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- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
Description
This paper will focus on the changes in China's OFDI while also explaining its growth. However, another primary focus will be comparing the relationships between China, Hong Kong, and Africa. This paper will show the correlating changes between the three regions and explain the distribution of China's investments. One argument is that Hong Kong may play a large role in facilitating Chinese investment into Africa, which if not disaggregated, could lead to inaccurate numbers of China's FDI into Africa. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of China's relationship with Hong Kong and Africa. In 2012, Garth Shelton argued that Hong Kong was an important gateway in South Africa's trade with China. Since then, many others have made similar claims in support of Hong Kong's bigger role. However, due to the difficulty of finding specific data for each region, these analyses are incomplete and fail to clearly substantiate their theory. I will try to find a correlation by gathering my own data, tables, and through different interviews.
ContributorsSon, James (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Iheduru, Okechukwu (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This thesis investigates the role of colorism and the practice of skin whitening for women in China. By analyzing the historical evolution of ideal skin beauty in China, this project found that the cultural fixation with women's skin tone was used as a sociopolitical tool to regulate women's agency. Furthermore, this thesis also examines current skin whitening advertisements to understand modern impacts of Westernization and consumerism on contemporary discourses of femininity and beauty. Finally, it concludes with a discussion on skin whitening's ability to empower but also subjugate women within the confines of patriarchal expectations.
ContributorsYeung, Evelyn Wai Fu (Author) / Rondilla, Joanne (Thesis director) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Within sixty years, the People’s Republic of China has risen from a struggling post-civil war state to the second largest economy in the world, comprising of 16.71 percent of the global economy as of 2015. While China has grown, its presence internationally has grown as well—China has utilized its capital to foment important relationships and foster soft power dynamics, making billions available in development aid and investment projects across the globe, most notably in Africa and Latin America, where Chinese goods have begun to dominate the markets there as they have in American counterparts. However, within Latin America China has been investing in countries that are traditionally seen as “risky” financial investments. This paper hypothesizes that the returns on Chinese investments in Latin America are not financial, but political—that China is investing in expansion of its soft-power and legitimizing its beginnings of global hegemony. The paper also explores the success of these initiatives by comparing the level of Chinese investment to changes in Latin American foreign policy alignment, discourse, and agreements through utilizing case studies of Venezuela and Bolivia.
ContributorsHochhaus, Natalie (Co-author) / Yan, Jaylia (Co-author) / Thomson, Henry (Thesis director) / Ripley, Charles (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
China's rapid growth was fueled by an unsustainable method: trade environment for GDP. Air pollution has reached dangerous levels and has taken a serious toll on China's economic progress. The World Bank estimates that in 2013, China lost about 10% of its GDP to pollution. As the cost of burning fossil fuels and public dismay continue to mount, the government is taking steps to reduce carbon emissions and appease the people. The rapidly growing nuclear energy program is one of the energy solutions that China is using to addressing carbon emissions. While China has built a respectable amount of renewable energy capacity (such as wind and solar), much of that capacity is not connected to the power grid. Nuclear energy on the other hand, provides a low-emission alternative that operates independently of weather and sunlight. However, the accelerated pace of reactor construction in recent years presents challenges for the safe operation of nuclear energy in China. It is in China's (and the world's) best interest that a repeat of the Fukushima accident does not occur. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident, public support for nuclear energy in China took a serious hit. A major domestic nuclear accident would be detrimental to the development of nuclear energy in China and diminish the government's reliability in the eyes of the people. This paper will outline those risk factors such as regulatory efforts, legal framework, technological issues, spent fuel disposal, and public perception and provide suggestions to decrease the risk of a major nuclear accident.
ContributorsLiu, Haoran (Author) / Kelman, Jonathan (Thesis director) / Cochran, Douglas (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The American English and Culture Program (AECP) at Arizona State University is an intensive language program that has taught English to speakers of other languages from over 115 countries. This study focuses on English education from five of those countries by examining the similarities and differences between AECP and English education in those countries, as well as analyzing the concerns about English education in these countries and how they may impact students who come to AECP. Those countries are Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Korea, and Kuwait. The primary characteristics that are analyzed are history of English in relation to that country, the goals of English learning, the teaching methods used in the classes, and textbook content. The implications of this study are to help EFL educators learn about their students' backgrounds in the English language through learning the students' countries' various histories and difficulties concerning English, thus allowing them to help students better transition into the English programs such as AECP. This study also shows what research is readily available about English education in other countries, and reveals that there is a lack of research in some aspects of English education for some countries.
