A new issue of the «Far Eastern Affairs» N2, 2021 has been released [e-version].
Contents
FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Politics
Portyakov V.Ya. Highlights of the Foreign Policy Course of the People’s Republic of China in 2020
Shirgazina E.R. Problems and Prospects of Indo-Nepalese Relations
Trunov Ph.O. Germany`s Participation in Military-political “Containment” of China
Economics
Muromtseva Z.A., Panova D.A. Innovative Vector of Economic Use of the Space Industry as a Task of Industrialization of a New Type of the People’s Republic of China in the XIV Five-Year Plan and Long-term Development
State and Society
Alekseenko A.P. Regulation of Digital Financial Assets in Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China
View Point
Li Yinan. M. Gorbachev’s Contribution to the Normalization of Sino-Soviet Relations and Further Development of Sino-Russian Relations
History
Verchenko A.L., Golovachev V.C. The Tryout Decryption of «Chinese Silhouettes»: an Old Photo from the Archive of the Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow
Kalkaev E.G. Trotskyist Terrorist Organization. The Chinese and the Beginning of the «Harbin» NKVD Operation in Moscow
Kukeev D.G. The History of the Zunghars and Some Collections of the Manchu Archives of the PRC
Russian Far East
Izotov D.A. Directions of Economic Interactions between Russia and the APR Countries: the Case of the Russian Far East
Datsyshen V.G. Problems of the Development of Russian-Chinese Interregional Cooperation in the 1990s on the Example of the Novosibirsk Region and Heilongjiang Province
Religion
Smirnov D.A., Stepanova E.N. The Christian Community in Taiwan and in Greater China on the Modern Stage
Culture
Selezneva N.V. Restructuring of the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban): The Fate of the Confucius Institutes
Scientific events
Semina L.I., Kalmykova M.V. Joint Conference of Scientists of the Central Research Institute of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Sunsil University (Republic of Korea)
Demido N.Yu. Annual Conference of the Center for Political Studies and Forecasting Institute of Far Eastern Studies Russian Academy of Sciences
Scholar Jubilee
Jubilee of Klimenko Anatoly Filippovich
Ad Memoriam
In memory of Anastasia Ivanovna Kartunova
In memory of Aida Semyonovna Ipatova
In memory of Anatoly Evgenievich Lukyanov
Highlights of the Foreign Policy Course of the People’s Republic of China in 2020
Vladimir Ya. Portyakov
In the context of the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic in 2020, the Chinese leadership had to make serious adjustments to its foreign policy. Central to it were the attempts to remove the blame from China for the spread of the epidemic around the world. Beijing’s practical policy in the international arena was significantly influenced by unprecedented pressure from the Trump administration, which declared its rejection of the CCP and its domestic and foreign policy course and threatened a complete break between the United States and China. Beijing’s relations with Europe have become more complicated, and those with India have noticeably deteriorated. In the current situation, Beijing has confirmed the line of close cooperation with the Russian Federation. The features of China’s interaction with leading international organizations in 2020 are examined in the article.
Problems and Prospects of Indo-Nepalese Relations
Elsa R. Shirgazina
Indo-Nepalese relations, which were often defined as friendly and close by the politicians of both countries, are experiencing a crisis currently. Its reasons are the aggravation of the border issue and Nepal’s aspiration to demonstrate its independence in the face of growing domestic political problems in both countries, the exacerbation of Indian-Chinese relations and the outbreak of the COVID-2019 pandemic. This article analyzes the key contact points of interests, the conflict potential of bilateral relations, and its background. The paper uses a comprehensive approach that takes into account the importance of the domestic political factor.
Germany’s Participation in Military-political “Containment” of China
Philipp O. Trunov
The article discusses German participation in the realization of anti-China military steps in the context of FRG`s interest to secure its military presence in the Far East. The development of German-Chinese cooperation in the sphere of security and defence is valued. In comparison with it the paper issues the dialogue of Germany with Singapore, Japan, Southern Korea, Australia in the military-political field. There are differences in German readiness to support the PRC`s containment system by the US during Trump`s and Biden`s administrations. The article concludes about the promising German anti-China military steps.
Innovative Vector of Economic Use of the Space Industry as a Task of Industrialization of a New Type of the People’s Republic of China in the XIV Five-Year Plan and Long-term Development
Zoya A. Muromtseva
Daria A. Panova
China sees establishing a leading position in the economic and military use of outer space as a key component of its goal to realize the «great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation». The new landscape of the space industry ecosystem of the PRC is characterized by the complementarity of traditional participants in the face of state corporations and new innovative commercial space companies. In the new «five-year plan», the Chinese government will continue to expand the economic use of the space industry with the strengthening and deepening of public and private partnerships.
Regulation of Digital Financial Assets in Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China
Aleksandr P. Alekseenko
This article analyzes the acts of the People’s Bank of China and the Monetary Authority of Macau, which showed that the recognition of ICO as illegal financing, as well as the prohibition to financial organizations to perform exchange operations with tokens and cryptocurrency are the measures aimed at preventing corruption and money laundering. Hong Kong unlike mainland China and Macau partially regulates digital financial assets. If tokens and cryptocurrencies have the characteristics of securities or futures, then their turnover falls within the scope of the legislation on the securities market. Otherwise, transactions with them are unregulated, and protection is not provided to investors.
