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3091. The Limits of CCP Liaison Work: Sino-Vietnamese Relations

Author:
David Gitter and Elsa Kania
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The PRC has fully leveraged its relative receptiveness to communist liaison work, carried out through CCP Central Committee’s International Department (CCP/ID). With Sino-Vietnamese tensions in mind, party-to-party exchanges have provided a more subtle channel for rapprochement. This party-centric dimension of diplomacy between China and Vietnam has received relatively scarce analytical attention thus far but remains active and important elements of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) pursuit of its foreign policy interests. CCP diplomacy has focused on appealing to the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam’s (CPV) shared revolutionary heritage and socialist ideology, emphasizing the need to protect the overall special relationship that both countries supposedly enjoy.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Socialism, and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Vietnam

3092. The Logic of Historical Nihilism: Analyzing the PRC Orthodoxy on the Origins of the Korean War

Author:
Miles M. Yu
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) utilizes its own narrative of the Korean War to fulfill the Party’s strategic interests. Historical evidence, illustrated in this paper, proves that the Korean War began on June 25, 1950 as a result of a long and arduous preparation and agreement among the three protagonists—Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Kim Il-sung. Today, significant research and historical documents prove the CCP’s creation of a false record of the Korean War, which remains integral to Maoist historical nihilism and employed by the Party to ensure regime survival. Following the 67th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, it is necessary to examine the Korean War’s historical legacy and the role of the manipulation of historical narratives in communist China.
Topic:
War, History, Political Parties, and Narrative
Political Geography:
China, Asia, South Korea, and North Korea

3093. Dangerous Truths: The Panchen Lama’s 1962 Report and China’s Broken Promise of Tibetan Autonomy

Author:
Matthew Akester
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sustained a strategy to manipulate history and subjugate Tibet in order to maintain Party rule. As outlined in this paper, the CCP’s tactics against Tibet can be evidenced through its denial of a report critical of the Party’s policies, authored by the 10th Panchen Lama in 1962. Through an analysis of the historical context surrounding the CCP’s repudiation of this report, and the Party’s resulting efforts to erase the grievances of the Tibetan people while imposing its own narrative, it is clear that the CCP views nationalist sentiment in Tibet as inimical to social stability. To counter that threat, the Party requires the active suppression and political compliance of the Tibetan people. Due to the CCP’s efforts, it is necessary to uncover the true historical record that proves the Party’s attempts to distort history and dominate Tibet for its own strategic ends.
Topic:
History, Territorial Disputes, Repression, and Autonomy
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Tibet

3094. Negotiating History: The Chinese Communist Party’s 1981

Author:
Robert L. Suettinger
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
Over the decades, leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have used the control of history to bolster their own political standing, as well as the continued primacy of the CCP in ruling the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This paper illustrates one of the most important cases of CCP historical manipulation through analysis of the political process surrounding the 1981 “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China.” From 1979-1981, Deng Xiaoping used his ability to control what would become the CCP’s official verdict on Mao Zedong’s legacy to supplant Mao’s appointed successor, Hua Guofeng. The ability to control history to maintain the CCP’s political legitimacy has undeniably become a tool of power in the PRC. As the influence of the Chinese government and the CCP increasingly spreads abroad, it is important to understand how the CCP arrived at the “history” it exports.
Topic:
Politics, Geopolitics, History, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and Narrative
Political Geography:
China and Asia

3095. The Framework for a U.S.-Japan Free Trade Agreement

Author:
Derek M. Scissors and Dan Blumenthal
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
The United States and Japan can create a bilateral free trade and investment agreement that both sides will sign and ratify. While the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) initially appeared to qualify as the new approach the U.S., Japan, and East Asia needed. It failed to sufficiently promote free markets and address concerns to generate enough support from traditional protectionist opponents in the United States. Nonetheless, the TPP did clarify the value of a directly relatied initiative: a U.S.-Japan bilateral agreement. This monograph serves to provide a framework for a U.S.-Japan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and offers an outline for what such an agreement should look like in order to work both economically and in terms of domestic politics.
Topic:
Economics, Treaties and Agreements, Domestic Politics, Investment, and Free Trade
Political Geography:
Japan, Asia, North America, and United States of America

