitical landscape, particularly within the Indo-Pacific region. Consequently, the project of Chinese geopolitics remains an unfinished business, and warrants further contributions from researchers in the field of critical geopolitics.

China represents a digital dictatorship where digital repressive measures are effectively used to control citizens and dissidents. Continuous monitoring and analysis of data of individuals, groups and organizations is the core of China’s massive digital surveillance system. Internet and social media is under censorship, information is being manipulated and certain individuals and groups are targeted. In order to achieve all of this, China makes extensive use of modern technology such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition. One particular section of the population that has had to experience the full force and scale of digital repression, are China’s own indigenous people, the Uyghurs. Based on their research, human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch have reported that the Chinese authorities have placed Xinjiang Uyghurs under mass arrests and detentions. According to the US State Department’s recent estimates, possibly over a million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs and other Muslims are being held in internment camps. The detainees are reportedly subjected to beatings, torture, rape and even killed. The plight of the Uyghurs represents the most extensive mass imprisonment of an ethnic and religious minority since World War II. China is also systematically seeking to destroy Uyghur culture and ethnic characteristics. Mosques are destroyed, the practice of religion and the use of the mother tongue are banned, children are separated from their parents and women are forcibly sterilized. On January 2021, The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, gave a declaration where he named the acts China is committing against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities as genocide. Many liberal democracies replied with similar statements. This master’s thesis seeks to answer three main questions. First, what is digital repression, second, how does China use modern technology for digital repression, and third, how does this repression affect the Uyghurs? In addition, I consider the ethical dimension and issues associated with digital repression. This includes the broader context of repressive algorithms, such as direct or indirect discrimination, as well as human rights issues, such as privacy and freedom. This is particularly important as we witness how the world is filled with a variety of devices that utilize artificial intelligence but also allow for a new scale of control and surveillance, and as we face the current era of digital dictatorships that do not respect human rights. The current world situation also raises a serious point of reflection, as artificial intelligence has become the subject of a new kind of competition between countries. China is for example exporting its surveillance technology and facial recognition capabilities beyond its own boarders to countries like Pakistan or Zimbabwe.

China’s rise in the 21st century has been a widely discussed phenomenon inside and outside the academia. There is a debate on whether China is a status quo or a revisionist state and the impact its influence might have on the world as a whole. One area of China’s rise has not been widely researched in relation to these questions – technology. China’s technological development has increased during the past decades to a level where its technology competence competes with other technologically advanced countries. The fourth industrial revolution has brought about new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, 5G or cyberspace. These technologies also bring forth new questions and challenges, and they require research not only from the technological perspective but also from a social science perspective. This research investigated the Chinese technology policies by looking at materials that included five speeches, two State Council notices, one journal article, and a journal commentary. The themes of the researched materials revolved around overall technology policies, artificial intelligence, cyberspace, and data. This study employed content analysis as its method. The categorization of the social identities derived from the theoretical framework of Chinese social identity strategies which included five different social identity strategies: Globalist China, Sovereign China, Unified China, Sino-centric China, and Rising China. The materials were analyzed by combining two theoretical frameworks – the social identity theory with a particular Chinese social identity theory framework, and constructivism. The social identity theory was originally invented within the field of social psychology but has been used in the study of international relations to understand rising powers. Chinese technology policies were revealed to employ Rising China strategy as their main strategy. Three other social identity strategies – Sino-centric China, Globalist China, and Sovereign China – were also found in the materials, and these revealed interesting points concerning the overall technology strategies. China was found to be balancing between the status quo and a revisionist state status, and the technology themes and the regions they aim to influence seemingly have an impact on which strategies they employ and how these strategies are implemented.

During its history HIV has changed from a death sentence to a medical condition manageable with treatment. As knowledge about the virus has spread it has brought about a change in attitudes. Knowledge promotes understanding and does away with fear. However, in China awareness about HIV/AIDS remains to be lacking among ordinary people. Non-governmental organisations have an important role as norm adapters. What is the role of NGOs in China in relation to HIV/AIDS advocacy? Arguments for further inclusion of civil society organisation in HIV/AIDS policy making is supported by UNAIDS. A human rights framework has entered the global discourse around the topics of AIDS prevention and reducing the stigma related to the disease. The aim of this thesis is to explore the manifestations of stigma and the reasons behind it. This is done through looking at the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China and how it has shaped the image Chinese people have about individuals living with the disease. These constructed, discriminatory attitudes affect the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS negatively in numerous ways. They also endanger the realisation of the human right to health. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the overall HIV/AIDS situation in the country are examined as a phenomenon not void of stigma. While it affected the whole population, its effects on the individuals living with HIV/AIDS was amplified by previous discriminatory practices. Research done in this thesis supports the notion that the continuous discrimination and stigmatisation of HIV/AIDS and the people living with the disease sustains an environment where further infections can not be avoided. To address this situation the Chinese government should focus on stigma reduction in combination with long-term treatment plans.

