CHINA: an International Journal

March 2004: volume 2, number 1

China's bourgeoisie has increasing access to informed channels of participation. These promote elite societal interests but reduce their incentive to demand institutionalised participation. Meanwhile, the social status of the working classes has steadily eroded over the past decade and they have little recourse except the power of collective action.

The God of Wealth case suggests that state-society relations in China are adversarial -- state and society are pitted in opposition to each other. On the other hand, the cases of the Bai and Dai reveal the strategies used by a reforming authoritarian state to modernise local economies and legitimate itself among diverse, far-flung groups.

The dynamics of the Hainan negotiations have not yet been adequately delineated because most analyses focus on statesment calculating state-to-state relations. Domestic conflict explanations, on the other hand, illuminate the internal processes within the states, but do not generally adequately link them to the bargaining between states.

Marital rape is not solely a legal issue of sexual assault, but a political intermingling of marriage, family, multiple dynamics of Han culture, gender studies and law/enforcement. Changes in statutory stipulations will not overcome the gender injustice which inherently exists within the patriarchical heterosexist laws pertaining to sexual offences.

While Canada may represent an extreme view on the question of secession, even in the West, it is one that is gaining ground as the culture and objectives of the virtual state become increasingly dominant. So far there is little evidence, however, that the Chinese intend to follow suit. Their stance on Taiwan continues to be intractable.

Controversy exists over the one child policy itself, as well as how it is implemented. The age structure of China's population is changing, and the issues of abnormal sex-ratio and population quality, among others, will need to be addressed.

There are now eight University Grants Committee-funded institutions in Hong Kong, following a period of dramatic expansion in higher education in the 1990s. Recently, the emphasis has switched to repositioning and role differentiation among these institutions.