The Bo Xilai Verdict - Chinese Studies@Nottingham
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Chinese Studies@Nottingham School of Contemporary Chinese Studies (SCCS) Newsletter Autumn 2013 / Issue 12 The Bo Xilai Verdict The sentencing of Bo Xilai to life imprisonment should come as no surprise Selling the “China Dream” in Enermy of the People – SCCS Internship Programme, the Middle Eastern Quagmire Visual Depictions of Chiang Kai-shek 2012-13 Dr Niv Horesh Dr Jeremy E. Taylor Dr Tyler Rooker
Welcome
P2
Executive Training
Progammes, Summer 2013 Executive Training
P3
The Bo Xilai Verdict
By Professor Steve Tsang Programmes,
P4
Selling the “China Dream” in
the Middle Eastern Quagmire
By Dr Niv Horesh
Summer 2013
P7
Enemy of the People – Summer 2013 saw three Executive Training Programmes
Visual Depictions of
Chiang Kai-shek
successfully delivered by Nottingham’s School of
By Dr Jeremy Taylor Contemporary Chinese Studies (SCCS).
P8
Stewards of the
Social Environment:
Social Documentary in
Contemporary Chinese
Studies
By Dr Andreas Fulda
P12
SCCS Internship
Programme, 2012-13 Mr REN Haitao, Head of the Chevening delegation,
By Dr Tyler Rooker receiving his end of course certificate from Councillor
Merlita Bryan, the Lord Mayor of Nottingham,
accompanied by Mr Vincenzo Raimo, Nottingham’s Group photo of delegates on the
P13 International Office Director. HE Administration Programme
Recent Publications and
Conference Presentations
P15 The 4th Chevening Young Leader Jianghan University HE
Rising Powers in the New Training Programme Administration Training
Global Political Economy
Postgraduate Conference Eleven mid-career professionals, selected by the
and Teacher Development
Hailed a Great Success China’s Communist Youth League’s All China Youth Programmes
By Tracey Fallon Federation (ACYF), came to Nottingham this summer
for the fourth Chevening Young Leaders Training Two delegations totalling 35 staff members from
Programme. This year’s programme ran from 5 July to Jianghan University in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei
P16 28 August, and was jointly organised by the School, Province, China, attended three-week summer
Confucius Institute
its China Policy Institute, and the Great Britain training programmes organised by SCCS. A group
Mandarin Evening Courses
China Centre (GBCC) on behalf of the Foreign and of 15 Heads of Schools, Deans and Directors from
Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the ACYF. Jianghan University successfully completed the
“Higher Education Administration” programme, and
The Chevening Young Leaders Training Programme 20 English language teachers attended the “Teacher
combines an intensive bilingual academic course at Development” programme.
Nottingham on climate change, governance and civil
society with a broad range of visits to government Feedback from both delegations was extremely
departments, NGOs, British businesses and other positive. “Thank you very much for delivering such
organisations to give the delegates a practical an enlightening and engaging training progamme”,
understanding of the way these issues are approached said Professor ZHANG Ying at the end of course
in the UK. A key objective of the Programme is to ceremony, “We are very impressed by the breadth of
facilitate a range of contacts for the Chevening Young topics covered and the level of expertise. We have
Leaders – all high fliers selected for their future learnt plenty from Nottingham and have certainly come
potential – with British organisations to build closer to understand what makes Nottingham one of the top
ties for the future. global universities!”
The Programme included a three-day visit to Scotland A delegate from the teacher development course
on August 22-24th and two visits to London during commented in his evaluation form that “I enjoyed the
which the delegates learnt about UK approaches to course very much! The most useful part I found is that
reform, regulation and public service provision, civil it removes the mysterious veil over ‘research’. I finally
society and the challenges of climate change from a have an idea of what ‘research’ is about and what I
practitioner perspective. should and can do with it in future!”
2 www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese
Commentary
The Bo Xilai Verdict
The sentencing of Bo Xilai to life The other silent code of conduct that governs Party
imprisonment should come as no power struggles also appears to have been upheld; that
the offspring of disgraced officials should be left alone.
surprise. It confirms the Communist Party Thus, while Bo’s personal wealth is to be confiscated by
under Xi Jinping remains a consultative the State, there is no indication that the overseas wealth
Leninist system characterised by of the Bo family that funds the expensive education and
governance through collective leadership, lifestyle of Bo’s son in the United States will be seized.
Bo Guagua is safe as no top leader in China wishes to
an obsessive focus on maintaining Party set a precedent for going after the children of a toppled
unity and the careful management of former comrade.
public opinion.
In the run up to the sentencing the court in Jinan had
By Professor Steve Tsang
Regardless of the crimes Bo may have committed, the made it known that in the case of Bo, justice will not only
dramatic defiance he displayed throughout the court be done but will be seen to be done. It is a reflection of
Professor Steve Tsang is proceedings rendered only one outcome possible: how the Communist Party and the court system in China
Director of the China Policy Bo would spend the rest of his life in detention but define their concept of justice.
Institute in the School of escape execution.
Contemporary Chinese In consultative Leninist China, justice for a toppled
Studies. This article is an Politics, not justice, necessitated this decision by the leader is done in accordance with the careful balancing
earlier version of a commentary Party leadership. If Bo had been less combative in his of political needs by the top leadership. It is presented
published in the South defence, contrite even, a lighter sentence, possibly as in accordance with how the Party feels it should be
China Morning Post on 25th low as 15 years, may have been handed down. But Bo presented, far from the gaze of live television cameras.
September 2013. sealed his own fate. Through a commitment to clear his Weibo feeds are carefully judged and surprises
name and a deliberate show of calculated resistance, he are minimised.
made his intention to stage a political comeback clear.
Xi Jinping and his successors could not tolerate any Bo will almost certainly appeal. He has nothing to lose
lenience; there is no reason for any of them to take a by doing so and the reality of the political situation
gamble on a figure like Bo. means that the sentence cannot be altered. By
appealing he will emphasise his determination to stage
The death sentence for a former Politburo member was a revival. There may not be any chance of that under
out of the question. This would have implied a change in the current political system.
the fundamental, unspoken rules of the game for the top
leadership post-Mao. But Bo is betting on the collapse of the system in the
coming decade or two and, should this happen, his
Given the volatility of politics under a consultative courageous stand should place him in a strong position.
Leninist system, no top-level leader would dare There may not be grounds to suggest the system
to implement such a change. After all, no one can will collapse any time soon, but if you were in Bo’s
guarantee they will never be on the receiving end. predicament, is it not a reasonable bet to wage?
Until Jiang Zemin, under whose leadership the Party
system transformed into the consultative Leninist Bo’s request to appeal will either fail or be flatly
form, no Party General Secretary ever ended his time denied. By putting Bo behind bars for life through
in office in comfortable retirement and in freedom. the judicial process, the Party is drawing a line
underneath the case. The actual charges may not be
accepted as having been proven in court. In a sense
this is irrelevant to the outcome, as it was already
dictated by political imperatives.
But they do matter. The manner in which the court
handled the case and set out the specific charges
reflected the priorities the Xi administration would like
to project. Even though Bo was brought down before Xi
rose to the top and announced his anti-corruption drive,
the central case against Bo is indeed built on corruption
charges. And the court handed down the stiffest
sentence available for someone of his rank.
This is meant to signal to the Chinese people that Xi
is serious about tackling corruption at the top, even
though corruption was probably the least of Bo’s failings
responsible for his downfall. The Bo case is over; the
Party machine is moving the drama on. Now we await
the fate of former public security chief Zhou Yongkang,
an ex-Politburo Standing Committee member now the
subject of a high-profile corruption investigation. The
vultures are circling.
www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese 3
Commentary
Selling the “China
Dream” in the Middle
Eastern Quagmire
China’s relatively quiet endorsement of Vladimir Putin’s
stance during the recent Syrian crisis was noted with
suspicion if not cynicism in the West. Many commentators
suggested that China instinctively played the role of US
foreign-policy spoiler again, thus turning a blind eye to the
By Dr Niv Horesh
horrors of chemical warfare against civilians.
