KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

GRIFFITHS, Richard T., Prof. Dr.

Bulgaria’s Infrastructure and China’s BRI

Bulgaria is the poorest of the current member states of the European Union. The reasons for this stretch back several centuries and it is illusory to pretend that there is a simple solution to the country’s development problems. China’s Belt and Road initiative has the potential to lighten this burden of history and to facilitate a path towards a faster economic growth and market integration. For Bulgaria and the Balkans China’s main contribution lies in the provision of infrastructure and offering a model of zonal development (the latter reinforced by the prospect of industrial FDI by Chinese firms). These initiatives may also facilitate access to China’s growing markets. Indeed, China and Bulgaria have recently raised their relationship to that of ‘strategic partnership’ intended to signal a new commitment to mutually beneficial development in a multi-polar world. How significant are these developments for Bulgaria? To answer this question, one must ask who or what else is providing these inputs and to assess the degree to which those of China quantitatively or qualitatively differ. The obvious counter-model is the European Union. It too has provided both infrastructural improvement and market access, and western firms have invested in increasing business capital. Moreover, Bulgaria is politically integrated as an equal partner in decision-making in the largest single market on earth. Once we have ascertained the scale and scope of China’s contribution to Bulgaria’s development, and that of the Balkans, we still have to ask whether, together or apart, these initiatives are likely to work in transforming the economic prospects of the region. This involves an assessment of the other social, economic and institutional impediments to growth and development. Only the outcome of such an exercise can determine how, and to what extent, China’s Belt and Road initiative contributes to the region’s economic development.

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CLIFFORD, Paul G., Dr. 

China: The Fragile Balance Between Reform and Legacy

The key question posed by the paper is whether the successful but delicate balance between economic reforms and legacy institutions such as the Chinese Communist Party is in danger of being undermined by the current heightened autocracy in China. Discussion of the failure of the first decades of the People’s Republic is provided to illustrate the strong appetite for the radical reforms which began in 1978. This is followed by examination of the reform process itself and the emergence of Chinese firms on the world stage. In that context we consider the attempt by the USA to use legitimate security concerns as a smokescreen to try to constrain the rise of China’s largest technology firm, Huawei. The “new era” ushered in by China’s top leader Xi Jinping is then analyzed. Credit is given to Xi for driving China’s technology self-sufficiency and innovation. But there are two main conclusions. Firstly, that China’s current state ideology comprising much stronger Party control, traditional neo-Confucianism plus Artificial Intelligence for mass surveillance suggests that China is prematurely declaring victory in the reforms. Secondly, despite China’s human rights breaches and its more assertive global posture, we should not make China our enemy. It is better to innovate to compete with China and where possible to work with China on solving global issues.          

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International Relations

GARBART Maxim, Tomsk State University

Promotion of Chinese language as a tool of Chinese foreign policy in Latin America

In recent years, language policy takes an increasingly important place in Chinese foreign policy strategy. China's intention to implement its own strategy of "soft power", public diplomacy and cultural expansion becomes more and more notable in different regions. According to the Chinese sources, in recent years the number of Chinese language learners in Latin America has increased several times and today exceeds 150 thousand people. Public opinion studies suggest that the growing popularity of the Chinese language and culture help to improve China's image in Latin America. It’s necessary to take into account the dynamics of China's language policy in the region, while researching modern China – Latin America cooperation.

 

HABOVA Antonina, Assoc. Prof. Dr., University of National and World Economy, Sofia China and Russia: Intersection of Integration Projects in Eurasia (view presentation)

Eurasia is one of the most important regions for contemporary geopolitics. It is a key component in the process of building a new global order. China and Russia are two of the actors that define the regional order in Eurasia. Russia turns to the East and China "Marches West" through the Silk Road Economic Belt project. The interests of the two countries intersect in the heart of Eurasia. The paper argues that this doesn’t mean a full coincidence of their geostrategic interests and goals. Both countries have their own vision, ambitions and projects in the Eurasian space which are important elements in their global strategies. Hence, the study is focused on evaluating the integration projects of both China and Russia in the Eurasian space and the correlation between them. The paper builds on an interdisciplinary approach with a careful application of the tools of the geopolitical analysis, as well.

 

KANDILAROV Evgeniy, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

70 years between Ideology and Pragmatism – Within the “zig-zags” of Bulgaria – China relations from the Cold War period to the Belt and Road Initiative  (view presentation)

This year Bulgaria and China celebrate 70 years since the beginning of their diplomatic relations. Over the years these relations went through different stages of ups and downs. There have been times when the two countries have been ideologically and politically very close followed with periods of getting distant and then back having close and active relations again.

During the first two decades after the end of the Cold War China was not a priority of the Bulgarian foreign policy which was focused mainly on the Euro-Atlantic Integration of the country.

