Tesis con embargo temporal según petición del autor / No cabe lugar a dudas de que EEUU ve en la República Popular China su máxima amenaza, en el mediano plazo, al liderazgo mundial que ha tenido desde el fin de la Guerra Fría. Por esta razón, para Washington el asegurar su zona de influencia en Asia, en específico en el noreste asiático, es un imperativo estratégico. Para la República Popular China no hay dos lecturas: Taiwán es parte integral del territorio chino y el frenar cualquier intento independentista es un objetivo irrenunciable. Sin embargo, el proceso de reunificación encuentra su mayor dificultad en el rol preponderante de EEUU en la región y en la capacidad de éste de poder tener injerencia en el conflicto, ya sea a través de apoyo político a Taiwán, de asistencia militar a éste, o interviniendo directamente en un conflicto armado en la zona. En este contexto, EEUU ha hecho durante estos años la mayor transferencia tecnológica militar a Taiwán desde 1990, incluyéndose en esta venta armas con una importante capacidad de destrucción. La República Popular China no ha quedado indiferente ante este hecho, por el contrario, se ha embarcado en un proceso de modernización de sus FFAA y, lo que es aun más importante, en un cambio de su estrategia. Ésta se sustenta en una nueva forma de entender la guerra y que se ha definido en los últimos Libros Blancos de la Defensa chinos como “guerra limitada bajo condiciones de alta tecnología e información”, la cual conjuga en sí los esfuerzos hechos en materia de desarrollo tecnológico militar e instrucción de sus fuerzas de combate en pro de enfrentar de mejor manera y bajo las condiciones de una guerra moderna, por una parte, una eventual independencia de Taiwán; y por otra, el consecuente involucramiento directo de Washington en este potencial escenario de conflicto armado.

Wenyi film has long been a research focus of Chinese film studies since the 1980s. An abundance of scholars has been writing on the topic of wenyi film, defining its generic nature as literature and art film or film adaptation of great literature, or understanding it in relation to themes of love and human relationships. Many scholars have explored the role of wenyi films in post-war Hong Kong and Taiwan cinemas. Yet, in terms of Republican Chinese cinema, only brief accounts on some wenyi directors or works can be found. This dissertation aims to answer the question of what is wenyi film? by studying materials from the 1910s to the 1940s. Wenyi film as a discursive notion was never static in that period of time and the notion intersects with different discourses and practices. By investigating the interaction between the notion and those discourses and practices, this dissertation aims to present a taxonomy of wenyi film as grouped under the themes of romance, family, national character, heroism and the people.

