A new issue of the «Far Eastern Studies» N3, 2022 has been released [e-version].
Contents
Politics
Lukin A.V., Pugacheva O.S. Russian Priorities and Approaches to the Korean Peninsula
Liang Zhenpeng, Kozinets A.I. Institutional Transformation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization after Expansion: State, Problems and Prospects
Economics
Zueva A.G., Samsonova V.G., Semina L.I. Economy of the Republic of Korea in the Face of New Challenges
View point
Song Zhihao. On the Notion of “Peaceful Rise” and its Value Orientations: Some Views from China
Russian Far East
Ning Yanhong, Wang Wei. Economic and Cultural Problems of Chinese Emigrants’ Activities in the East of Russia during the Soviet and Post-Soviet Periods of Russian History
Military Build-up
Wu Yanbin. Implementation of Indo-Pacific Military Policy in North-East Asia and China’s Response
History
Verchenko A.L. The First Soviet Delegation to People’s Republic of China (September — October, 1949)
Kalkaev E.G. Chinese Migrants between Two People’s Commissariats: the History of the Re-registration of the Chinese Population of the Eastern Regions of the USSR in 1936–1937
Smirnov V.V. Chinese Interpreters and Soviet Specialists in Shaanxi Province during the Great Leap Forward
Culture
Chesnokova N.A. Korean Rulers’ Inalienable Insignias: The Seals of the Yi Dynasty (1392–1910)
Education
Zavyalova O.I. Chinese and English in the Globalization Epoch
Huang Shizeng. Remembering Sixty Years of Teaching Russian
Religion
Zhao Zhengnan. An Overview of Chinese Historiography of the History of the Russian Orthodox Church
Scientific Events
Ostrovskii A.V. Annual All-Russian Scientific Conference Center for Socio-Economic Research of China IFES RAS. “New Horizons of the PRC Economy: Tasks for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025)”
Book Review
Ostrovskii A.V. Book Review: The History of North-East China XVII–XX. Volume 4. North-East China in 1979–1999. Vladivostok: IHAE FEB RAS, 2021. 452 p.
Portyakov V.Ya. Book Review: Russia in the Indo-Pacific. New Approaches to Russian Foreign Policy. Edited By Gaye Christoffersen. London and New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2022. 285 p.
Russian Priorities and Approaches to the Korean Peninsula
Alexander V. Lukin
Oksana S. Pugacheva
The paper comprehensively examines Russia’s foreign policy towards the Korean Peninsula. Its scientific relevance is defined by the unsettled issues on the Korean Peninsula, including the nuclear one, and the peninsula’s geographical proximity to the Russian Far East, the development of which is a priority task for Russia in the 21st century. The aim of the study is to analyze Russian approaches to the Korean settlement. The methodology includes the systemic and geopolitical approaches. Russia is interested in the peaceful situation on the Korean Peninsula, its denuclearization and the development of multilateral economic cooperation there. In principle, Russia would not object to the unification of Korea, provided that the process of unification would occur peacefully in conditions of social stability and it would not cause serious conflicts between the regional powers. However, it is not ready to take any active steps to achieve unification of Korea. The reason is Russia’s unwillingness to exacerbate the existing tensions, irritate friendly China, and, what is especially important in the context of the growing confrontation with the United States, eliminate the DPRK as a potential partner in this confrontation. Russia prioritizes the six-party talks format for a comprehensive settlement of the Korean crisis in the context of reformatting the security architecture in Northeast Asia. It is unlikely that the Russian proposals will be implemented in the medium and long term since, firstly, the DPRK prefers to discuss its nuclear program directly with the United States. Secondly, the United States is seeking to strengthen the existing security structure in the region, based on bilateral alliances. The current acute confrontation between Russia and the United States as well as between the United States and China makes it practically unrealistic to create a united front to achieve denuclearization of the DPRK. The authors believe that resolving the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula without direct Russian participation would be more profitable for Russia than the status quo with the DPRK continuing to build up its nuclear missile potential and no opportunities for Russia to implement trilateral economic projects on the Korean peninsula.
