DOCSLIB.ORG

Knowing How China's Leaders Think

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Knowing How China's Leaders Think 22 world THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2012 CHINA DAILY Knowing how China’s leaders think New York-born banker and author BACKSTORY ROBERT LAWRENCE has an insider’s understanding KUHN International corporate By ANDREW MOODY strategist, investment sities and all have significant banker, senior adviser to andrewmoody@ experience, often having run multinational corporations chinadaily.com.cn two or more provinces or and author major municipalities as Party Age: 67 Robert Lawrence Kuhn says secretary, governor or mayor.” Education: the West oft en doesn’t under- Kuhn, who is also a new • Bachelor’s degree in stand the Chinese leadership’s China Daily columnist, is human biology, Johns Hop- key priorities for China. The much in demand from major kins University, 1964 67-year-old American is seen news organizations around the • PhD in anatomy and brain by many as one of the few world and makes TV appear- research, University of figures outside the world’s ances on BBC, CNBC, Eurone- California at Los Angeles, second-largest economy who ws and Bloomberg TV. He says 1968 actually does. he has had complete freedom • Master of sciences in man- He is regarded as a knowl- to express his opinions. agement, MIT Sloan School edgeable insider, having been “I have written three books of Management, 1980 an adviser to a number of lead- about China, and dozens of Career: ing Chinese bodies since the articles and columns. I’ve pro- • President and co-owner late-1980s and knowing many duced two major TV docu- of The Geneva Companies, a US leading mergers and of the country’s top political mentaries about China and acquisitions company (sold fi gures personally. given scores of media inter- to Citigroup in 2000) “There is rarely alignment views — and never has anyone • Chairman, The Kuhn between what topics China’s in China even requested to Foundation, which pro- leaders think are important censor anything I’ve published duces documentaries on about China and what the or broadcast outside of China,” scientifi c and philosophical world thinks,” says Kuhn, also he says. questions as well as on an international corporate strat- Some in the West, however, China issues egist and investment banker. have accused him of being too • Author of The Man Who Changed China: The Life “Understanding China requires much of an insider and not giv- Robert Lawrence Kuhn says China’s growth is good for the world, but it cannot ‘save the world’. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY and Legacy of Jiang Zemin knowing the diff erence.” ing the full picture about China and How China’s Leaders He was speaking recently because he was too close to the ing a parallel business career have worked with several for try’s unprecedented urbaniza- Think, as well as 25 books in the five-star Grand Hyatt leadership. and became president of Th e a number of years. When you tion and modernization. on business strategy, hotel in central Beijing, which “I deem it vital, consider- Geneva Companies, a leading hear them speak over a period of “Growth rates will naturally fi nance and investment is his home for 90 days a year. ing China’s importance in the US mergers and acquisitions time, it gives you a sense of their ease from reform’s historic banking He divides the rest of his time world, that China’s leaders company, which he eventually personalities and character as averages — probably to 6 to 8 Books: The Infl ationary between his three homes in become more known to the I have written three sold to Citigroup in 2000. well as their intellectual capabili- percent per annum — which Universe: The Quest for a New Theory of Cosmic the United States and traveling world, and known not just via books about China, At the same time he was ties, leadership style and political is less than we are used to, but elsewhere. sound-bites and photo ops, but cementing links with leading progress,” he says. which may be optimal because Origins by Alan H. Guth, and dozens of articles Lake Views: This World and “They treat me very well by seeing them up close as real ‘‘ business and political fi gures Kuhn sometimes likes to China can more eff ectively deal the Universe by Steven L. here. Even when I travel people — hearing their own and columns. I’ve in China. invoke humor to explain why with its most severe problems, Weinberg, The Coherence around China, I keep a room words, listening to their stories, produced two major His organization, Th e Kuhn there is sometimes friction particularly economic and of Theism by Richard Swin- here,” he says. getting their ways of thinking. Foundation, with China Cen- between Chinese and Ameri- social imbalances and sustain- burne, and Infi nite Minds: A Th e hotel is well placed near I’m pleased to facilitate some of TV documentaries tral Television, produced the can leaders. able development. Philosophical Cosmology China’s seat of government this,” he says. about China and given documentary In Search of Chi- “Some people think it is “However, China’s economy by John Leslie. Books on consciousness by John R. around Tian’anmen Square “I also off er my own analysis. scores of media inter- na for PBS in the US, which because of ideological, histori- is fragile, vulnerable to exog- Searle, David J. Chalmers where he has an extensive net- As for my accuracy and under- views — and never has was broadcast in 2000. cal or cultural reasons that we enous shock. China’s growth is and Colin McGinn work of contacts. standing, readers or viewers He