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China Scholarship Digest #20: February 2023 Publications

A monthly list of new China-related academic research.

Articles published in February 2023

72 journals scanned

61 articles from 28 journals found


Chinese Studies

Journal of Contemporary China

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Despite criticism that his leadership has been authoritarian and his regime tyrannical, President Xi Jinping has experienced continued success, influence, and widespread support among the Chinese people. This article investigates the ways in which Xi has successfully integrated his personal narrative, an account of personal integrity through ordeal, into the broader metanarratives of Chinese political development...the article specifies how Xi’s prototypical leadership, articulated through his personal narrative, has successfully linked Xi’s policy preferences with Chinese public policy and public opinion. These linkages are examined across five major policy focuses: The China Dream—From Poverty to Prosperity; Economic Equality; Socialist Values and the Role of the CCP; Democracy with Chinese Characteristics; Disciplining the Party-State, Anti-corruption, and the Rule of Law.
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This study examines how Chinese netizens view Russia and how contested memories shape perceptions. It identifies and categorizes four different perceptions of Russia, held by pro-Russian groups, pro-Soviet groups, anti-Russian nationalists, and liberals on China’s social media, who have divergent interpretations of the past...It finds that when a collective memory involves multiple significant but symbolically and ideologically competing historical events, it can become a divisive force that creates confusion in the self-other relationship and motivates different social groups to resist and revise official narratives.
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This paper focuses on how the phenomenon of naturalized athletes has caused unprecedented domestic discussions on issues of national identity in China...it discusses how the Chinese public reacted to prominent cases of naturalization of athletes in such different sports fields as men’s football and a variety of winter sports. It interrogates how Chinese citizens view the possibilities and realities of this particular category of immigrants, and how the appropriate boundaries of ‘Chineseness’ have been debated and contested. The paper found that Chinese public reaction to naturalization of foreign athletes is overall mixed, which is conditioned on an ethno-racial view of Chinese descent, cultural heritage and linguistic affinity. The paper concludes with reflections on the ethno-racial foundation of the Chinese national identity and the challenges the country will face in a future of accelerated international migration.

China Quarterly

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The growing tension between mainland China and Taiwan has a cultural aspect closely related to national identity. We focus on recent history curriculum changes in the mainland and in Taiwan and find that education authorities on both sides have implemented master narratives for content selection in and organization of history textbooks. In mainland China, the master narrative of pluralist unity constructs a geographically consistent Chinese nation throughout history, which bolsters the state's current claim to a territorial integrity including Taiwan. In Taiwan, the master narrative of multiculturalism becomes the essence of Taiwanese identity, and weakens Sinocentrism in Taiwanese official historiography.

Asian Studies

Journal of Contemporary Asia

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