EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

Section 14 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 167 This paper focuses on the Xinjiang UyghurAutonomous Region (XUAR) and its official façade portrayed through the Chinese media and other officially approved public displays. It combines this artificially cre- ated image of how the Chinese government would like to promote ethnic minorities' culture with the data collected during the field trip in Xinjiang in March 2015. In this paper I discuss the term folklorization in the context of PRC´s ethnic policies and strategies to manage ethnic minorities in the PRC and its actual effects on the Uyghur population in XUAR. Lee Walter Wan Fai (The University of Hong Kong & The University of Auckland) Gadamerian Innovation of Chinese Theory of IR: Transcending Fundamentalist Hermeneutics in the Autocratic Tradition of Chinese Politics Key words: Chinese politics and IR, Hans-Georg Gadamer, intellectual history of China, hermeneu- tics, international ethics What makes China’s predicament of developing classical conceptions into innovative norms or principles that are compatible to liberal global norms of IR? Why is there no Chinese theory of international ethics that are usable by a wider global audience? Taking the PRC’s non-interventionist doctrine as a study, this paper puts hermeneutics at the core of contemporary Chinese IR debates. The nexus between fundamentalist hermeneutics applied to the pre-Qin canons and the Confucian-Legalist grand narrative of orthodoxy has been steering the cognitive mapping of the Chinese perceptions of cosmology, worldview, and positive/ negative state responsibility. Such mentality features “dayitong” 大一统 , “zhengtong” 正统 , “daotong” 道 统 , “fatong” 法统 , “huayi zhibian” 华夷之辩 , “xiannei houwai” 先内后外 , and “qinshu youbie” 亲疏有 别 . China’s responses to the external world has been driven more by internal and pragmatic reasons, rather than epistemological aspiration and curiosity for realms beyond its civilisational boundary. One solution is to problematize the grammar of “China” and to reconstruct it by using Hans-Georg Gad- amer’s “fusion of horizon” (Horizontverschmelzung) — harmonious inclusion of all previous opinions about the text. In our case, “China” and the Chinese tradition are the texts. With the deconstruction of Confucian- Legalist grand narrative of orthodoxy, it is possible to derive a pluralistic reading of the texts. The elastic double interpretation of “China” and the Chinese tradition indicates that ideational innovation can be a kind of Gadamerian self-adjustment and enrichment. Chinese IR scholars’ task is to offer redefinitions by incor- porating a wide diversity of elements within the tradition. We also keep negotiation going to see what to be included and excluded, so the boundary of the tradition (Überlieferung) will keep expanding in the long run. Finally, an understanding/consensus (Verständigung) and “a better moment of view” (aufgehoben) is derived. Innovation is made possible. Lei Chun Kwok, Henry (University of Macau) The Trade between China and the Portuguese Speaking Countries under “One Belt One Road” and the Role of Macau Key words: trade efficiency, stochastic frontier gravity model, China and Portuguese Speaking Coun- tries' Trade, Macau's platform role In the blueprint announced by the government of the People’s Republic, the Portuguese Speaking Coun- tries are not covered by the “21st century Maritime Silk Road”. Given that the major Portuguese Speaking Countries are located in the neighborhood and have been attempting to tighten their economic links with China, then extending the Maritime Silk Road to link up China with Portuguese Speaking Countries could be economically sound. This research intends to explore economically the feasibility and potential of extending the Maritime Silk Road to construct a west-bound route to link up China and Asia with Portuguese Speak- ing Countries in both Africa, Latin America and Europe. In practice, this research will study the trade and investment transactions between China and the Portuguese Speaking Countries for their nature, evolution, discipline and major determinants. The Stochastic Frontier Gravity type equation will be applied to estimate the bilateral trade flows between China and 7 Portuguese Speaking Countries for the contributing factors