This thesis is intended to improve the understanding of China’s evolving export-oriented farmed seafood systems, and in particularly, shrimp and tilapia farming value chains in Southern China. An integrated, systems thinking and interdisciplinary approach in which both top–down and bottom–up approaches were combined. The research moved from system reviews, to field surveys and workshops, and then to improving sustainability by Action Research (AR), in order to form a holistic understanding of sustainability at both national and local scales. In the new millennium, the aquaculture sector has matured, and many factors now slow the growth rate of Chinese aquaculture production, such as increasing culture of high-value species and an emerging trend of extensification. There are been some strategy shifts in the aquaculture industry such as changing from a high production to high profit orientation and from causing environmental damage to ecological remediation. A key conclusion is that high growth rates, regularly used in policy dialogues, are misleading indicators and do not reflect, realistic or sustainable, growth profiles. Although overall Chinese aquaculture production is likely to further increase to meet an increasing and changing market demand, growth rates will decrease further. China already is and will continue to be a fisheries products net importer, however, if fishmeal excluded China will remain as a seafood net exporter. The status and development of four internationally-traded farmed seafood, tilapia, penaeid shrimp, macrobrachium prawns and striped catfish in China were reviewed. China is the largest producer of tilapia, penaeid shrimp and macrobrachium prawns, and striped catfish is not produced in significant quantities due to climate limitations. Meanwhile, China is the largest exporter of tilapia, the second largest exporter in the volume and third in value of shrimp in the world, while macrobrachium prawns mainly support domestic markets. Tilapia and penaeid shrimp were selected for further research. An analysis of tilapia and shrimp farm scale indicators and their relationship to farming system and market orientation, farm intensification and performance was made. Farm area, both land and water area, labour, including paid and unpaid were effective indicators to distinguish farm scale. Small-scale farms had higher land productivity in production terms but no difference in value output term, and they had much lower labour productivity than medium and large-scale farms. Farming systems were also correlated with land and labour productivities. Market orientation was closely linked to farm scale as most farms with an export orientation required registration with CIQ (China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine) and were mainly large-scale. An assessment of local stakeholder sustainability perspectives along value chains revealed that more than 80% shrimp and tilapia farmers didn’t want their children to continue basing their living on aquaculture; because they considered it hard work, high risk and poorly remunerated. Farming was comparative stable with few changes in the five years prior to the survey. Major sustainability factors identified by stakeholders included input costs, profit, water availability & quality and the weather, most of which were outside their control. The measurement of these sustainability factors was firstly proposed by stakeholders and then developed to a set of sustainability indicators (SIs). Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used as evaluate the environmental performance of tilapia, pig and integrated tilapia-pig farming systems in China. Pig farming had higher environment impacts based on most impact categories than tilapia, and integrated farming systems. Sensitivity analysis showed that improvements of 5% and 10% higher feed efficiency, reduction of fishmeal in feed to 1% level and use of EU electricity could significant reduce overall environmental impacts. An action research (AR) approach was used to assess the practice of farm record keeping with farmers which were found to be generally low and a major constraint to improving product traceability increasingly demanded by consumers. Large scale and CIQ farms were more likely to keep records and for them to be detailed and analysed to inform improved management. Farmers’ motivation, ability and capability and background had significant correlation with record keeping practice. Two major dilemmas were identified by the analysis. Easy-to-use farm record-keeping system more suitable for less formally educated farmers was a clear requirement but useful storage and analysis of farm data capacity requires sophisticated management tools such as a computer system. Another dilemma is the need for coercion by regulatory authorities or encouragement through provision of education and training in increasing on-farm record-keeping to a level required for international trade and, increasingly, domestic markets. “Precision aquaculture”, value chain integrated solution, and further social-economic reforms were discussed. Finally, sustainable intensification, diversification, and extensification were proposed as strategies for China to meet the challenges of globalization and the growing demands of export and domestic value chains. In order to enhance sustainability of the sector and provide opportunities for small-scale farmers, the current status and changes of the Chinese social, economic context, food safety and environments issues were discussed. Farmers’ organizations, future consolidation, and land reforms were identified as key to the required changes of farmed seafood value chains.

This study examines the movement to establish and consolidate rural people's communes in China during the period 1958-1965. It concentrates on the development and consolidation of people's communes in the northern province of Shandong. The thesis argues that there are two trends in contemporary theories of Third World Development. One sees the development of Third World countries as a process of economic moves through adoption of advanced western technology and by the transformation of social institutions according to the features of ideal type of the western model. The other suggests that the development of Third World countries is not merely a process of economic growth, but is conditioned both by their respective historical backgrounds and the world-system. It is argued that China subscribes to the latter version of development theory. It is suggested that, historically, Chinese society followed a particular path of development. The western impact on China gradually brought about the disintegration of the traditional society. Chinese development strategy after 1949, especially after the establishment of the people's communes, is distinctive and differs not only from the dominant mode of development in China's past, but also from the modes in advanced societies of western Europe and North America, and the Third World in general. The people's commune is considered as possessing an identifiable structure and subject to a process of growth and change. Its development is seen as a response to basic economic realities and also, to an important degree, to human decision-making. It is argued that the commune system is at the center of China's strategy for rural development. Within the context of Shandong, the development of the people's commune is seen through an analysis of agricultural production, local industry, building of water conservancy, as well as changes in family institutions. The analysis of this study shows that the characteristics of the development of the people's communes during 1958-1965 manifest in two major aspects. First, development planning aims at resolving certain peasant problems which are a heritage of the traditional mode of economic development in China, and to fulfill modernization and some specific ideological goals. Secondly, the development of the people's communes helps to retain the traditional structure of rural community. The latter is essentially found in the features of self-control and self-sufficiency in political and economic life in the people's communes, and also in the development of human relations. The major sources of this study consist of documentary research, i.e., Chinese local and national newspapers of the period under study, and magazines of the same period. Interviews of émigrés were also used as supplementary sources. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Unknown

