China Perspective Issues

ABSTRACT: The French doctor, archaeologist, novelist, and poet Victor Segalen (1878-1919) was known above all for his works inspired by China and his theory of the “Diverse.” Despite the numerous studies devoted to him in recent years, very few Western researchers have taken any interest in the reception of his work in China. By focusing critically on the latest research by Chinese specialists on the author of Stèles, this review essay will attempt to show that Segalen owes his undeniable success in China not only to the intrinsic worth of his literary output, but also to ideological considerations that combine to make him the “best” representative of learned “Sinophilia.”

KEYWORDS: Victor Segalen, China, reception, Sinophilia, ideology.

ABSTRACT: It is now recognised that China’s industrial clusters have played a particularly significant part in the prodigious economic transformations the country has experienced since the launch of reforms at the end of the 1970s. By studying the case of Yongkang, a county-level city in Zhejiang Province specialising in the manufacture of metal products, this article aims to increase understanding of how this rural area with a tradition of small-scale metal production has become, over the course of a few decades, an industrial cluster built around specific operations, and which economic, social, and political approaches have made these transformations possible.

KEYWORDS: Zhejiang, Yongkang, company, industrial cluster, economy, governance, market.

ABSTRACT: The study of Taiwanese entrepreneurs who live and invest on the Chinese mainland (Taishang) has only recently started to attract attention. Taishang have been referred to as a “linkage community” that connects Taiwan and the Chinese mainland through its economic undertakings, political influence, and social experiences as a migrant community. Against this background, this article clarifies the extent to which Taishang have contributed to and shaped the ongoing process of cross-strait interaction and the development of cross-strait policies. It revisits the field of Taishang studies, takes stock of the knowledge that this field has generated so far, and explores future directions for meaningful research.

KEYWORDS: Taishang, “linkage community,” cross-strait integration, cross-strait relations.

ABSTRACT: In mid-1975, Deng Xiaoping, with Mao’s blessing, initiated reforms that targeted the negative consequences of the Cultural Revolution. To bolster Deng’s effort, Mao endowed him with penultimate authority over the Party, government, and military. However, in late October, Mao turned on Deng, and within five months, Mao and the radicals toppled Deng from power. As a foreign student at Peking University, David Zweig observed and photographed four key points in this historic struggle: (1) the initial establishment of a “big character poster” compound at Peking University; (2) emotional mourning for Zhou Enlai in Tiananmen Square following his death: (3) the intensified assault on Deng in February 1976 in the posters at Peking University; and (4) the massive demonstration of support in Tiananmen Square on 3-4 April for the end of Maoist politics.

KEYWORDS: Tiananmen Square, wreaths, factionalism, Deng Xiaoping, end of the Cultural Revolution, Peking University, big character poster compound.