Others argued China was only concerned about a spike in In Israel, for example, one is more likely to hear of China
oil prices as a result of a possible conflagration, whereas as the world’s factory for cheap consumer goods of
Russia could ironically benefit from precisely such a spike dubious quality, or at best as an “emerging” market, than
because it is a net exporter of oil. Then a few defence as a superpower in the making. To be sure, the prospect
analysts pointed to a principled Chinese objection to of Chinese state-run construction firms being invited to
wpre-emptive strikes on other countries which - quite complete the Tel-Aviv to Eilat high-speed train project, or
apart from the lack of UN security-council mandate - talk of such firms being permitted to erect high-rise
could conceivably be directed against China itself if it tenements that would resolve the housing affordability crisis,
became the US norm again worldwide. might change China’s image in Israel somewhat. However,
the American-mindedness of Israeli public discourse will not
Either way, China was not seen to be actively seeking a vanish overnight.
higher profile in the region as opposed to its engagement
with African or Southeast Asian countries. All of this raises When the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s,
a bigger question: does China have a distinct Middle East the US became the world’s single superpower. Nowhere
policy beyond the rudiments of energy security? Professor was this more evident than in the Middle East, where the US
Yan Xuetong, one of China’s best-known foreign policy fought two wars in Iraq, and became chief broker between
experts, has offered the following insight: Israel and the Palestinians. The US similarly led sanctions
against Tehran over its nuclear programme. And it was
“China can strengthen cooperation economically with President Obama’s momentous Cairo speech that in some
countries in the Middle East, but politically, it had better stick ways paved the way for the outbreak of the so-called Arab
with declaring its stand. The US is unable to solve the Syrian Spring in 2010. While some, including Israel, expressed
problem despite being much more powerful than China... concern over the implications, many in the West were
The complexity of Middle East politics is far beyond swept up by a wave of springtime euphoria concerning
our comprehension.” the region’s future.
On the other hand, China’s resurgence on the world A few liberal commentators even went a step further,
stage and the roaring success of market reforms there predicting how Twitter and Facebook would galvanise
since 1978 are no longer a secret. Obviously, China is no mobile-phone wielding youths to topple tyrants all around
longer perceived as “Asia’s Sick Man” as it had been at the world. That popular backlash would, we were told,
the beginning of the 20th century. Neither is it necessarily spread as far as China, and undermine the nominally-
associated with communist austerity. Yet, it seems some socialistic authorities there.
misconceptions about life in China and the country’s ultimate
aims still persist in the West as well as across the Middle
East, endangering a measured and effective assessment
of this increasingly important power.
4 www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese
Commentary
In fact, what has happened since is that China’s position Today, China has enormous foreign-currency reserves
on the world stage has solidified. Once the Arab Spring and economic interest that straddle the entire planet. But
degenerated into civil war in Syria and Egypt, and as what China is sorely lacking, apart from long-range military
negotiations over Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programmes equivalence, are better public relations. The Communist
reached deadlock, China regained the mantle of “responsible Party is acutely aware of this shortfall, and its visionaries are
adult” in the international community. To a greater extent, its therefore engaged – by now, quite openly – in crafting an
presence was now seen globally as stable and moderating, alternative ethical narrative to the one promoted by the US.
even if the recent semi-official designation of the Senkaku/ This Chinese aspirational narrative draws much more on the
Diaoyu islets as part of China’s “core interests” and occasional country’s illustrious pre-modern history than on Mao Zedong’s
brush-ups with the Philippines caused some alarm. At the radical thought.
same time, the notion that social media can immediately
deliver substantive change across the developing world is In essence, the Chinese narrative conjures up a more
no longer taken for granted. harmonious world, in which diverse religions, cultures,
values and lifestyles can coexist peacefully and where big
In his first term in office, President Obama might have raised countries do not meddle in their smaller neighbours’ affairs.
expectations of an impending American “return” to the Imperial China is cast as an exemplary tolerant polity that was
Asia-Pacific arena as a means of containing China’s rise. By administered by peace-loving, selfless sage-bureaucrats;
the same token, America was meant to pull itself out of the a polity where both Jews and Muslims, for example, could
Middle Eastern quagmire. Yet, in his second term, Obama has reach high office on merit, and ethnic minorities faced no
dispatched John Kerry to the Middle East numerous times. discrimination; a polity whose emperors always welcomed
Unlike former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama is trade missions from Korea and Japan but, unlike European or
now very careful not to offend the Chinese. Japanese empire-builders, never sought to subjugate other
Asian peoples in the name of trade profit.
www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese 5
Commentary
This historical pattern of non-belligerence and meritocracy Ultimately, China is seen as purely acting in accordance with
is contrasted with the Western legacy of bloody faith wars, its own short-term economic interests, whereas Putin’s grand
powerful hereditary nobility, fascism and colonialism. More neo-imperial pride often transcends the immediate economic
pertinently, the Chinese narrative rejects neo-liberalism or interests of Russia. In that sense, the primacy of Beijing’s
the wholesale privatisation of state assets as advocated energy-security considerations might “expose” China as one
by institutions like the IMF; “collective” values like poverty of the greatest beneficiaries (if not free-riders) of the
alleviation and universal education are cast as more important US-maintained order in the Middle East.
than “individual” values like free speech.
China ‘bears’ often point to the smug illusion of
Such narrative has little appeal in the developed world, but it exceptionalism (Nihonjin ron) that had besotted Tokyo in the
may prove somewhat more attractive elsewhere in the future. 1980s right until Japan’s economy tumbled into its “Lost
Though Zhou Enlai tenaciously pursued allies in the Arab Decade”. The same obsession with national exceptionalism
world in the 1950s-60s, China could never offset Soviet (Zhongguo teshu lun) is observed today by foreign critics
influence there partly because Mao Zedong thought was of the “China Dream”. Indeed, there is no greater nightmare
seen as blatantly secularist and destabilising. It is therefore preoccupying the authors of the ”China Dream” than what
noteworthy in this context that ousted Egyptian President they see as US plots to nip China’s rise in the bud, that is,
Mohammed Morsi, who is a devout Muslim, had chosen to a kind of US-imposed Plazza Accords that would deprive
visit Beijing on his first state visit before he flew the country’s economy of its edge before it has overtaken
to Washington. America’s in size. The Middle East is not yet a priority for
Beijing beyond oil and rhetoric, and both the Arab World
Similarly, there are signs of an emerging strategic partnership and Israel have realised this, it seems. But that does not mean
between Riyadh and Beijing that might contrast sharply with China’s aspirations for global leadership should be construed
how China had been portrayed around the Gulf before the as designed for purely domestic purposes either; namely,
1990s. Saudi Arabia has over the past decade turned into a strategy of boosting the Party on the back of nationalism;
China’s largest oil supplier, well ahead of Angola and Iran. a phantom unfurled so as to distract the masses from the
That partnership with Sunni Saudi Arabia might also explain worsening inequalities and environmental degradation that
why China has been careful not to indulge Putin, are ripping Chinese society from within.
Assad and Ahmadinejad too obsequiously.
Though not entirely unwarranted, the domestic argument
It is also a cause for guarded optimism that more international irresponsibly plays down the complexity of China’s emerging
pressure can be brought to bear on Tehran in the near narrative, the ambition with which it is animated, and its
future so that it suspends its nuclear programme. Yet, in the historical foundations. China’s prominence in pre-modern
Arab street and amongst intellectuals, there is little sign of times is not a figment of the Party’s imagination. Neither is
attitudinal change: while many are impressed with China’s it merely the stuff of historians’ chatter. Rather, it is one that
economic achievements, China’s vision for the world’s future informs the world view of hundreds of million individuals. One
has not aroused as much interest thus far as Erdogan’s day, perhaps not so far into the distant future, the “China
rhetoric has, for example. Dream” might even reverberate through places like Jerusalem
or Mecca. But in the meantime China has every reason to
This lack of interest is not necessarily due to a perception continue with its “low profile” approach in the region.
of China as the enemy of the global spring. Rather, it may
have more to do with China’s own consternation at what
is unfolding in the region, as captured by Professor Yan’s Dr Niv Horesh is an Associate Professor and Reader
statement above. in the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies.
This article was originally published as a blog at
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/chinapolicyinstitute
and was reproduced with permission from the
China Policy Institute.