is now working on a new have communication prob- good for the world, but it can- anyone in China even Film: Closer To Truth, His latest book, How China’s can judge for themselves.” fi ve-part series, China’s Chal- lems. As I once pointed out, not ‘save the world’,” he says. TV series on science and Leaders Th ink: Th e Inside Story Kuhn, who was born in New requested to censor lenges, which will be broadcast perhaps it’s because China’s Kuhn says there is often a philosophy; Peter Getzels, of China’s Past, Current and York, began his career as a sci- anything I’ve published in China in the autumn and leaders, the members of the danger of China being mis- producer/director Future Leaders, which is now entist. Aft er studying biology at or broadcast outside syndicated to PBS stations in Politburo Standing Commit- represented because it is seen Music: Piano Concerto out in paperback and runs to Johns Hopkins University, he the US next year. tee, were trained as engineers, through a narrow perspective. in D-fl at major by Aram more than 500 pages, goes into did a doctorate in anatomy and of China.” Perhaps Kuhn’s most sig- and most American politicians “Western media takes Chi- Khachaturian (1903-78), extensive detail about those brain research at the University nifi cant project was writing a were trained as lawyers. May- na’s very real problems and played by Kuhn’s wife Dora ROBERT LAWRENCE KUHN Serviarian-Kuhn who have the responsibility for of California at Los Angeles in AUTHOR OF HOW CHINA’S LEADERS biography of former president be the problem is that lawyers reports them as if they were, shaping modern China. the 1960s. Brain science and THINK: THE INSIDE STORY OF Jiang Zemin, which was the and engineers can’t talk to one say, 80 percent of China’s story. Food: “I eat tofu all the time. CHINA’S PAST, CURRENT AND FUTURE I appreciate the unbeliev- Kuhn, who cuts a dapper consciousness remain major LEADERS best-selling book in China in another!” I take the same problems — ably diff erent textures.” fi gure, says many in the West interests of his. 2005. Kuhn says the main focus in which are genuine and often often have an outdated view His fi rst involvement in Chi- How China’s Leaders Think the West is oft en the Chinese intractable — and they make about modern Chinese leaders. na was through the scientifi c was based on interviews with economy and whether it will up, say, 35 percent of my work,” proper and suffi cient context,” “The reality is that China’s community when he worked from Song Jian, then a State more than 100 leading Chinese continue to motor ahead. he says. he says. leaders are meritocratic,” he with scientists reforming Chi- councilor and chairman of the political fi gures, some of whom “China should have 10 to 20 “It is not that Western media says. na’s research and technology State Science and Technology he has known for more than a more years of what we should is conspiratorially biased or Huang Tiantian, Dong Fangyu “Many have strong academic base. Commission. decade. still call relatively high growth, always anti-China, it is that and Zheng Yibing contributed backgrounds from top univer- He received an invitation At the time he was develop- “I know many personally and driven by continuing the coun- they often do not provide to this story. Archeologists may have found model for Mona Lisa By ELLA IDE in Florence, Italy believed to have served as the in resolving art mysteries. convent’s new cement fl oor last ist, and though there is little crucially, with the skull intact. the age of the person when they muse for Leonardo da Vinci’s “It is the culmination of all our year, aft er fresh documents con- proof, most art historians agree Th e next step is to send the died,” said Vinceti, who is chair- Archeologists on Tuesday Mona Lisa.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • How China's Leaders Think: the Inside Story of China's Past, Current
    bindex.indd 540 3/14/11 3:26:49 PM China’s development, at least in part, is driven by patriotism and pride. The Chinese people have made great contributions to world civilization. Our commitment and determination is rooted in our historic and national pride. It’s fair to say that we have achieved some successes, [nevertheless] we should have a cautious appraisal of our accomplishments. We should never overestimate our accomplish- ments or indulge ourselves in our achievements. We need to assess ourselves objectively. [and aspire to] our next higher goal. [which is] a persistent and unremitting process. Xi Jinping Politburo Standing Committee member In the face of complex and ever-changing international and domes- tic environments, the Chinese Government promptly and decisively adjusted our macroeconomic policies and launched a comprehensive stimulus package to ensure stable and rapid economic growth. We increased government spending and public investments and imple- mented structural tax reductions. Balancing short-term and long- term strategic perspectives, we are promoting industrial restructuring and technological innovation, and using principles of reform to solve problems of development. Li Keqiang Politburo Standing Committee member I am now serving my second term in the Politburo. President Hu Jintao’s character is modest and low profile. we all have the high- est respect and admiration for him—for his leadership, perspicacity and moral convictions. Under his leadership, complex problems can all get resolved. It takes vision to avoid major conflicts in soci- ety. Income disparities, unemployment, bureaucracy and corruption could cause instability. This is the Party’s most severe test.