Since the beginning of the Belt and Road Initiative the inertia of the Bulgarian government from these two decades continue without any significant change. With the extension and the deepening of the BRI, Bulgarian government started trying to be driven more by the economic pragmatism as well as by the idea that remaining the only country from the whole CEEC region out of the giant Chinese Initiative will be a kind of a geostrategic catastrophe brought by a political short-sightedness. The paper will put under analyses also the issue how Bulgaria will move forward in the context of BRI being between the described existing restrictions and the economic and geostrategic pragmatism.

 

KATRANDZHIEV Valentin, Dr., Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute

China as a ‘Game Changer’ in the Evolving International System (view presentation)

The study will begin with an analysis of the current status, dynamics and trends in development of the international system. It will then focus on China’s rise in the international system from a point of foreign policy, security, geopolitics, geo-economics and culture. China’s vision on reforming the global order will be given due attention (incl. creation of ‘multilateralism with Chinese characteristics’). It is in this context that the Chinese driven terminology ‘win-win cooperation’, ‘community of common destiny’ and ‘community of shared future’ will be looked at. The study will try to provide an answer on the extent to which Chinese vision of the global connectivity and shared development (embedded in the Belt and Road Initiative) may form the contours of a new ‘Beijing Consensus’ as opposing or complementary to the existing ‘Washington Consensus’ in international relations.   

 

PAVLIĆEVIĆ Dragan, Assoc. Prof., Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Structural Power and the China-EU-Western Balkans Relations (view presentation)

Narratives about the challenges and dangers of China’s growing involvement with Central and Eastern Europe are exponentially proliferating and have already effectively monopolized the understanding of this relationship among scholars, analysts, media, as well as policy-makers in western European capitals. Western Balkans, as a sub-region of CEE, is thought of as particularly prone to Chinese influence – the countries in this geographical area have not gained the EU membership nor are fully integrated in the EU’s policy and legislative frameworks and initiatives, yet are interested in maximizing economic benefits of their relationship with China. China’s alleged “cash-for-influence” strategy is hence understood to have, or is well on the way to achieve, profound impact in Western Balkans. This paper focuses on three policy areas perceived to be both the most important channels and the clearest expressions of China’s influence in Balkans - foreign policy, physical connectivity and investment. It finds that while attention has been on China, however, the extent to which the EU has since moved to re-assert its position in Balkans has gone under the radar. The paper concludes that in response to China’s growing involvement in the Western Balkans, Brussels has reformulated its agenda so as to bind the Balkan states to its own policies and objectives and put constraints on their ability to independently shape their relationship with Beijing.

 

RIVA Natalia, Dr., Adjunct professor, Contemporary Asia Research Center at the University of Milan

China is Speaking, Who is Listening? A Case Study on the BRI, China’s State Media, and Discourse Power (view presentation)

In 2013, the year that marked the debut of the Belt and Road Initiative onto the global stage, Xi Jinping urged the enhancement of international discourse power and international communication capabilities among the methods to increase China’s soft power. The mediatic echo generated around the organization of the first (2017) and second (2019) Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is a case in point. Taking a selection of related news produced and disseminated by Chinese state-subordinated media outlet Xinhua News Agency for Chinese and foreign audiences as a case study, this paper analyzes the official narrative of the BRI. By identifying similarities and differences between representations of the BRI in Chinese and English discourses, also taking into account Xinhua’s identity, it aims to identify traits of Beijing’s international relations discourse and evaluate its efficiency in articulating and disseminating China’s own worldview.

 

SARAFIAN Angela, European Institute for Asian Studies

China and Blockchain Technology in the Context оf the Asia Pacific Development Competition (view presentation)

From government coordinated efforts to private business endeavours and break- through research, China has been at the forefront of blockchain development. While much attention has already been given to blockchain applications and FinTech prospects of cryptocurrencies, the more up-to-date trends have been moving the focus on exploring the technology’s user-centric approach for enabling smart developments in very diverse areas. These innovative advances oftentimes intersect with tangible socio- economic, environmental, security and human development impacts. The paper explores the genesis, nature and development characteristics of the blockchain technology. Then it continues on the tech community unfolding other potential uses of blockchain beyond digital currencies- potential uses that would be of interest to policy-makers and global governance agenda-setters.

 

Language

BERTULESSI Chiara, PhD Candidate, University of Milan

Critical Analysis of Chinese Lexicographical Discourse: A Case Study of ‘zhuyi 主义’ Entries in the Xiandai hanyu cidian 现代汉语词典  (view presentation)

Modern Chinese lexicography is considered one of the key research areas in the field of Chinese linguistics.

This paper adopts the theoretical perspective of the critical analysis of lexicographical discourse (Hornscheidt 2008; Rodriguez Barcia 2012; Chen W. 2016) to carry out a diachronic analysis of the lexicographical treatment of selected ‘-zhuyi 主义’ (-ism) entries in the 1973, 1996 and 2016 editions of the Xiandai hanyu cidian, one of the most authoritative monolingual dictionaries of modern Chinese.