6 www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese
Research Project
Enemy of the People –
Visual Depictions of
Chiang Kai-shek
www.hrionline.ac.uk/chiangkaishek
Academic interest in Chinese propaganda is My initial purpose in establishing ‘Enemy of the People’
nothing new. Propaganda posters, particularly was to trace some of the continuities present in various
depictions of Chiang across the 20th century, and to ask why
those dating from the years of the Cultural it was that such different groups often ended up producing
Revolution, have inspired an entire field of such remarkably similar images of this leader. At a time
academic enquiry over recent years, and a when Chiang Kai-shek’s public image on the mainland is
lucrative trade in visual art from the period undergoing a very clear rehabilitation, I was also intending
to remind users just how loathed Chiang had been in the
continues to thrive both in China and People’s Republic until fairly recently. While the collection
through art dealers abroad. is certainly not designed as an act in anti-Chiang Kai-shek
propaganda in itself, I do hope it spurs debate about how
As recent scholarship (such as Barbara Mittler’s A and why Chiang was depicted by his various opponents
By Dr Jeremy Taylor
Continuous Revolution) suggests, however, by focusing (and nominal allies) and at different periods.
purely on the Cultural Revolution, there has been a tendency
to overlook the continuities between pre- and post-1960s The collection has been designed to aid students, scholars
propaganda art, and to forget that many of the tropes, and anyone else with an interest in the depiction of Chinese
images and iconography that we have become familiar with (and other) leaders, propaganda art and visual history more
through the re-publication of Cultural Revolution artworks generally. It is my hope that the collection will be of relevance
had precedents that were both geographically and temporally not only to those with an interest in modern Chinese history,
broad. Such continuities only come into greater relief when but also to people with an interest in the depictions of
we trace the development of specific images, rather than limit authoritarian leaders in the modern era. Indeed, much of the
our studies to specific periods of the past. inspiration for the site came from the pioneering work that is
now emerging on depictions of Stalin, Mussolini and other
In many regards, this is the aim of ‘Enemy of the People: contemporaries of Chiang.
Visual Depictions of Chiang Kai-shek’. This AHRC-funded
project seeks to explore the ways in which one of the ‘Enemy of the People’ is not, however, ‘finished’. Far
longest serving Chinese leaders, Chiang Kai-shek, was more images are ready to be uploaded onto the site, and
denigrated throughout different periods of the twentieth information regarding existing images will be improved and
century and by very different groups of artists. The project’s corrected as needs be. Users are encouraged to contact me
database includes high resolution scans of a range of should they have any suggestions about possible changes.
depictions of Chiang by groups as diverse as the Imperial
Japanese Army, communist Chinese cartoonists, Indian
independence activists, Soviet propagandists and Dr Jeremy Taylor is an Associate Professor in the
pro-independence groups in Taiwan. It includes posters, School of Contemporary Chinese Studies.
leaflets and oil paintings, as well as photographic This article was originally published as a blog at
images of effigies, defaced sculptures and portraits, and http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/chinapolicyinstitute
anti-Chiang dramatic productions, with images dating as and was reproduced with permission from the China
far as back as the 1920s and as recently as the 2010s. Policy Institute.
The database also includes a background essay on the
collection and information on all images contained in it,
and is available at www.hrionline.ac.uk/chiangkaishek.
The project takes its name from a phrase made famous
by the CCP ideologue Chen Boda, who penned a book
by the same title (Renmin Gongdi) in the late 1940s.
As I explain in the introductory essay, however, this phrase,
like the individuals to which it has been attached, has a far
more complex provenance. Like many of the images with
which it was used, ‘Renmin gongdi’ speaks of a
complicated relationship between Chinese, Soviet
and Japanese propaganda in the early decades of
the 20th century.
www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese 7
Research Project
Stewards of the Social Environment:
Social Documentary in Contemporary
Chinese Studies
By Dr Andreas Fulda
Dr Andreas Fulda is a Lecturer
in the School of Contemporary
Chinese Studies. He convenes
the School’s Centre for
Contemporary Chinese Politics
(CCCP) and manages the EU-
China Civil Society Dialogue
(2011-13), a dialogue and
delivery initiative supported by
the European Union.
Die Schlumper
Social documentary is a unique approach which
combines teaching, research and outreach work
in contemporary Chinese Studies.
As the producer and director of the social documentary The documentaries have also informed a co-authored
series “Stewards of the Social Environment” I was research article on disability groups in China, to be
involved in the design of the conceptual framework, the published as a book chapter in an edited book in 2014.
selection of participating organisations as well as the
filming and editing of the seven short documentaries. The documentaries tell the stories of Chinese and
European female social entrepreneurs. While female
The documentary series “Stewards of the Social social entrepreneurs have been subject to academic
Environment” is a one-year project implemented jointly research, their organisations are often relatively
by the University of Nottingham Ningbo China and The unknown to the wider Chinese and European public.