M. Gorbachev’s Contribution to the Normalization of Sino-Soviet Relations and Further Development of Sino-Russian Relations
Li Yinan
When Gorbachev came to power in March 1985, there still remained high-degree hostility as in the past two decades between the Soviet Union and China. In order to get rid of the abnormal state of Sino-Soviet relations as soon as possible, Gorbachev completely abandoned the old China policy of the Brezhnev era, made concessions and gradually fulfilled all of China’s demands in political consultations. Based on this, the Sino-Soviet summit held in May 1989 in Beijing officially marked the normalization of Sino-Soviet relations. The joint Sino-Soviet communiqué, released after the summit, indicated that after the normalization, the development of Sino-Soviet relations would be based on the “five principles of peaceful coexistence” and would not be directed against any third country. Meanwhile, during his visit to China, Gorbachev reached agreements with Chinese leaders to thoroughly resolve the territorial issue and create a mechanism for high-level political dialogue. The end of the enmity between the USSR and the PRC and the elimination of territorial disputes laid the foundation for a smooth transition of Sino-Soviet relationship to Sino-Russian one. In the spirit of the Sino-Soviet summit and the joint Sino-Soviet communiqué of 1989, the Russian Federation and the PRC began to establish a new type relationship, which is non-allied, non-confrontational and not directed against any third country on the legal basis of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation in 2001. This is a significant diplomatic legacy and lasting vitality left by Gorbachev for Russia.
The Tryout Decryption of «Chinese Silhouettes»: an Old Photo from the Archive of the Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow
Alla L. Verchenko
Valentin C. Golovachev
The article contains a special study of a famous photograph, picturing a group of nine graduates from the China Toilers’ Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow. Using documents and photos from the RGASPI archive, memoirs and correspondence, press and academic materials in Russian, Chinese and English, revealed during several years of research work, the authors examine the identities of the characters on the photo, trace their fates before and after studying at the University, try to determine their common relationship and to date the photo. All these young people were eager to fight for the common goal — to take part in the China Revolution, but after graduating from the university their fates turned out to be very different. The article is published in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.
Trotskyist Terrorist Organization. The Chinese and the Beginning of the «Harbin» NKVD Operation in Moscow
Evgeny G. Kalkaev
The article is devoted to the background of the beginning of the «Chinese» operation in Moscow during the period of the Great Terror. A group of Chinese arrested in 1937 was accused of participating in the Trotskyist terrorist organization, but after the start of «national operations» their cases were considered as part of the «Harbin» operation.
The History of the Zunghars and Some Collections of the Manchu Archives of the PRC
Dorji G. Kukeyev
The article reviews the situation with the Manchu archival documents of the PRC (the First Historical Archive in Beijing), which reflects information on the history of the Zunghar Khanate. The Archive in Beijing has a huge number of the first-hand sources on the history of Qing-Zunghar relations, and in this regard, the author pays attention to some collections of the archive of the Grand Council (Junjichu), namely the collections of the Yishi dang archive («Foreign Embassies»), and «Aocha dang» («Archive [on] the «boiling of tea» [to the monasteries in Tibet]»). The appearance of new information on the history of Oirats must spur interest to the Manchu archives. Thus, the further in-depth study of Chinese and Manchu materials on the history of Oirats from the archives of China and Taiwan is highly relevant. The article is based on factual material with foreign sources, which are not available in the Russian literature.
Directions of Economic Interactions between Russia and the APR Countries: the Case of the Russian Far East
Dmitry A. Izotov
The directions of intensifying trade and economic relations between the Russian Far East and the APR countries are shown in the article. The author determined that the current expansion of trade interactions between the Russian Far East and the APR countries is carried out on the concept of «resource transit» and strengthening of economic relations with China. The possibilities of intensifying the economic relations of the Russian Far East with the countries of the APR, as well as limiting such interactions are shown.
Problems of the Development of Russian-Chinese Interregional Cooperation in the 1990s on the Example of the Novosibirsk Region and Heilongjiang Province
Vladimir G. Datsyshen
The article is devoted to the problems of development of the Russian-Chinese interregional cooperation in the 1990s. The historical picture of direct cooperation between the Novosibirsk Region, including the city of Novosibirsk itself, and Heilongjiang Province has been restored on the basis of documents from the collections of the Novosibirsk archives and materials of the periodical press. The restoration of the historical picture of events allowed us to identify and consider the problems and contradictions that took place in Russian-Chinese relations at the end of the 20th century. The province of Heilongjiang was among the main partners of the Novosibirsk region, the priority was given to various forms of trade and economic cooperation, the most active ties were developed in 1992–1993. Most cooperation projects were not implemented, by the end of 1990, the interest of local authorities and the public in interregional cooperation with China somewhat weakened. Nevertheless, Novosibirsk has retained its position as a leading regional center of Russian-Chinese relations.
The Christian Community in Taiwan and Greater China at the Present Stage
Dmitry A. Smirnov
Elena N. Stepanova
The article analyses the process of Christianization in Taiwan and Greater China, the reasons for its intensity changes in different periods in comparison with the similar processes in the South-Eastern states, the peculiarities taiwanization and sinization of Christianity, the choice of languages for Christian messes in Taiwan as well as the long-term problems of China and Vatican relationship which inevitably concern Taiwan, and the perspective of “catacomb” Catholic church appearance in Hong Kong.
Restructuring of the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban): The Fate of the Confucius Institutes
Natalia V. Selezneva
The article briefly overviews the process of restructuring of the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) and the Headquarters of Confucius Institutes. Based on the original sources in Chinese, it describes the management, functions and structure of new organizations that will implement the Chinese “cultural soft power”, promote and disseminate the Chinese language and culture in the world as the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and the China International Education Foundation. The article attempts to predict, how the reorganization will affect the work of the existing Confucius Institutes and how they will fit into the new concept of promoting the Chinese language and culture in the world.