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Watching the Real China and Telling Its True Story
    China Reform Friendship Medal Recipient: Robert Lawrence Kuhn, watching the real China and telling its true story CHINA CGTN 2018-12-18 13:45 GMT+8 Updated 2018-12-26 16:56 GMT+8 China commemorated the 40th anniversary of its reform and opening-up with a grand conference in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on December 18, 2018. During the celebratory event, President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders presented 10 foreigners with the “China Reform Friendship Medal,” China's highest award. The medal honors those who have helped China throughout the country's historic, four-decade transformation. Of the 10 foreigners selected, five are living. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, “an international friend who tells the story of contemporary China to the world,” is one of two Americans awarded. Kuhn, born in New York, with a doctorate in brain research (UCLA) and an MBA (MIT), first came to China in 1989, and since then he has worked with China's senior leaders and advised the Chinese government. Robert Lawrence Kuhn has interviewed many important politicians and officials in and out of China. /CGTN Photo A public intellectual, international corporate strategist and investment banker, and renowned China expert, he has dedicated part of his career to telling the world what is actually happening in China, utilizing his first-hand discussions with Chinese leaders, officials, experts, and people from all walks of life, including farmers, migrant workers, students, scientists and scholars. Dr. Kuhn explores, analyzes and tells the real China story from his unique perspective by asking the tough, specific questions the world wants to know.
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese Politics in the Xi Jingping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership
    CHAPTER 1 Governance Collective Leadership Revisited Th ings don’t have to be or look identical in order to be balanced or equal. ⃺ڄ Maya Lin — his book examines how the structure and dynamics of the leadership of Tthe Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have evolved in response to the chal- lenges the party has confronted since the late 1990s. Th is study pays special attention to the issue of leadership se lection and composition, which is a per- petual concern in Chinese politics. Using both quantitative and qualitative analyses, this volume assesses the changing nature of elite recruitment, the generational attributes of the leadership, the checks and balances between competing po liti cal co ali tions or factions, the behavioral patterns and insti- tutional constraints of heavyweight politicians in the collective leadership, and the interplay between elite politics and broad changes in Chinese society. Th is study also links new trends in elite politics to emerging currents within the Chinese intellectual discourse on the tension between strongman politics and collective leadership and its implications for po liti cal reforms. A systematic analy sis of these developments— and some seeming contradictions— will help shed valuable light on how the world’s most populous country will be governed in the remaining years of the Xi Jinping era and beyond. Th is study argues that the survival of the CCP regime in the wake of major po liti cal crises such as the Bo Xilai episode and rampant offi cial cor- ruption is not due to “authoritarian resilience”— the capacity of the Chinese communist system to resist po liti cal and institutional changes—as some foreign China analysts have theorized.
    [Show full text]
  • Examining Coincidences: Towards an Integrated Approach Laurence Browne MA (London), MA (Griffith)
    Examining Coincidences: towards an integrated approach Laurence Browne MA (London), MA (Griffith) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2013 School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics Abstract A coincidence can be broadly defined as ‘a notable co-occurrence of events’ which may have causal or non-causal origins. Some coincidences have discernible causal connections, though these may be quite subtle and complex. Others are clearly attributable to the random play of chance or luck, while certain ostensibly random coincidences can be distinguished by the numinosity and meaning they hold for the individual involved. C. G. Jung coined the term synchronicity for such coincidences. However, there is currently no generally accepted overarching theoretical framework that deals comprehensively and inclusively with the several disparate categories under which different sorts of coincidences might be appropriately classified. The aim of this thesis is to remedy that omission. Just as planets and stars appear as points of light in the night sky and are indistinguishable to the untrained eye, so coincidences may seem on the surface to be all of one kind. This, unfortunately, has led to a tendency towards either/or explanations to account for them, a situation exacerbated by the ideological and metaphysical presumptions that have historically been equated with particular explanations. And there is more than a grain of truth to the notion that how we personally interpret coincidences is a reflection of our underlying beliefs about the nature of the universe and whether or not there is more to our existence than meets the eye.