Institutional Transformation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization after Expansion: Status, Problems and Prospects
Liang Zhenpeng
Andrei I. Kozinets
This article was written for the 21st anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO is undergoing the period of transformation and development. On the one hand, the expansion of membership can increase the scale and authority of the organization on the global arena. On the other hand, it can bring challenges for the consensus building inside the organization. The Organization has successfully completed the first round of participants expansion, which have altered both global and regional political and economic landscapes. Authors mention that as a result of the enlargement of the Member States number, the organization faces some functional difficulties, including those in the process of elaboration and implementation of important decisions. To improve the efficiency of the organization’s secretariat, it is necessary to increase its administrative status and expand its powers. It may be the time to rethink the decision-making format, which would reflect the changed balance of power within the organization after the expansion of participants. The significantly increased complexity of relationship among Member States makes it more difficult to follow the original principle of consensus all the time. The SCO needs an effective decision-making mechanism to avoid turning into a «clubhouse». In this regard, it can be relevant to switch to the decision-making by majority when it is needed to resolve urgent and questions, while maintaining the use of consensus decision-making for long-term issues. An important task for the sustainable development of the organization is to develop a unified concept of cultural values of the SCO, corresponding to the «Shanghai spirit». The authors underline the need to strengthen the coordination of the SCO’s interaction with regional organizations in Eurasia, such as the CSTO and the EAEU, to ensure stability and prosperity in the macroregion.
Economy of the Republic of Korea in the Face of New Challenges
Alexandra G. Zueva
Viktoria G. Samsonova
Lada I. Semina
The South Korean economic miracle is cited as an example of the consolidation of business and government acting in the interests of the country’s prosperity. Thanks to the industrialization carried out in a short time and the implementation of the export-oriented economy model, the Republic of Korea received the status of a developed country already in the mid-1990s. One of the important factors of South Korean success at the global level is that the foreign economic relations of the Republic of Korea were closely intertwined with access to world markets, technologies, and investments. However, the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the global geopolitical shift has been testing even the most sustainable economics. Since the South Korean economy has been deeply integrated into international trade and finance, it becomes very vulnerable to external challenges. Deepening partnership with the United States requires the administration of President Yoon to diversify foreign economic ties dramatically. At the domestic level new administration of President Yoon faces unresolved economic problems, which only have been worsening. First of all, it is unemployment (especially among young people), inflation, real estate crisis, problem of an aging population. One of the main focuses in the article is Russian-South Korean economic partnership and its prospects. The authors noted that our economic partnership due to strict sanction’s policy against Russia is under pressure.
In the article, the authors analyze the external and internal challenges for the economy of the ROK at the present stage.
On the Notion of “Peaceful Rise” and its Value Orientations: Some Views from China
Song Zhihao
As Chinese President Xi Jinping assesses, the entire world is now facing unprecedented changes not seen before in hundreds of years. In this respect, China has in recent years increasingly turned to its tradition, including philosophical concepts of ancient thinkers and traditional values, to draw on its own historical experience in the search for new formulas and ways of building (or rebuilding) a world order, as well as to promote its “peaceful rise”.
In this article author attempts to find answers to the question, “What is meant by China’s peaceful rise?” in the writings of Chinese scholars. It briefly outlines the ongoing debate on the essence of China’s peaceful rise, and hence the experts’ views on what impact the Chinese rise may have on the world order as a whole. The paper pays attention to the question of value orientations in this process by analyzing a number of new so-called Chinese theories of international relations and foreign policy. Examples touched upon include the theory of the “celestial” system, the theory of “moral realism”, and the theory of new cosmopolitanism, the development of which takes into account the essential need of modern China at the international level. In particular, their role for the construction of the community of destiny of mankind both on the theoretical and practical foreign policy level is also studied.
