Millennia ago, a vital trade route connected the thriving civilizations of ancient Greece, Persia, and China. Through the ancient Silk Road, China was able to influence societies far beyond its national borders. And now, in the twenty-first century, it seeks to do the same. This paper will...
The frosty bilateral relations between China and Japan since 2012 have contributed to the increasing pessimism that the deepening Sino-Japan strategic rivalry will lock the two Asian giants on the path of intense competition for regional leadership and substantially restrict the space for them to...
Why and how have China’s late-developing border regions responded differently to the shared challenges of economic globalization? Theories of political economy and accounts of China’s integration into the world economy remain divided on the relative significance of internal and external forces of...
The dissertation contributes to the understanding of the properties of China's macroeconomic fluctuations through applying advanced econometric methods to China's quarterly real GDP, which have been investigated little due to the shortage of data. The first essay provides quarterly real GDP...
The rise of nationalism and the proliferation of foreign policy actors in China has contributed to increasing levels of distrust between China and the Asia-Pacific region, and contributed to a significant decline in the stability of the US-China relationship. The overblown reaction from China's...
This dissertation focuses on development issues in China. The first two chapters analyze the effect of labor mobility restrictions on education in China. First, I explore an extension of Regression Discontinuity (RD) design when individual treatment status is missing. Neither of the empirical...
This dissertation investigates the rise in Chinese labor protests by intra-national migrant workers (nongmingong), a growing demographic of Chinese labor. Through data gathered during 13 months of field research in Beijing, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta from 2007-2008, I...
This thesis analyzes the Sino-Indian competition in Myanmar by focusing on the drivers of this competition, how these drivers generate competition between the two sides and how the recent liberalization of Burma's politics will affect the competition. The work argues that the Sino-Indian...
What causes the Chinese online public to challenge their government’s handling of foreign policy events? How does the state respond to such challenges? Both public dissent and state repression of online discourse vary widely across events. This dissertation argues that two key factors explain...
Abstract of DissertationExploitation and Exploration as Collective Learning Strategiesin a Complex Environment: A Case Study of a Chinese Manufacturing Enterprise This study explored the dynamic learning processes of a privately owned Chinese manufacturing enterprise from 2004 to 2008 by...
This thesis will provide a comparative analysis of Chinese engagement with Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and South America (SAm) under Beijing’s Go Out policy, launched in the early 2000s. The objectives of this foreign economic policy strategy include securing the commodities the Chinese economy...
As questions about the future of US "pivot," or "rebalance" to Asia increasingly abound as events in Europe and the Middle East unfold, the roles of the State Department and the Defense Department as the key actors in the implementation of the "rebalance" have received considerable attention....
Is China a revisionist, aggressive rising power seeking world hegemony or is it a status-quo oriented, cooperative member of international society? Scholars of international relations and Chinese foreign policy produce diverse and contradictory responses to this question. Offensive realism and...
The curriculum is at the center of education and educational reform, and it is also a critical dimension of education quality. This thesis aims to analyze how the curriculum is implemented in curriculum reforms, which is directly related to teachers that are at the heart of quality education. The...
The Sino-Indian relationship marked by mutual mistrust for the last six decades has seen definitive changes since the late 1980s. Though considerable issues remain unresolved, the two have begun establishing mechanisms to establish a certain level of trust that began with the visit of Indian...
The core historical argument presented in this dissertation is that Chinese military officers within the GMD military were able to create a depoliticized military institution, develop foreign partnerships and define a distinct military officer identity to create a true "national" army for the...
The majority of historiographical research regarding Sino-American relations has traditionally been interpreted based on economic interest. Though recent studies have begun to explore other bases for Sino-American relations, the so-called China Market, consisting of hundreds of millions of...
This thesis analyzes the evolution of the Sino-Japanese conflict over ownership of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands since the end of the Cold War. It argues that the 2012-2013 confrontation following the nationalization of the islands by Japan is the result of a process of conflict escalation that...
This dissertation seeks to answer why South Korea's scope of strategic shift vis-à-vis a China that has become more powerful and assertive in the post-Cold War era is limited and restrained, especially when compared to the dramatic changes in Japan's strategic posture in dealing with a rising...
This dissertation examines the early career of Zhu De (1886-1976), the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Red Army, to provide a fuller perspective and better understanding of the origin and development of the early Red Army and ultimately why it was so successful. This army was a complex force...
In the fall of 2004, a series of editorials appeared in a Chinese dissident newspaper run by Falun Gong adherents in the United States. The editorials served as the catalyst for what may be the largest dissident movement in China in over two decades. The movement, known as Tuidang ("withdraw from...
Access to markets is central to the current thinking on poverty alleviation and economic development. However, there is surprisingly little systematic empirical evidence that tries to isolate the effects of access to local and global markets on income and consumption, especially at the household...
This dissertation examines the interplay between state coercion and ethnic minority responses to that coercion in China. It asks two questions: Why does the Chinese party-state make concessions toward ethnic groups it actively represses? How do ethnic minorities respond to these actions? This...
This thesis uses articles from Chinese and Indian defense publications to analyze how the Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy and the Indian Navy view each other’s modernization. This thesis argues that the Chinese and Indian Navies view each other’s development through defensive realism and...
What factors explain China's decision to abandon its longstanding peg to the U.S. dollar in July 2005 and replace it with an exchange rate regime permitting additional market influence, despite considerable domestic political opposition to reform? This dissertation argues that China's exchange...