    [Show full text]
  • 2013 Annual Report Board of Directors May 2013 - May 2014
    NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON UNITED STATES - C HINA RELATIONS Promoting ConstruCtive engagement 2013 Annual Report Board of Directors May 2013 - May 2014 CHAIR Carla A. Hills VICE CHAIRS Maurice R. Greenberg Madeleine K. Albright Richard Edelman Cheng Li Thomas H. Kean Humberto P. Alfonso Martin S. Feldstein Kenneth Lieberthal Henry A. Kissinger Jeffrey Bader Thomas Fingar Andrew N. Liveris Nicholas R. Lardy Andrew Bird Barbara H. Franklin D. Bruce McMahan Dennis C. Blair Charles W. Freeman III Douglas H. Paal Joseph W. Prueher David L. Boren Peter F. Geithner Clark T. Randt, Jr. William R. Rhodes Ray Bracy Evan G. Greenberg Shelley Rigger J. Stapleton Roy Olivier Brandicourt Herbert J. Hansell Daniel H. Rosen James R. Sasser Mary Brown Bullock Harry Harding David L. Shambaugh Kurt M. Campbell Jimmy Hexter Jerry I. Speyer TREASURER John S. Chen Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. James B. Steinberg Keith W. Abell Peter M. Cleveland Muhtar Kent Ernie L. Thrasher Daniel Cruise David M. Lampton Jan F. van Eck SECRETARY David L. Cunningham, Jr. Terrill E. Lautz Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom Nelson G. Dong Robert A. Levinson John Young I. Peter Wolff 71 West 23rd Street, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10010-4102 s (212) 645-9677 s www.ncuscr.org NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON UNITED STATES - C HINA RELATIONS The National Committee on United States - China Relations is a nonprofit educational organization that encourages understanding of China and the United States among citizens of both countries. The Committee focuses its exchange, educational and policy activities on politics and security, education, governance and civil society, economic cooperation, media and transnational issues, addressing these with respect to mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
    [Show full text]
  • The United States and China: Mutual Public Perceptions
    Kissinger Institute on China and the United States The UniTed STaTeS and China: Mutual PUbliC PerCeptionS EditEd by Douglas G. Spelman Kissinger Institute on China and the United States The UniTed STaTeS and China: Mutual PUbliC PerCeptionS ESSAyS BY Terry Lautz Zhang Chuanjie Li Cheng Jiang Changjian, Shen Min, Ju Hong James Fallows Zhou Qingan Robert Daly Jerome A. Cohen Wang Zhenmin Xu Yihua Richard Madsen Liu Jianfei Jamie P. Horsley Sun Zhe Ellen L. Frost Tao Wenzhao EditEd by Douglas G. Spelman ©2011 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. www.wilsoncenter.org This publication is a collaborative effort between the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Kissinger Institute on China and the United States and Tsinghua University’s Center for U.S.-China Relations. http://www.wilsoncenter.org/program/kissinger-institute-china-and-the-united-states http://www.chinausa.org.cn/en/ Available from : Kissinger Institute on China and the United States Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20004-3027 ISBN 1-933549-62-9 The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a living national memorial to President Wilson. The Center’s mission is to commemorate the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson by provid- ing a link between the worlds of ideas and policy, while fostering research, study, discussion, and collaboration among a broad spectrum of individuals concerned with policy and scholarship in national and international affairs. Supported by public and private funds, the Center is a nonpartisan institu- tion engaged in the study of national and world affairs.
