Peculiarities of China's Politics and Culture
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Peculiarities of China’s Politics and Culture Edited by Joanna Marszałek-Kawa Kamila Rezmer-Płotka Series Biblioteka Azji i Pacyfiku Editor-in-Chief Joanna Marszałek-Kawa Secretary Bartosz Płotka The Editorial Board Kamal M. Abdulla (Azerbaijan), Daulet L. Baideldinov (Kazakhstan), Marceli Burdelski (Poland), He Yaomin (China), Hassan A. Jamsheer (Poland), Vasyl Marchuk (Ukraine), Joanna Marszałek-Kawa (Poland), Miao Huashou (China), Vladimir I. Nifadiev (Kyrgyzstan), Ewa Oziewicz (Poland), Zdzisław Puślecki (Poland), Akmal Saidov (Uzbekistan), Grażyna Strnad (Poland), Peter Vorel (Czech Republic) Reviewers Professor Dr Hab. Jerzy Sielski Professor Dr Hab. Akmal Saidov Publishing editor: Paweł Jaroniak Technical editing: Ryszard Kurasz Proofreading: Team Cover design: Krzysztof Galus © Copyright by Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek All rights reserved. The book you have purchased is the work of the author and the publisher. No part of it may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission in writing from the copyright owner. In case of brief quotations of the work do not change the contents and make sure to note whose it is Toruń 2020 ISBN 978-83-8180-263-5 Sales Department: tel./fax 56 648 50 70, [email protected] Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, ul. Lubicka 44, 87–100 Toruń tel. 56 664 22 35, 56 660 81 60, e-mail: [email protected], www.marszalek.com.pl Drukarnia, ul. Warszawska 54, 87–148 Łysomice, tel. 56 678 34 78 Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................ 5 Adrian Brona Career Patterns of Former First Secretaries of the Chinese Communist Youth League ........................... 11 Lia Gubashvili, Joanna Karaś, Przemysław Sieradzan Shenzhen, The Pearl River Delta Metropolis: from a Remote Village to the Center of Innovation and Technology .......................................................................... 32 Przemysław Osiewicz China and Its Foreign Policy Toward the Middle East: the Case of Syria ........................................................................ 55 Zuzanna Halina Sielska China between European Union and Russia – A New Player in Struggle for Influence on the Balkan Peninsula ............................................................ 73 4 Table of Contents Artur F. Tomeczek Japan’s Territorial Disputes with China and Russia ............. 93 Przemysław Sieradzan Japanese Puppet State of Manchukuo in Northeast China and its Contemporary Legacy .................................................. 114 Aleksandra Brzostek Vernacular Narratives Made in China ................................... 140 Łukasz Danel The Asian Part of the Commonwealth – the Problematic Case of the Maldives .................................... 152 Preface We are pleased to present you another publication in the Asia- Pacific Library series as a result of the 6th International Asian Congress which took place on May 16–17, 2019 in Toruń. We are extremely pleased that so many researchers try to bring closer and disseminate research results related to Asia through their publications. This volume is devoted to China – the su- perpower that is a source of many inspirations and endless considerations for Europe. Skillfully conducted internal and international policy puts this country in the center of research- ers’ inquiries. That is where the idea for this publication comes from. China is also one of the fastest developing countries, and thus the cradle of innovation, new technologies and modern solutions that affect the quality of life of both Chinese resi- dents and us – Europeans. In today’s world we are dealing with a multitude of guides that are to show how to live, be rich, achieve goals and have a dizzying career. In the face of this, it is not surprising that so many of us are looking in the biographies of actors, painters and politicians timeless tips on how to have outstanding in life. Researchers whose work is based primarily on the implemen- tation of the explanatory function are also looking for the jus- tification of the decisions taken by the government, the secret to their hearing, attempts to define such concepts and charac- teristics as, for example, charisma. People create politics, so it is reasonable to leave an individual, a single story, a career to be able to study these phenomena. For this reason, the volume is opened by the text of Adrian Brona titled “Career Patterns of Former First Secretaries of the Chinese Communist Youth 6 Preface League”. The author undertook the analysis of the career path of all the first CYL secretaries since 1978, looking for com- mon points, a model that would allow to find a key to success, becoming a political elite. The starting point in the