EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 159 Alikberova Alfia (Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University) Influence of Modern Russian-Chinese Relations on Shaping of V. V. Putin’s Public Image in China Key words: president’s public image, V. V. Putin, Russian-Chinese relations, public image of Russia, V. V. Putin’s public image In many people’s minds the public image of this or that country is inseparably associated with its political leader. For instance, it is B. Obama for the USA, A. Merkel for Germany, and Xi Jinping for the People’s Republic of China. One in five Chinese people who participated in the survey done by theAcademy of Social Sciences of PRC in 2008 said that the word “Russia” evokes only one association —V. V. Putin. The Presi- dent is not only the face of the nation but, when acting on the political arena, he forms the public image of his country, which is incredibly important for intergovernmental relations and intercultural communication. The proposed study presents a detailed analysis of the correlation between the personality of the Russian Federation President and the public image of our country in China, as well as the influence of contemporary Russian-Chinese relations on the formation of V.V. Putin’s public image in the People’s Republic of China. This work is of both theoretical and applied nature. On the basis of many ratings and surveys, as well as main aspects of the Russian-Chinese cooperation in many fields and original Chinese-language sources this work comprehensively analyzes the gradual changes in the public images of the Russian President and the rise of his popularity in China. The reasons for this phenomenon are also revealed, as well as the cor- relation between major events within Russian-Chinese relations that have improved the public image of both V. V. Putin and the Russian Federation as a country. The conclusion we came to as a result of this study is that the attitude to V. V. Putin can be seen as a reflec- tion of the social-political frame of mind in the Chinese society, while his positive public image serves to both promote Russian culture in China and to maintain the favorable climate in the Russian-Chinese relations. Almén Oscar (Uppsala University) Local Governance Diversity in the Unitary Authoritarian State: a Study of State-Society Interaction in Three Chinese Municipalities Key words: political opportunity, state-civil society, social movement, local governance, local diversity This paper introduces a new research project that will examine the space for local political diversity in authori- tarian regimes by studying state-society interaction in three Chinese municipalities. The issue is of relevance for understanding the development of civil society in developing countries.Although local economic innovations have been encouraged by Chinese central authorities, diversity in political solutions is a much more sensitive question for the central leadership. But as different localities face different social challenges they also develop a variety of strategies and methods to organize local governance and handle relations to local society. This study will focus on the interaction of the city government and civil society in three selected cities that differ in significant ways. The study compares two relatively prosperous cities with distinctly different governance models, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, with Lanzhou, a city from one of China’s poorest provinces. Theories of political opportunity struc- tures (POS) will be used to examine the differences between the cities in terms of civil society mobilization. The project aims to (1) examine how the political opportunity structures differ between the cities and (2) how these differences affect the mobilization of local civil society. The study is designed as a comparative case study based