East Asian Develo

Chapter 5

From Command to Market Economy in China and Vietnam

 Vietnam’s Reforms and the Chinese Model

 Vietnam’s economic reforms are important in their own right, given that Vietnam is the thirteenth largest country in the world in terms of population and has proved to be able to “punch above its weight” in both economic and geopolitical terms. In the context of this study, however, Vietnam’s recent experience is also a test of whether the Chinese reform experience was unique to China or was equally valid elsewhere.

Dependence on Russia Is Likely to Leave Region’s Economy in a Precarious State

DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

YALTA, Crimea — Many A.T.M.s in this sun-dappled seaside resort city in Crimea, and across the region, have been empty in recent days, with little white “transaction denied” slips piling up around them. Banks that do have cash have been imposing severe restrictions on withdrawals.

All flights, other than those to or from Moscow, remain canceled in what could become the norm if the dispute over Crimea’s political status drags on, a chilling prospect just a month before tourist season begins in a place beloved as a vacation playground since czarist times.

География китайской мощи

Роберт Каплан (Robert D. Kaplan)

Выгодное географическое положение Поднебесной настолько очевидно, что о нем не всегда вспоминают, говоря о стремительном экономическом прогрессе этой страны и напористом национальном характере китайцев. Китай сочетает в себе элементы предельно модернизированной экономики западного образца с унаследованной от древнего Востока «гидравлической цивилизацией».

В конце своей статьи «Географическая ось истории», опубликованной в 1904 г. и получившей мировую известность, сэр Халфорд Макиндер выразил особое беспокойство в отношении Китая. Объяснив, почему Евразия является силовым геостратегическим центром мира, он высказал предположение, что китайцы, если они смогут распространить влияние далеко за пределы своей страны, «способны превратиться в желтую опасность для мировой свободы. И как раз по той причине, что они соединят с ресурсами громадного континента протяженную океанскую границу – козырь, которого была лишена Россия, хозяйничавшая в этом осевом регионе прежде».

Основные проблемы современных международных отношений в Азиатско-Тихоокеанском регионе

Tимошенко В.Н.

По материалам межрегионального круглого стола «Россия и страны Дальневосточного региона (Китай, Корея, Япония): история, культура, политика» состоявшемся 10 апреля 2013 в Дальневосточном юридическом институте МВД РФ.

 Азиатско-Тихоокеанский регион — один из наиболее динамично развивающихся регионов мира. Еще с начала 80-х годов об АТР заговорили как о новом факторе экономического и политического развития, который отличается от Европы, Латинской Америки и США своими историческими и культурно-религиозными традициями. Журналисты и политологи даже стали заявлять о наступлении нового «тихоокеанского века» в мировой истории. Уже в то время в АТР проживало более половины населения планеты и на долю региона приходилось свыше 60% мирового промышленного производства,  40 процентов прямых иностранных инвестиций и почти треть товарооборота.

Asia follows China into an old-fashioned arms race

David Pilling

By David Pilling

Beijing’s build-up is leading rivals to follow suit, a trend likely to gather pace in coming years

Everyone knows about China’s arms build-up. Beijing’s defence budget has risen eightfold in 20 years. In that time it has become comfortably the world’s second-biggest spender on the military. In 2012, the country accounted for nearly 10 per cent of global expenditure, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which monitors defence spending. That was more than Russia and the UK combined, although only a quarter of what the supposedly cash-strapped US laid out on its armed forces, according to official figures.

Less understood, however, is the effect China’s military build-up is having on Asia as a whole. In 2012, for the first year in modern times, Asian states spent more on defence than European ones. From India to South Korea and from Vietnam to Malaysia, governments in the region are ramping up defence spending. Even pacifist Japan, which for years has been cutting its defence outlays, has recently started to reverse the trend as it reorients its defence posture towards what it perceives as a growing Chinese threat.

Is the American Middle Class Losing Out to China and India?

Thomas B. Edsall

President Obama may be right: Free trade is a winning strategy that will lower consumer costs and expand employment in exporting industries. 
“When 98 percent of our exporters are small businesses, new trade partnerships with Europe and the Asia-Pacific will help them create even more jobs,” the president declared in this year’s State of the Union address.
In the short run, however, trade imposes heavy costs on American workers in both the manufacturing and service sectors, particularly on those least equipped by training and education to adapt.

The challenge for China's Leninist emperor

Can President Xi Jinping keep the country economically growing and politically under control?

By Timothy Garton Ash

BEIJING — President Xi Jinping is leading an extraordinary political experiment in China. In essence, he is trying to turn his nation into an advanced economy and three-dimensional superpower, drawing on the energies of capitalism, patriotism and Chinese traditions, yet all still under the control of what remains, at its core, a Leninist party-state. He may be a Chinese emperor, but he is also a Leninist emperor. This is the most surprising and important political experiment on Earth. No one will be unaffected by its success or failure.