During its history China has seen growing numbers of immigration of its population to other countries in hopes of increased opportunities abroad or when returning to China. Finland on the other hand has shifted from an emigration country into an immigration country in the last few decades with immigration numbers increasing. The growing immigration flows and decreasing birth rates have become a source of discussion and dispute. As both China and Finland face similar demographic changes, the migration tendencies along with policies relating to migration and discussion and attitudes surrounding them, have been in change. With Finland’s decreasing fertility rate and workforce, the demand for skilled workers remains high and is expected to keep increase further. As a country with a good reputation for high language skills in English for a non-Anglophone country, peaceful society and good enough reputation in the academic field, this study aims to reflect the experience of ten Chinese and Hong Kong students to previous research while highlighting the possible issues for retaining these Chinese students, and furthermore international students and to some extent, highly skilled migrants in Finland. The socio-political environment in Finland, together with consideration to migration theories, the environment was explained to the extent allowed by this thesis. The case study on Chinese and Hong Kong students was correlated to previous studies on the topic to give a reflection of the lived experience of these individuals in the contemporary setting and how well it correlates with the findings of the previous studies from five or more years ago. The socio-political environment in which Finland is in now, as understood through media, and has been in the past when it comes to the topic of immigration and integration will be evaluated and correlated to the new government plan (2023) with the findings reflected on for a better understanding on the possible challenges that they might bring. The findings of this study show that for these Chinese and Hong Kong students the main concerns for staying in Finland after graduation concern language abilities, employment possibilities, and the social and political environment. While there have been active attempts to increase language learning possibilities by higher education institutions in Finland, it was found that many degree programs don’t allocate enough room and encouragement for language learning. For employment possibilities the main concerns were related to the forming of networks and mastering one of the national languages, Finnish or Swedish, as well as the possible changes to residence permit as proposed by the new government plan. When it comes to the political environment the new government plan has caused much worry for both work-based and study-based migrants and thus decreasing the change of these students staying in Finland after graduation.

This thesis focuses on the choice of law rules in a transnational employment contract. The research object is the new law published in China in 2010, which will be provided an observation on the law content, empirical research on the implementation and practical issues in China, and a comparative study of the rules in the EU to provide potential helpful suggestions on improving the choice of law rules in China. In the disputes arising from the employment relationship which has foreign factors, e.g., foreign employers, foreign workers, posting workers overseas, etc., the applied law to the case is one significant issue in the field of private international law. Such rules in China were not unified in law until the establishment of the Law of the PRC on the Laws Applicable to Foreign-related Civil Relations (LAL). However, the empirical research shows that although the transnational employment contract disputes in China increase in the last decade, the implementation of LAL still meets obstacles from the courts’ lack of attention to the foreign-related factors, poor knowledge of using LAL appropriately, etc. Besides, the flaws of law content, e.g., obscure terms, no specific distinguishment from the collective agreements, controversial understanding of mandatory provisions, lack of party autonomy and practical use of closest connection principle, etc., lead to academic concerns. With a comparison of such rules in the EU, some suggestions are provided, for example, allowing the party’s choice, which could be limited by introducing objectively applicable law; clarifying the obscure terms, e.g., working place, business place, etc.; putting the closest connection principle in a practically useful position; etc. However, due to the current obstacles, some suggestions may not be accepted currently. Besides, with many important external factors, e.g., the impact by the new PRC Civil Code, the One Belt One Road Initiative, the Covid-19, etc., the improvement of the choice of law rules in China is necessary and would meet more challenges in the future.

As a new pattern of international trade, Cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) has quickly captured the market with its convenience. Nevertheless, compared to total international trade, the volume of CBEC is relatively small. The non-efficiency of trade hinders the development of CBEC. As a major global economic power, China has an important position in the global CBEC and is committed to improving trade facilitation to better develop CBEC. The thesis aims to study whether and how trade facilitation in 16 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEE countries) affects China’s CBEC transaction scale with them. This thesis assesses trade facilitation in four dimensions: institutions, infrastructure, market, and technologies. Through principal component analysis (PCA), this paper calculates the trade facilitation index for China’s 16 CEE trading partners from 2011 to 2019. Based on some estimation techniques, this thesis regresses China’s CBEC trade scale on trade facilitation index, GDP per capita, weighted geographical distance, and total population and compares the different performance of the two income groups and (non-)EU membership. It is found that there is a positive correlation between the trade facilitation in 16 CEE countries and China’s CBEC transaction scale, and there is also a relationship between GDP per capita, weighted geographical distance, income group, EU membership, and CBEC transaction scale. The impact of infrastructure, market, and technologies in trade facilitation on the CBEC transaction scale is significantly positive. Finally, it provides some possible implications to promote CBEC.

EU-China search for common understanding on what activities should be considered “green” and eligible for financing by green bonds started recently. Common understanding could, according to negotiation parties, facilitate greater cross-border flow of green finance. As China and EU together lead the global green bond market, a common understanding could even enhance much sought after harmonization of green bond rules at global level. This study examines how realistic and influential the search mission for common EU-China green bond language is, filling gap in research on green bonds in the EU-China context. Analysis is based on multimethod approach combining qualitative standard comparison, interviews and media analysis. The work is carried out applying a liberal two level game approach (Putnam, 1988), from the field of International Political Economy, which has proved useful when analysing domestic-international dynamics present in international negotiations on e.g. energy, climate and environmental policy. Based on the analysis, where China balances with fear of slowing economy, growing energy demand and urgency to fight pollution, the EU can already afford to focus on the climate change combat. This difference is reflected, based on the analysis, in the regulations the two regions have recently developed for green bonds. With preferences not aligning, it may prove difficult to find aligning views on the types of projects eligible for green bond financing. This means that the domestic win sets (Putnam, 1988) of the two regions don´t currently overlap implying that a common EU-China agreement on green bond rules may at the moment be impossible. However, even with a fully aligning views on green bond definitions and rules, the cross-border green finance between the EU and China would likely not increase significantly as there are other market barriers that hinder the flow at present. Nevertheless, having the EU-China dialogue was still viewed to enhance climate change cooperation and raise awareness.