#24'2019

CONTENTS

International Relations in the Pacific

Viktor L. Larin

Liliya L. Larina

How the Citizens of Pacific Russia View the Migrants from East Asian Countries (On the base of Public Opinion Surveys of 2017 and 2019)

The article is based on the materials of public opinion surveys conducted in 2017 and 2019 in the main cities and some localities of Far East Federal District and aimed to study the views of Pacific Russia residents on the neighboring peoples — the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The authors analyze the respondents’ attitude to the presence in Russia of various categories of residents of Pacific Asia the countries, their perception of interethnic marriages, their ideas about the typological features of the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans, as well as the specifics of migrants’ perception in various cities and towns of the region. Assessing the respondents’ perception of Chinese migration, the authors note an increase the local residents’ positive attitude towards the Chinese, a more tolerant attitude towards Chinese migrants demonstrated by the Russian living on the territories bordering China in comparing with people from the territories remote from it. At the same time, they record the existence of a small but stable China-phobic group of population in the region.

Keywords: foreign migration, Pacific Russia, East Asia, ethno-cultural communication.

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Boris M. Afonin

The Culture and Humane Aspects of Russian-Japanese Relations (A Brief Retrospective Review)

The article is devoted to the history of people-to-people ties between the peoples of Russia and Japan. In 2020 there will be 165 years of establishing diplomatic relations between Russia and Japan. During this period, contacts of two countries developed according to the law of dialectics: from normal and even allied (1916) to hostile and cool relations. Both countries fought with each other twice, for many years strained relations and mistrust of each other remained, the countries survived a period of cold war. However, there were also positive aspects, which mainly included cultural and social ties, figuratively referred to as “people’s diplomacy”. In the context of difficult political relations between Russia and Japan, these ties have always been a link between them, generated mutual interest and enjoyed popularity among ordinary people. This article shows how the contacts of the Russians and the Japanese began, what organizations participated in the development of such contacts, what forms and methods of work were used. The article also noted a role of the Russian Far East in the movement for friendship and good neighborliness between Russia and Japan, and stated new lines in this movement. The conclusion summarizes the results of “public diplomacy” activity, and the things that should be taken into account in order to make it more effective and complement the official diplomacy.

Keywords: Russia and Japan, Russian Far East, cultured and people-to-people ties, people’s diplomacy, social organizations, contacts of the Russians and Japanese.

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Nikolay N. Goryachev

The Asian Path of Peruvian Foreign Policy: China’s Case

The paper analyzes the development of the Asian path of foreign policy, which is not traditional for Latin American countries. The main reason for that is the intention of the latter to diversify external relations. The author conducts a consistent analysis of some aspects of the domestic and foreign policies of the Peruvian authorities (starting from the presidency of A. Fujimori), aimed at seeking of way out from economic isolation from the West. The reason for isolation was the unsuccessful economic policy of the democratic governments of Peru (1980—1990), because of which the country lost the opportunity to receive foreign economic assistance. The consequence of this resulted in the state of permanent political and economic crisis, in which the Republic of Peru was in the late 1980s. Despite of the different political orientation, Peruvian authorities for the last 25 years consistently have been preparing the legal framework for the formation and development of cooperation with foreign partners. By using the case of the Peruvian-Chinese bilateral relations as an example, we can trace back the Peruvian approach to the development of new areas of foreign policy. The author concludes that this approach included the continuity and consistency in the development of foreign economic relations that ensured a manifold increase in the level of political interaction between Peru and China. That directly affected the quality of economic ties, which allowed Peru to become one of the strategic partners of China at the present.

Keywords: China, Peru, foreign policy, bilateral relations, economic ties, economic development.

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Boris I. Tkachenko

Paracel Islands as Object of Territorial Dispute in the South China Sea

The article studies the Paracel Archipelago as one of the disputed areas in the northern part of South China Sea. Physical geography and historical background of the Paracel Islands are considered. The historical analysis shows that Paracel Islands continued to remain uninhabited during the long period of time with visiting these islands by sea expeditions of Vietnam and China. The archipelago is characterized as the object of a bilateral international territorial dispute between Vietnam and China. Declaration of the sovereignty above Paracel Islands Vietnam concerns to XIX century, the French Indochina — by 1932, and China — by the period after the Second World War. After the Second World War Paracel Islands appeared actually divided between China and France: the Amfitrit group in northeast of archipelago became since 1946 Chinese, and the Croissant group in a southwest — the French-Vietnamese territory controllable since 1947 by Southern Vietnam. Paracel Islands appeared under a mode of effective occupation, i.e. have been taken in possession of China and France with creation in the specified territories of settlements, constant economic constructions, the organization of administration managerial control by them. The Vietnamese Croissant group has been seized by Chinese People’s Republic in the military way in 1974. The modern positions of Chinese People’s Republic and Vietnam on the territorial jurisdiction of the Paracel Islands are considered. These positions are identical and directly opposite. Economic and strategic importance of the Paracel Islands is shown. The problems of the Paracel Islands’ territorial belonging and delimitation of exclusive economic zones and continental shelf of the areas are analyzed. It is shown that capture by China of the Croissant island group and distribution thus its effective control on all archipelago cannot be considered as the final decision of a disputable territorial question as the decision of territorial dispute by the armed capture contradicts main principles and modern norms of international law.

