The Contents of the «Far Eastern Studies» N5, 2024.
Contents
Politics
Ramich M.S. China’s Approach to “Reset” System of Global Economic Governance in the Context of Structural Power Theory
Yankova A.D., Trenin D.V. The Ideological Factor of Internet Governance in China: Features and Tools in the Context of Confrontation with the United States
Dolganova O.I., Kozyrev D.A. Digitalization of Control and Supervisory Activities of Financial Market Participants in China
Economics
Emelyanova O.N., Shcherbakov D.A. Problems and Prospects of Development of Nuclear Energy in Japan
Paksiutov G.D. Strategic Priorities, Trends and Prospects of Japan’s Participation in Economic Integration in the APAC
Makarov A.V., Makarova E.V. Foreign Trade of Mongolia under Global Shocks
Namzhilova V.O. Inner Mongolia: Strategic Positioning of China’s Northern Periphery
Russian Far East
Glazyrina I.P., Zabelina I.A., Faleychik L.M. Labor Productivity in the Regions of Eastern Russia and Northeastern China
State and Society
Gerasimova T.G. History of Vaccination in China: Modern Stage
Buyarov D.V. Implementation of National Policy in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region under President of China Xi Jinping (2012–2024)
History
Sun Yizhi. The Shanghai Agency of Ussuri Railway and Establishment of Direct Mixed Railway-Water Communication between Shanghai and Manchuria (1923–1926)
Starshinov A.S. Youth Policy and Patriotic Education during the Yusin Period (1972–1979)
Book Reviews
Chebunin A.V. Book Review: Yangutov L.E. Philosophy and Soteriology of Chinese Buddhism / Ed. S.P. Nesterkin, I.S. Urbanaeva. Ulan-Ude: Publishing House of the BSC SB RAS, 2023. 344 p.
Scientific Events
Timofeev O.A. International Conference on China — Mongolia — Russia Economic Corridor Construction
China’s Approach to “Reset” System of Global Economic Governance in the Context of Structural Power Theory
Mirzet S. Ramich
Globalization, which contributed to the maintenance of the neoliberal world order, slowed down after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998 and the World Financial Crisis of 2008, when the existing system of global economic governance was unable to support developing countries, strengthening the trend towards regionalization and localization. China, acting as a rising power in the process of “power transition,” has focused its efforts on transforming the system of global governance that has so far provided US hegemony. While initially successfully using globalization for integration into the world economy, China has changed its role in the system of global governance and has become empowered to establish and maintain new global governance structures. China adopted a strategy of expanding its activities in traditional international institutions (UN, WB, IMF) and establishing parallel international institutions (BRI, AIIB) to push forward its perspective of the world order. The US adopted a strategy of decoupling to limit Chinese capabilities in its sphere of influence in response to China’s economic rise. On the one hand, this led to the emergence of trade and techno-economic blocs, but on the other hand, China’s approach preserved the possibility of participation in its institutions for countries which are considered to be the “core” of the existing economic order (G7, G20, OECD). The author concludes that in the present context China adheres to a non-conflict asymmetric approach to reforming the system of global governance in the economic sphere, which implies global distribution of norms through the UN, G20 and BRICS and re-globalization of global trade through intensification of regional cooperation with Asian, African and Latin American countries within the framework of the BRI, forums for cooperation between regional organizations and China, and integration of developing countries into parallel financial institutions.
The Ideological Factor of Internet Governance in China: Features and Tools in the Context of Confrontation with the United States
Alexandra D. Yankova
Dmitri V. Trenin
The Internet turned into an arena of ideological struggle. It benefits those who have control over data flows and opinion market. In the information space, previously insurmountable barriers are easily bypassed, the number of generators of “narratives” is increasing exponentially. Strategic success achieved in the information field can have a significance comparable to political or military success. An example is the confrontation between key players in cyberspace — the US and China. Their statehood is based on ideology — left-wing liberalism, transhumanism and americano-centric globalism on the one hand, innovative Marxism and socialism with Chinese characteristics on the other. Despite differences in fundamental values, political and social systems, Washington and Beijing actively use Internet tools to seek support, expand governance and propaganda.
The winners in the ideological struggle are not yet clear. But certain dynamics can be fixed. The US has to admit that its belief in the ubiquity of liberal democracy and the “technological optimism” of the early 21st century have not been justified. The Internet has failed to change China – China has changed the Internet for itself. The political and ideological conditions of the PRC and the efforts of the CPC have formed unique parameters for the development of network. The party managed to create a system of distributed control over the Internet, users and content, allowing leadership to manage the situation on the “battlefield”. The US and its allies in the fight against “autocrats and authoritarians” are increasingly slipping into the fight against dissent in their own countries. During this struggle the West is becoming more intolerant and authoritarian.
