Above All, Honor. Reasons Behind the Specific Perception of War Prisoners in Japanese Culture – A Comparison with Western Societies

Cultural differences between Western and Eastern civilizations are noticeable in the system of professed values and in many aspects of life. This also applies to the approach to captives, which was clearly demonstrated by the events of the first years after the end of World War II. An example could be the way in which former Japanese and German soldiers, who were captured after the end of the war, were treated after their return to homeland. This article aims to show the sources of these differences and, to a lesser extent, examples of behaviors which they caused. The analysis consists of references to historical, economic, social, religious, and psychological conditions, which, as intertwined, resulted in the emergence of different perceptions of an individual’s role in a society and his obligations toward the community. These conditions determined the specific attitudes of representatives of each culture in difficult war and post-war circumstances. Explaining the Japanese soldiers’ willingness to sacrifice and the importance of honor for them, reference was made to the influences of Confucianism, Buddhism, Shinto, and the bushido tradition. Showing the deeply rooted reasons for the attitudes described in the article was therefore supposed to enable their explanation.

Shanghai as an international finance center - the achievements and challenges for further development

The purpose of the study was to analyze selected actions, which were and are important for Shanghai to obtain the status of the international financial center, together with an initial assessment of the achievements and an indication of the challenges for further development. The carried out analysis shows, that Shanghai strengthens its position as the world’s leading international financial center. Whereas it is necessary for its further development to implement reliable market rules, that will give certainty to investors (domestic and foreign) that they have an open and fair access to the market and their interests are protected. The transparency and growing maturity of the stock market, the full liberalization of capital flows and the full interchangeability of the chinese currency play an important role. Whether Shanghai will be given the right to valuation global financial assets, depends to a significant extent on the alignment of China’s economic development and progress in the internationalization of the yuan. It also depends on whether the leading foreign financial organizations will see Shanghai as the most important platform to draw dividends from China’s economic development and the internationalization of the chinese currency. In the event of these basic conditions not being completed, Shanghai will not be able to become a fully global, mature financial center, integrated into the global financial system, taking into account, for example, the degree of internationalization of stock exchange operations.

The image of Chinese and Japanese Theatre in selected popular and artistic press printed in Poland in 1930s.

Journalists who described Oriental theatres usually based their narrative on personal experience. Both specialist, mass and popular press paid particular attention to elements that distinguished Japanese and Chinese theatre from their European counterpart. The length of performance, innovative technical solutions, different acting style were the elements that received most attention. Nonetheless, sometimes it was impossible to explain the origins of those differences. Furthermore, the above-mentioned differences usually spoke against Chinese theatre. It was criticized for different music, moveable stage scenery, exaggerated acting that was hard to understand. Such attitude was the result of lack of understanding of Chinese opera’s conventions. On the other hand, press eagerly commended the richness of Chinese actors’ costumes and ,,shadow puppet theatre”. Moreover, Polish press also stressed that both classical and modern Chinese theatre enjoyed immense popularity among Chinese people. Polish press went easy on theatrical art in Japan depicting differences that were in many cases the same as in Chinese theatre as something neutral, even positive as it gave the play magical touch. Sometimes it was emphasized that Japanese theatre could become a source of inspiration for its European counterpart. It was praised for masks, costumes, moveable stage scenery and music. It is interesting that in the last two instances Chinese theatre was looked down on. Polish press also spoke favourably of puppet theatre and ,,Takarazuka” performances. On the other hand, magazines’ opinions on acting varied.