Keywords: South China Sea, Paracel Islands, territorial dispute, San-Francisco Peace Treaty, China, Vietnam, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, international maritime law.

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Chinese Studies

Gennadiy P. Beloglazov

Agro-Industrial Complex of China and the Chinese village in historical retrospect: stages and results of 70-year reforms (regional aspect)

The article assesses the experience of agricultural reforms in China over the past 70 years since the formation of China. The emphasis is made on the analysis of the history of transformation of the agricultural complex and the social structure of the village in one of the key regions of the country — North-East China. The reform of the agricultural complex of the NEC was carried out according to the national program, in line with the overall strategy of the CPC and the Chinese government to reform the economy and society of the country, but had its own regional features and originality, noted in the article. In the history of modernization of the agrarian sphere of China, the author identifies three main typological stages, the analysis of which is devoted to this study. The first stage is the strategy of the period of administrative and command system of economic development in China (1950—1970s), the so-called Mao Zedong strategy; the second is the evolutionary-reform strategy of socio-economic modernization of the PRC during the transition from the administrative command to the market economy, or Deng Xiaoping strategy (1979—1999) and the third stage is the innovative strategy of Hu Jintao — XI Jinping, a strategy of balanced development of the market economy based on the harmonious development of the economy and social sphere, external openness of the country and regions in the context of globalization. This article is based on authorial materials from scientific papers on agrarian issues and the social structure of the Chinese countryside in the northeastern region of China: a multivolume edition of the volume on the history of the NEC of the 17th—20th centuries, scientific monographs, and journal publications.

Keywords: China, North-East China, socio-economic reforms, agrarian reforms, agricultural and industrial complex, rural society.

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Egor A. Razumov

Digital Dictatorship: Features of the Social Credit System in the People’s Republic of China

 The article analyzes the formation and development of the PRC social credit system. The author of the article draws parallels between the already functioning social credit system in the countries of Europe and the United States of America with the one partially functioning in the People’s Republic of China. In contrast to the Chinese model, the European system mainly concentrates on a combination of the economic block of the government and the central bank. The exception is Germany, where the functions of putting down a social rating are performed by a private agency. The Chinese system of social credit is based on a special rating of its own and foreign citizens, companies of a special rating, which is formed through the collection of various information. This system, as conceived by the Chinese government, should build the principle of “trust” in society. Also, in the process of introducing measures to assess the activities of businesses and individuals, it is expected that this will be a qualitative impetus to the growth of the Chinese economy, which, over the past few years, has shown a noticeable decline. The author of the article comes to the final opinion that the Chinese system of social credit consists in establishing total control over the social processes in the country. The established and functioning Chinese credit agencies have their own methods and approaches to the accrual and withdrawal of a credit rating, which does not allow us to speak of a single integrated assessment system.

Keywords: national security, digital economy, China, social rating, informatization.

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Ivan V. Stavrov

The small people of a large country: the situation of the Hezhe (Nanai) in contemporary China

The article is devoted to one of the smallest peoples of the PRC — hezhe, the peculiarities of its adaptation to the contemporary situation of China, the specifics of preserving the elements of traditional culture, and the implementation of the system of regional ethnic autonomy as applied to the specific people of China. In Russia, this ethnic group is better known as the Nanai. Most of them inhabit the Far East of Russia, while in China the southern branch of the Nanai is concentrated, whose range is currently located in the triangle between the mouth of the river Sungari, part of the Amur coast and the middle course of the river Ussuri. In the process of analysis, the author came to the following conclusions. Firstly, state policy as a whole allows maintaining the hezhe’s ethnic identity through the institution of ethnic minority township, representation in higher, regional and local authorities, as well as maintaining traditional holidays and elements of everyday culture. Secondly, despite a significant increase in the number of hezhe during the PRC, however, the demographic base does not allow to effectively support the reproduction of ethnic culture. In general, the people being studied are characterized by all the main demographic trends that had developed in China by the beginning of the 21st century: a decrease in family size, an increase in migratory mobility, and others. Thirdly, despite a significant improvement in living conditions and quality of life, the traditional hezhe economy was destroyed: they are currently conducting similar economic activities as the Han people. Fourth, there was an almost complete loss of language. Thus, by the beginning of the third millennium, assimilation processes began to prevail and there is a likelihood of a quick dissolution in the constructed Chinese nation — zhonghua minzu.

Keywords: China, Heilongjiang Province, Hezhe, Nanai, ethnic policy, interethnic relations, the preservation of traditional culture.