The aim of this paper is to discuss whether the selected entries have been subject to revisions that reflect the ideological shifts occurred in the PRC, in particular since 1978 and the launch of the 'reform and opening-up' policy. Specific attention will be given to the inclusion (or exclusion) of entries from the wordlist and to those linguistic items in the definitions that contribute to present certain meanings as neutral or conventional.

 

CHEN, Ping-Hsueh, Université Grenoble-Alpes

The French Causative Lexicon and its Equivalents in Chinese: Corpus, Methodology, Results

This paper aims to show how Chinese expresses the causality conveyed in the French lexicon. To do this, we will start from the Scale of compactness (Dixon, 2000), which ranks the causative mechanisms from the most compact to the least compact, namely: causative verbs (eng: walk, melt, fr: causer, provoquer); causative morphemes (eng: lie / lay; fr: simplifier, moderniser); complex predicate (fr: faire + V inf) and causative periphrasis (eng: make somebody cry; fr: forcerqqn à + V inf). This ranking is an effective filter for the study of causality in languages (cf. Novakova, 2015: 106-107). We applied it to the analysis of French causative mechanisms function in comparison with Chinese. Our contrastive study, based on a parallel corpus (French → Chinese), shows that Chinese has four ways to express causality conveyed in the French lexicon, namely: causative verbs (引起 yǐnqǐ, lead to, 造成 zàochéng, cause, etc.); suffixed verbs with 化 huà (强化 qiánghuà, intensify, etc.); light verbs+ V2/adj. (打断 dǎ duàn, lit. hit, break, interrupt, etc.) and causative periphrasis (causative V1 + non-causative V2: 使 shǐ, make + V2, 让 ràng, let + V2, etc.). Following the results, we will propose a range of Chinese functional equivalents of French causative verbs and constructions.

 

KLEIN Lucas, Assoc. Prof. Dr., University of Hong Kong

Translating Chinese Women: Écriture Feminine and the Male Translator of Female Chinese Poets 

In 1974, Bulgarian-French theorist Julia Kristeva published Des Chinoises, her study of women in Chinese culture and history. Two years earlier, Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung published The Orchid Boat, the first collection of Chinese poetry by women to be published in a Western language. Can the considerations of one be used for analysis of the other, in answer to this vein of questioning? Can one be offered as a solution to some of the problems hindering the other? In this presentation, I will look at Rexroth’s translations of Chinese women’s poetry in light of what Kristeva and others have said about écriture féminine. Kristeva’s book has been roundly criticized as essentializing difference where she thought she was deconstructing binaries. In contrast, I will argue that Rexroth’s translations offer an alternative to Kristeva’s unfulfilled deconstruction of essentialized differences of gender and culture.

 

KOUTZAROVA Teodora, Asst. Prof. Dr., Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

Unfolding the Web of Semiosis for the Radical ‘Dog’ quǎn 犬 (view presentation)

The paper aims to develop an alternative approach to Chinese script acquisition based on tracing the infiltration of a given Chinese radical as a sign in the process of semiosis on lexical, morphemic, phonemic, etc. levels. We choose the radical ‘dog’ quǎn 犬 to serve as an example and typify all the meanings it can generate, e.g. ‘types of dogs’; ‘types of animals’; ‘mythical animals; ‘family/personal names’; ‘toponyms’; ‘ethnic groups’; ‘dog characteristics’; ‘dog behaviour’; ‘human activities involving dogs’; ‘human dog-like behaviour’; ‘lianmian-binomes’, etc. The semantic fields of the most frequently used characters with the radical ‘dog’ are outlined and the more specific cases that involve “signification leaps” or drastic change in the modern vs. ancient meaning are discussed. The semiotic interchangeability in the variant forms of the characters of the ‘dog’ with other radicals for animals, e.g. ‘hourse’ mǎ 馬, ‘fierce animal’ zhì 豸, etc. is taken into consideration.

 

KRUGLOV Vladislav, MGIMO University, Russia

Phraseological Peculiarities of Chinese Socio-Political Discourse

Linguistic research on contemporary socio-political discourse reveals a frequent usage of phraseological units, especially in the form of chengyu. Political leaders’ speeches are aimed to attract people’s attention, to make an accent on different aspects of their political program, and phraseology is a great instrument for that. The analyses of speeches of three Presidents of PRC – Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping – shows the tendency of usage chengyu. The most vivid examples were taken by the author, then translated and interpreted, and on this philological data the peculiarities of Chinese socio-political discourse were pointed out. Moreover, the author gives the historical background and the source of some chengyu that helps to reveal the subtext of many political ideas of today’s China.

 

LOVISETTO Marco, PhD candidate, Soochow University

Translating Yu Hua and Yan Lianke: Examples of Chinese Literature in Italy (view presentation)

Following the collection of data about Chinese modern and contemporary literature that has been translated into Italian since China’s Reforms and Opening-Up, in this paper I argue that translation plays an essential role in catering the translated text to the Italian literary scene and its readership but translators must navigate complex issues such as the cultural mores of the tar-get culture. Popular Chinese authors would not enjoy the same level of regard in Italy that they do today without this intervention, yet translators are not the only ones involved in the process of literary dissemination and their work is often limited by editorial concerns. Focusing on the translation-editorial relationship, I place a particular emphasis on works by Yu Hua and Yan Lianke, discussing translatological issues, publishing standards, and overall impact on the Italian literary scene.

