Browsing by Subject "China"

Biodiversity is under threat globally, and this is also the case in China in general and in the so-called Great Bay Area in southern China. However, China has woken up to the need to protect nature, at least at the strategic and program level. In addition to nationwide plans, ecological conservation and green development of the Greater Bay Area is now a major national strategy. Ecological conservation is one of the basic principles of the Great Bay Area Development Plan published in 2019. This study seeks to systematically reveal and interpret which aspects of biodiversity issues and biodiversity protection measures are highlighted in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Plan. The research questions in this study are: How are the biodiversity issues addressed in the Plan and what kind of measures related to biodiversity protection does the Plan emphasize? The primary data source for the study is the Great Bay Area Development Plan. This study uses qualitative content analysis as an approach to examine it. The Convention on Biological Diversity serves as the conceptual framework from which are derived the initial categories according to which the data is categorized. The initial categories are combined into a few broader categories to form a more concise analysis. The analysis shows that the categories of “preserving the state of nature” and “minimizing adverse impacts” are strongly represented in the Plan, especially in terms of protecting various ecological environments, saving resources and promoting green and low-carbon development as well as controlling emissions. The categories of “obtaining and disseminating information” and “enablers” are less prominent in the Plan, yet it recognizes their role in cherishing the environment. The Plan aligns with the major development ideas highlighted by the Chinese government, such as ecological civilization, beautiful China and green and low carbon development. It also reflects the knowledge on the state of biodiversity in the Greater Bay Area.

Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan ympäristödiskursseja maatalouspoliittisessa massakampanjassa, joka toteutettiin Mao Zedongin aikaisessa Kiinassa 1960- ja 1970-luvuilla. Kyseisen kampanjan tarkoituksena oli saada koko Kiina ottamaan mallia Dazhai-nimisestä kylästä, jonka Kiinan kommunistinen puolue katsoi edustavan esimerkillistä maanviljelyskulttuuria kaikilla mittareilla mitattuna. Ympäristödiskurssien lisäksi tässä tutkielmassa haetaan vastausta siihen, miten ihmisen ja luonnon välinen suhde esitettiin Dazhai-kampanjan yhteydessä. Näin tarkoituksena on tuottaa lisäymmärrystä Kiinan ympäristötuhoihin Maon hallinnon aikana. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkastelun kohteena olevat asiat sijoittuvat Kiinan kulttuurivallankumouksen aikakauteen. Tutkielman teoreettinen ja metodinen puoli nojautuu kriittiseen diskurssianalyysiin. Analyysin teossa on lisäksi käytetty apukeinona Norman Fairclough’n kolmijakoista analyysimallia. Aineisto koostuu yhteensä 21:sta lehtiartikkelista, jotka on julkaistu vuosien 1965 ja 1976 välillä lehdessä nimeltä China Pictorial. Tutkimusaineisto on kokonaisuudessaan kiinankielinen. Aineiston perusteella on havaittavissa neljä erilaista ympäristöön liittyvää diskurssia, joiden kautta Dazhai-kampanjasta kirjoitetaan. Diskurssit on nimetty ”luonto vallankumouksen jatkumona”–, ”luonnon muuttaminen kamppailun kautta”–, ”luonto välinearvona”– ja ”luonto sotilaallisena kohteena”–diskursseiksi. Näistä diskursseista ensimmäisessä näkyy ajatus siitä, että muiden yhteiskunnan osa-alueiden lisäksi myös luonto tulee mullistaa ja saattaa Kiinan kommunistisen puolueen hallintaan. Toisessa diskurssissa luonto nähdään asiana, jota on mahdollista muuttaa äärimmäisyyteen asti tahdonvoiman ja fyysisen kamppailun tuloksena. Kolmas diskurssi näkee luonnon sen tuoman hyödyn näkökulmasta, sekä heikentää perinteisiä kiinalaisia luontokäsityksiä. Neljännessä diskurssissa luonto on kohde, joka on voitettava, jota kohden pitää hyökätä ja jota vastaan pitää aloittaa sota. Näiden neljän diskurssin kautta havaittava ihmisen ja luonnon välinen suhde on vahvasti antroposentrinen sekä tiukasti poliittiseen ideologiaan kietoutuva.

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.

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.