3096. Risk and Resiliency: China’s Emerging Air Base Strike Threat

Author:
Ian Easton
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:
Given the centrality of air power for U.S. power projection in the Western Pacific, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has focused on prioritizing the development of asymmetric capabilities to target American air superiority where it is weakest―on the ground. China’s military modernization program is closely associated with a number of maturing precision strike capabilities designed for attacking air bases. This paper seeks to provide an overview of the evolving airpower challenge that the United States faces in the Western Pacific and beyond. It explores Chinese military writings on air base strike operations, evaluates the current trajectory of the PLA’s precision strike capabilities, and concludes with recommendations for how American airpower in Asia can be more resilient against threats.
Topic:
Power Politics, Weapons, Risk, Strategic Competition, and Resilience
Political Geography:
China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

3097. Will We Derail US Freight Rolling Stock Production?

Author:
Oxford Economics
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Oxford Economics
Abstract:
US freight railcar manufacturers contribute $6.5 billion to U.S. GDP and support nearly 65,000 jobs. However, increased global competition and evidence suggesting unfair business practices puts this contribution at risk. Oxford Economics conducted an original study that evaluates the practices of Chinese state-owned enterprises' (SOE) push into the U.S. market and the potential risks to domestic manufacturers and domestic supply chains. The study focuses primarily on U.S. freight railcar production and includes consequences from a similar experience in Australia's freight railcar production, when faced with the entrance of Chinese SOEs.
Topic:
Economics, Hegemony, State Actors, and Transportation
Political Geography:
China, Asia, Australia, Australia/Pacific, North America, and United States of America

3098. Japan’s international peace operations in South Sudan

Author:
Daisuke Akimoto
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
After the independence of South Sudan from Sudan on 9 July 2011, the Japanese government decided to dispatch its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) to South Sudan under the auspices of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS). Despite the post-conflict military clashes in South Sudan, the Japanese government did not withdraw the SDF, but instead, the Abe administration assigned a new mission, the so-called ‘kaketsuke-keigo’ (‘rush and rescue’), to rescue staff of international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGO) in preparation for possible armed attacks during peacekeeping operations. The new mission can be regarded as Prime Minister Abe’s ‘proactive contribution to peace’ (proactive pacifism) in action, and the policy is congruous with the purpose of ‘human security’ and ‘protection of civilians’. This paper aims to investigate Japan’s contribution to peacekeeping operations in South Sudan and examine associated dilemmas facing the United Nations, the Japanese government, and the Japanese peacekeepers in UNMISS – which need to be overcome for future international peace operations.
Topic:
Security, Humanitarian Aid, Military Strategy, and Peace
Political Geography:
Africa, Japan, Asia, and South Sudan

3099. Addressing Child Marriages In Turkey

Author:
Fawn Bolak
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
According to data taken from the Turkish Ministry of Interior Affairs in 2014, within a three-year span, 134,629 individuals under the age of 18 were legally married in Turkey, with underage girls disproportionately accounting for 128,866 of this total. This figure states that 14% of marriages in Turkey involve an individual who is underage. However, the information presented may not be an accurate representation of the scale of the issue, since many child marriages are not legally registered, but occur as religious ceremonies. Taking into account these religious marriages, a 2013 report from Gaziantep University estimated number of child marriages in Turkey is much closer to 37%, and in some rural regions of the country, the rate may be as high as 60%. This study also found that 82% of child brides in Turkey are illiterate. Researcher Dr. Erhan Tunç suggests that the trend in child marriages is occurring as a result of a lack of education and severe religious views.
Topic:
Human Rights, Religion, Child Marriage, and Marriage
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Asia

3100. China’s Crackdown and Arrest of Human Rights Activists

Author:
Kate Morgan
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
ince his rise to power in 2012, President Xi Jinping has cracked down on human rights lawyers, activists, and NGO actors. There have been multiple police raids, with one of the main targets being the Fengrui Law Firm in Beijing, which employs lawyers that are know to take on cases involving human rights activists. The most famous cases that arose from the Fenrui Law Firm were when they defended the dissident artist Ai Weiwei; Ilham Tohti, the Uighur academic sentenced to life in prison last year on charges of separatism; and Cao Shunli, a human rights campaigner who died after being denied medical care while in custody.
Topic:
Human Rights, Political Activism, NGOs, and Police
Political Geography:
China and Asia