Semiotico-compositive aspects of the formation of Chinese equipment painting works: general theoretical analysis

The scientific article is devoted to the complex analysis of semiotic-compositional aspects of formation of works of easel painting of China. It established that taking into account the holistic and fundamental changes that took place in the spiritual life of society in the late XX –early XXI century and due to the transformations taking place in the fine arts of China, it is obvious that profound changes have affected the methodology of philosophical knowledge and the foundations of artistic creativity. In art, the practice of artistic creativity and the accompanying philosophical reflection always go hand in hand, fully determining each other. In turn, attention to some specific aspects of the formation of the compositional construction of a work of art is not only able to promote practice, but can deepen the degree of penetration into all aspects of the topic under consideration. Emphasis is placed on the fact that extrapolating such a method to the study of the phenomena of compositional construction, we can afford to trace the relationship between individual artistic styles and their relationship to the goals and objectives of composition. This allows us to distinguish two aspects of the study: the attitude to the composition, its goals, objectives, methods and techniques in the context of the analyzed individual artistic styles; attitude to the composition, its goals, objectives, methods and techniques, as a communicative model of “open” type, in which the message changes as codes change, and the use of certain codes is dictated by ideology, features of historical development, translational movement of semiosis.

Institutional and legal conditions for the development of social enterprises in China: the national provisions and the local pilot schemes

The aim of the article is to assess the institutional and legal conditions for the development of social enterprises in China by analyzing the current national provisions, indirectly relating to these entities, the local pilot schemes and the accreditation systems of social enterprises operating within them, as well as to formulate recommendations to decisionmakers concerning further necessary measures for the development of social enterprises. The analysis carried out has drawn several key conclusions. China is at an early stage in the implementation of institutional and legal solutions which are important for the development of social enterprises. There are no national laws and policies regulating the status and functioning of these entities. The national provisions on non profit law and company law relate indirectly to social enterprises. A complementary set of rules is needed to take account of the hybrid organisational form of social enterprises. In addition, a comprehensive assessment of the existing institutional and legal arrangements implemented under local pilot schemes (in Chengdu, Shunde-Foshan, Shenzhen, Beijing) is needed. They provide the basis for national legislation and policies relating to social enterprises. Insufficient understanding of the concept and the importance of social entrepreneurship by decision-makers at the government level can be considered problematic.

In the last thirty years, China became one of the most important elements of the global economy. China is one of the leading investor countries. In 2020, the value of outward Foreign Direct Investment from China amounted to approximately 153.71 billion U.S. dollars. Therefore, the threat of making other countries dependent on Chinese pressure is growing. Chinese leaders tend to use the potential benefits of cooperation with them as a bargaining card in relations with other countries – both developing and developed. This research article aims to present aspects of economic cooperation with China that are usually overlooked in public discourse and to arouse the reader’s interest in the subject. This article is largely descriptive, based on scientific studies and analyses of Polish and foreign researchers. The author has used historical, comparative, and monographic methods in his research.

Work environment in China

China is a country based on traditional values on the one hand, and on the other, oriented towards the modern advances of globalization. It has undergone a wide range of socio-economic changes. The working environment in China is influenced by both classic and contemporary factors. This article discusses dysfunctional phenomena occurring in the working environment in China. These include workaholism, karoshi, karojisatsu, the 996 model, and the “lying flat” movement. The study is a critical analysis of labor relations in China.

Security as a policy tool in the Republic of China

The purpose of this article is to explore ‚Security’ as a policy tool in the Republic of China. Defense policy of the ‚Middle Kingdom’ [China] is an inseparable element of China’s foreign policy. Increased spending on militarization raises questions about the intentions of China’s foreign policy. It is worth noting that the ‚Middle Kingdom’ belongs to the group of world powers military, but China’s foreign policy largely determines its political and military force in the world and in the macro-region of the state of China. The limited communications and lack of mutual understanding of reality between Beijing and the United States cause unreasonable security concerns. On the basis of the content analyzed herein, one can conclude that the ‚Middle Kingdom’ strives to to become a superpower while increasing its army. The ambition for further militarization stems from a desire to gain greater prestige in the international arena and to ensure internal security and economic development.

The Reform of the Chinese State Security System

With Xi Jinping’s assumption of power in China, large-scale reforms of the entire state system have begun in this country, especially those related to broadly understood security. The aim is to improve the functioning of the Chinese state in the 21st century and ensure its position as a world leader. It is also important that in the reform of the national security system, the Chinese state leadership paid attention not only to this system’s basic elements, i.e., the army and the police, but also to the rule of law and social and environmental security. Such a broad approach to the issue of national security proves strategic thinking as well as understanding and considering the processes taking place in the contemporary world.