Digitalization of Control and Supervisory Activities of Financial Market Participants in China
Olga I. Dolganova
Dmitry A. Kozyrev
Recently, the People’s Republic of China has become the world leader in development of digital economy. The information technologies are being widely implemented both in business and government agencies. This makes it possible to create and develop large-scale national systems for collecting and processing a large volume of diverse information on the activities of financial market participants. The purpose of this paper is to study the specifics of the application of digital technologies by the Chinese authorities to improve their control activities in the financial and budgetary sphere. Using the methods of analysis, synthesis, interpretation and generalization of information and data from scientific articles, official Internet resources of state authorities, analytical reports and media publications, the features of digitalization of financial monitoring, audit and supervision in China are identified. The main participants of the internal state financial control and their areas of responsibility are shown. The key concepts and projects for digitalization of audit and supervision functions are provided, such as: the Internet Plus concept, the Golden Audit project, project of implementation of the system of monitoring of financial risks, early notification and warning of their occurrence, both of control bodies and controlled entities. The latest trends and areas of application of technologies based on artificial intelligence and big data, including the active use of chatbots, machine learning methods and natural language processing tools are noted. The actions that China is taking to reduce risks, and improve the efficiency of financial market participants, both organizational and in terms of regulatory and legal support.
Problems and Prospects of Development of Nuclear Energy in Japan
Olesya N. Emelyanova
Denis A. Shcherbakov
The Fukushima disaster in 2011 temporarily changed Japan’s priorities and increased criticism of nuclear power. However, since its long-term abandonment has caused serious losses in the country’s energy security, and it is clear that despite the Japanese public’s fear of nuclear disasters, the Japanese government is slowly and carefully putting nuclear power back on Japan’s energy development agenda. This became especially noticeable in the actions of the Cabinet of Fumio Kishida, as well as the current Japanese government, which continued the course towards «revival» of nuclear energy.
Even according to the most pessimistic scenario of the World Nuclear Association, by 2040 it is planned to increase the global capacity of nuclear power plants to 486 GW, which is 24 % more than in 2023. According to the basic and optimistic scenarios, growth is expected to be 75 % and 138 %, respectively. Such prospects suggest that the era of nuclear energy is far from over. 10 EU countries, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, France, Croatia and the Czech Republic, have proposed officially including nuclear energy in the list of areas for green investments, which, in their opinion, will allow to abandon imported energy supplies.
In February 2024, the Council of EU Member States and the European Parliament, after lengthy negotiations in Brussels on the Zero Emissions Industry Act (NZIA), agreed to declare nuclear energy a strategic technology for the decarbonization of the EU.
How is Japan planning to integrate into this trend? What is the reason for the expected shift in the country’s energy balance in favor of nuclear energy? How does this correspond to the tasks of ensuring its energy security? How has the role of nuclear power changed in the context of Japan’s energy transition? In this article, the authors have attempted to answer these questions.
Strategic Priorities, Trends and Prospects of Japan’s Participation in Economic Integration in the APAC
Georgii D. Paksiutov
The article is dedicated to studying the topical trends, challenges and priorities characterizing Japan’s involvement in the regional economic integration projects. Economic cooperation with the rapidly developing Asian economies is imperative for Japan, which faces economic and demographic problems. Japan participates in the region’s two largest integration projects (RCEP and CPTPP) with different objectives: while participation in RCEP, which is larger and promises more potential for economic growth, is motivated principally by economic reasons, through CPTPP Japan is able to coordinate its foreign policy with the like-minded countries. Japan’s foreign strategy thus faces the need to strike proper balance between the economic and the political goals, which on the conceptual level amounts to choosing between (or combining) the ‘Asian’ and the ‘universal’ values and identity. However, since Prime Minister Kishida assumed office, there has been an evident predominance of the ‘universal’ values in the strategic documents, and the country’s new economic security strategy gives the government exceptional authority to interfere in the national economy to counter the states that do not ‘share universal values’. We argue, however, that dilemma between the ‘Asian’ and the ‘universal’ values is not unsolvable on the conceptual level.
Foreign Trade of Mongolia under Global Shocks
Alexander V. Makarov
Elena V. Makarova
The paper examines the current problems of Mongolia’s foreign trade. It reveals that Mongolia depends on trade with two neighboring countries and has therefore suffered from border restrictions from China and Western states sanctions against Russia. It shows that the closure of the border with China in 2020 led to a sharp drop in Mongolian exports. In addition, Mongolia’s dependence on mineral exports to China was exacerbated by its dependence on oil product imports from Russia. The sharp rise in oil product prices and supply problems in 2022 had a negative impact on the economic situation in Mongolia.
