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COVID-19 pandemic has been a real challenge and severe test of International Relations. It has been also a chance to gain or lose points in inter-power rivalry in Africa, which is full of contradictions. On the one hand, rich in human and natural resources, including energy ones. On the other hand, full of poverty, poor infrastructure (including health infrastructure), internal conflicts and political and economic instability what have a bad influence on the world economy and security. China, which nowadays is perceived as one of the most aggressive competitors in Africa, seems to conduct highly consistent policy towards this continent without any break, even in time of COVID-19 pandemic. This paper is an attempt to analyse Chinese activities in Africa at that time in context of global competition in this area and to evaluate how much they can influence China’s position there. Thus, after a brief historical background, it presents the most significant formal events and declarations between both partners, along with Chinese “mask and vaccine diplomacy” towards Africa from early 2020 until the beginning of 2023. The elements like soft power actions were especially under consideration in this analysis as these ones that are the most effective in the contemporary global policy, or at least equally fruitful as hard power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Kształcenie Polonistyczne Cudzoziemców is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Estudos Urbanos e Regionais is the property of Associacao Nacional de Pos-Graduacao e Pesquisa em Planejamento Urbano e Regional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The main issue of the paper is the analysis of the key factors which affect the development of the Polish language in China. Each of these factors has been discussed in this article against the background of language policy and power of Polish language in mainland China. The author, starting with a review of important concepts on this subject, tries to indicate the factors determining the creation of new Polish studies faculties and Polish studies centres in mainland China. Political and economic factors, the task-oriented approach of Chinese institutions in combination with a far-reaching profit planning strategy, factors related to regional cooperation between Poland and China, as well as sentimental and historical ones are considered to be the most significant aspects. The author tries to find a common denominator for the actions of Polish public diplomacy and often arbitrary decisions of the Chinese authorities in promoting Polish language in China. He points out some challenges and threats related to the dynamic development of Polish in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa has attracted interest from both academia and the wider political world. Some postulate that Chinese companies – unlike Western corporations – have greater potential to initiate and carry out the structural transformation of the continent. Some researchers even indicate that thanks to the inflow of Chinese FDI, Africa may become “the next factory of the world”. The aim of this article is to analyse external effects (also called spillover effects) related to Chinese FDI in Africa using the examples of Angola and Zambia. According to the current state of knowledge, spillover effects are the most desirable effects of FDI in the host country, because the related increase in the productivity of local enterprises is key to the occurrence of structural transformation in local economies. The subject of the analysis presented in this article are three aspects (determinants) of spillover effects: (i) the potential of Chinese FDI to generate spillover effects, (ii) the absorptive capacity of local companies and (iii) local institutional settings favouring the occurrence of spillover effects. The findings indicate that due to the existence of weak and few linkages between foreign investors and local firms, spillover effects occur rarely and are relatively small. They are also not sufficient to initiate the transfer of valuable knowledge and technology. The presented research results were based on over 150 in-depth interviews and two rounds of surveys conducted among Chinese investors, Angolan and Zambian companies and representatives of local authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research objective of this article is to highlight the evolution of China’s policy, under Xi Jinping’s rule, towards Africa during the emergence of the new global international order, which divided the world in to the Western and non-Western worlds, as well as to illustrate the dynamics, scale, and scope of this policy. The research hypothesis is that China’s relations with Africa have intensified over the past 25 years. The hypothesis is of both the objective and subjective dimensions. In addition to the economic and political motivations that determined China’s policy towards the African continent in 2000-2016, geostrategic conditions, post-2016, related to the redefinition of the current international order should also be taken into account. Beijing and Xi Jinping perceive Africa, as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have demonstrated, as an important element in building an international order alternative to that of the West’s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeszyty Teoretyczne Rachunkowości is the property of Stowarzyszenie Ksiegowych w Polsce Rada Naukowa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

General George Catlett Marshall, a soldier and diplomat, went down in history as the US secretary of state and the author of the famous Marshall Plan. In the years 1945-1947, he conducted a mediation mission in China which ended in a total fiasco. It is usually indicated that the reason for such a catastrophic conclusion was the inability to reach a compromise on the part of the Nationalist and Communist parties. The article points out that the actual goal of the Marshall Mission was to avoid America's political and military entanglement in China. The Truman administration's attention was focused on Europe. Real support for the KMT - which might have changed the outcome of the civil war - was not considered at all. The purpose of Marshall Mission was to provide an excuse to withdraw. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sino-American trade war has become a symbol of rivalry for leadership in the international system. It also attracts growing attention to the problem of possible change to the regional and global hegemony. The debate with its possible ramifications is clear to academics, the media and political elites. However, it has focused on a limited scope of factors and mostly at the leadership level of, most notably, the United States of America. Considering its complexity, the issue of US policy towards China should be analyzed at various levels. These include the presidents, their collaborators, domestic politics and US strategy, and, finally, the international system as it experiences the relative change of power distribution. The main goal of this article is to analyze the recent US administrations’ strategy towards the People’s Republic of China. This is in the context of changes to the international system, focusing on the relative change of power distribution. The hypothesis driving this article states that the US strategy towards China is a response to the changing relative distribution of power in the regional and global system. It follows that American administrations differ rather in methods than in goals of foreign policy. This text is prepared with reference to the Power Transition Theory of A. Organski and J. Kugler, and the research is based on the US strategic documents’ analysis and statistical analysis of the power distribution in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the importance of market mechanisms and state intervention in the field of regional development policy, in particular on the dominant process of development differentiation. The aim of the article is to verify to what extent market mechanisms are the driving force in China’s regional development policy, and to what extent state intervention is the driving force. It is also important because of the fact that regional policy is an amalgam of the public intervention and presence of market forces, regardless of the country’s political regime. The article identifies the elements that determine the differentiation of regional development due to the operation of market mechanisms and state intervention in China’s regional policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Safety & Fire Technology / Bezpieczeństwo i Technika Pożarnicza is the property of Centrum Naukowo-Badawcze Ochrony Przeciwpozarowej and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Russian‑Sino relationships are constantly improving which lead a significant amount of scholars to focus on their cultural similarities. This is true particularly to Russian academicians who try to point out civilizational and cultural closeness between Russia and China as a counterweight to the Western model. Indeed, there are some similarities, like predominance of collectivism over individualism and the need for a strong leadership. Nevertheless, if we take the risk of venturing into deeper space of cultural background and take into account not only political issues but also Russia’s and China’s identity and consciousness, then striking differences appear. On this level we can clearly see that similarities between Russia and China are superficial and they exist only on the surface. On the deeper, cultural level, however, those two “civilizations that became countries” have very little in common. They are – as we said – different civilizations incomparable to each other due to several historical, cultural and social reasons. This thesis leads to a conclusion that a successful cooperation and interaction between Russia and China is possible only on political, tactical issues, but there could be no real “melting pot” between them. This does not mean they are bound to conflict, but it clearly shows the artificiality of their “everlasting friendship”. Political conjunctures are bound to change whereas civilizational factors lasts longer and this explains why Russia and China will never become as close as the try to show. For similarities between them are of tactical, political importance, whereas differences are of strategic, ontological nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]