Eurasian Late Antiquity or the Silk Roads? Political, Cultural, and Economic Conceptual Constructs in the Study of Oriental History and Culture

In contemporary historiography, there is a growing interest in interactions between nomadic peoples and the empires of sedentary peoples in antiquity, with particular emphasis on late antiquity. Differences in the perception of nomadic communities’ impact on the economy cause a conceptual confusion. It is largely due to differences in the perception of the influence that nomadic communities had in shaping the functioning of trade routes leading from one part of Eurasia to another. This article organises and indicates the origin of concepts, such as the Silk Road, the cultural complex of central Eurasia, the first story, and Eurasian Late Antiquity from specific researchers. At the same time, the author compares and presents perceiving trade routes and the influence of nomads on sedentary peoples in two opposing concepts: a metanarrative of the nomad history as the main catalyst for the continent’s economic development and presenting the history of the Silk Road and nomads as part of the multi-vector interaction of various communities in Eurasia during the late antiquity, at the same time indicating a certain advantage of the latter.

This article is a theoretical consideration of the New Silk Road (NSR) project in an attempt to reconcile the classical geopolitical concepts of continental power by Halford J. Mackinder and Nicolas Spykman and maritime power by Alfred T. Mahan. Indeed, in geopolitical terms, the project is another attempt in history to create a land-sea power as a counterweight to a hegemony based strictly on maritime dominance. It should be emphasised that the project, in addition to the geopolitical dimension, has a subsidiary political- propaganda and economic dimension. The former encompasses a broad spectrum of activities that use psychosocial and political foreign policy tools and that aim to rally states that could potentially join the NJS project. The economic dimension is a contribution to the further expansion of China’s power on the one hand and an opportunity to deepen political ties with these countries on the other. These three approaches and the relationship between them are analysed in depth within a framework of China’s endeavour to establish a continental and maritime power.

Military Cooperation of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China

Since the 1990s, China and Russia have been increasingly strengthening their military cooperation. It includes selling Russian weapons to China and working on joint arms projects, joint exercises, and recently also joint air and sea patrols in the North Pacific. Even the Russian attack on Ukraine did not break the military ties connecting the two countries. One may even get the impression that this event gave a new impulse to tighten military relations, at least in their political dimension, between China and Russia. This rapprochement can be explained by the fact that both countries are strongly involved in building a new, multipolar international order and strive to weaken the international position of the US. In this context, there is even talk of a military alliance between China and Russia.

Christianity in China

This paper is devoted mainly to the fate of the Christianisation of China over the centuries. It discusses the history of religion in individual dynasties, its development over the following years, attempts to convert the Chinese population by missionaries from various orders – Dominicans and Jesuits, memorable martyrs at the turn of 19th and 21st centuries – the division of Christianity, and the short fate of non-Christian religions in China.

Chinese Private Security Companies Facing the Challenges and Threats of the Global Security Services Market

The phenomenon of security privatization has undeniably become global in nature. One of the most characteristic manifestations of this process is the emergence of an increasing number of private security companies (PSCs). Their client portfolios include international organizations, states, corporations, and private individuals. The business model of these entities took shape in the last decade of the 20th century, where they are typically private companies independent of government. Thanks to private capital, they offer a diverse range of both military and non-military security services. A notable development in the well-established PSC market is the emergence of Chinese companies providing such services. However, their modus operandi—similar to that of Russian companies—differs significantly from established market standards. This article seeks to explore the specific characteristics of private security companies established in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the factors shaping the regulatory frameworks governing these entities, and their preparedness for addressing challenges and threats arising from dynamic changes in the international system. The research utilizes a systems analysis approach, as the global PSC market now plays a crucial role in maintaining order in international relations. Additionally, an institutional-legal method is employed to examine Chinese regulatory solutions in the security sector, particularly the issue of access to firearms. The authors primarily relied on foreign literature, with domestic sources playing a secondary role in their research.