China Brand Homes: Business history and projects¿ analysis of China Vanke Co. Ltd., 1988-2016

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The Characteristics of Sino-Taiwanese Joint Ventures in the People's Republic of China

The main objective of this thesis is to shed light on the characteristics and performance of Sino-Taiwanese joint ventures (JVs) in the People's Republic of China and in particular to investigate the role played by guanxi (interpersonal relationships) in their formation and in the way they function. The research shows that guanxi enhances the effectiveness of Taiwanese joint venture partners by overcoming unanticipated external environmental factors and enabling them to deal with the complex internal managerial issues associated with the Chinese market. The different political and economic relations between Taiwan and China make the joint venture entry strategy attractive to Taiwanese investors. Taiwanese investors share similar cultural identity and speak the same dialect as much of Mainland China. The literature on international joint venture formation is reviewed and compared business made between western style networking and guanxi relationships in Chinese business communities. The impact of cultural similarity on partner selection has been added in this study of Sino-Taiwanese Ns, which therefore provides a new strategic perspective. A triangulation research method is employed to provide a systematic analysis. In particular, a first set of interviews identified the possible variables in JV development and established important contacts in China, to assist in carrying out a second questionnaire survey. A further round of interviews confirmed the validity of the findings. A strong positive correlation was found between firms' cooperative strategies and the uncertainties of the Chinese business environment. This has demonstrably influenced Taiwanese investors' decision to collaborate with Chinese firms in joint ventures. The interview evidence clearly shows the importance of guanxi at different stages of JV formation and development. The thesis concludes that the effective use of guanxi has enhanced Taiwanese investors' effectiveness within the highly uncertain business environment of China

Taiwan and Southeast Asia: Opportunities and Constraints of Continued Engagement

Over the past three decades, Taiwan has seen continued and expanded engagement with Southeast Asia. In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, under LEE Teng-hui’s presidency, the Republic of China (hereafter, R.O.C. or Taiwan) started to pursue a set of “Go South” policy initiatives to deepen its ties with the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), aimed at securing the island’s political and economic interests in the region. This monograph attempts to analyze Taiwan-ASEAN relations from a variety of perspectives: political development, economic cooperation, and cultural engagement, as well as the related dynamics with mainland China. The main argument contends that, on the political and economic fronts, there are two major determinants in calculating the effectiveness of Taiwan’s engagement with Southeast Asian countries. The first factor is Taiwan’s economic influence vis-à-vis mainland China. In the early 1990s, the significant Taiwanese investment and trade presence in Southeast Asia provided leverage and opportunities that Taiwan needed to enhance political ties with ASEAN countries. However, after the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, Taiwan’s relative economic prowess in Southeast Asia steadily declined while mainland China started to actively bolster its trade and investment ties with the region. The second factor is the overall status of cross-Taiwan Strait relations (hereafter, cross-Strait relations). Cross-Strait peace and stability arguably create more space for Taiwan to engage Southeast Asian countries. When the Taiwan Strait was relatively stable during the first half of President Lee’s tenure between 1988 and 1994, Taiwan augmented political relations with Southeast Asian countries. When President MA Ying-jeou promoted cross-Strait peace between 2008 and 2016, Taiwan also made remarkable strides in improving relations with ASEAN countries and strengthening people-to-people connectivity with the region. In contrast, Taiwan encountered more obstacles to “Go South” when cross-Strait relations deteriorated from 1995 to 2000 under Lee’s presidency and from 2000 to 2008 under CHEN Shui-bian’s. On the cultural and people-to-people fronts, this monograph argues that Taiwan holds copious amounts of soft power assets through its academic exchanges and developmental assistance programs. Consequently, Taiwan can wield greater soft power in Southeast Asia if it continues to mobilize these resources and expand existing initiatives. Measures, such as further strengthening higher education and tourism ties with ASEAN countries and proactively offering technical assistance and humanitarian aid to the region, can help Taiwan increase its image abroad and in turn promote the island’s interests in Southeast Asia

Shifting place identities in a post-conflict society : irony and multiculturality in Quemoy, Taiwan