University of Nottingham and received funding from The documentary series thus pursued three goals: to
the European Union. It was an outcome of an action inform young women about the principles and practices
planning process during the fifth EU-China Civil Society of social entrepreneurship, gender, innovation and
Dialogue on the Art of Social Entrepreneurship. creativity; to inspire young women to participate socially
and economically; and to promote experience sharing
The dialogue took place in Ningbo from of Chinese and European social entrepreneurs with the
10-13 July 2012 and involved 110 participants from wider public.
Chinese and European NGOs, universities,
and supporting organisations. During project implementation a key challenge the
team faced was gaining access to people and their
In terms of teaching, the seven short documentaries can organisations. In comparison to conventional field
now be utilised not only in Chinese language learning research, a social documentary is by nature more
but also shown in undergraduate and postgraduate intrusive and requires not only consent but also the
content modules on Contemporary Chinese culture active participation of cooperation partners. Much time
and society. They illustrate how Chinese citizens was thus spent on building personal relationships and
self-organise and contribute to civil society building trust with potential collaboration partners.
and the rule of law.
8 www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese
Research Project
Participating social enterprises included the For the participating female social entrepreneurs, the
Anti-Domestic Violence Network, Die Schlumper, Hunan video interviews have been a reflection-in-action, a
Aimier and Chickenshed, Kanchi, Rabbit King, Shenzhen brief pause that allowed them to critically and creatively
Cats and New Skills Workshop. These organisations reflect on their evolving practices. Furthermore, the
work in the fields of gender equality and human rights, finalised documentaries are a testimony of a very
art and disability, business and disability, inclusive specific period in the development of their respective
performing arts, poverty alleviation, animal welfare and social enterprise.
humane education, as well as creative industries.
Given the issue-driven style of the documentaries,
For the documentary series thirty-five semi-structured they are also highly useful for introducing the work of
video interviews were recorded in Beijing, Shenzhen, the eight social enterprises to prospective funders,
Zhuhai, Chengdu, Dayi County, Changsha, Ningxiang cooperation partners and volunteers.
Shenzhen Cats County in China and London, Dublin, Hamburg, and
Mansfield in Europe. Interviewees included artists, Finally, the social documentary has an important
academics, school teachers, social entrepreneurs, outreach function. It can be seen as a best practice
volunteers, government officials, party secretaries, example for knowledge transfer from academia to the
policemen and a presiding judge. general public.
The interviews addressed four themes: purpose, people, Since all documentaries will be subtitled either in
profit and policy. The four themes had been identified English or Chinese, viewers in Europe and China will
during the dialogue forum in Ningbo as key areas of be able to familiarise themselves with the principles
inquiry into social entrepreneurship in Europe and China. and practices of social entrepreneurship in Europe and
When approaching the first theme, purpose, China in an easy and accessible way. All seven episodes
interviewees were asked about trigger events and what will be made available from 15 October 2013 until 15
prompted them to become socially entrepreneurial. January 2014. They will be uploaded sequentially every
Another inquiry was about their values and guiding fortnight onto social media websites such as YouTube,
principles. Participants in the documentary series Vimeo, Youku, and Tudou. They will also be posted on
Rabbit King shared how, in the face of adversity, they had the website of the 5th EU-China Civil Society Dialogue
overcome challenges and frustrations. on the Art of Social Entrepreneurship:
www.scoop.it/t/social-entrepreneurship-in-
The second theme, people, focussed on questions europe-and-china..
europe-and-china
related to those who supported female social
entrepreneurs in the initial stage. Other questions dealt
with their attitude towards co-workers and how they
involved others. They were also asked how young people
became involved as volunteers. Finally, interviewees
shared their experiences regarding collaboration and
the kind of partnerships they had established with local
governments and local communities.
Profits, the third theme, touched upon the question of
how they had identified a social problem and the related
market. Interviewees described the degree of innovation
Kanchi of their project model as a non-profit organisation or
business model as a social enterprise. They recounted
Hunan Aimier
how customers, consumers or other beneficiaries
responded to their services and products.
When addressing the fourth and final theme of policy,
female social entrepreneurs expressed their hopes
and demands for existing and future policies in their
activity field.