China’s completion of the COVID-Zero policy allowed Mongolia to exceed pre-pandemic mineral export volumes in 2023. The construction of new railway crossings will increase export volumes to China and other countries. Mongolia’s implementation of measures to develop its own oil refining industry will lead to its elimination of dependence on Russian oil products in the coming years. In connection with the latter, a precipitous reduction in mutual trade up to a complete cessation should be expected. Therefore, the development of a long-term policy of bilateral economic cooperation is extremely relevant. As a key initiative that will ensure at least minimal volumes of Russian-Mongolian trade and maintain good-neighborly relations, the conclusion of a free trade agreement is proposed.
Inner Mongolia: Strategic Positioning of China’s Northern Periphery
Victoria O. Namzhilova
The article provides an overview of the current situation of China’s northern periphery — the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, regarding its economic dynamics, demographic parameters and current agenda. What is new is the consideration of the “strategic positioning” approach, when the region’s mission is defined in close connection with national interests. The author reveals the essence of the “five great tasks” assigned to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region by Xi Jinping: the creation of “two barriers”, “two bases” and “one bridgehead”. The first task — creating an “ecological barrier in the north of the country” — emphasizes the unique role of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the national environmental protection system. The second task — ensuring a barrier of security and stability — is based on the importance of maintaining national unity and tranquility on the northern borders. The third task — creating a national base of energy and strategically important resources — is associated with advanced practices in the production and supply of electricity, as well as deep processing of rare earth metals. The fourth task is aimed at creating a base for the production of agricultural products to ensure China’s food security. And the fifth task is to build a «bridgehead for opening up to the North», stimulating close cooperation with northern neighbors. Understanding the internal processes in adjacent to Russian regions China’s Inner Mongolia is extremely important for building international ties. Particular attention should be paid to the task of «openness to the North», which is gaining new impetus with the activation of Russia’s «turn to the East». The counter movement of these strategies, coupled with the Mongolian «New Revival Policy», create favorable conditions for the construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.
Labor Productivity in the Regions of Eastern Russia and Northeastern China
Irina P. Glazyrina
Irina A. Zabelina
Larisa M. Faleychik
Based on data from Federal State Statistics Service, the National Bureau of Statistics of China and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, an analysis of the dynamics and spatial differentiation of labor productivity in the regions of Russia and China was carried out. It was found that in most Russian regions labor productivity in the economy as a whole in 2022 was lower than the national value. Among the subjects with high values of the indicator, territories with a raw materials-based economic systems predominate. It was revealed that for 2017–2022 only in seven Russian regions, located mainly in the European part of the country, there was a decrease in the volume of added value per employee. All Far Eastern territories were characterized by positive dynamics of the indicator. Special attention is paid to the cross-country comparison and analysis of the level of labor productivity in neighboring Russian and Chinese regions involved in the processes of cross-border cooperation. The calculation results indicate that in 2017, labor productivity in the Chinese economy was lower than in the Russian one. However, in 2022, China, where this indicator grew rapidly in 2017–2022, surpassed Russia in production of gross value added per person employed in the economy. It was found that in 2022, labor productivity in the neighboring regions of China was significantly higher than in most regions of the East of the Russian Federation. It is shown that in Russia and China, as well as in most of the analyzed regions, labor productivity in the industrial sector is higher than in the economy as a whole.
History of Vaccination in China: Modern Stage
Tatiana G. Gerasimova
The history of vaccination in China is an unexamined area in research into the general history of Chinese healthcare, which, in turn, has also been little studied in Russian historical science. The article is devoted to the history of health care in the field of prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases in modern China. In the 21st century, in order to carry out a large-scale immunization program for the Chinese population, the fight against epidemics of infectious diseases required skill and talented political will to organize united actions of the Chinese authorities and society. Since the beginning of the century, during the implementation of the National Immunization Program in the PRC, the central government revised the existing legislation, adopted new laws, created a subsidized fund, the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme, and formed the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, whose tasks include comprehensive collection and evaluation of scientific data. China became one of the first countries to join the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. Based on the analysis of statistical data, the author shows that the development of preventive immunization in China ultimately not only improved the overall health of Chinese citizens, but also contributed to the progress of public health throughout the world. It is noted that the level and scale of domestic vaccine development play an indispensable role in the ability to respond to emergency situations. The PRC has made considerable efforts to strengthen its influence in various regions of the globe with the help of its vaccines. It is a great achievement that China is able to effectively develop its National Immunization Program, greatly increasing the speed and quality of vaccine development, as well as control measures for produced vaccines, both at the legislative and technological level, especially in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The article uses scientific research materials from Chinese and other foreign scientists published in monographs and scientific journals, as well as information from official Chinese sources.
