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Building foundational skills in the early years for the later development of self-determination in adulthood for individuals with disabilities is important in the United States, but little research has been conducted to examine whether these skills are as important in other countries. In this phenomenological study, seven family interviews were conducted to understand how foundational skills for self-determination (choice making, self-regulation, engagement) were perceived and promoted by families of young children with disabilities in China. This study indicated that these skills were also valued in China. However, Chinese families emphasized the need to develop these three skills in the context of an emphasis on dependence and obedience in accordance with its collectivist culture. They used the popular Chinese parenting practice of guan to help their children make choices, regulate themselves according to li, and engage in educational study, which is highly valued in Chinese culture. These findings have important implications for interventionists in the United States who are working with families from Chinese culture.

This article discusses the historical dynamics between Britain, China, and Hong Kong from 1979 to 1989. The author, Chi-kwan Mark, focuses on the negotiations over the future of Hong Kong during this period. The book explores the broader Anglo-Chinese relationship and British policy goals towards China in the 1980s, highlighting the intersection of globalization and decolonization. It also examines the role of key actors such as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and China's leader, Deng Xiaoping, in promoting globalization. The article concludes by noting that capitalism remains a key characteristic of Hong Kong today, shaped by the relationship between Britain and China in the 1980s. [Extracted from the article]

Two recent books, "Money Machine" by Weijian Shan and "The Dean of Shandong" by Daniel Bell, provide valuable insights into contemporary Chinese business and academia. "Money Machine" recounts the story of an American private equity firm's acquisition of Shenzhen Development Bank in the early 2000s, shedding light on China's banking sector reform. "The Dean of Shandong" reflects on Bell's experience as the first non-Chinese dean of a political science faculty in mainland China, offering insights into ideology, politics, and the internationalization of Chinese universities. Both books highlight the role of individuals in shaping China and challenge monolithic narratives about the country. [Extracted from the article]

How did Britons view China in 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic? This paper presents new, detailed evidence of the negative and worsening perceptions of China in the UK across three domains: public opinion (based on survey data collected in autumn 2020), political elites in parliament, and the media. The worsening of perceptions of China emerged in the context of a changing and more contested China policy from the UK government and a greater level of public debate about China, partly a consequence of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper places analysis of these perceptions in the context of the development of relations between the UK and China. Together with deteriorating Chinese views of the UK's China policy and controversy over a number of developments in China, widespread negative views about China among the British public and in political circles will constrain UK-China relations from developing in a more positive direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been the subject of extensive analysis since late 2013. Most of this views it as a manifestation of China's approach to global issues under Xi Jinping, whether economic, geopolitical, or as a bid to reshape globalization. There has so far been less research into the domestic dynamics of the BRI, including at the sub-national level in China. Based primarily on an examination of provincial-level policy documents and research, this paper explores the ways in which policy makers in the southwestern province of Yunnan have responded to the BRI, and what this might mean for the implementation and shaping of the initiative. It identifies the promotion of externally-oriented development as the main response in Yunnan to the BRI, structured around the idea of making the province a 'pivot' to south and southeast Asia. This provincial-level response is shaped by pre-existing policy goals in Yunnan and reflects more continuity than change in policy substance. This is consistent with interpretations of the BRI as an 'omnibus' policy which can incorporate multiple objectives and act as a framework within which provincial actors can compete for influence or which they can use to make progress towards achieving local objectives in the context of national strategy. The paper concludes that in the case of Yunnan and the BRI, broad alignment between provincial and central government objectives suggests that on this issue, Yunnan is more of an 'influencer' and 'interpreter' than 'ignorer' of national policy goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case is about Wingtech, a China-based mobile phone and intelligent devices manufacturer. Early in 2019, Wingtech CEO Xuezheng Zhang faced one of the biggest challenges of his career. Founded only 13 years earlier, Wingtech was one of the world's top producers of high-tech consumer products. But Wingtech didn't produce its products' key component: microchips. Instead, the vast majority of chips were imported from American and European manufacturers. Facing growing hostility from an increasingly anti-China U.S., and the very real possibility of crippling disruptions to the microchip supply chain, Wingtech had just completed the purchase of highly regarded Netherlands-based chip manufacturer Nexperia for USD3.6 billion. Now Zhang faced a daunting set of highly consequential new questions. To what extent should he try to integrate the two geographically and culturally distinct companies? How could he convince Nexperia's highly competent leader, who had been unenthusiastic about the deal, to stay? Zhang had seen great success as an entrepreneur. How should he lead as the CEO of a global high-tech firm? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of financing the Belt and Road Initiative sharpens the broader debates about the intentions behind and implications of the initiative, in particular, whether it represents an alternative to or within globalization (global capitalism) and the broader global order as currently constituted. This paper addresses this by examining the institutions, actors, mechanisms, and nature of the (proposed) financing of Belt and Road projects. It argues that however Chinese rhetoric on the BRI is read, looking at the financing demonstrates the structural power of the existing institutions, structures, and mechanisms of global political economy, and this will constrain Chinese ambitions to base an alternative world order on the foundations of the BRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bringing these different perspectives together in a theoretical framework is one of the strengths of this study, and - as Jones and Hameiri argue - takes us beyond a "sterile debate" between those who see China as revisionist and those who have argued it has been a predominantly status quo power. The consequences of this state transformation for foreign policy behaviour are developed into a three-fold typology, which suggests that different parts of the state might alternatively seek to influence national policy guidelines, to interpret them to fit their own interests better, or in cases even to ignore them. [Extracted from the article]