ABSTRACT Quemoy is a small island with an area of fifty-eight square miles at the mouth of Xiamen Bay on the southeast coast of China. As a Cold-War front of Taiwan shelled by the Chinese artillery for twenty years, Quemoy is becoming a heritage tourism destination attracting mainland Chinese to sightsee in its military structures. In this study, I examine landscape change in the post-conflict society through the interplay of three social dynamics—reconciliation, demilitarization, and touristification—exploring the cultural mechanism of landscape change and its meaning. Through a review of Quemoy’s history, I identify Quemoy’s geographical characteristics—marginality, cultural hybridity, and islandness—formed and articulated in a repetitive process that I term as the reversal of geographical coordinate system. The reversal coincides with a change of social concerns in the marginal society, whose negotiations with terrestrial and maritime powers direct its engaging front toward the land or the sea, and stimulates distinct human inscriptions in the landscape. Militarization of Quemoy as Chinese Nationalists’ Cold-War front initiated the last reversal, which turned its front toward the mainland China in 1949 and brought forth a military landscape characterized by its rigidity, hierarchy, and pragmatism. Simultaneously, the militarization incurred biopolitical production through militia duty, everyday regulation, combat economy, and battlefield knowledge. As the 1949-reversal is now dissolving under current demilitarization, from reinvention and destruction of military structures I reveal irony in the landscape as a way of cultural demilitarization subverting the significance of the past anticommunist conflicts. Furthermore, by reconstruction of historical landscapes and reinterpretation of symbolic landscapes, Quemoyans (re)localize landscape and jointly engage in a process of homeland construction. The juxtaposition of historical simulacra and reinvented military relics produces heterotopias of a museum island for heritage tourism. Consequently, the production of irony and heterotopias together serves as the cultural mechanism of the current identity reformulation from a battlefield to a heritage tourism destination. Uncovering the mechanism, I then demonstrate that ambiguity and multiculturality emerging from this irony’s multivocality and heterotopia’s multilocality is a cultural strategy of the border island society to negotiate with the post-conflict situation

The evolution of education in modern China with special reference to higher education

The civilization of China is over five thousand years old. The present system of education, however, is almost wholly a product of the twentieth century. During that period its development has been uneven and has been variously retarded by the weight of tradition, by a series of wars and by political experiments. This thesis is an account of that development, an assessment of the achievement and an analysis of the problems of Chinese education. There are nine chapters. Chapter one is introductory and presents the geographical, economic and political context of education in China. Chapter Two outlines the historical background and assesses the powerful and enduring influence of the traditional civil service examination. Chapter Three and Chapter Four describe the introduction of modern education into China and its development up to 1966. Chapter Five is an account of the theoretical and social determinants of the Cultural Revolution and its consequences for education. Chapter Six discusses the educational reform which has been undertaken in China after the Cultural Revolution. Chapter Seven outlines the present system of educational administration in China and Chapter Eight is a consideration of the provision for higher education both formal and non-formal. The final Chapter is an assessment of what has been achieved and an analysis of the remaining problems which have still to be solved. Throughout the thesis special care has been taken to obtain the most recent and the most accurate statistical data which is available. Inspite of its chequered history and the formidable difficulties which it has faced, the achievements of education in China in the present century have been substantial. Its continued progress is crucial for the future development of the nation