 

MORATTO Riccardo, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Hunan Normal University, China

A Tentative Overview of Nǚshū in Translation: Challenges of Translating a Unique Chinese Cultural Heritage

Hunan province is the repository site of a unique Chinese culture heritage: nǚshū (female script). In 1983 these manuscripts were brought to light in the rural county of Jiangyong. However, they were translated into Mandarin Chinese only in 1991.

Our research has shown that Western translations are few and far between and in some cases are indirect translations, either from English or from other Western languages, posing a big problem for the preservation of the intrinsic characteristics of this linguistic cultural heritage. The present study focuses on the issue of translation strategies and analyzes with a descriptive-explanatory approach some practical implications for translators dealing with texts which are socio-linguistically and semantically loaded.

We hope that by shedding light on the importance of translators not only as cultural bridges but rather as cultural ambassadors, more researchers will embrace the challenging yet rewarding task of translating this unique corpus.

 

NAUMOVA Ksenia, Saint-Petersburg State University

The Concept of 'Optimism' (乐观 lèguān) in the Chinese Linguistic Worldview (view presentation)

As the title implies the article describes optimistic attitudes of the Chinese as a part of their national character. To illustrate that, a detailed linguistic analysis of the keyword 乐观 'optimism' and 积极乐观的人 'an optimist' were performed with the help of lexicographic and corpora data, accompanied with the results of the psycholinguistic experiment among the native speakers. In conclusion the author says that 乐观 is a cultural-specific concept for the Chinese and gives a brief cross-cultural comparison with the same notion in Russian and American lingvocultures.

 

TIQUIA Rey, Dr., University of Melbourne

Translating Qi氣, Gender, Humour and Laughter in Contemporary Traditional Chinese Medical Practice in Australia, China and the World

Together with the concepts of the yin and yang, five elements, and the Eight Trigrams 八卦 of the Book off Changes 易經, I see qi 氣 as an ontic-epistemic imaginary entity 实体, which is “another term for metaphysics...that lie at the heart of stories about realness” (Helen Verran) i.e. ‘realness’ or ‘reality’ as “space and time” as well as being the “fabric of the cosmos” (Brian Greene). In this sense Qi 氣 can be viewed as an “imaging figure, a metaphor, or a narrative that has realness achieved in the emergence of gradually clotting and eventually routinised, sets of embodied, in-place actions” (Verran). Having made a sociological translation of such premodern Chinese words as  qi 氣 , yin 陰 and 陽 yang , wu xing 五行 five elements, Book of Changes yi jing 易經 , 氣 qi, ba gua 八卦, 六八十四卦 64 Hexagrams, blood xue 血, acupuncture meridians jing luo 經絡,visceral and hollow organs zang fu 臟 腑 etc. ; technical devices such as the traditional Chinese calendar 曆法, acupuncture meridian maps and books like the Book of Changes 《易經》 in this round table discussion, these entities shi ti 實體 can now all be ‘channeled’ to different world time zones to restore the Traditional Chinese Calendar 曆法 and the Cosmic Breath 宇宙之氣 to the Real World .

 

TSANKOVA Antonia, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

On Conceptualizing the Notion of Space in the Chinese Linguistic Worldview (view presentation)

The paper explores the formation of the basic terms, related to the semantic domain of space in Modern Chinese, that emerged at the archaic state of establishment of Chinese language and its ideographic system, and thus reflect the Chinese traditional linguistic worldview on the category of space. For the purpose of the study, we examine the etymology of 48 spatial morphemes that contain in whole 93 ideographemes (basic semantic elements), observed in characters in Jiaguwen and Zhuangwen style. By classifying the core semantic components of the studied symbols we observe that although the category of space may seem to represent objective, static properties of the physical world, in the process of formation of the relevant morphemes in the archaic Chinese hieroglyphs the predominant part of the semantic elements (app. 75% of the studied components) represent anthropomorphic symbols. They usually denote human activities that are dynamic and self-oriented in meaning (also proposed by Tan; Koutsarova). Among symbols from the natural world (around 25% of all components) we observe that more than 60% of them are connected to the notion of Earth, and less of them are semantically linked to Heaven, which corresponds to the traditional perception of Earth as a domain of space and Heaven as a domain of time. Nevertheless, the archaic conceptualization of the semantic category of space as reflected in the Chinese linguistic worldview is obviously based on the experience of exploring and building the surrounding space through the activities of the human kind, i.e. it is in nature a category of anthropomorphic and dynamic semantics, among other linguistic categories.

