China's Developing Western Region with a Focus on Qinghai
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto Anja Lahtinen GOVERNANCE MATTERS CHINA’S DEVELOPING WESTERN REGION WITH A FOCUS ON QINGHAI PROVINCE ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be publicly discussed, by due permission of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki, in Auditorium XII, Unioninkatu 34, on the 8th of December, 2010, at 2 pm. Publications of the Institute for Asian and African Studies 11 ISBN 978-952-10-6679-5 (printed) ISBN 978-952-10-6680-1 (PDF) http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/ ISSN 1458-5359 Helsinki University Print Helsinki 2010 AKNOWLEDGEMENTS This doctoral dissertation is like a journey that began in 1986 with my first visit to China. I have witnessed how China has changed from being a poor country to one of the most powerful economies in the world. With my academic endeavors I have deepened my knowledge about its history, culture, language, and governance. Completing this dissertation would have been impossible without the support of academic colleagues, friends and family. I sincerely thank Professor Juha Janhunen, at the Department of World Cultures, Asian and African Studies at the University of Helsinki, for his valuable feedback and suggestions. I am also thankful for being a participant in the “Ethnic Interaction and Adaptation in Amdo Qinghai” project supported by the Academy of Finland and headed by Professor Janhunen. I express my gratitude to my supervisors Professor Kauko Laitinen at the Confucius Institute of Helsinki University for his advice and encouragement throughout the study process. Professor Lim Hua Sing at Waseda University in Japan provided me perspectives for developing the methodology for my PhD, thus greatly assisting my work in the preliminary phase. I am grateful to official examiners, Professor Gerard Postiglione (the University of Hong Kong) and Professor Zhang Yonghang (Renmin University) for their valuable suggestions for the thesis. My special thanks are reserved to Tiina Airaksinen PhD of the University of Helsinki for her inspiration, support, and comments during the research process. I address my warmest thanks to Professor Cao Huhua of the University of Ottawa for his kind cooperation during the years, and with whom I shared a joint seminar and several joint publications, as well as for his most valuable comments on my academic writings. I take the opportunity to thank warmly all the many people in China from academia, government, business, and others who have helped me in many ways, providing information, helping to contact people, and arranging meetings with my target groups. My special thanks go to Wang Shiyong, one of my informants from Qinghai and academic colleague. I am grateful for the financial support provided by the University of Helsinki, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, the Joel Toivola Foundation, and to the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies for a two-week visit in its library in Copenhagen. Finally, I wish to thank my family as without their support, sharing joys and sorrows, I could not have done this. My greatest strength has been my husband Hannu, who has always supported my endeavors. ABSTRACT This study is about governance in contemporary China. The focus is on Qinghai Province, one of the twelve provincial-level units included in the western region development strategy launched in 2000 by the government of China. Qinghai, the subject of the case study, is not a very well-known province. Hence, this study is significant, because it provides new knowledge about the province of Qinghai, its governance and diverse challenges, and deepens one’s overall knowledge regarding China. Qinghai province is one of the slowest developing regions of China. My research problem is to analyze to what extent provincial development correlates with the quality of governance. The central concept of this research is good governance. This dissertation employs a grounded theory approach while the theoretical framework of this study is built on the “Three World’s” approach of analyzing the three main themes, namely, the environment, economic development, and cultural diversity, and to support the empirical work. Philosophical issues in the humanities and contemporary theories of governance are brought in to provide deeper understanding of governance, and to understand to what extent and how characteristics of good governance (derived from the Western canon) are combined with Chinese tradition. A qualitative research method is chosen to provide a deeper understanding of the contemporary challenges of Qinghai (and China) and to provide some insight into the role and impact of governance on provincial development. It also focuses on the Tibetan ethnic group in order to develop as full an understanding as possible about the province. The challenges faced by Qinghai concern in particular its environment, economic development, and cultural diversity, all of which are closely interrelated. The findings demonstrate that Qinghai Province is not a powerful actor, because it has weak communications with the central government and weak collaboration with its stakeholders and civil society. How Qinghai’s provincial government conducts provincial development remains a key question in terms of shaping the province’s future. The question is how is Qinghai’s government best able to govern in a way that is beneficial for the people. This study demonstrates that this is a significant question that challenges governance everywhere, and particularly in China given the absence of democracy. This study provides the ingredients for reflection as to how provincial government can be motivated to choose to govern in a sustainable way, instead of leaning on growth factors with too little consideration about the impact on the environment and the people. CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 11 1.1 Importance of the study .............................................................................. 13 1.2 Previous research ........................................................................................ 14 1.2.1 Growth and development ..................................................................... 14 1.2.2 Regional inequalities ............................................................................ 15 1.2.3 Provincial development ....................................................................... 17 1.3 Research problem, research questions, hypotheses, and limitations .......... 18 1.4 Structure of the dissertation ........................................................................ 19 2 THEORETICAL DISCOURSE ............................................................................... 21 2.1 Theoretical framework ............................................................................... 21 2.1.1 Philosophies, theories, concepts, and definitions ................................ 21 2.1.2 Good governance ................................................................................. 29 2.1.3 Harmonious society and Confucian virtues ......................................... 31 2.1.4 Combining good governance with Chinese tradition ........................... 32 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................35 3.1 Data and methods ........................................................................................ 35 3.2 Research data .............................................................................................. 35 3.3 The fieldwork .............................................................................................. 37 3.4 Analysis and interpretation ......................................................................... 44 4 GOVERNANCE IN CHINA .................................................................................... 49 4.1 Administrative division of China ............................................................... 49 4.2 Governance legacies ................................................................................... 50 4.2.1 Traditional governance ........................................................................ 51 4.2.2 Western influence ................................................................................ 53 4.2.3 From Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping ................................................. 55 4.3 Governance system ..................................................................................... 59 4.3.1 Central government ……………………………................................. 59 4.3.2 Local government ................................................................................ 66 4.3.3 Ethnic autonomy ………………………….......................................... 70 4.4 Governance reforms ................................................................................... 74 4.4.1 Decentralization ................................................................................... 74 4.4.2 Civil service reform ............................................................................. 76 4.4.3 Anticipated political reform ................................................................. 78 4.5 Governance challenges ............................................................................... 84 4.5.1 The environment .................................................................................. 85 4.5.2 Economic development .......................................................................