They argue that it has been more accommodating in the latter, while Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal "has delivered a deceptively simplistic understanding of civil disobedience" (p. 44), and "stressed that civil disobedience must be peaceful and non-violent" (p. 46). Jimmy Chia-Shin Hsu and Anne Cheung compare the courts' treatment of civil disobedience in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Echoing Hsu and Cheung, Han argues that Taiwan's courts have been more tolerant than those in Hong Kong, where the authorities have used "weaponisation of the law to suppress radical dissenting voices and political claims" (p. 81). [Extracted from the article]

Ever-increasing demand and production of lithium-ion batteries result in disposal problems. There is little known information about recycling lithium-ion batteries from consumer electronics in China, despite China is the largest lithium-ion battery manufacturer and consumer. To address this gap, this paper aims at investigating the current status of recycling spent lithium-ion batteries from consumer electronics in China, and to provide recommendations for improving spent lithium-ion battery recycling rate. Generation, collection and recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries were investigated using a combined methodology consists of online surveys, field investigations and estimations. The survey shows that although respondents have expressed their willingness towards recycling, most of them did not know where to send their spent lithium-ion batteries. Field investigations were carried out to trace the material flow of spent lithium-ion batteries in current waste electric and electronic equipment collection systems. It was found that the spent lithium-ion batteries are not included in current collection systems, as only few recycling practitioners are collecting spent lithium-ion batteries. Inadequate supply was found to have a significant impact on current recycling industry. Combining official statistics, survey results and actual throughput of the recycling plants, it was roughly estimated that less than 10% of lithium-ion batteries used in consumer electronics are currently recycled, while others always end up in idle or landfill. This study provides essential information on status quo of recycling lithium-ion batteries from consumer electronics in China including consumers' behaviours, recycling practices and estimated recycling rate. Further, policy implications were proposed with the purpose of promoting recycling rates of spent LIBs from CEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the Chinese government’s ‘belt and road’ initiative – the Silk Roads vision of land and maritime logistics and communications networks connecting Asia, Europe and Africa – has its roots in sub-national ideas and practices, and that it reflects their elevation to the national level more than the creation of substantially new policy content. Further, the spatial paradigms inherent in the Silk Roads vision reveal the reproduction of capitalist developmental ideas expressed particularly in the form of networks, which themselves have become a feature of contemporary global political economy. In other words, the Silk Roads vision is more of a ‘spatial fix’ than a geopolitical manoeuvre. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Building foundational skills in the early years for the later development of self-determination in adulthood for individuals with disabilities is important in the United States, but little research has been conducted to examine whether these skills are as important in other countries. In this phenomenological study, seven family interviews were conducted to understand how foundational skills for self-determination (choice making, self-regulation, engagement) were perceived and promoted by families of young children with disabilities in China. This study indicated that these skills were also valued in China. However, Chinese families emphasized the need to develop these three skills in the context of an emphasis on dependence and obedience in accordance with its collectivist culture. They used the popular Chinese parenting practice of guan to help their children make choices, regulate themselves according to li, and engage in educational study, which is highly valued in Chinese culture. These findings have important implications for interventionists in the United States who are working with families from Chinese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a qualitative research method that weds the cyberspace technology of e-mail with a phenomenological research approach. Examples are provided from 2 separate data sets. One data set explored the meaning of health for Japanese elders; the second explored Chinese nurses' experience of taking care of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome. Lessons learned while using the cyberspace method are discussed, including guidance for organizing a long-distance research team, the central place of trust, and the time when e-mail communication demands to be supplemented with face-to-face interaction. The potential for bridging distance and culture with this cyberspace method is introduced for consideration and critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article authors discuss the comparison by economist Liu He of two global crises such as the Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2008. They say that Liu's study reveals China as the only country to achieve global economic growth during the 2008 crisis. They cite other findings of the study including the common features of the crises such as technological revolutions, laissez faire policy, and income gap, populism, and the influence of such crises on global balance of power.

Foraminifera are important components of tropical marine benthic ecosystems and their recovery pattern from the end-Permian mass extinction can yield insights into the Mesozoic history of this group. Here we report the calcareous and agglutinated foraminifera recovered from five measured stratigraphic sections on the Great Bank of Guizhou, an uppermost Permian to Upper Triassic isolated carbonate platform in the Nanpanjiang Basin, south China. The material contains >100 Triassic species, including three that are newly described (Arenovidalina weii n. sp., Meandrospira? enosi n. sp., and Spinoendotebanella lehrmanni n. gen., n. sp.), ranging from Griesbachian (Induan) to Cordevolian (Carnian) age. The species belong to the classes Miliolata, Textulariata, Fusulinata, Nodosariata, and to an unknown class housing all aragonitic forms of the orders Involutinida and Robertinida. Based on previously established conodont zones and carbon isotope chemostratigraphy, the Griesbachian (early Induan) through Illyrian (late Anisian) interval has been subdivided into 12 foraminiferal zones and two unnamed intervals devoid of foraminifera. Following the extinction at the Permian-Triassic boundary, habitable ecological niches of Griesbachian age were invaded by disaster taxa that subsequently became extinct during the Dienerian (late Induan) and left no younger descendants. The disaster taxa were replaced by Lazarus taxa with Permian origins, which were then decimated by the Smithian-Spathian (mid-Olenekian) boundary crisis. The tempo of recovery appears to have been modulated by environmental changes during the Griesbachian through Smithian that involved both climate change and expansion of anoxic ocean bottom waters. Uninterrupted and lasting recovery of benthic foraminifera did not begin until the Spathian. UUID: http://zoobank.org/2a6e9061-b163-402a-9098-8765a80576b3 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]