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Japanese Studies 

Zhanna M. Bazhenova

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE AND TOURISM IN OKINAWA

The article explores the forming and development of the tourism industry in Okinawa, as well as the problems of the revival and preservation of historical and cultural heritage in the process of its tourist consumption. The development of postwar tourism in Okinawa began with the so-called “commemoration tours” performed by the Japanese veterans of the Battle of Okinawa and relatives of the dead Japanese in the battlefields and mass graves on the island in the 1950s—1960s. In current times the prefecture is considered to be the main resort area in Japan. Okinawa prefecture’s premier heritage tourism sites are the monuments of the history and culture of the Kingdom of Ryukyu, Battle of Okinawa memorials, as well as US military facilities, which are arguably part of Okinawa’s “heritage” and definitely part of it tourist interest. The conclusion was made that the possibility of reviving and preserving the cultural heritage of the Kingdom of Ryukyu and traditional Okinawa has fueled growing expression of Ryukyu identity, sense of cultural and historical autonomy. On the other hand, the need to find resources for independent economic development, reducing financial support from Tokyo, is increasingly associated with the development of the tourism industry in the prefecture. That’s why local Okinawan cultural and historical identification with an independent premodern Ryukyu Kingdom — often with political overtones — co-exists with an Okinawa wishfully cast as “Japan’s Hawaii” for local economic development. And all of this has been taking place in the long historical shadow of the bloodiest conflict of the Pacific War.

Keywords: Okinawa, tourism, cultural heritage, “Japan’s Hawaii”, the Kingdom of Ryukyu, Battle of Okinawa, war memorials, US military facilities.

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Vladimir V. Kozhevnikov

PRINCE NAGAYA AND STATUE OF THE BIG BUDDHA IN NARA

The article discusses the fate and activities of the Japanese politician of the VIII century prince Nagaya, who played an important role in the formation of the Japanese state during the period of early feudalism. Prince Nagaya — a descendant of Emperor Tenji — served as right and then left minister. It was considered the center of forces opposed to the Fujiwara clan. After ascending the throne of Emperor Shyomu, four brothers of Fujiwara gained great influence at the court. In 729, they provoked the prince to be charged with conspiracy against the state and brought him to suicide. Prince of Nagaya is considered in Japanese society one of the first real prototypes of onryo — a vengeful spirit, part of the traditional Japanese faith. However, the belief in onryo as a real factor in Japanese history is practically beyond the interest of Russian historians. The article analyzes the appearance in Japan of this faith, its motivational role in the actions of political figures in the history of the country of the eighth century. As an example, one of the versions of motivating casting in Japan of the eighth century, the largest in the world at that time copper statue of the Big Buddha in Nara, is given.

Keywords: Japan, the early Middle Ages, the Prince of Nagaya, the clan of Fujiwara, Empress Komyo, onryo, traditional beliefs.

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Regional Policy Problems 

Larisa N. Garusova

Ulyana Yu. Kuryanova

U.S. environmental policy and legislation

The article analyzes the environmental policy of the United States in historical perspective. The authors considered the main environmental problems faced by the United States in the past and the present, as well as ways to solve them. It is revealed that the environmental legislation, the activities of state and non-governmental environmental organizations form the basis of modern American environmental policy. The US experience, both positive and negative in the implementation of environmental policy can be useful to the world community. It is determined that the active solution of environmental problems began in the United States in the second half of the Twentieth century, which led to the formation of the basic principles of environmental strategy, relevant today. Currently, America has managed to solve many environmental problems, improve water and soil quality. It is proved that some types of modern production, as well as high levels of consumption have provoked new problems, turning the United States into a global environmental threat. US environmental policy reflects the needs of American society and is influenced by a number of factors: public opinion, the activities of public organizations, business interests, party affiliation of politicians, etc. Traditionally, the Presidents and members of Congress of the Republican party are less concerned about environmental issues, unlike their opponents from the Democratic party. With the coming to power of Republican Donald Trump, American environmental policy has undergone radical changes. The program to reduce atmospheric pollution by greenhouse gases was closed, corporations regained almost uncontrolled access to energy resources, United States withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, thereby worsening the global environmental situation.

Keywords: USA, environment, environmental policy, legislation, environmental measures, climate change, air pollution.

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Sergei A. Ivanov

Polina A. Kozhevnikova

Special Economic Zones of the Russian Far East: Decentralized and Centralized Models

The article compares the Far Eastern special economic zones in the early 1990s and 2010s. It aims to explore the qualitative difference (in terms of management and tasks) of these developmental tools. The emergence of preferential regimes had a common reason. It was the need to reduce central budget investments in the region. The compensation for this move was an attempt to improve the investment environment by giving territorial preferences. The authors identified two different approaches to managing special economic zones in the Russian Far East in the early 1990s and 2010s. It was found that the management model of the SEZ depends on the state capacity to control political and economic processes in the country. At the turn of the 1980—1990s central authority were losing control over the territories. Decisions to establish special economic zones were carried out under pressure from local governments, but the federal bureaucracy blocked the implementation of these decisions. As a result, the functioning of the SEZ was not launched. In the 2010s, the central government gained control over a political and economic agenda in the country; therefore, it was able to centrally develop a new type of preferential regimes. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the advanced special economic zones and the Free port of Vladivostok is still in question.

Keywords: special economic zone, the Russian Far East, advanced special economic zone, Free port of Vladivostok, accelerated development.

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