After years of rapid economic growth, China is now the world's second largest economy. An intriguing explanation for this success suggests that national policies centered on robust innovation and investment in technology are a powerful source of economic growth and national competitive advantage....
Are state intentions important for explaining state behaviors in international politics? If state intentions are important under certain conditions, then can a state accurately communicate its intentions to another state as needed? What variables influence states’ understanding of and responses...
Why are some ethnic groups in a given country more politically mobilized than others? In particular, why are some ethnic minority groups, such as the the Uighurs, are more political mobilized than other ethnic minority groups in China? Situated within the comparative literature, this dissertation...
This dissertation joins a vibrant conversation that explores Asia’s past from the point of view of its borderlands, which tend to be peripheral to the centers of state power while at the same time a prime locus for the enactment and realization of state authority. Willem Van Schendel’s work on...
Gender roles and ideals are not static—they are constantly changing and evolving. Additionally, gender roles, norms, and ideals differ between countries. This project examines the differences in gender norms between two of the largest countries—both in population and in involvement in world...
The South China Sea has long been a region of competition and tension. In the Spratly Islands alone, Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam maintain disputing claims to the region’s land features and surrounding maritime territories. Some argue that ongoing negotiations...
Recent developments across the Taiwan Strait have important implications for the future of U.S.-China relations as well as America's strategic and economic interests in the larger Asian region. While political stability in the cross-strait relationship over the past few years has been welcomed by...
In an era of improving Taiwan-China relations, the question of the importance of the United States’ relationship with Taiwan is open to discussion. With deepening economic ties and improving political relations with China under the Ma Ying-jeou administration, is the United States still important...
Asia’s need for energy resources has sparked new debates involving energy security within rising powers in the region. Increased economic development has pushed these countries to consider new strategies for energy procurement in the 21st century. Key Asian nations have invested in renewable...
With China’s rise and growth of Internet usage in China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has looked to the Internet as a means of receiving citizen feedback as it modernizes its policymaking processes. How has the CCP utilized the Internet to elicit citizen opinions and feedback on its...
Given President Barack Obama’s Southeast Asian ties and his visit to Asia, Amitav Acharya, in a lecture at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, discussed Southeast Asian perspectives of Obama. His analysis incorporates discussions from both official and non-official sectors of Indonesia, Malaysia,...
In the year that has passed since the inauguration of Ma Ying-jeou as president of Taiwan, cross-Strait relations have undergone rapid changes which have stirred debate in both Taiwan and the United States. The Ma administration has pursued policies to increase political and economic interaction...
As Taiwan casts votes for a new government in January 2016, the world is watching closely to see how the election might shake up Taipei’s domestic policies and its relationships with neighbors. Polls indicate the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, has a 2-to-1 lead over...
What explains escalating tensions between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea over the past several years? Is conflict inevitable as a rising China seeks to protect its national interests or will global trade and international organizations ensure peaceful economic cooperation...
What are the prospects for the development of an Asian regional community? How might identity influence the formation of that community? Will this emerging community include or exclude the United States? In May 2010, a group of preeminent scholars from the United States, Japan, China, South Korea...
Scott Bates, president of the Center for National Policy, has proposed a new national security policy for Taiwan entitled "Taiwan 21." Mr. Bates discussed several elements of his "Taiwan 21" plan at a recent Taiwan Roundtable entitled "Reassessing Taiwan's Strategic Position" held by the Sigur...
The recent standoff between India and China on the Doklam plateau was the latest in an increasingly long history of conflict and unease along the nearly 2,500-mile border which has strained relations. Although the latest incursion by Chinese forces occurred in the Doklam region along Bhutan’s...
As the influence of the People’s Republic of China in world affairs has grown over the past few decades, one of the more recent manifestations of this trend to draw the attention of scholars and policy makers is the expanding relationship between China and Latin America. China’s interest in Latin...
The success of India as a major emerging power in the coming years will rely heavily on its ability to achieve and maintain energy security. Much like China, India's energy demands will continue to present it with difficult choices as the country attempts to balance its development and growing...
China’s rise to power has been accompanied by its increased assertiveness in Asia. As it has established itself as the dominant power in the region, Chinese ambitions have often clashed with interests of other powers, especially Japan. A conflict in Asia has the potential to reverberate across...
The Sigur Center co-hosted a conference with the 21st Century Foundation of Taiwan on February 27 entitled “Cross-Strait Political Dialogue: Challenges and Opportunities.” The first panel focused largely on the prospects of bilateral forums and dialogue between China and Taiwan for improving...
China is at a series of junctures in its economic, social, political, environmental, and foreign policy realms. As the ruling party for over 60 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) finds itself at a turning point, faced with numerous challenges on the road ahead. In a lecture entitled “China...
Though the South China Sea (SCS) territorial disputes have attracted much attention in the United States, there is a dearth of scholarly research on their discursive construction. Americans clearly care about the SCS, but nobody has investigated how, when, or why particular American narratives...
According to conventional wisdom, rising corruption reduces economic growth. And yet, between 1978 and 2010, even as officials were looting state coffers, extorting bribes, raking in kickbacks, and scraping off rents at unprecedented rates, the Chinese economy grew at an average annual rate of 9...
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies held a conference on March 1 entitled "Opportunity in Ambiguity: Issues in Taiwan's International Relations" which focused on two salient examples of ambiguity in Taiwan's external relations: the strategic ambiguity policy of the United States, and the 1992...