Uncategorized - Decoding China

Transparency

Brief Transparency refers to an environment in which policy and processes are open and predictable, and where decisions and information are provided to the public in a comprehensible, accessible, and timely manner. Freedom of information is an integral part of the human right to freedom of expression. Government transparency should be the norm and exceptions […]

Sovereignty

BRIEF The concept of state sovereignty can be defined as the exclusive right of states to govern within their own territory. In China, sovereignty should be understood as absolute and perpetual state power, where the state is governed by the Chinese Communist Party. Moreover, it is intimately linked to China’s emphasis on mutual non-interference in […]

Security

BRIEF For China, national security and state security are synonyms (both are translated as 国家安全), meaning that the two English terms can be used interchangeably. State security refers to the consolidation of the Chinese Communist Party’s ruling position and to its protection from domestic and foreign threats. As such, threats to state security are perceived […]

Science

Brief While international definitions of science centre on the study of the physical world through unbiased observations and verifiable experimentation, the word “science” has complex, multi-layered meanings within the context of Chinese Communist Party discourse. On the one hand, science as a discipline systematically studying the natural world has been regarded as a crucial contributor […]

Rule of Law

BRIEF The principle of the rule of law means that laws provide meaningful restraints on state power. The United Nations defines the rule of law as “a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and […]

Public Diplomacy

BRIEF From its modern origins in the 1960s, the notion of “public diplomacy” broadly involves governments cultivating both public opinion in other countries and intercultural communications. The aim was to distinguish government-led international public relations efforts from the distasteful notion of propaganda. More recently, the idea of a “new public diplomacy” has emerged to encompass […]

Right to privacy

Brief At its core, the right to privacy refers to freedom from undue interference in personal life, home and correspondence. UN and EU standards make clear that the right to privacy entails freedom from arbitrary and mass surveillance. Safeguarding privacy has become a challenging issue in the digital age, as both states and corporations collect […]

Peace

BRIEF “The love for peace is in the DNA of the Chinese people”, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of China’s Communist Party, has repeatedly asserted. This narrative, proclaiming that its subjects are harmonious, non-violent and benevolent by nature, rhymes well with the Party’s conviction that it is always morally correct. While the UN charter does not […]

Nation

Brief ‘Nation’ tends to be understood as a community of people living in a particular area or a country, characterised by having its own government, language, history, and traditions. The Chinese language makes no distinction between nation, country and state using them interchangeably to translate the word guojia (国家). In its narrow sense, the term […]

Multilateralism

BRIEF In the UN context, “multilateralism” is commonly defined as coordinated diplomatic interaction by three or more states (or other actors) carried out within the framework of international organisations and in accordance with their rules. Often, “multilateralism” is used as a synonym for “multilateral system”, mainly referencing the system that evolved after World War II […]

1 2 3

Posts navigation