A Comparative Study of Takeover Defences in UK, US and Chinese Law

This thesis explores the issues regarding which regime style would be appropriate for China to adopt in the regulation of takeover defences, given that there are two distinct takeover regulatory systems in the world – that of the UK, and that of the US. China has already adopted a UK-style shareholder-friendly regulatory system. This thesis considers the reasons why China has chosen a shareholder-friendly takeover regulatory system rather than a US-style director-friendly regulatory system. In addition, combining analysis of the character of China’s market and its legal framework, it discusses whether the current regulatory system is appropriate for China or not. Furthermore, it considers specific features of individual takeover defensive tactics and the possibility of their use being legitimised in China. This thesis is relevant because of the likelihood of the freeing up of the Chinese takeover market in the future; as this happens, there will be more and more takeover activity, taking place in China’s market. Thus it is important to provide adequate legislation for market players. Though China adopted the UK’s shareholder regulatory system many years ago, when it first regulated its takeover market, the shareholding structure in China is totally different to the UK’s, and so it is important to discuss whether this regulatory system is still relevant for China or whether there should be a change to a regulatory system more like that of the US. As China issued the Administrative Measures of Preferred Shares Experimental Units in 2014, and the new leadership in China has continued China’s economic reform over recent years, it i could be said that China’s listed companies have become more attractive to investors and there could be more hostile raiders entering the market. Hence there is a need to consider whether China’s delegation of decision-making powers to the shareholders regarding defence against hostile raiders is appropriate. It is also important to establish which takeover defence measures might appropriately be legalised and which would be inappropriate for China. Chapter 1 introduces background information about the trend of mergers and acquisitions and hostile takeovers, China’s state-owned enterprises and briefly consider takeover defensive measures. Following this, it discusses shareholding structures, and problems in China’s market in comparison with the UK and US. Chapter 2 outlines both the UK’s and US’s distinctive takeover regulatory systems and evaluates their pros and cons, as well as the reasons why certain regulatory systems are suitable for each market. Chapter 3 explores the differences between China’s ownership structure, market, and legal framework, and those of the UK and US. It also summarises the weaknesses of the Chinese system(s) in seeking to transplant a western-style set of takeover regulations into China’s market. Primarily, these are that (a) China does not provide sufficient legislation relating to takeover defence measures and (b) Chinese market players and legal advisors do not have adequate experience of takeover defence measures. ii Chapter 4 discusses takeover defence measures related to stock trading – share repurchase, the ‘pac-man’ defence, the use of white knights and ESOP. The chapter concludes that the first two tactics may be too risky for target companies such that their adoption should be prohibited in China while the latter two tactics may be helpful and could be widely used by China’s listed companies. Chapter 5 considers takeover defence measures related to management, such as poison pills, shark repellents, the scorched earth policy, dual class recapitalization and three kinds of parachutes. Except for the scorched earth policy, which could be harmful to the long-term interests of target companies, the other tactics may work well in China’s market and help Chinese companies secure controlling power or raise the share premium. Chapter 6 looks into defensive measures relating to litigation, raising anti-trust issues with relevant authorities, inadequate information provision by bidders and other crimes. It summarizes how measures relating to litigation could help delay the hostile takeover process, but could also terminate it, even if the target company is only seeking a greater share premium. This process could also involve government intervention, and its effectiveness cannot be guaranteed. Even if this group of measures are the most frequently used tactics by target companies, this thesis does not recommend it over other options. Chapter 7 analyses and compares the legislative systems of the US and UK and concludes that the UK’s system is better for contemporary China. However, there is iii still the potential for China to legalise certain takeover defensive measures in the future as China’s market is continually being reformed. Chapter 8 concludes the thesis in proposing that China is justified in adopting the UK’s shareholder-friendly regulatory system. This is partly based on consideration of promoting takeover activities, and the existence of China’s SOEs, which may be reasons to prohibit certain defensive measures in China’s market. As the reform of China’s market continues, moderate defensive tactics like the white knight, parachute system and poison pill could work well. However, the decision-making power should remain in the hands of shareholders and the government should provide sufficient supervision over the market whilst following the principle of protecting shareholders’ interests. The importance of the thesis, and its contribution to existing knowledge, is the research for it has found that most other researchers are focused on the mandatory bid rule – adopted from the UK – in China, but that hardly any systematic research is being undertaken into defensive measures. Thus, this thesis fills a gap in the current literature on the takeover regulations area for China. It also discusses most of the major takeover defensive tactics, analysing in which markets certain defensive tactics work, and whether they would be appropriate for China. Newly-released regulations show the intention of Chinese legislators to turn to a more US style – which will make certain takeover defence measures possible in China, such as the poison pill; whether these are suitable for the Chinese market is debatable. In addition, it is found that iv Chinese companies, especially high-tech companies, quite frequently use several defensive measures when they list on the US market, and the function of these tactics in securing control over the target company can be seen. Thus, research into how to regulate those defensive measures and what problems might arise with their use in China is important for regulators, and will make this thesis meaningful in China