As the main conclusion, it is noted that China today is gradually moving along the specific path, the essence of which is reflected in the four idioms put forward by Fei Xiaotong. Adhering to this path, China takes various opportunities and occasions to show the world which way it will develop under the guidance of values emanating from the depths of Chinese history and culture.
Economic and Cultural Problems of Chinese Emigrants’ Activities in the East of Russia during the Soviet and Post-Soviet Periods of Russian History
Ning Yanhong
Wang Wei
The article is devoted to the study of labor migration in the system of Russian (Soviet)-Chinese relations 1949–2019. The article is based on unique previously unpublished archival data and field research. The authors consider the circumstances that had a significant impact on the migration policy of the USSR, which, in conditions of a small number of its own population, needed to attract immigrants from China to the Far East and the Siberian part of the USSR; analyze the reasons and benefits of the PRC, allowing the leadership of the republic to send its citizens to study and work in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. Using concrete examples and archival data, the authors studied the dynamics of Chinese migration, the reasons for their moving abroad and returning to their homeland, highlighting two periods of active Chinese migration to Russia: 1) 1949–1966; 2) 1990–2019. The authors studied the activities of Chinese communities in Russian (Soviet) territories in both periods and came to the conclusion that these two periods are radically different from each other. During the «Soviet period» of labor migration, Chinese workers, on the one hand, easily assimilated in the Far East and Siberia, easily made friends among the local population, married Soviet women, on the other hand, maintained contact with their native culture, transported their wives and children to the USSR, who had a specially created kindergarten and school program for them with the study of Chinese lingua and culture. The «Russian period» is distinguished by the isolation of the life of Chinese communities, many of whose members have illegal status and are engaged in corruption. Nevertheless, labor migrants from China feel very comfortable living in the Far East and Siberia. Most Chinese emigrants have the goal of improving their economic situation and getting an education, achieving which more than 99 % of Chinese return to China.
Implementation of Indo-Pacific Military Policy in North-East Asia and China’s Response
Wu Yanbin
This article examines the current structure of US military forces in Japan and South Korea and the implementation of the Indo-Pacific military policy of the United States in Northeast Asia, and briefly describes China’s response to the Indo-Pacific military policy of the United States. Since the Second World War, the US has had huge national interests in Northeast Asia, and the region is one of the main areas in which the US promotes its democratic values and concentrates its military and strategic planning. In recent years, as China’s military modernization has accelerated, the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) has become increasingly active in East Asia and the Western Pacific. The rapid rise of mainland China is being felt by the US and is one of the main reasons why the US has shifted its attention to the Asia-Pacific region in the second half of the Obama administration’s presidential term. The Indo-Pacific strategy is an important component of the US security strategy formally proposed by the Trump administration, and its effectiveness in Northeast Asia will largely determine the continuity and success of US strategy in the Indo-Pacific. The concrete implementation of US military policy in the Indo-Pacific region will inevitably affect the security situation in the region, change relations between countries in the region, and will also have an important impact on the future political landscape of the world.
The First Soviet Delegation to the People’s Republic of China (September — November, 1949)
Alla L. Verchenko
The article for the first time goes into details of the activities of the members of the first Soviet delegation of scientific, cultural and artistic figures who visited the People’s Republic of China from September, 27, to November, 3, 1949. The delegation headed by A.A. Fadeyev included prominent Soviet scholars, writers, Stalin Prize winners and a group of performers. The purpose of the visit was to demonstrate the Soviet Union’s friendship and support, to get acquainted with the situation in the sphere of the Chinese culture and to figure out possible areas of future bilateral cultural cooperation.
