Governing And Representing Hiv/aids In China: A Review And An Introduction

This introductory essay provides a thematic framework for, and critical review of, the key issues and debates in HIV governance as well as its representation in the public sphere in the Chinese context. It discusses the current state and characteristics of the epidemic. In particular, it analyses the evolution of HIV/AIDS governance and its representation through two broad approaches: "AIDS work" and "AIDS talk." AIDS work is done by a multitude of agents at three different levels: the state at the macro-level; U.N. agencies, INGOs and foreign governments at the meso-level; and civil society at the micro-level. AIDS talk includes "telling AIDS" in Chinese HIV/AIDS media, "recording AIDS" by independent documentary filmmakers, "fighting AIDS" by HIV carriers, and "righting AIDS" by HIV/AIDS activists who are not HIV carriers. From public health campaigns and media education programs in the official media, to individual initiatives asserting rights and community endeavours for self-help—all agents utilise both old and new media and communication technologies to voice their concerns as well as to get their voices heard. This in turn impacts on China's AIDS work. "AIDS work" and "AIDS talk" illustrate the two interrelated areas of governance and representation in the Chinese HIV/AIDS regime. The present issue brings together original articles from diverse disciplinary areas to engage in a timely dialogue on how HIV/AIDS is represented and governed in China and how such representations and techniques of governance are constructive of the relations of power and agency in the context of HIV/AIDS

Solid Fuel-Related Indoor Air Pollution And Poor Sleep Quality In Adults Aged 45 Years And Older; A National Longitudinal Study In China

Background: Sleep disorders are a common public health issue in an aging society. Outdoor air pollution has been linked to poor sleep quality, but few studies have investigated the relationship between indoor air pollution derived from solid fuel combustion and sleep quality in elderly. Objective: To evaluate the association between indoor air pollution due to cooking solid fuels and sleep quality among adults aged 45 years and elderly in China. Methods: We analyzed data from the China Health and Retirement Survey (CHARLS), a national survey of ~17,000 residents aged over 45 from 150 counties/districts in China. Participants were restricted to those who completed waves of CHARLS in 2011, 2013, and 2015 (n=8,668). Sleep quality was indicated by self-reported average sleep duration (hours/night) and the numbers of restless days in per week in the 2015 survey. Participants also reported household cooking fuel type in all three surveys. We compared the “solid fuels”, primarily including coal, crop residue or wood burning, with the “clean fuels” including electric, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas as the reference. We also evaluated the years of solid fuel use (0, 1-4 or ≥5 years). We used multinomial logistic regression and estimated the odd ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for sleep duration (7-9 hours/night as the reference) and restless sleep (0 day as the reference) according to fuel types adjusting for potential confounding factors. Results: Solid fuels use for 5 or more years was associated with a shorter duration of sleep (OR=1.17 95% CI 1.01, 1.35 for less than ≤6 hours/day) and higher frequencies of restless days of sleep (OR=1.33 95%CI 1.13, 1.56 for ≥more than 5 days/week) compared with clean fuels users. The associations were in the similar direction but smaller in magnitude for solid fuels use in 1-4 years. Conclusions: Primary cooking fuel was associated with poor sleep quality in an elderly Chinese population. Further research is needed to evaluate of the specific type of fuels and indoor air pollutants to inform intervention strategies

Research Status and Future Prospects of Coordinated Development of Rural Revitalization and New Urbanization

Agricultural and rural development is an important component of national development, and is of great significance to national food security, economic development, urban-rural integration, social harmony, and ecological environment protection. The coordinated development of rural revitalization and new urbanization, like “the wings of a bird and the wheels of a car”, is an intrinsic requirement for promoting national development. However, in the process of urban-rural development, the urban-biased policies have continuously widened the gap between urban and rural areas, which has seriously hindered the pace of national modernization. Based on the current academic research, this paper compares the views of scholars at both domestic and international, and makes a comprehensive collation of relevant concepts. At the same time, it combines dual economics, regional economic development, and the theory of urban-rural relations of Marx and Engels to make an in-depth analysis of the coupling mechanism between the rural revitalization and new urbanization. Eventually, in view of the existing problems, this paper proposes that future research should be deepened in the following three aspects: the connotation and interactive mechanism of China’s rural revitalization and new urbanization, the coupling relationship between the two items, and the construction of an evaluation index system for the coordinated development of them

A Digital Empire in the Making: China's Outbound Digital Platforms

In this article, we use the example of e-commerce giant Alibaba and its outbound activities in the Asia-Pacific to illustrate how China’s digital platforms have become part of a “digital empire in the making.” The article examines how this emergent digital empire is a manifestation of “going out,” a term used by the Chinese government to rally the private sector (particularly platform capitalists) to internationalize, and how digital champions such as Alibaba have responded to and embraced an outward-bound strategy. Though the Asia-Pacific represents an important region for Chinese economic security, especially when one considers the established business interests there, extension of Chinese influence to central Asia conjures up a different kind of weida fuxing (great rejuvenation), one that evokes a great historical past—namely, the Chinese empire. Accordingly, we speculate on how digital technologies, platforms, and business mergers will facilitate Chinese influence along the digital Silk Roads