consid- erations are career patterns in the study of Chinese political elites. The author outlines the general biographies of the first ten CYL secretaries and analyzes the career patterns before choosing to be the league leader. Finally, he reflects on career patterns after retiring from CYL. Confucius attributed a large role in shaping man to civiliza- tion and development opportunities that every human being possesses. Therefore, in the text titled “Shenzhen, The Pearl River Delta Metropolis: from a Remote Village to the Center of Innovation and Technology” the authors, Lia Gubashvili, Joanna Karaś and Przemysław Sieradzan, undertook an inves- tigation of the case of the provincial town of Shenzhen, which is currently one of the main centers of industrial, technological and political modern China. The authors referring to Zhang Weiwei define them as a kind of symbols of the new Chinese model of civilization. It is currently the fourth city in China in terms of population, the third in terms of gross domestic product and the center of modern technologies. Researchers both approximated the genesis of Shenzhen’s development and pointed out the main elements that make up the city’s undoubted success which can be an inspiration for other cities and countries. The topic of civilization is inseparably connected with for- eign policy. Samuel Huntington, the creator of one of the most popular theories, even argued that in the future world politics will be dominated by collisions between civilizations1 – which we, more or less, observe yet these days. For this reason, in 1 S.P. Huntington, Zderzenie cywilizacji (Clash of Civilizations), War- saw 2008. Preface 7 another text titled “China and Its Foreign Policy Toward the Middle East: the Case of Syria”, Przemysław Osiewicz using geopolitical categories, examined the actions and decisions taken as a part of China’s foreign policy toward the Middle East, and in this case specifically Syria – a place that is now a hotspot and a source of many bloody disputes and conflicts. The researcher emphasized the fact that China, which planned Belt and Road Initiative runs through potential conflict areas in Central Asia and the Middle East, in the face of the current situation, even modified its foreign policy toward the Syrian conflict in order to stabilize the situation in the region. In the text “China between European Union and Russia – A New Player in Struggle for Influence on the Balkan Penin- sula” Zuzanna Sielska put China as a player for influence in the Balkans alongside Russia and the European Union. The Balkans were treated not only as a geographical area but also as a concept defining the historical and cultural community. The author recognized the potential of China, which through the implementation of its investment policy and investment plans for the region, become attractive to the countries that make up the region and competitive due to the lack of require- ments as to the worldview or professed values in these areas. According to the author, this is particularly important in the face of progressive radicalization occurring in the world. Remaining in the subject of competition and disputes, the researcher Artur Tomeczek, in turn, took up the subject of territorial disputes in the context of Japan, China and Russia in the text “Japan’s Territorial Disputes with China and Russia”. Specifically, he referred to the Kuril Islands which are currently administered by Russia, and the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands ad- ministered by Japan. According to the author, in the former case, claims for the southernmost parts are put forward by Japan, while in the latter, by People’s Republic of China and 8 Preface the Republic of China. In the article, the researcher tried to bring closer the historical background and explain the current situation and existing territorial disputes. Another author, Przemysław Sieradzan, also referred to Ja- pan in his text “Japanese Puppet State of Manchukuo in North- east China and its Contemporary Legacy”. The researcher un- dertook an extremely difficult topic, because it is related to crimes committed against the Chinese nation. This is a refer- ence to the atrocities committed by the Japanese occupiers in northeastern China, and Manchukuo was a polity created by Japanese armed forces in 1932 in Northeast China and east- ern part of Inner Mongolia after its invasion of those territo- ries, which had existed until its abolishment by the Soviet Red Army in August 1945. The author introduced the reader to both difficult history and analysis of the geopolitical signifi- cance of Manchukuo, its demography and the contemporary legacy. Fortunately, history is not only a picture of past armed con- flicts, losses and deaths. It is people who have created their cultures for centuries, including beliefs,