    [Show full text]
  • Is Xi Jinping the Reformist Leader China Needs? JEAN-PIERRE CABESTAN
    Current affairs China perspectives Is Xi Jinping the Reformist Leader China Needs? JEAN-PIERRE CABESTAN ABSTRACT: In autumn 2012, following the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Xi Jinping is to succeed Hu Jintao as General Secretary of the Party and also, in all probability, as Chairman of the Central Military Commission, where he has been second-in-command since 2010. In March 2013, he is set to become President of the People’s Republic of China. Born into the political elite, he enjoys a great deal of support in the Nomenklatura. Having governed several coastal provinces, the current Vice-President is thoroughly acquainted with the workings of Party and state. He also has support within the Army, where he spent a short time at the beginning of his career. In addition, in recent years, he has acquired significant international experience. Urbane and affable, Xi is appreciated for his consensual approach. Nonetheless, Xi is taking charge of the country at a particularly delicate time. China is having to adopt an alternative growth model whilst the government is struggling with powerful economic and regional feudalities. The Bo Xilai affair has highlighted the weakening of the central government, the corruption of the elites, and deep-rooted ideological differences within the Party machine that are damaging the political legitimacy of the regime and endangering its stability. As a result, Xi must not only reunify the Party leadership and machine but also establish his authority over all the country’s civil and military institutions. His style and charisma will help him. But his success will also and above all depend on his ability to form a united coalition set on reform and capable of dismantling the privileges acquired by the regime’s many bosses.
    [Show full text]
  • Section 2: China's Pursuit of Advanced Weapons
    SECTION 2: CHINA’S PURSUIT OF ADVANCED WEAPONS Key Findings • China is pursuing a range of advanced weapons with disruptive military potential. Six types that China’s leaders have priori- tized are maneuverable reentry vehicles, hypersonic weapons, directed energy weapons, electromagnetic railguns, counterspace weapons, and unmanned and artificial intelligence-equipped weapons. • China’s advanced weapons programs align with the People’s Liberation Army’s overall modernization drive over the past several decades, but appear to reflect a more careful degree of planning as to the U.S. weaknesses they are designed to exploit. • Current technological trends increase the difficulty of preserv- ing an advantage in developing advanced weapons. The United States for the first time faces a peer technological competitor—a country that is also one of its largest trading partners and that trades extensively with other high-tech powers—in an era in which private sector research and development with dual-use implications increasingly outpaces and contributes to military developments. • The requirements for developing advanced weapons are fun- damental scientific knowledge, unique materials, and abstract skill-based enablers (i.e., abilities, tools, and techniques). China has clear policies to exploit government funding, commercial technological exchange, foreign investment and acquisitions, and talent recruitment to bolster its dual-use technological ad- vances. For China, the only ultimate barrier to such advances is likely to be effort—time, will, and money—and it will be difficult for the United States and its allies and partners to deter this. • While China has only achieved incremental innovation in mil- itary technologies in the past, its research efforts at the tech- nological frontier indicate it may be moving from a phase of “catching-up” to pursuing “leap-ahead” technologies.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the China Paradox and American Misperceptions Cheng Li China's
    The China Paradox and American Misperceptions Cheng Li China’s journey into the 21st century is a paradox of hope and fear. A triumphal mood has begun to take hold in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the past decade. A series of historic events–China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Beijing’s successful hosting of the Olympics, Shanghai’s reemergence as a cosmopolitan center as evident in the recently held World Expo, the dynamic infrastructure development in both coastal and inland regions, the launch of the country’s first manned space program, and the country’s ever-growing economic power–have understandably instilled feelings of pride and optimism in the Chinese people.1 At the same time, China’s progress and promise have been accompanied by increasingly serious problems and pitfalls. Enormous economic disparities are arguably the most daunting problem China faces. In addition, rampant official corruption, a high unemployment rate, environmental degradation, resource scarcity, frequent public health crises and recurrent industrial accidents, growing rural discontent and urban worker strikes, inflation and skyrocketing high prices for housing in major cities, worsening ethnic tensions in Tibet and Xinjiang, the absence of an overriding system of beliefs or values, harsh media censorship and brutal crackdowns on political dissidents and religious activists all seem to suggest that the Chinese regime is sitting atop a simmering volcano of mass social unrest ready to explode. 1 Not surprisingly, these paradoxical developments have often led students of China to reach starkly contrasting assessments of the country’s future trajectory and the abilities and intentions of its leadership.
