SPIS TREŚCI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WSTĘP

INTRODUCTION

Some reflections on historical stages of „understanding China” in Europe and on the origins of our stereotypes

The study presents the process of increasing knowledge of China in Europe starting with ancient Greece and Rome until the colonial and post-colonial periods. The author indicates that the key role played at the ancient times the division of the world into the sphere of „civilization” and of „barbarians”, who – according to Aristotle - should be treated as animals or plants, beings which must be under command of civilised men. At this early phases the stereotype of „Asian despotias” had already been born (although it concerned ancient Persia and other Middle East countries, not China), which depreciate an individual and citizens’ rights, and put an emphasis on the „slavish nature” of Asians. The images of „Asia” served first of all as the opposition to the forming identity of „civilised Europe” and its values. And of course, it has a mission of diffusing the civilisation. In the middle ages a new division appeared: into Christians and pagans, who are Devil’s children, and who should be baptised or annihilated. It was a new form of the ancient mission. In the Enlightenment period there were two streams of thought. One of them admired China as an excellent model of the enlighten, absolute monarchy, another one presented China according to the ancient despotic stereotype (its main theoretician was Montesquieu). This second, developed by Hegel, become essential for the colonial and post- -colonial period, including „cold war”. During this time such a vision had been propagated by Karl A. Wittfogel. According to this vision the West, again, has the mission of spreading out its superior civilization. Today there are two visions of the world in the West, one offered by Fukuyama, and another one by Huntington. The first propagates the mission of the West and inevitable westernization (or more exactly – Americanisation) of the entire world. The second vision maintains that notwithstanding modernization there will exist for a long time various civilizations with their diverse values, side by side with the West. And this vision appears more realistic, since everywhere in the world, including China, one could notice the revival of native or nationalistic traditions. President Trump seems to be the first American president for fifty years, who shares Huntington’s vision and does not subscribe to the idea of the obligatory civilising mission of the West.

Chinese chengyu idioms from Stratagems of the Warring States (Zhanguo ce). From allegoric narrations (yuyan) to modern use.

The paper provides an analysis of eight well-known chengyu (成语) idioms used in modern Chinese, which originate from the Warring States Period (475–221 BC) compilation of historical anecdotes Zhanguo ce (战国策). The chosen chengyus all derive from ‘allegoric narrations’ (yuyan, 寓言), a particular mode of discourse widely used in pre-Qin (pre 221 BC) political and philosophical writings. The author identifi es yuyan as a tool of persuasion, rather than a separate literary genre, and draws certain parallels between Chinese yuyan, European fables and New Testament parables. The paper explores original historical context, and actual effect of each of the Chinese yuyan used by diplomats and strategists, as recorded in the Zhanguo ce. The source text and the modern chengyus are juxtaposed to show continuity and change in the meaning and connotation of idiomatic expressions found in Modern Chinese which can be traced to pre-Qin period.

Effective cooperation with the Chinese from the cross-cultural business psychology perspective

In recent years more Chinese executives and entrepreneurs took their business global. At the same time the challenge of China market entry has become an increasingly important issue also for the Europeans, including Poles. However when people with different cultural background encounter various tensions may arise imposing the quality of business relations. The article analyses a number of cross-cultural dimension as they have become an essential factor for understanding economic and business environments. Examples of miscommunication and failure in understanding of culture specific behaviors in the work setting between Chinese and European counterparts are discussed. The author argues that developing intercultural sensitivity is a crucial factor for fruitful communication and successful conflict resolution. The article analyzes cooperation with the Chinese from the cross-cultural psychology perspective.

AIIB and NDB – the foundations of the geopolitical strategy of the People’s Republic of China

The end of the second decade of the 20th century, as predicted by many commentators of world political stage will be also the beginning of end of a global governance, formed after the end of the Cold War. In recent years, as demonstrated by the 2007/2008 financial crisis, Washington no longer has tools powerful enough to unanimously design economic architecture of the world. In 2015, for the first time since 19th century, the indisputable dominance of the US in economic sphere has been upset – Beijing managed to come out on first place in terms of GDP (PPPs). The time of Chinese prosperity based on cheap production and export of cheap goods is coming to an end. To ensure further dynamic development, it will be necessary to gain control over the continental trade. At least until the end of US sea domination. For this to happen, further weakening of the position of Washington, by gradually taking control over global fi nancial and foreign exchange market will be necessary. The article is to verify the hypothesis, according to which People’s Republic of China using two strategic institutions – the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the New Development Bank (NDB) can achieve economic dominance overland. It was necessary to define the basic presuppositions: there will be no open armed conflict on a global scale over several consecutive years; there will be no political crisis in China; United States won’t give up the domination of the sea trade routes; there will be no reorientation of US foreign policy in a way that could undermine the existing institutional frameworks in the financial and economic sphere.