The four themes provided the documentary series with a
conceptual framework that produced thematic linkages
between the seven documentary episodes. A Point of
View (PoV) documentary style was employed akin to the
Anti-Domestic works of American and German documentary filmmakers
Violence Network Errol Morris and Werner Herzog.
Talking directly to the camera, interviewees could
address their audience without the recourse of an
interviewer. They could also speak in their mother
tongue, be it English, German or Chinese. The short
documentaries do not have an official narrator but rely
solely on direct quotes from interviewees.
The participating female social entrepreneurs had
the written assurance of the producer that their
documentary episode would not be made available to
the general public without their explicit consent, thereby
providing them with artistic control over the end result.
New Skills Workshop
www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese 9
Report
SCCS Internship
Programme 2012-13
10 www.nottingham.ac.uk/chineseReport
The academic year 2012-13 saw a total of 60 SCCS Masters-
level students undertake an internship as part of their final year.
The autumn term involved extensive career skills training, with
a strong emphasis on developing CVs, writing covering letters,
making the best of interviews and refining search techniques.
The University’s recently expanded Careers and Employability Here are just some of the students’
Service provided a great deal of support for this year’s
postgraduates through a series of seminars, numerous comments about their internship
corporate presentations and innovative events, including a experiences:
business attire fashion show.
Following this preparatory work, students spent the spring
semester applying for jobs, attending interviews and evaluating Giulia Figliuzzi
internship opportunities. After exams in June, they began their Coty, Shanghai
internships, most of which lasted two months. At the end
My Internship with Coty in Shanghai was
of their internship, students were able to look back on the
a wonderful first working experience. I was
year-long process and reflect critically on their career goals,
By Dr Tyler Rooker objectives, experiences and new insights. The students then
dedicated to several projects including the
launch of the CK Colour brand in China. I
submitted an internship report at the end of August.
was involved in all aspects of preparation
Dr Tyler Rooker is a 21 of the 60 internships were undertaken in the UK and for the launch, planning and organising the media editor event
Lecturer in the School EU, many of them in London, where 11 internships in that took place in Beijing and running market analysis on
of Contemporary accounting, consulting, banking and information technology Chinese consumers. This experience has definitely helped me
Chinese Studies were completed. to clarify my personal objectives and to better identify my future
and convenes the career path. I would love to move my career forward in the
Internship Report UK internships are very beneficial in allowing international beauty sector and stay in Shanghai for longer.
module. students to gain insight into Western businesses with Chinese
connections and interests. International students can use skills, Zheyang Xuan
knowledge and understanding developed outside the EU in a Biochrom, Cambridge
Western work context for the first time.
My internship at Biochrom was both
38 students undertook internships in China, with 14 in Beijing challenging and enjoyable. I never
and eight in Shanghai, but also several in emerging mega cities thought that I would work in the field of
such as Hangzhou, Qingdao, Shenzhen and even sunny Sanya Biosciences, but Biochrom presented me
in China’s southernmost province, Hainan. Both international with an amazing opportunity. Being given
and home/EU students used China internships to experiment responsibility for several projects, I learned so much about
with career goals and expectations developed over the myself and developed sophisticated negotiation skills. I had
year-long period of study, reflecting on industries, careers, the pleasure of enjoying successes and also had times when
locations and cultural factors involved in moving from academic I learnt to cope with failures. I am indebted to SCCS for this
study to work life. vital all-round work experience!
A wide variety of businesses and organisations hosted SCCS
Masters interns. The largest number, 11, were in the banking
Xinyan Cai
Chinese Banking Regulatory
industry, including world-leading Chinese banks such as ICBC
Commission, Beijing
(in London and China), CCB, ABC, BoC and the banking
regulator CBRC. Law and consulting companies were also I chose to do an internship over a
popular, indicating the growing influence of the rule of law dissertation with the aim of improving
in China. my competitiveness in the job market.
The internship experience allowed me to
Trading, both exporting out of China and importing luxury
learn a lot, from theoretical knowledge to practical skills, from
products, was an important sector for internships too. The
cultivating a positive working attitude to people skills. More
‘traditional’ sector of manufacturing was also represented,
importantly, I gained a deeper understanding of the Chinese
but an equal number of students chose media and hospitality,
banking industry and became more confident and ready to face
highlighting the growing role of the service sector in China. Of
challenges and transform them into opportunities.
other well-known companies, internships were obtained at the
Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai, Sinopec, Audi, Coty, Bayer
AG and Kerry Group.