ContributorsMeyer, Elizabeth Kayla (Author) / James, Mark (Thesis director) / Thompson, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This paper is based on a research undertaking to understand China's presence in Africa and how this relates to Western relations with the continent. The research attempts to determine which option, Europe/US or the Chinese, may be the most suitable partner in development for Africa, as well as discuss what can be done to maximize the benefits, and mitigate the negative aspects of that relationship. A comparative analysis approach is used to judge the viability of each partner, and each is assessed according to a set of criteria, including the following: 1. Equitable and Respectful Relations 2. Maintenance of Sovereignty 3. Ability and Willingness to Finance Sustainable Development in Africa 4. Shared Experience and Understanding 5. Historical Element Drawing on the collected research presented in this document, the major finding is that the Chinese have a fundamentally different approach to aid and investment, and harbor conceptually distinctive ideas regarding development than the West. Based on the outcome of the comparative study against the above criteria, it is suggested that Africa may benefit from selecting China as a partner in achieving its own sustainable development, and suggestions are offered to effectively leverage this partnership.
ContributorsBoucher, Sara Alexandra (Author) / Aubrey, Lisa (Thesis director) / Li, Wei (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
A new class of entrepreneurs is emerging in China, who are using a business model approach to solve societal problems. A small but growing niche of these so called "social entrepreneurs" is attempting to address long standing problems in the agricultural sector stemming from the three agricultural issues of farmers, agriculture and rural areas. In order to understand what social entrepreneurship means in the Chinese context, the motivations behind it, and the opportunities and problems related specifically to agricultural sector, interviews were conducted with social entrepreneurs, research institutes, and social fostering organizations in multiple tier-one cities in mainland China. Results show that the concept of social enterprise is comprehended in a very different way in the Chinese context relative to the general usage of the term in the literature. Social enterprises in the agricultural sector are divided into categories of Community Supported Agriculture-based organic farms, farmers' markets, food educators and city farmers. This is a growing group of entrepreneurs who could be better supported on the basis of resources and protection by the government, law and policy, universities, and a united producer and consumer front.
ContributorsGray, Christopher Stephan (Author) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Thesis director) / Ostrom, Amy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
This project explores the relationship between modern dance and Chinese individual identity from a personal perspective. Modern dance emerged from the West, carrying Western philosophies of individual identity and importance, where the composition of persons defines the group. The Chinese philosophy of the individual, however, has developed in a different context where the group defines the persons that constitute it. There is an interesting negotiation of meaning in the convergence of these two perceptions within the art of modern dance in China. A review of literature was conducted on modern dance in China, as well as the formation and development of individual identity in Chinese philosophy and culture. Over the summer of 2013, the author then conducted ethnographic research while attending the Beijing Dance Festival in Beijing, China. Reflections on the research and experiences were further explored through the creation of a dance piece and then compiled in this paper. Primary findings include that there are differences in understandings of time, space, and the use of technology that influence the practice of modern dance in China. Also, though the concept of self-expression is closely tied to Chinese ideas of modern dance, what is seen onstage raises the question of whose self is being expressed. The interaction of Eastern and Western understandings creates a dissonance of meaning.
ContributorsNunn, Jasmine Charis (Author) / Fitzgerald, Mary (Thesis director) / Zou, Yu (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
This paper examines how China was able to influence modernization in Southeast Asia during the time period of 1980-1995. Following thirty years of isolation, China opened itself up to foreign investments in an effort to modernize the country. Comparing the inflows and outflows of investment between China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, the impact on industries can be seen. China opening itself up to the world served as a catalyst for the region and helped lead to development and modernization in each country examined.
ContributorsVan Streain, Taylor Andrew (Author) / Mendez, Jose (Thesis director) / Rush, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
In recent years, China and Japan have both experienced the serious challenge of handling some of the most destructive natural disasters in human history with the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and the 2011 Fukushima incident. After careful examination of geological surveys and further evidence released in the aftermath, these two incidents can be regarded as man-made or technological disasters, which differentiate them from the multitude of natural disasters that have happened previously. Their unique causation also creates a need for separate analysis of the public reaction towards these disasters. Due to existing knowledge and communication gaps within the Chinese and Japanese governments, the official media reports of these disasters also hold many problems, such as a lack of clarity, consistency, and transparency caused by a shortage of investigative journalism. Japan, in particular, has grappled with the bias of "nuclear nationalism" since post-World War II. These issues and ideas can change public opinion drastically, which makes it necessary to evaluate the combined effects on the psychology of people trying to come to terms with these technological disasters and examine possible solutions for this problem.
ContributorsPaschke, Lauren Anne (Author) / Spring, Madeline (Thesis director) / Zhu, Jie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-05