H. Christoph Steinhardt

Geopolitical tensions between China and the West, and hardening authoritarianism in China, have sparked a debate in the German-speaking field of China Studies on how individual scholars and higher education organizations ought to position themselves and how to ensure academic autonomy. Most participants agree that the Chinese government's increasing domestic repression and growing inclination to project state punishments abroad and onto foreign researchers are major problems for China scholarship. However, one side of the debate places China scholars and universities that collaborate with China under suspicion of self-censorship, while the other side fails to address how China scholars can maintain autonomy in an environment of increased Chinese assertiveness. We suggest the following paths to strengthen academic autonomy in the German-speaking China Studies field, and in the process of cooperation between other disciplines and Chinese counterparts: − Funding for China Studies needs to be increased and existing China expertise should be more comprehensively used in academic institutions collaborating with China, as well as in government and business organizations. − In the China field, we advocate for continued exchange with Chinese colleagues wherever possible. International cooperation with China and other countries with problematic records in academic freedom and human rights should, during all its stages, routinely be accompanied by individuals with respective country expertise. These specialists can help to assess whether the type of cooperation is in line with principles of academic freedom or whether potential issues of dual-use technology might occur. − The issues of access (including visas) for scholars who want to do field research in China and restrictions (including sanctions) against scholars directly affects the generation of reliable and open knowledge on China. This is a public good of strategic importance and belongs on the agenda of diplomatic engagements with Chinese counterparts at the national and EU levels. − Foreign government and private funding to public universities and research institutes must be subject to public scrutiny and therefore should be made transparent.

All over the world states and companies have intensified their collection of personal information. Under conditions of rapid digitalization and light regulation in China, government and company data collection has also expanded rapidly. This pronounced exposure of citizens' personal information has the potential to provoke substantial privacy concerns among the public. So far, however, little is known about distinctions individuals make between privacy concerns vis-à-vis government and the private sector. Privacy concerns in China are not yet broadly researched. Drawing on an original online survey from 2019 (N = 1,500), this study explores the magnitudes as well as the structural and ideological roots of concerns about government and company data collection in China. It finds that concerns about data collection by government are low, albeit elevated among individuals who are ideologically not aligned with the state. By contrast, concerns over data collection by companies are both extensive and consensual across most socio-structural and ideological differences. The integration of state and commercial personal information does not multiply concerns, suggesting that the Chinese state is perceived as a safety device for, rather than a threat to, citizens' personal information.

Theorists have long disagreed about the impact of socio-economic modernization on social trust. The pessimistic school asserts that modernization undermines the structural conditions for high levels of trust. The optimistic account argues that it delivers economic security and human empowerment and thereby enhances trust. Adapting these contrasting theories to the specific case of China, this article puts them to the test with survey data from the World Values Survey. Exploiting the condition of highly uneven levels of regional development, combined with common political institutions and a shared cultural heritage, the study conducts a multi-level analysis of survey data from over 1,900 individuals and a wide range of regional statistics from 61 county-level units. While trust in family members and particular trust beyond the family are unaffected by levels of regional modernization, we find robust evidence to suggest that regional modernization is associated with substantially higher levels of general trust. The results further suggests that higher general trust in more developed regions does not lead to an enhanced conversion of particular into general trust. This indicates that general trust is nurtured through the contextual effect of residing in more modern social environments. Overall, these findings provide substantial support for modernization optimists and lend themselves to a reinterpretation of a widely discussed “trust crisis” in China, which to date is often interpreted according to the pessimistic view of modernization.

This article addresses the challenges of understanding, measuring and explaining political identities in post-1997 Hong Kong. It shows that national and local identities are better conceptualized as two distinct attitudes and captured with separate scaled items than as opposite poles of one attitude measured in a single categorical item. This approach reveals that the key shift occurred not in local identity, but in nationalistic sentiments, which have initially increased but are on a downward trend since 2008. It also shows that national and local identities were perceived as robustly compatible for most years since 1997, but have begun to drift apart in recent years. Considering competing accounts to explain national identity strength, trust in the central government stands out as the dominant factor. Discontent with livelihood conditions and socio-structural variables either have no significant effect or are to a large part the result of differences in political trust.

Since the mid-2000s, China has experienced a wave of large environmental protests against major economic development projects. Based on both interviews and documentary sources, this article examines four prominent cases and identifies four innovations in China’s popular politics: broadened protest constituencies; mobilization for public goods; a proactive strategy to prevent government projects; and, a mutual reinforcement of street mobilization and policy advocacy. These new traits of popular resistance have also begun to appear outside of the environmental arena. The way was paved for these innovations by transformations in the public sphere, a relative decrease in the risk of protest participation, and development of the environmental NGO sector. Although the new repertoire of contention appears in only some of China’s abundant protests, it is becoming more widespread and some cases have developed longer-lasting policy impacts. Recent environmental protests may well stand at the forefront of broader changes in the landscape of Chinese socio-political activism and contentious politics.

This paper reexamines survey data on political identities in Hong Kong since 1997. It refutes the widespread assumption that national and local identities are in a zero-sum relationship and argues for a measurement of identities different from the standard approach. It finds that the major change in recent years was a diminishing sense of Chineseness instead of a strengthening of Hong Kong identity. It also notes substantial political cleavages over Chinese identity and finds that local identity is much more consensual and less politicized than often assumed. Based on this analysis, it provides thoughts on policy premises geared towards defusing tensions in society.

The conventional wisdom in society and policy circles is that local and national identities in Hong Kong are in a zero-sum relationship. Our analysis cast doubts on whether this assumption is empirically justified. We therefore argue that the two identities should not be measured as two poles of a single attitude, as practiced by many studies. This provides not only a more conceptually sound and empirically accurate estimate of identity trends, but also shows that local identity is much more consensual and less politicized than often assumed. Such a reinterpretation will be conducive to the development of a more effective approach towards a sustainable society. This policy paper summarizes this analysis and points to a few possible directions for practical application.