Implementation of National Policy in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region under President of China Xi Jinping (2012–2024)
Dmitry V. Buyarov
The national question has traditionally been an urgent problem in China, as a multinational state that includes, among other things, national autonomous regions. In the context of the need to preserve the integrity of the country, the national policy of the central government is one of the most important directions of the development of the People’s Republic of China. The article analyzes the policy of the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping in relation to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the period from 2012 to 2024. After coming to power, Xi Jinping proclaimed the course of realizing the «Chinese dream» aimed at reviving the Chinese nation. As part of the implementation of this concept, the national policy of the Communist Party in Xinjiang has also undergone changes. The efforts of the central and regional Governments focused not only on the economic development of the autonomous region, but also on ethnic cohesion and stabilization of the situation in the troubled region. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is of great importance to the PRC in terms of its resource base, foreign trade, and geopolitical position, and at the same time it is a region with a high degree of extremist threat. In order to stabilize the situation in the autonomous region, the Chinese Government has implemented a set of measures to develop the legislative framework, strengthen national ideology, curb manifestations of religious extremism, and combat radical representatives of national minorities. The Chinese Government assumes that without harsh measures to suppress the nationalism of ethnic minorities, separatism and centrifugal tendencies will intensify. In general, Xi Jinping’s course in Xinjiang turned out to be successful, many of the previously set tasks were solved, and the national policy was further continued.
The Shanghai Agency of Ussuri Railway and Establishment of Direct Mixed Railway-Water Communication between Shanghai and Manchuria (1923–1926)
Sun Yizhi
The article is devoted to the history of the Shanghai agency of Ussuri Railway and its role in the establishment of direct railway-water communication between Shanghai and Manchuria. After the end of the Civil War and the occupation of Vladivostok by the Red Army in late 1922, Soviet authorities began to rebuild the economy and trade in the Far East. As a counterbalance to Japan, it was planned to create an “eastern direction” of direct communication between Shanghai and Manchuria. In the “eastern direction” the transfer point between Shanghai and Manchuria was to be Vladivostok. It was planned to transport the goods arriving by water from Shanghai to Vladivostok by means of the Ussuri Railway to the border with China and further by the China Eastern Railway to Harbin. The Ussuri Railway was the main initiator of the creation of the “eastern direction”. For full-fledged work at the end of 1923–1924, first a branch and then the Commercial Agency of the Ussuri Railway in Shanghai was established, which became the main in the creation of the “eastern direction”. However, the plan to create a direct railway-water communication between Shanghai and Manchuria via Vladivostok, in the end, was not fully realized — the most important issue of issuing direct transportation receipts was not solved. Interdepartmental conflict was the most important reason for the failure of the “eastern direction”. “Departmental patriotism” was inherent in all levels of the soviet authorities from Shanghai to Moscow and ultimately caused the fact that for almost three years neither at the Shanghai nor at the Moscow level could solve the burning issue for Soviet trade interests in Shanghai of issuing direct transportation documents.
Youth Policy and Patriotic Education during the Yusin Period (1972–1979)
Alexander S. Starshinov
The article examines the features of South Korean patriotic discourse and youth policy in the 1970s through the prism of “total harmony” (cheonghwa), which was the dominant ideology of the Yusin system. The establishment of a mass school system served as the foundation for implementing patriotic education during this period, enabling the standardization of educational materials that emphasized the primacy of the nation over the individual. This system also facilitated the dissemination of patriotic practices and values associated with the defense of the Fatherland.
During this period, youth policy aimed to construct a new image of young people by, on the one hand, mitigating class and status differences within this demographic, and on the other hand, addressing intensified generational, socio-economic, and political conflicts in 1970s South Korean society through the promotion of universal category of filial piety.
The New Village Movement, integrated into the education system and disseminated nationwide, served as the practical embodiment of the values of “total harmony”. With a well-developed infrastructure for promoting spiritual education and “practical” patriotism, the movement also dominated volunteer activities. Through Saemaeul education, the ideology of the Yusin period emphasized themes of equality and egalitarianism, presenting young people with role models such as loyal students and volunteers contributing to the country’s modernization.