 

WOODS Paul, Dr., Oxford Centre for Mission Studies

The Chinese Transitive Verb 打 Da3 as A Radial Category (view presentation)

This paper examines the Chinese verb 打 (da3, to hit) using cognitive linguistics. Prototypically, this is a transitive verb whose object is a concrete, count noun, examples being 打球 (da3qiu2) and 打人 (da3ren2), hit a ball and hit a person, a classic agent-patient relationship with transfer of energy. Collocations such as 打听 (da3ting1, hit-hear), 打气 (da3qi4, hit-air), 打电话 (da3dian4hua4, hit-electric-speech), and 打招呼 (da3zhao1hu, hit-greet) represent non-prototypical transitivity and intransitivity. These show the verb to be a radial category (Lakoff, 1987) containing sub-categories produced by extensions from the central transitive sense. Adapting Langacker’s (1990) transitivity theory and action chain idea suggests that chainings from prototypical transitive da3 produce non-prototypical transitives with abstract objects and verbs, as well as non-transitive uses. The article thus examines a specific transitive verb as well as the complex nature of transitivity in verb-object collocations.

 

ZYGADŁO Paweł, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

The role of euphemism in everyday communication in China (view presentation)

The proposed paper is intended as an analysis of one of the most distinctive features of Chinese culture that is a prevalent tendency towards applying euphemisms in everyday communication. It aims to understand the historical and socio-cultural factors involved and the main functions of euphemistic expressions. It will then first provide an analysis of the up to date research, linguistic and anthropological regarding the meaning and functions of euphemism. Subsequently, the notion of Chinese politeness will be put under historical scrutiny with a special focus on the notion of li, ‘proper ritual behaviour’ or ‘etiquette’. The main body will consist of the excerpts from everyday communication as it happens in public space and as it occurs in mass media. All the acquired through participating observation, media content analysis and in-depth reading material will be re-analysed with discourse analysis as the main research method.

 

Culture

HO Tammy Lai-Ming, Dr., Hong Kong Baptist University

Poetic Convergences: East and West

This paper is concerned with the convergences—historical, cultural, linguistic, translational, fictional and poetic—of ‘East’ and ‘West’. It discusses the mutual mistrust, misunderstanding, discrimination and at times fascination and admiration between ‘East’ and ‘West’ as represented in various forms of cultural expressions. The main focus of the paper is two recent poetry collections, Sarah Howe's Loop of Jade (2015) and Timothy Yu's 100 Chinese Silences (2016). In both books, one can find poems negotiating and contesting the meaning of 'Chineseness' through responding to other texts, at times creating a space of ambivalence and at others adding confusion to the interpretation of what it means to represent the illusive ‘China’.

 

HU Xihuan, PhD Candidate, University of Leicester

Cultural Heritage in Globalization, Local Governance, and Nüshu (view presentation)

This paper aims to explain the status of China's intangible cultural heritage from the perspective of globalization and local governance with Nüshu. It explores how governance at the local level accomplish its goals on the protection and development of intangible cultural heritage and the influence of globalization on a heritage community. This paper argues that globalization revitalizes world cultural heritage and gives the governments from national to local levels legitimacy to manage their heritage recourses. Local authorities have become a pivotal player in heritage governance and heritage has become a resource that various departments claim to own the "sovereignty." Under such circumstances, the influence of the folk cultural participants on the culture is weakened.

 

VAMPELJ SUHADOLNIK Nataša, Assoc. Prof., Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

Slovenian Collectors of Chinese Objects: Who, Why, What? 

While most studies related to individual collections and objects of Chinese origin are based on analysis and interpretation of collections mostly located in the Western European or North American regions, studies of these types of materials in the Eastern European and Balkan regions are still very limited. In this paper we will try to fill in such gaps by examining the collecting history of Chinese objects in Slovenia. We will focus on the historical context of collecting history in the Slovenian territory, the status and identity of individuals - "collectors" and the nature and extent of the items they have collected. In-depth analyses of collecting history in – until now – somewhat overlooked regions will by including the European periphery into the global exchange market between China and Europe certainly re-examine the views so far and thus fill in the gaps in the history of collecting.

 

WOODS Paul, Dr., Oxford Centre for Mission Studies

Meeting in the Middle: Nomadic Theory and the Daodejing  (view presentation​)

Interaction between Chinese thought and Western philosophies is bringing new challenges and opportunities for thinkers on both sides. Enlightenment modernism has been rejected as passé, while its erstwhile successor, postmodernism, has been found lacking. To find a way forward, this paper constructs a dialogue between Deleuze and Guattari’s nomadic theory and Daoist thought from the Daodejing. Both emphasise becoming rather than being, dynamic rather than static understandings of existence and experience.

Central to nomadic theory is the assemblage, a temporary status quo resulting from complex circumstances. Nomadic theory claims that to define an entity is to render it lifeless. Similarly, the Daodejing tells us that we cannot truly describe the Dao. This paper brings these central notions and associated ideas into dialogue to argue for a hybrid epistemology which facilities engagement, dialogue, and cooperation.