The article shows the importance of using a source, such as written reports of Soviet and Chinese origin, to deepen historical research. The documents demonstrate extraordinary warm and enthusiastic atmosphere in which the Soviet delegation found itself, whether on the 1st October on the Tiananmen Square, or the Congress for Peace, the founding conference of the China-Soviet Friendship Society (CSFS), numerous meetings with workers, peasants, intellectuals, students. The archival documents, analyzed by the author, provided an overview of the delegation’s program, the content of the speeches of the members of the delegation at mass meetings, thematic meetings and lectures for specialists. All the above has helped to find out items for cooperation with the new-born Chinese state and public organizations in the field of culture. The author comes to a conclusion that the productive discussions held in China resulted later in concrete proposals, which were passed by the delegation to the Communist Party Central Committee. Many of them were implemented in the process of the Soviet-Chinese cultural cooperation in the 1950s.
Chinese Migrants between Two People’s Commissariats: the History of the Re-registration of the Chinese Population of the Eastern Regions of the USSR in 1936–1937
Evgeny G. Kalkaev
The article is devoted to the little known history of the re-registration of the Chinese population of the Soviet Far East and Eastern Siberia. The purpose of this large-scale campaign was to solve problems with the issuance of Chinese national passports and residence permits to Chinese migrants. The need for the campaign arose both from the «traditional» problem of Chinese migrants in the USSR — the lack of necessary documents, and also from a number of new factors that emerged in 1932–1934. The issue of the need for this re-registration was raised by the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs in the spring of 1934. After mutual approval by the NKVD (People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs) and Chinese diplomats, re-registration was carried out from the beginning of September 1936 to the end of April 1937. It was carried out by the consulates of the Republic of China under control of Soviet authorities.
Despite the long preparation, this attempt was not successful. On the one hand, a negative role was played by the NKVD. The activities of this People’s Commissariat in many cases contradicted the tasks of re-registration. Representatives of the NKVD often directly violated the instructions. On the other hand, largely due to the obstacles that the People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs was putting up, the necessary information was not provided to Chinese migrants, many of whom did not understand the meaning of re-registration. But above all, such result of the campaign was due to the general changes in the political situation in the USSR, which occurred from the time the issue of re-registration was raised in 1934 to the time of its staring in September 1936 and, moreover, to the end of re-registration at the end of April 1937.
Chinese Interpreters and Soviet Specialists in Shaanxi Province during the Great Leap Forward
Vadim V. Smirnov
The issue of the Soviet Union’s assistance to China in the 1950s and the subsequent dispatch of a large number of Soviet specialists cannot be fully studied without revealing the role of interpreters in the process of providing this assistance, because it was translators who were the main link that allowed to transfer of extensive Soviet experience to the Chinese side. The Chinese archival documents at our disposal allow us to reveal the nature and content of the work of Chinese interpreters with Soviet specialists in the territory of Shaanxi Province. This province became a new center of military production in China due to the concentrated assistance of the USSR to create military facilities during the first and partly second Chinese five-year plans. The content of our documents allows us to reveal the methods and principles of the organization of translation activities by the Chinese leadership for Soviet specialists during the years of the Great Leap Forward. It is in the documents of this period that we can detect the emergence of a new understanding of the basic functions of the interpreters. If previously interpreters were mainly a link for the transfer of Soviet knowledge and experience to the Chinese side, then in the years of the Great Leap Forward one of the main functions of the interpreters were the tasks of relaying Chinese ideological postulates in relation to specialists. Chinese side tried to convey the ideas of the Great Leap Forward to the soviet specialists through interpreters in order to turn them into a tool for implementing the super-tasks for Chinese society. In this regard, one of the main requirements for Chinese interpreterss was their ideological literacy, which was even higher than knowledge of the Russian language and translation skills. At the same time attempts at ideological pressure on Soviet specialists led to increased alienation and conflicts between the parties.
Korean Rulers’ Inalienable Insignias: The Seals of the Yi Dynasty (1392–1910)
Nataliya A. Chesnokova
This article focuses on insignias that belonged to the Yi dynasty who ruled Joseon Kingdom (1392–1897) and the Korean empire (1897–1910). The main object of the study is the royal seals guksae, oksae and eobo.
Through the visual changes happened to the seals we examine how the status of the rulers of these states had been changing. Guksae and oksae were insignias symbolizing the status of the state. They belonged to the Yi clan while it had the state power. Eobo seals were inalienable insignias belonging to a specific person.
We divide Korean seals into three categories: —sae, —po, and less important —in. Every seal had its own role in the state ritual. Basing on the genesis of diplomatic relations between Korea and China, the article reveals that the seals of the —in type were sent to Joseon from China, but their status in Joseon was —sae (a.k.a. guksae, “state seal”). In the 1401–1894 the seals sent from China symbolized the subordination of the Korean ruler to emperor of China. After 1894, Korea became an independent country. In 1897 it proclaimed itself an empire. This changes influenced the appearance of the own Korean guksae.
The study is based on a research conducted in 2017–2018 in the Republic of Korea, electronic catalogues of museums in the Republic of Korea, and the royal chronicles Joseon wanjo sillok.
Chinese and English in the Globalization Epoch
Olga I. Zavyalova
Since the beginning of the period of “reform and opening-up” in the PRC, English became а part of the college entrance examination system gaokao. In the 2010s, Chinese linguists even actively discussed the appearance of a new variety of English, the so called “China English” or “Chinese-style English”. On the one hand, China understands that without the knowledge of the English language, the country will not be able to take its proper place in the world and successfully participate in the global competition, both economic and civilizational. On the other hand, at present the growing influence of English worries many politicians, public figures and linguists. In particular, they believe that it changes the attitude of the Chinese to their native language and character script, both the most important elements of the Chinese civilization and the symbols of national identity. The issue of the permissible scale of English learning in the education system and even the exclusion of English from the gaokao system has been repeatedly raised in the country. At the same time, the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies has initiated an investigation of the frequency and the degree of recognition of the new Chinese words in the English texts.
Remembering Sixty Years of Teaching Russian Language
Huang Shizeng
The history of Russian language teaching in China has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years. Against this background the personal testimony of a participant in the processes through which the teaching of the Russian language in the PRC went through is invaluable to the historians of education. Current article contains the translation of a memoir sketch written by one of the oldest and distinguished scholars in the field of Russian studies in the PRC, lexicographer, linguist, and teacher Huang Shizeng. This memoir sketch is dedicated to his educational and scholarly work at the Department of the Russian Language at Tsinghua University from 1957 to the 2000s. Teaching Russian language in China has always been linked to the history of bilateral relations. As before, during the second half of the 20th century it reflected all their ups and downs: after the formation of the PRC and until the early 1960s, the Russian language was the most studied in the country. Then there was a period of relative decline, and a few years later, with the beginning of the “cultural revolution”, the teaching of foreign languages has undergone a crisis. Since the 1980s, when the Chinese Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature had been established and soon joined the International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature, the modern restorative stage of teaching Russian in the PRC has begun. The department of Russian language at Tsinghua University, founded in 1952, was to pass through all these stages.
An Overview of Chinese Historiography of the History of the Russian Orthodox Church
Zhao Zhengnan
The Russian Orthodox Church has been associated with China since the end of the 17th century, but the systematic study of the history of the Orthodox Church in Russia by Chinese scholars began only in the 1980s. This article examines the development of this field of research over the last 40 years. The author proposes to divide this process into 2 chronological periods: an initial stage and a stage of rapid development. The article summarizes in detail the results achieved by Chinese scholars in this field and briefly introduces the characteristics of the two stages. It is concluded that in the first stage (1980–2000) the works of Chinese scholars were introductory and descriptive, with the main purpose of understanding the Russian Orthodox Church as a whole. In addition, due to the special nature of political relations between China and the Soviet Union in the last century, the views of Chinese scholars of the first stage were strongly influenced by Soviet scholars. In the second stage (2001—present) Chinese scholars have greatly widened the perspective of their research, studied specific issues in greater depth, put forward more original ideas and achieved fruitful results. It should also be noted that there are still problems such as insufficient use of primary historical materials, over-concentration of research topics, and relatively weak research power, and its solution requires the joint efforts of scholars in the field.