Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper studies the ”China factor” in the economic and political development of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. I go beyond simply testing if trade with China has brought economic development to SSA countries, and focuses instead on the natural resource curse theory that natural resource abundant countries experience lower economic growth for overly relying on exporting their natural resources. The major hypotheses are derived from the NRC literature. First of all, according to the dutch disease theory, the curse takes effect when the terms of trade turn against the manufacturing sector as a result of higher returns to the natural resource sector from the growing foreign demand. Secondly, overly relying on natural resource wealth might also reduce the investments in the human capital, which is critical for a developing country to have a more sophisticated industrial structure. Finally, resource wealth can also easily lend itself to rent-seeking behavior by politicians, which obviously raises institutional costs to growth. This paper aims to offer empirical evidence for the causal impact of exporting natural resources to China on African economic and political development.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines the primacy of unification in China�s strategic thinking. Sinocentric wisdom upholds China�s �great unity.� Unification is regarded as the guarantor of stability and prosperity while division the recipe for chaos and sufferings. I highlight that the Chinese term for China, zhongguo, originally meant �central states� in plurality. I develop a rigorous definition of unification and show that zhongguo was more often divided than unified. I also demonstrate that the drive to achieve and maintain unification produced wars of annihilation, wars of repression, and wars of conquest. Moreover, unification did not necessarily contribute to human welfare. Singular zhongguo tended to repress dissent, stifle trade, and dominate its neighbors. In contrast, plural zhongguo was favorable to the development of state-society bargains, commercial activities, and diplomatic relations. Paradoxically, it was unification that brought about �great disorder under heaven,� and division that had the potential to realize �great unity under heaven.� This contrast is more pronounced if we extend the analysis from the Chinese heartland to the periphery.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examined the news framing of Nixon�s visit to China in 1972 and the Chinese President, Hu Jintao�s visit to the U.S. in 2006 in two U.S. elite newspapers: The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. We are trying to answer two questions: (1) How did American elite newspapers cover these two Head-of-state visits? (2) How did the image of China in American newspapers change historically from 1972 to 2006? Through a qualitative framing analysis, this study found that the dominant ideology in American society functioned as the main source of framing in the coverage of the Presidents� visits. Both of the two newspapers� coverage reflected the ideology of anti-communism in the 1970s and China�s threat as a superpower in late 1990s. However, the analysis also demonstrated that the contingent ideology and journalistic ideology in the newsroom also played an essential part in news judgment.

Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: As China rushes toward its seemingly unstoppable destiny of renaissance, the misunderstandings and suspicions about China�s rise onto the world stage have also been growing among foreign countries, particularly in the United States. In reaction, as early as the 1990s, China adopted a loosely defined national strategy to introduce, explain its intention, and at the same time, promote a benign and peaceful image in the United States and across the world. Among all the targeted audiences, politicians in the Washington D.C. area and general public in the United States are at the top of the list. However, little is known about the evolution of this government-sponsored campaign, the objective of its effort, the procedures of its operation, and most importantly, the effect of such a strategic move. In this study, the researcher will review the orientation, characteristics and implications of the Chinese government�s proactive, calculated, and concerted effort to build up its new image through various public relations campaigns. The main data will be gathered from a wide variety of sources, including the media reports by both Chinese and foreign media, Chinese government documents, U.S. federal agency�s record (Department of Justice), interviews with American lobbying firms and Chinese PR agencies, and the scholar�s personal experiences. Some representative cases over the past decade involving Chinese government PR effort (Lenovo�s IBM purchase in 2004; CNOOC�s failed merger attempt in 2005; product quality-related incidents in 2007; and 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing) will be reviewed and their actual effects will be evaluated.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: By tracing the rise and social significance of one of China's most well known 'AIDS heroes,' actor Pu Cunxin, I examine celebrity in the realm of public health activism and contribute to the emerging research on 'aid celebrities'.