 

Belt and Road

ALEXIEV B. Alexander, Prof. Dr. GATEV Ivaylo, Dr., Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

Fuzzy Grandview: The New Global Concepts behind China's Belt and Road Initiative (view presentation)

As an emerging global power, China has developed a new comprehensive ‘grandview’ (国观) with ‘Chinese characteristics’ (中国特色). The grandview contains many new and fuzzy concepts. Beijing claims that China has ‘the ability, the will, and the responsibility to contribute wisdom and strength to the improvement of the global governance system’ (作为一个新兴大国，中国有能力、有意愿同时也有责任为完善全球治理体系贡献智慧与力量). By envisioning a new ‘symbiotic international system’ (共生型国际体系), with ‘cyber-sovereignty’(网络主权), via innovative foreign investment methods supporting the ‘going out’ (走出去) policy of its enterprises, Beijing proposes a new ‘Chinese solution’ (中国方案) to a world in crisis. This paper examines official Chinese discourse on the Belt and Road Initiative. It focuses on the discursive continuities and discontinuities that mark Chinese foreign policy over the last two decades. It is argued that Beijing’s rhetorical justification of the Initiative includes elements of a grand strategy tempered by tactical concessions to the prevailing liberal international order. This goes some way towards explaining the conceptual fuzziness characterising Belt and Road discourse.

 

CHAN Ying-kit, Dr., Postdoctoral Fellow, International Institute for Asian Studies, Leide University

Africa, Zheng He, and the Belt and Road Initiative (view presentation)

In recent years, China has sought to extend its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) from Central Asia and Southeast Asia to Africa. This paper argues that Chinese officials, aided by Chinese maritime archaeologists, journalists and researchers have used discourses of heritage and history as a form of soft padding to justify China’s infrastructure projects in Africa. Zheng He, a Ming-dynasty admiral, who had allegedly visited East Africa in four of his seven famous voyages across the Indian Ocean, is particularly important in China’s narrative of its historical relations with Africa. The details of Zheng He’s engagement with Africa remain contested by historians, especially those in Western academia. The Chinese government thus supports ‘sub-initiatives’ of heritage and history construction, namely maritime archaeology, travel journalism and student fellowships, to substantiate the legacy of Zheng He in Africa. By suggesting that China and Africa also share the legacy of having been exploited, humiliated and victimized by European colonial powers, Chinese intellectuals have fashioned the BRI into an anti-imperialist discourse for acceptance by their African counterparts.

 

KAVALSKI Emilian, Prof., University of Nottingham Ningbo China

The Unintended Effects of China’s Cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe 

(view presentation​)

The Central and East European (CEE) part of the Afro-Eurasian landmass is often overlooked in the conversations on contemporary geopolitics. Yet, owing to China’s growing relations in the CEE countries, the region has been subject to increasing international attention. By process-tracing the development of the “17+1” mechanism, this article offers a brief overview of Sino-CEE relations. Situated within the broader Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the “17+1” has provided a unique regional arrangement for extending Chinese influence in the CEE countries. The study explores whether there is something else than the instrumental economic reasoning for the willingness of CEE countries to partner with China. The analysis detects three distinct (and not always complementary) strategic narratives motivating the participation of CEE states in the “17+1” mechanism. The study concludes with an enquiry on China’s preparedness to respond to such identity geopolitics not only in the CEE region, but throughout the vast expanse covered by the BRI initiative.

 

RODRIGUEZ Mario Esteban, Asst. Prof., Autonomous University of Madrid

The Belt and Road Initiative and International Climate Governance 

(view presentation​)

This paper resorts to the Climate Policy Integration framework for exploring the role of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in international climate governance. From this perspective, the paper examines whether there are political commitments to the integration of climate change considerations in the BRI projects considered for implementation or implemented by the Silk Road Fund, the China Development Bank and the Exim Bank. More specifically, it will be determined whether those institutions take into consideration the effects of their managed BRI projects on mitigation and adaptation to climate change; whether climate targets have been incorporated into the design and implementation of these projects; whether there are elements of communication of climate performance in these projects; whether those institutions have undertook organizational reforms to integrate climate criteria into their projects; and whether Chinese authorities have established procedural tools for including climate considerations into the BRI.

 

TSIMONIS Konstantinos Dr., Lecturer in Chinese Society, ROGELJA Igor, Teaching Fellow in Chinese Politics, King's College London

A Synergy of Failures: Environmental Protection and Chinese Investment in Southeast Europe 

(view presentationi​)

Chinese investment in Europe is primarily discussed as a security threat with its impact on sustainability remaining a rather marginal issue. This article investigates the repercussions of China’s investment surge in Europe for environmental protection and analyses the reasons behind its poor performance. We examine five key Chinese investments in Southeast Europe, a subregion that includes countries with different forms of association with European institutions and with varying levels of development and state capacity. We find that the negative environmental impact of these investments cannot be attributed to the commonly-held perception of the Chinese as inherently ‘bad’ investors and of host states as ‘weak’ and dependent. Rather, we identify a synergy of failures between investors, host states and regional institutions that results in poor regulation and compliance. This finding calls for the inclusion of sustainability in foreign investment screening mechanisms and the abandonment of contradictory developmental priorities in the region.

 

VANGELI Anastas, PhD Candidate, Graduate School for Social Research, Polish Academy of Sciences

Diffusion of Ideas in the Era of the Belt and Road: A Research Agenda

To address part of the puzzle on China's ideational impact in the era of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the paper discusses an approach based on the study of the social interactions of Chinese elites and their counter-parts from partner countries, by employing the concept of diffusion of ideas. The paper proposes a theoretical framework to study diffusion inspired by reflexive social science, that focuses on three subprocesses: frames, (geoeconomic) imaginaries, and translations. It builds upon previous empirical research from the region of Central, East and Southeast Europe, and contemplates future steps that go beyond the region.

 

YILMAZ Selim, University of Nottingham

China’s Belt and Road Initiative: An Offensive Realist Analysis on State Behaviour (view presentation​)

China’s significant growth since the establishment of the BRI in 2013 was believed to have challenged the existing world order, since it covers over land and sea infrastructure projects to improve the connectivity between China and the world. Using Mearsheimer’s (2001) offensive realism theory, this research aims to analyse the behaviour of states surrounding China and how they have reacted to the boost by overlooking the interactions of Malaysia and Japan with China and BRI respectively. Malaysia, though considered to be a relatively weaker power, acts strategically to balance while bandwagoning China, whereas Japan was found buck-passing and balancing with the PRC. Results were concluded through an empirical analysis on the Sino-Malaysian and Sino-Japanese relationship, as well as an evaluation of states’ actions towards BRI. Offensive realism was found mostly useful though some updates i.e. technological elements may be considered in military power which may require future research.

 

Literature

CESARINO Loredana, Dr., XJTLU Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Xu Xiake’s (1597-1641) Former Residence in Jiangyin: Negotiating Identities in Themed Spaces 

(view presentation​)

Xu Xiake 徐霞客 (1587-1641) is an important traveller and explorer of the Ming 明 dynasty (1368-1644). Born in the outskirt of Jiangyin 江阴, he is the author of the famous Xu Xiake youji 徐霞客游记 (“Xu Xiake’s Travel Diary”).

In contemporary China’s official discourse, Xu Xiake is celebrated as the patron of domestic tourism (yousheng 游圣) and is usually represented as an illustrious man of letters imbued with filial piety and spirit of sacrifice. The Ming traveller plays an important role also at local level, where he has become the symbol of Jiangyin and, as such, has contributed to the construction of the municipality’s cultural identity.

Object of this paper is Xu Xiake’s former residence, transformed into a museum since the mid-1980s. Using the theoretical framework of literary tourism, it will discuss its cultural significance in the local context of Jiangyin. It will attempt to understand how Xu Xiake’s life and travels are constructed, narrated and marketed for the visitor’s consumption in this three-dimensional themed space. It will argue that Xu Xiake’s former residence has been transformed into a literary attraction themed around filial piety and patriotism in order to help local authorities enhance tourism in the area, contribute to its historical branding while, at the same time, promoting the core national values associated with the Ming traveller in the official discourse, thus negotiating the tension between his local commodification and his national sanctification.

 

CHAN Shelley W., Prof., Wittenberg University

Uteruses Owned by the State: Mo Yan’s Fiction about the One-Child Policy (view presentation​)

Since its implementation in the late 1970s, the One-Child Policy has been widely discussed. Indeed, the policy has effectively controlled the rapid growth of China’s population; yet it has also caused many social problems. Mo Yan, the winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote about this sensitive topic very early on when he started his writing career in the 1980s. Themes such as abandoned children, unplanned births, and forced abortions from his earlier stories, namely, “Explosions,” “Abandoned Child,” and “Tunnel,” reoccur in Frog, a novel about the family planning policy. This paper discusses how the One-Child policy and later the Two-Child policy have affected Chinese people’s lives. It also suggests that the novel Frog eventually evolves into a political allegory in which some subtle details invite a daring interpretation, relating the aborted babies to the young people who lost their lives in Beijing in the summer of 1989.

 

CHOY Howard Yuen Fung, Dr., Hong Kong Baptist University

Reproductive and Relocation: On Reading Ma Jian’s The Dark Road

Based on firsthand true stories, Ma Jian’s The Dark Road (Yin zhi dao, 2012) is a dark novel about a peasant family fleeing from forced abortions and sterilizations under China’s one-child policy. The problem is: How does a male writer represent the female sufferings? This paper investigates what I call Ma’s “masculine maximalism” in his extraordinary descriptions of the shocking violence of birth control practices in China, especially the excessive cruelty by the family-planning authorities. According to Stefano Ercolino’s 2012 article, the maximalist novel as a genre is defined not only by its length and encyclopedic mode (including environmental concern of the corrosive Yangtze River and food safety matter of fake milk powder in Ma’s work) but also its ethical commitment and hybrid realism, “which strives to relate the complexity of the world we live in and to give a synthetic and totalizing representation of it.”