Political changes in Japan: the era of Shinzō Abe and debate on amending the Constitution – overview at mid-year 2017

On May 3, 2017, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announced his willingness to amend the Japan’s Constitution by 2020. This article presents an analysis of main issues related to PM’s statement, including:

• scope of considered amendments and their impact on Article 9,
• ratification chances and timeline for revision,
• reactions of main political party leaders,
• influence of emperor’s abdication,
• main risks of Abe’s plan failure.

The author takes also a closer look at recent drop in PM’s approval ratings and comes to the conclusion that the erosion of public trust could be a turning point not only for constitutional revision but also for Shinzō Abe’s future.

2019 – the start of a new era? Emperor Akihito`s abdication and its consequences

The article tries to analyze the reasons of Emperor Akihito`s abdication and to foresee changes it might imply both in terms of the name of the new era as well as in terms of regulations needed to be implemented in order to allow the monarch to step down from the throne. It explains in detail the process of introducing new abdication law by presenting different approaches of main political parties. Finally, it describes the future emperor – Naruhito providing the lecturers with assumptions about his upcoming reign.

The USA and Southeast Asia: a new deal

The beginning of XXI century is characterized by the rise of the role of East Asia in the contemporary world. The rivalry of great powers embraced all region, included Southeast Asia, which for a long time was at the forefront of development and regional integration initiatives, especially with the ASEAN. It became the area of interventions and influences of major external powers such as the United States, China, India, Japan, Australia, and the EU and Russia. Unfortunately also old local animosities included unresolved territorial disputes and new challenges like terrorism and pandemics, affect Southeast Asia. The American presidential election campaign in 2016 and particularly campaign of Donald Trump exerted great influence on situation in Southeast Asia. Some controversial decisions of Donald Trump such as withdrawal from Trans Pacific Partnership and the absence of the clear policy in the region, after the policy of “pivot/rebalance” of president Obama, almost completely changed political situation in Southeast Asia. The immediate consequence is the rise of the Chinese position in the area and extraordinary activation of diplomacy of Japan, Vietnam and some other countries, making attempt to stop Chinese influence. The political situation in the region turned more dynamic, unforeseeable and complicated. The countries of Southeast Asia sooner or later will face the crucial choice between the United States and China.

Vietnam – evolution of the situation in the region and its relations with the powers. In the shadow of the dispute in South China Sea

Introduction of Doi Moi economic reforms at the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam was successful owing to the changes in the field of the foreign policy. The main rationale in this policy was multilateralization and improvement and intensification of the economic cooperation and political ties with the great powers. The political attention has continued to be focused on the East Asia region, primarily on the ASEAN. In this scheme Vietnam plays proactive role. Countries from the region remain the biggest source of investments, being directly interested in maintaining regional stability and multilayered cooperation. Regardless of the ability to accomplish political goals, Vietnam seeks to enhance its position through the cooperation with the major regional economies. However, the policy of being a friend of all countries has its limitations. The most pertaining among them is the South China Sea dispute which induces Vietnam’s greatest diplomatic effort vis-a-vis China. However, in the practical terms, even the verdict of the Hague Tribunal stating that China cannot claim the disputed islands on the basis of the historical arguments did not contribute to any important change in the matter. Although the verdict meets the Vietnamese expectations, yet it did not spark enthusiasm within all of the Vietnam’s allies, including Russia and Australia. For all these states and Vietnam itself, China is an important political and economic partner. To sharpen relations with China would not be a desired solution for any of these states. Thus, one may consider the South China Sea as a problem to be solved between the United States and China, around which more or less voiced sympathies of the regional players are being focused. In its endeavour Vietnam is backed by the United States, although the American and Vietnamese interests are not always confluent. Growth of pro-American sympathies is evident in the social surveys. However, Vietnam’s other regional partners and experts in regional security are rather reserved as to the political intentions of the United States. Notwithstanding those determinants and complex network of relationships, the dispute constitutes a great threat to the regional security.

Determinants of placement foreign direct investments in Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

In the last forty years, the process of globalization of the world economy has contributed to the rapid growth of foreign direct investment, mainly in developing countries. This phenomenon also occurred in ASEAN (coutries) in the late 80s and the beginning of the 90s of the last century, when the process of transforming their economies began and, therefore, they started to open up to capital inflows in the form of FDI.
In this article I have analyzed factors that drive FDI flows to ASEAN, including the analysis of eight panel countries of the region data for the years 1994–2012.
The author tries to identify main factors determining the inflow of foreign direct investment. The author verifies two thesis: 1) foreign direct investment in Southeast Asia are affected by the population of the region; 2) the second condition for the inflow of FDI is economic stability in the region.

REVIEW

REVIEW

REVIEW

IN MEMORIAM

MATERIAŁY I INFORMACJE

NOTY O AUTORACH

NOTES ABOUT AUTHORS