Notwithstanding the image of interns as gophers scurrying
about getting coffee and holding doors open, SCCS interns
were fully engaged with businesses and organisations that
hosted them. They were given concrete projects in marketing,
consulting, business development and design. They oversaw
management of sales, logistics, accounts, customer relations
and recruitment. These tasks provided insight into the everyday
challenges of doing business, particularly at the managerial or
supervisory level in which this year’s graduates are expected
to succeed.
www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese 11Publications Recent Publications 12 www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese
Publications
´ ´
www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese 13Events 14 www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese
News
Rising Powers in the
New Global Political
Economy Postgraduate
Conference Hailed a
Great Success
During the summer, PhD Students from SCCS and Organising a conference is enormously beneficial to
the School of Politics and International Relations PhD students. It develops cross-school networks, offers
at The University of Nottingham organised the an opportunity to work together with staff, expands
postgraduate conference ‘Rising Powers in the New personal academic networks, and provides for valuable
Global Political’. Bringing together postgraduate experience in organisation, project-budget management,
researchers and early career scholars from and the inevitable fire-fighting when problems occur.
institutions in Australia, India, Singapore, Germany, This event shows that, when provided with the School’s
Holland, France, and the UK, the conference encouragement and support, SCCS students can
engaged with questions on how the economic organise and run high quality international academic
growth of rising powers Brazil, Russia, India, and events that contribute to current debates around China
China (sometimes known as the BRIC nations) and the field.
bring new opportunities and challenges to the
By Tracey Fallon
global political economy.
Tracey Fallon is a PhD candidate in the School of
The conference was held over two days (July 5th Contemporary Chinese Studies. The organising
and 6th) with over 40 presentations and two keynote committee of this postgraduate conference consisted
lectures: Professor Lawrence Saez (SOAS) delivered of Tracey Fallon, and two PhD candidates from
a provocation to the group arguing that India would Nottingham’s School of Politics and International
not become a great power; and Professor Shaun Breslin Relations, Phil Roberts and Jon Mansell. SCCS PhD
(Warwick) presented the ongoing debates within China students Rebecca Scott, Sabine Stieber and Feng
on its position in the world and the global order. Gao provided support.
This conference was initiated through Professor
Andreas Bieler of the School of Politics and International
Relations and Professor Steve Tsang, of the China
Policy Institute. The conference was made possible
through funding from the University’s research pillar,
Integrating Global Society. Staff from SCCS and
Politics supported the conference by acting as Chairs
for panel sessions and participating in discussions.
The summer heatwave intensified over the two days
of the conference but that did not deter the robust
discussion. The event sustained a supportive and
congenial atmosphere throughout. Many of the
participants contacted the organisers after the event
with positive feedback. “Fantastic”, “inspiring”, “great”,
and “professional” were some of the terms used to
describe the conference.
www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese 15News
Fancy Learning
Mandarin Chinese?
All welcome!
Mandarin Evening Classes are offered all year round by the
Nottingham Confucius Institute on Jubilee Campus. They are
taught by experienced teaching professionals from Chinese
universities. Over 100 Nottingham staff, students and local
residents are currently studying with us on courses starting this
October, ranging from complete beginners to advanced level.
The next round of courses will run from February to April 2014.
For course details and information on how to register, please visit
www.nottingham.ac.uk/chinese
For further information about the School of Contemporary Chinese Follow us
Studies and its research activities, please contact:
facebook.com/UoNSCCS @UoNChinese
School of Contemporary Chinese Studies
The University of Nottingham
Si Yuan Centre
Jubilee Campus
Nottingham
NG8 1BB
UK
The China Policy Institute Blog is also a key source of academic and policy
analysis about key developments in contemporary China: The publication is available
w: blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/chinapolicyinstitute
in alternative formats.
If you wish to contribute or make comments, please contact the Editor, t: +44 (0)115 951 4591
Dr Jonathan Sullivan either by emailing Jonathan.Sullivan@nottingham.ac.uk
or Twitter @jonlsullivan. Design: www.campbellrowley.com
16 www.nottingham.ac.uk/chineseYou can also read
