INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHINA STUDIES

China's Assertiveness and the Indo-Pacific Response: Australia's Strategic Calculus

Jonathan Ping — 2025-12-31

After decades of economic success and relative political stability at home, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has become confident in its government model, particularly in the wake of its successful navigation of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The Party's growing confidence in China's rise and its grip on power has fuelled a more assertive foreign policy on the global stage. This article contends that China's global assertiveness - as experienced and responded by Australia - if taken too far, could ultimately weaken the Party at home. This is because the Party's economic sucesses have been a result of the PRC's successful integration into the world economy and maintenance of harmonious trade relations with the world's major economies.

Labour-Use Efficiency in China: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

Wisuwat Chujan — 2025-12-31

Using panel data and applying the stochastic frontier analysis, this paper investigates the labor-use efficiency of 24 provinces/administrative regions of China between 2011 and 2019. The average labor efficiency relative to the most efficient province was 86.1 per cent, whereas Tianjin, followed by Shanghai, was the most efficient province (100 per cent and 95.2 per cent, respectively). We find a potential for reducing labor demand by up to 13.9 per cent across all provinces. At the same time, Guangdong is the least efficient province and could improve its labor efficiency by about 19.5 per cent. In addition, the paper studies labor elasticity and marginal risk with respect to output, capital, wage, and time.

China’s Energy Sector and the Search for Structural Power

Tiago Luís Carvalho — 2025-12-31

Literature on China’s power lacks a structural power perspective regarding the energy sector. This study addresses this gap by posing the research question: Has the internationalisation of national energy companies enhanced China’s structural power in the energy sector? Using a qualitative case study, structural power is examined in relation to the international efforts of the five leading Chinese state-owned enterprises in China’s outward foreign direct investment. Underpinned by Pustovitovskij and Kremer’s operationalisation of structural power, the empirical analysis encompasses the most relevant energy subsectors. The findings reveal a sharp contrast between subsectors: while Chinese national oil and gas companies, as late entrants, face technological lag, China’s early, large-scale investments in power and renewables have secured market dominance and the ability to set global standards for green energy technologies. These advancements have directly enhanced China’s structural power. The adverse reactions of major competitors to China’s growing influence in energy geopolitics reinforce this conclusion.

Does Foreign Ownership from China and Hong Kong Decrease Investment Efficiency of Malaysia Firms? An Empirical Investigation

Joseph Wee Siong Hii — 2025-12-31

Foreign investment is becoming increasingly significant in emerging economies, but its effect on efficiency of domestic firms remains ambiguous. In Malaysia, foreign ownership is subject to regulatory restrictions and institutional frameworks. It remains unclear, however, whether foreign investors contribute to efficient capital allocation. Therefore, this study conducted an in-depth analysis on 455 public listed Malaysian firms, specifically on the relationship between foreign ownership and firm-level capital allocations, captured by sensitivity of investment expenditure to investment opportunities (investment-Q sensitivity). The findings indicate that foreign ownership has no significant impact on investment efficiency, and this is consistent across different ownership intervals. Nevertheless, the effect of foreign ownership varies by country of origin. Investments from Japan, Singapore and Western countries have had no significant impact on investment efficiency, while those from China and Hong Kong are associated with significant reduction. The findings, hence, suggest the importance of investor origin and fit when formulating investment policies and designing governance frameworks to facilitate efficient capital allocation.

The Belt and Road Initiative in Malaysia: Progress, Impacts and Challenges

Zaharul Abdullah — 2025-12-31

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched by China in 2013, is an extensive infrastructure programme aimed at enhancing connectivity in areas such as policy coordination, infrastructure, trade, finance and peopleto-people relations. Among Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia, particularly during the tenure of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, demonstrated strong support for the BRI. Various projects have been implemented across multiple sectors, including infrastructure development, energy, industrial
parks, construction, real estate, telecommunications, technology, finance, banking and tourism. However, when Mahathir Mohamad returned to power in 2018, he adopted a more cautious stance towards Chinese investments, opting to review and renegotiate key BRI projects to ease Malaysia’s financial strain. The administrations of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri focused primarily on handling the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery, allowing most BRI projects to continue without interruption, a trend that has persisted under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Although Malaysia’s overall approach to China remains consistent, the country’s frequent changes in government—four administrations in five years—have resulted in varied responses and shifting priorities regarding BRI projects. This study examines the progress, impacts and challenges of these projects. The findings reveal that most BRI projects in Malaysia are advancing smoothly despite political changes. Impacts range from high costs toconcerns over autonomy and policy space, while challenges include reducing dependence on China and increasing diversification to maintain active neutrality.

Assessing the Features of Propaganda and Thought Work in Post-Trust China

Haoguang Li — 2025-12-31

The New Frontier of Exploitation: Human Trafficking for Online Scams in Taiwan

Sheila Devi Michael — 2025-12-31

Human trafficking in Taiwan has taken on new dimensions with the rise of technology-driven crimes. In 2022 alone, hundreds of Taiwanese victims were rescued from trafficking syndicates that exploited them in online scamming networks operating both within Taiwan and across Asia. Victims of other nationalities have also been found trapped in Taiwan’s scam industries, highlighting the country’s dual role as a source and destination for trafficking. This shift demonstrates that trafficking no longer revolves solely around forced labour or sexual exploitation but increasingly involves coercion into digital fraud, a criminal economy generating trillions of dollars globally. The significance of this study lies in situating Taiwan at the centre of an evolving global trafficking trend, where online scams represent a new frontier of exploitation with profound security, legal, and human rights implications. Accordingly, this paper has three objectives: to explore the operations of human trafficking in Taiwan for online scams; to examine the challenges faced by the Taiwanese government in combating these crimes; and to analyse the government’s responses in combating human trafficking
for online scamming.

Book Review - Sonny Shiu-Hing Lo. The New Politics of Beijing-Hong Kong Relations: Ideological Conflicts and Factionalism

Colin Mianqing Xie — 2025-12-31

In this cutting-edge and exceptional book on Beijing-Hong Kong relations, Sonny Lo provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of Beijing-Hong Kong relations, particularly in the post-national security law era. Moreover, this book understands the alterations in Hong Kong’s political landscape over the last two decades from both perspectives of Beijing and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) governments, as well as Hong Kong democrats and localists.