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GOGUADZE Ana, Translator, Lecturer of Chinese Language, I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

Cultural and Linguistic Aspects of Literary Translation

As a translator of the literature, you may encounter many nuances in a process of translation, mostly, due to linguistic differences. However, both linguistic and cultural differences often appear, making the translation process more complicated. It is important to know the different ways for right solutions of the problem. From my personal experience I have studied the subject and divided it into several parts: family, names, various concepts. Every language has its own specifics, as we have different cultures and concepts, so it is important for the reader to understand the concept of the book and the author's message correctly. Translation techniques and tricks are of great importance. Researching this issue and talking about it is very important. My experience may be helpful for many translators when translating from Chinese into other languages and vice versa from other languages into Chinese.

 

KURZYNSKI Maciej, Master of Arts, Stanford University

From "River Elegy" to "Amazing China": The Evolution of National Discourse in the 20th century China

Separated by 30 years of rapid economic growth, the divergent aesthetics of two Chinese documentaries "River Elegy" (Heshang, 1988) and "Amazing China" (Lihaile, wode guo, 2018) merit a comparative cross-inquiry. While "River Elegy" expressed a younger generation's admiration for the azure Western culture with its overseas expeditions and scientific ingenuity, "Amazing China" turns the tables, and in its depiction of the People’s Republic as a maritime empire celebrates the sheer power of nationalized technology. To make the two documentaries illuminate each other will allow us to see that despite their aesthetic discrepancy, the seeds of hegemonic discourse were present already in the first work, not only in what Jing Wang calls the “dangerous equation” that the reform intellectuals set up between fuqiang and xiandai hua, i.e. “wealth and power” and “modernization,” but also in the monologic imagination the structures of both works partake in. The comparison will also reveal the deeply ironic fact that although the promise of River Elegy is said to have been fulfilled, the humanist scholar who cherished the national aspirations has now disappeared without a trace.

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LIU Xi, Dr., Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

“Post-human” and “Post-gender” in Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction (view presentation​)

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“Post-human”, which means one entity or condition beyond being human, is a critical concept for us to reconsider “human” and “humanism”; “Post-gender”, which is understood as challenges to social constructions on sexual differences, is another important tool of inquiry to look into the masculinist understanding of human being. Both of the two concepts question the essentialist and binarist ways of thinking, serving as the theoretical basis for “posthuman-feminism”, which combines both feminist anti-humanism and anti-anthropocentrism. Anti-humanism focuses on the critique of the humanist ideal of “Man” as the universal representative of the human, while anti-anthropocentrism criticizes species hierarchy and advances ecological justice. Contemporary Chinese science fiction, especially the “new wave Sci-Fi” emerged at the turn of the 21th century, offer rich experiments in writing about “post-human” conditions and “post-gender” identities as serious engagement with social, political and philosophical themes. This paper looks at representative post-human and post-gender situations, images and subjectivities in works by Liu Cixin, Han Song and Chen Qiufan. From the perspective of posthuman-feminism, it examines what kind of post-human and post-gender subjects are imagined and represented in these texts. It asks whether these new subjects support or distort anti-humanist and anti-anthropocentrist visions. It also critically discusses the roles that “gender” play in the presentation of post-human utopia/dystopia and reflection on (post) humanity by looking into the textual politics of these works.

 

NG Ashton, PhD Candidate, University of Cambridge

The feminine Oriental man: Deconstructing gender roles in M. Butterfly using functional linguistics

In the 1988 Broadway play M. Butterfly, the most feminine character is a Chinese man (Song Liling), closely followed in second place by a Japanese woman (Butterfly). In terms of their femininity, the Oriental duo far surpass three Western women: Helga, Isabelle, and Renee. Through applying Michael Halliday’s theory of systemic functional linguistics, this paper reveals what exactly is meant by “masculinity” and “femininity” in M. Butterfly, arguing that both are constructs that exist only in the male characters’ minds. This paper then explains why the characters Song Liling and Butterfly are perceived by the play’s male characters (Gallimard, Pinkerton, and Marc) to be significantly “more” feminine than the other female characters. A Hallidayan analysis of the play reveals that, in M. Butterfly, “masculine” and “feminine” gender roles cannot exist independently without the other, and are variable “scores” more than they are essential traits assigned at birth.

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PETKOV Pavel Dr., University of Veliko Tarnovo

Modern China in Western Travel Writing: A Discourse-centered Perspective

The paper discusses the concept of discourse in the context of contemporary image production in English-language travel writing about China. In recent decades China has been visited by an enormous number of writing travelers who have produced an array of different (sometimes contradictory) images. When we study those images it is practically inevitable that we use analytical tools and theoretical concepts provided by modern postcolonial critique. Discourse is among the most important of those concepts. My analysis is largely theoretical and draws on the opinions and vantage points of reputed contemporary scholars whose models are relevant to imagology in a contemporary Chinese context.

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