Background The Chinese famine of 1959–61 has been widely interpreted as an important driver of current and future epidemics of type 2 diabetes (T2D). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of prenatal famine exposure and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in China to summarize study characteristics, examine impacts of control selections on study results, and identify whether study results can be related to any characteristics. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, Wanfang Data, and CNKI databases for studies that examined the relationship between T2D and prenatal exposure to the Chinese famine up to January, 2021. From included studies, we abstracted information on the number of T2D cases and populations at risk among individuals born during the famine (famine births), born before the famine (pre-famine births), and born after the famine (post-famine births). We examined the quality of studies with the modified Newcastle–Ottawa scale. We compared T2D in famine births to different controls: post-famine births, pre-famine and post-famine births combined (age-balanced), and pre-famine births. Fixed-effects models and random-effects models were used to calculate summary estimates. Heterogeneity across studies was assessed, and subgroup analyses were performed using sex, age at the survey, T2D measurements, famine intensity, residence, and publication language as possible effect modifiers. Findings Of 5,363 studies identified, 18 studies met our inclusion criteria. All studies defined famine exposure based on participants' years and/or months of births. Sample sizes ranged between around 300 and over 80,000 across studies. When post-famine births were used as controls, we found an increased risk of T2D (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.30–1.68) among famine births based on the random-effects model. Using age-balanced controls, we did not find any increased risk of T2D (1.09, 95% CI 0.98–1.22). When pre-famine births were used as controls, famine was associated with a reduction in risk (0.85, 95% CI 0.75–0.97). Large variations and inconsistencies were identified in study design, famine intensity assessment, and covariate adjustment across studies. Conclusion Our analysis shows that it still remains an open question whether the Chinese famine has contributed substantially to the current T2D epidemic in China. Studies with more rigorous methods will need to quantify this relationship. The four-level famine intensity instrument developed in this study is a robust measure to identify a potential dose-response relation between famine exposure and health outcomes. It is likely to improve the reproducibility and generalizability of future studies.

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In this thesis, I discuss a group of compositionally related 'core' chapters within the Yi Zhou shu, a collection of 59 texts from ancient China that has received very limited attention in scholarship. The texts in this collection are difficult to read and interpret because of their poor preservation and the lack of concise commentaries. I develop a methodological strategy for the identification of philologically related texts within the collection, which allows me to single out a group of texts related by compositional structures, rhetorical patterns and characteristic formulaic expressions. I call such chapters 'kingly consultations', considering that most of such texts are presented as speeches involving sage rulers of the Western Zhou (mid. 11th century - 771 BC), in which they share the fundamental wisdoms of kingship. I argue that these texts are remnants of an important ritualised textual practice, which has left traces not only in the Yi Zhou shu, but also in other collections, such as the Liu tao (Six Bow Cases), which is commonly classified among 'military' texts. I reconstruct elements of the socio-political context of the kingly consultations using comparative insight. I examine the numerical lists used for systematisation of knowledge against similar lists in the Pali canon. I also explain the significance of the expressions that emphasise the secretive transmission of texts against better known esoteric textual communities in China and Japan. Such comparison allows me to preliminarily identify the communities behind the kingly consultations as based on strict knowledge-based hierarchy, but prone to segmentation. Finally, I position the kingly consultations within the broader context of the practice of treasure texts. This practice is an important development in ancient China that led to the emergence of a new type of textual authority by 'detaching' earlier epigraphic texts from their precious material carriers and introducing them into novel environment of manuscript culture.

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice