Asia Centre

Thursday 11th December 2008 at CAPE (Centre d'Accueil de la Presse Etrangère)

Meeting with the Pr. Roland Dannreuther, University of Edinburgh, Visiting Fellow at Asia Centre.

This 18e meeting was discussed in english by: 

Didier Houssin, Director, in charge of market and energy security (IEA - International Energy Agency)

and

François Godement, Director, Asia Centre at Sciences Po / Senior Policy Fellow (ECFR - European Council on Foreign Relation)

Information - registration : debats.asie@centreasia.org

This « second-track » dialogue was launched in September 2006, in Beijing, by Asia Centre and the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR). After a second session in Paris in 2007, this third session was organised in Beijing with the support of the Policy Planning Staff (Centre d’analyse et de prévision) of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the participation of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

Playing with Europe’s soft agenda 1. Challenging Europe’s soft power 2. Gaining soft power: China’s post-Olympic foreign policy priority 3. The human rights clause in EU-China negotiations 4. Energy and climate cooperation: seeking common ground.

[for more information]

[download China Analysis n°20]

CLOSE UP ON THE NEWS 1. The government changes but questions still remain 2. The Japanese markets feel the effects of the financial crisis. A contribution by Claire Largent, an expert in Japanese financial policy POINTS OF NEWS l Tanaka Akihiko, Okamoto Yukio, "Can the world co-exist with China?" Chûôkôron, August 2008, p.26-37 l Koike Yuriko, "The Diet and Japanese-US relations plunge into chaos - but do the times call for a Prime Minister like Ozawa?", Chûôkôron, October 2008, p.66-72 l Îo Jun, Kitaoka Shin'ichi, "Five major debates over government, diplomacy, domestic policy, political strategy, and leadership", Chûôkôron, October 2008, p. 74-83 l Uekusa Kazuhide, "The collapse of America's casino economy threatens Japan", Shûkan kinyôbi, n°722, October 10^th 2008, p.14-15.

Published: October 9 2008.

The credit crunch that began in the US is now threatening the European banking system. A mini-summit and a meeting of finance ministers reached the same dismal conclusion: European leaders declared that they could not help each other, with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, leading the charge. This reminded some observers of the comments made by Ryutaro Hashimoto, the Japanese prime minister,  at an emergency summit convened in December 1997 to discuss the Asian financial crisis: “Japan cannot save Asia, it can only save itself”.

There are a number of worrying parallels between Asia 10 years ago and the current crisis in Europe. In recent weeks, one has heard the swish of dollar credit lines being pulled back from Europe – and from many emerging economies. In 1997, the spark for the Asian crisis was the sudden recall of short-term, yen-denominated loans by Japan, which generated a panic outflow from most of Asia and the collapse of local currencies.

contributes to a better understanding of Southeast Asia’s main challenges with a multidisciplinary approach. In a volatile situation, evaluating the long-term trends beyond the current region’s instability (Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma). The Observatory is based on meetings amongst experts and practitioners of Southeast Asia who react to an initial paper on an issue of importance to the region. Southeast Asian, European and French experts will gather and address topics of common interest to the region’s 11 states.

Main Expert: Sophie Boisseau du Rocher s.boisseau@centreasia.org

On June 27, 2008, Asia Centre held its annual seminar on Chinese Contemporary Politics at Sciences Po, Paris. More than five years after Hu Jintao was elected secretary general of the CCP, it is time for a preliminary assessment of his first mandate at the head of the Party and the State. In the aftermath of the 16^th Party Congress in October 2002, he was viewed as a weak leader. His power was to be consolidated in almost every meaningful decision-making body within the Party. His agenda in terms of political reform and national strategy lacked transparency. This conference will tackle two main issues: Hu Jintao’s strategies to meet domestic and international challenges to the CCP’s power and legitimacy, and the changes introduced by the fourth generation of Chinese leaders in terms of decision-making. A group of scholars from Asia, the US, Europe and France (see below) has been working on the matter since last year and the seminar will be the occasion to make collective sense of their findings and to assess five years of politics in China under Hu Jintao.

Informations: m.duchatel@centreasia.org

Monday 31 March, from 14:45 to 16:45 at Sciences Po (117 boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris 7^ème)

With Makio Miyagawa (Consul-general of Japan in Geneva) and Sayuri Shirai (Lecturer in Economics, Keiô University, Japan).

Japan is confronted with China’s high-speed growth: what are the sources of dynamism of its diplomacy and the strategies deployed by its companies to meet the challenge? The presentations will show that Chinese growth is very much a trigger of changes and renewal within Japan.

The conference is organized by Asia Centre – Centre Études Asie and Sciences-po’s Groupe d'Économie Mondiale. The conference will be held in english and jointly chaired by François Godement, Sciences Po/Asia Centre and Patrick Messerlin, director of Sciences-po’s Groupe d'Économie Mondiale.

The rise of an energy-hungry China is influencing economies, decision-makers, and industrial policies worldwide. Within China, important debates are taking place on the institutions governing energy, on, pricing reforms and the issue of market liberalization. Abroad, questions are raised about the implications of China’s fast-growing energy demand, its quest for resources and its policies addressing environmental degradation. Understanding the actors that shape China’s energy sector and their diverse perceptions is now essential. It is also needed by those who interact with the Chinese administration, companies and market, or who seek to influence China’s global energy footprint.

This book provides the first comprehensive view of the factors that constitute China’s energy security. It sheds light on the importance of diverging domestic interests, lobbies and interest groups as well as bureaucratic interactions in China’s energy policy-making. It also assesses the country’s international energy strategy through this prism. The dynamics of China’s energy choices are essentially domestic. But their impact - rational or psychological - is now global.

This volume is the outcome of a research project conducted by Asia Centre - Centre études Asie in Beijing between September 2006 and December 2007. Five workshops and roundtables brought together leading Chinese and Western experts from the fields of energy economics, law, political science as well as industrial and foreign policy actors.

Information: contact@centreasia.org

To order

Asia Centre has succeeded in providing a forum for presentations and discussions, with the cooperation of a great numbers of French and non-French institutions involving some fifty researchers, analysts and professionals of the Asia-Pacific, dealing with such major issues and questions as: the return of national strategies and economic globalization, the prevention of conflict and regional integration policies, and the challenges of democracy and governance concerning the whole region and its international partners. The major transversal and sectoral concerns – the quest for energy, nuclear proliferation and its crises, financial markets and systems, as well as changes to political and social systems, also lie at the core of our research and public debates. […]

This report offers an outline of our activities for the period 2005-2007, in line with the new architecture of Asia and the major questions raised by ongoing events around us, and sometimes, we hope, ahead of those events. […]

Director of Asia Centre and Professor, Sciences Po, Paris

Download Asia Centre’s activities report