    [Show full text]
  • Mastering the Art of Doing Business in China Not Enough Ceos Know How to Play the Game to Their Advantage
    AGENDA 2006 I 11/10/05 10:58 AM Page 24 AGENDA 2006 Mastering the Art of Doing Business in China Not enough CEOs know how to play the game to their advantage. BY ROBERT L. KUHN f all the challenges ket economy. Figuring out how to navi- facing chief execu- gate this transition is obviously complex. tives, getting China Foreign executives are usually naive. right is one of the Few are even aware of the relevance of most import ant. politics, much less know how to play it. But many CEOs When they envision the “Chinese govern- assume they can do ment,” they see a monolith, displaying an Obusiness in China the way they do busi- idealism that’s laughable to the Chinese. ness in other countries. They cannot. If Foreigners are often not aware of compet- most business is local, most business in ing interests among central, provincial China is also political. and municipal levels of government, and China says it is evolving into a “social- ist market economy with Chinese charac- teristics.” While critics consider that a tortuous way of har- monizing capitalistic practice with Com- munist ideology, it reflects a long and complex transi- tion from a plan- ned economy to more of a mar- Robert L. Kuhn, author and Citigroup China adviser 24 www.chiefexecutive.net December 2005 AGENDA 2006 I 11/10/05 10:58 AM Page 25 on each level among diverse commissions, BEST PRACTICES ministries, agencies, departments and bureaus with overlapping interests of turf Kuhn on the Do’s and Don’ts and power.
    [Show full text]
  • Foreign Policy and the Chinese Constitutions During the Hu Jintao Administration Jason Buhi
    Boston College International and Comparative Law Review Volume 37 | Issue 2 Article 2 5-15-2014 Foreign Policy and the Chinese Constitutions During the Hu Jintao Administration Jason Buhi Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, International Law Commons, and the International Trade Law Commons Recommended Citation Jason Buhi, Foreign Policy and the Chinese Constitutions During the Hu Jintao Administration, 37 B.C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 241 (2014), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr/vol37/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College International and Comparative Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FOREIGN POLICY AND THE CHINESE CONSTITUTIONS DURING THE HU JINTAO ADMINISTRATION JASON BUHI* Abstract: This Article is a close examination of how China’s dual constitution system—that is, the nexus of governing power as outlined between the State Constitution and the Communist Party Constitution—provides both jurisdic- tional and substantive guidance to Chinese foreign policy makers. It especially focuses on the Hu Jintao administration (2002–2012) as the foremost example of grounding foreign policy in the dual constitutions of China. With the suc- cess of the Hu administration, the Chinese constitutional law of foreign policy has become theoretically a unique extraterritorial projection of “the rule of law with Chinese characteristics,” with room for future development by both liberals and realists.
    [Show full text]
  • Censorship in Translation: the Dynamics of Non-, Partial and Full Translations in the Chinese Context Zaixi Tan
    Document generated on 10/01/2021 1:50 a.m. Meta Journal des traducteurs Translators’ Journal Censorship in Translation: The Dynamics of Non-, Partial and Full Translations in the Chinese Context Zaixi Tan Volume 62, Number 1, April 2017 Article abstract This research focuses upon how the translation of certain types of literature in URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1040466ar China evolved historically: from ‘non-translations’ (i.e., ‘translations’ unmade DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1040466ar as well as made and yet strictly forbidden under given censorship conditions) to ‘partial’ or ‘full/near-full’ translations set against the backdrop of changing See table of contents practices required by the country’s censorship policies. My analysis begins with an overview of the multi-faceted interface between censorship and translation, followed by the conceptualization of a typology of translations Publisher(s) under censorship. This initial discussion, in turn, allows me to resituate specific translations, including the once absented translations of earlier times Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal (i.e., prior to the 1949 Revolution or prior to the Cultural Revolution), which were initially taken at face value as ‘non-translations’ and yet which, later on, ISSN became ‘partial’ or ‘full/near-full’ translations under the country’s subsequently more relaxed censorial operations. I attempt to illustrate such 0026-0452 (print) shifts by means of in-depth discussion of the dynamic nature of translational 1492-1421 (digital) commitment in connection with the change-resistant properties and evolving priorities of censorship. In illustrating my arguments, I will draw specific Explore this journal examples from case studies of three well-known censorship-affected translations – i.e., On China (Kissinger 2011), Lolita (Nabokov 1991) and The Good Earth (Buck 1960), which, I argue, epitomise the shifting degrees of Cite this article translational commitment (‘non-,’ ‘partial’ and ‘full/near-full’) as they occurred in the Chinese context.
    [Show full text]