Asia Institute - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableLearning in the Language of Cinema: A Case Study of the Impact of Humanities Subjects on Chinese International Student’s Critical Thinking Ability(Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, 2020)Chinese students make up the largest portion of international students in Australia, yet we know relatively little about their study experience in the humanities and the impact of Australian humanities subjects on their critical thinking ability. Through a qualitative analysis of the academic performance of two cohorts of Chinese international students enrolled in two film studies subjects, this study has revealed that Chinese international students benefit considerably from an Australian-style training, as evident in their improved analytical skills and critical thinking ability. However, English proficiency remains a major challenge for them in obtaining higher scores, which they could have otherwise achieved in a native language educational environment. This study has also discovered that Chinese international students are generally adept at using multi-media tools to present and communicate ideas. Distanced from their home country, Chinese international students are more motivated to study if they feel a cultural or emotional connection with the course content. Communicating in a language that students can resonate with, be it more visual or culturally sensitive, will help both students and educators achieve better outcomes.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableTransnational linkages, political dynamics, and the migration-development nexus: Towards a political settlements approach(Elsevier, 2020-10-01)This paper examines how transnational researchers have incorporated political dynamics into their analyses of transnational linkages and their impacts. It argues that they have done so in ways that have focused on conflict and contestation between migrant/diasporic communities and homeland states/communities rather than within them. At the same time, in construing transnational linkages as instruments of particular actors, they have presented a narrow conception of how transnational linkages interact with political dynamics. As an alternative, the paper proposes a political settlements approach which views transnational linkages as institutions embedded in power relationships between competing groups defined in class, racial, ethnic, religious and gender terms. This approach, it is argued, overcomes these two problems by presenting a more disaggregated view of the actors, interests and agendas involved and construing transnational linkages as simultaneously instruments and arenas of contestation.
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ItemBold Strategy or Irrational Exuberance: Can China's Fiscal Foundation Support the Belt and Road Initiative?(Stanford University Press, 2020)This chapter examines the economic rationale and finances of the Belt and Road Initiative, a signature program in Xi Jinping's assertive foreign policy that aims to build multidimensional networks linking more than sixty countries and costing trillions of dollars. The BRI was conceived during the decade-long fiscal expansion that began at the turn of the century, and the question is whether it remains affordable under slower growth. At this stage in its development, China must manage the program prudently to avoid saddling banks with bad loans from failed projects. As ever, the decentralized system remains the Achilles' heel, reflected in the gap between official statements of expenditure and figures compiled from bank lending and program announcements. Recent fiscal reforms have strengthened the government's ability to rein in local governments but provide little protection against risks from an overly ambitious foreign policy agenda.
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ItemMore Sticks and Fewer Carrots? Looking Ahead to Implementation of Environmental Policy Under the ‘New Normal’(Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School for Science and International Affairs, 2020-02)
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ItemManaging across levels of government: The challenge of pension reform in China(OECD, 2020)The People’s Republic of China is facing a “population ageing tsunami”, with the share of the population aged over 65 expected to double between 2010 and 2030. Reforming the social security system to improve coverage, sustainability and equity is an urgent task for the government. This chapter examines the workings of the Urban Employee Scheme (UES), the main pension programme currently covering more than 400 million workers and retirees. Although nominally a national programme, the UES is a patchwork of pension pools, managed mostly at the city and county levels. Under fragmented management and weak oversight, the system is rife with underpayment and evasion and has stymied previous efforts by the central government to promote consolidation. This may finally change under top-down reforms implemented since 2013 that have strengthened governance and enforcement capacity. Improving equity and the long-term sustainability of the UES will also require extending coverage to younger migrant workers and strengthening their incentives for participation.
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ItemUncovering China’s Fiscal Stimulus Policies in the Budget Report(EAI, 2020-07-06)
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ItemCOVID-19 highlights need to strengthen china’s social safety net (i): the unemployment insurance scheme(East Asian Institute, 2020-12-24)
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ItemCivil Society and Youth Leadership for Transformation(Risk Institute, Trieste- Geneva, 2020)This discussion paper looks at the current historical momentum and potential future development of civil society and youth leadership for a systemic transformation to a sustainable new civilization. It identifies emerging challenges, obstacles, and some of the innovative new leadership strategies that have been developed to overcome them. Civil society is central in the process of transformation in a dual sense: As the target of transformation — it is civil society at large together with governments and the private sector that must shift to sustainable practices in our daily lives, — and as an instigator of change—individuals, informal networks or organized groups of citizens specifically dedicated to promoting this transformation. This boundary between recipients and agents in society is fluid, as more and more people take action or join organized efforts to elicit a purposeful transformation.
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ItemCurrent Tasks of Academies and Academia(Risk Institute Trieste, 2020)The present article is written as an issue paper on academies for the GL-21 Project. It traces activities of academies and their associations in the present information-rich society. The state-of-the-art of the academic world is briefly described. This permits to focus on general trends in knowledge management in general and the role of academies. The successful strategies and interdependencies form the framework of activities, where one should also understand the possible obstacles. The impact of these activities together with ideas for more social responsibility and cooperation are examined. The unique position of WAAS in organizing a network for social progress is underlined.