SEPTEMBER 2020

Dear Friend,

The Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) continued to take up relevant issues and topics through digital platforms to generate informed analysis of China and East Asia. We expanded our activities and outreach as regular activities started opening up despite the Covid pandemic and new areas were required to be studied. In September, we had an active publication programme and increased our presence on various social media and digital platforms including through partnership with ThePrint

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

ICS conducted one Special Lecture and five Webinars this month.

A Special Lecture was conducted on 18 September in collaboration with ThePrint. The speaker Dr. Yan Xuetong, Dean and Professor, Institute of International Relations, Tsinghua University and a member of Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke on the topic Implications of China-US Competition in the Digital Age’ (SoundCloud) (YouTube).

Prof. Ravni Thakur, Faculty Member, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi, elaborated on ‘Sinology, Chinese Studies to a Clash of Civilizations: Studying China in Europe’ 2 September.

Dr. Raviprasad Narayanan, Adjunct Fellow, ICS, and Associate Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, spoke on ‘India and China-Duo Incommoda Vicinorum (Two Uncomfortable Neighbours)’ on 9 September (YouTube).

Prof. Brij Tankha, Honorary Fellow, ICS and former Professor of Modern Japanese History, University of Delhi, outlined the theme ‘Tanaka Shozo (1841-1913) and Early Meiji Democracy’ on 16 September. (SoundCloud)  (YouTube). 

Mr. Dexter Roberts, Non-resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council’s Asia Security Initiative and Adjunct Instructor, Political Science, University of Montana, USA, spoke on ‘The Myth of Chinese Capitalism: China’s Troubled Transition from Factory of the World to Superpower’ on 23 September (YouTube).

Mr. Ananth Krishnan, China correspondent for The Hindu, launched his recently published book, ‘India’s China Challenge’ on 9 September (YouTube).

PUBLICATIONS

This month we had eighteen publications in total – four Occasional Papers, one ICS Analysis, nine ICS Research Blogs and four ICS Translations (all available on our website). The August issue of the ICS’ flagship peer-reviewed quarterly journal, China Report (Vol. 56. No. 3) is available online. The issue includes six research articles and three book reviews.

ICS Occasional Papers:

  1. Amb. Kishan S. Rana, Emeritus Fellow, ICS, Delhi, on ‘India’s Envoy to China 1961–63 P K Banerjee’s China Days (First published in 2020 in Economic & Political Weekly, Vol. 55, Issue No. 35)’;
  2. Dr. Usha Chandran, Adjunct Fellow, ICS, Delhi and Assistant Professor, Centre for Chinese and South East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, on ‘The Masked Gendered Profile of the World Exposed During the Covid-19 Era: Comparing China and India’; and
  3. Amb. Vinod C Khanna, Emeritus Fellow, ICS, Delhi, on ‘A Study of Colonial India’s Border Making Project vis-à-vis China (1890-1947) (based on the ICSSR project for which he is the Project Director); and’
  4. Ms. Anandita Thakur, Former Research Assistant, ICS, Delhi on ‘Karl Marx and the Taiping Rebellion

ICS Analysis:

  1. Mr. Sayantan Haldar, Research Intern, ICS, Delhi, on ‘India’s View on Growing Chinese Engagement in Bangladesh’;

ICS Research Blogs:

  1. Ms. Neha Mishra, Research Intern, ICS, Delhi, on ‘China’s Railway Network: A roadmap to change Iran’s status quo in the Gulf’;
  2. Ms. Megha Pardhi, Research Intern, ICS, Delhi on ‘Made in China 2025: Dead in Letters, Alive in Spirit’;
  3. Mr. Amitava Banik, Research Intern, ICS, Delhi, on ‘Experience of Chinese Technologies and Products for the Industries of Eastern India’;
  4. Mr. Yash Johri, Research Assistant, ICS, Delhi, on ‘Interview of Aparna Pande on her book ‘Making India Great: The Promise of a Reluctant Power’’;
  5. Mr. Aadil Sud, Research Intern, ICS, Delhi, on ‘The Lasting Effects of Hong Kong’s National Security Law’;
  6. Dr. Vyjayanti Raghavan, Professor, Centre for Korean Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, on ‘Korean View: India-China Conflict’; and
  7. Mr. Yash Johri, Research Assistant, ICS, Delhi,  reviewed the book, The Myth of Chinese Capitalism: The Worker, The Factory and the Future of the World by Dexter Roberts (New York: St. Martin’s Press).
  8. Dr. Shamshad A. Khan, Visiting Associate Fellow, ICS, New Delhi and Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani Dubai Campus on ‘Abe’s imprint on India-Japan relations: Speculating the future of bilateral relationship post Abe'. (First published in The Diplomat )
  9. Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Honorary Fellow, ICS, and Associate Professor, Centre for Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, on ‘Shinzo Abe Fails to Double Down under Mounting US Pressure Twice Over, Prefers to Step Down: Chinese Experts’. (First published in The Diplomat )

ICS Translations:

Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Honorary Fellow, ICS, and Associate Professor, Centre for Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, translated three texts in the month of September: ‘Chinese View: Indian Army Illegally Crosses LAC again, Occupies Chinese Territory’, ‘Girlsonly: A One-time resistance against gender discrimination in China’s University Entrance Examination system ’, and ‘India in 2020 clumsier than in 1962!’

 

Dr. Vyjayanti Raghavan, Professor, Centre for Korean Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, translated Moon Chung-In: How China Can Avoid a “New Cold War?”

IN THE MEDIA

Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and Assistant Professor, Institute of Global Studies, Shanghai University, Shanghai, presented his views in a news report published by Turkish news agency, Anadolu titled ‘India-China border tensions likely to escalate: Experts’ on 2 September. He also authored an article for Observation Research Foundation titled ‘Frenemy to Foe: Changing contours of US-China ties under Trump on 15 September.‘

Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Honorary Fellow, ICS, and Associate Professor, Centre for Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, wrote for The Diplomat on ‘Chinese Experts Think US-China Rivalry Accelerated Abe Shinzo’s Departure’ on 2 September. He also participated in a discussion on CNBC TV18 on the topic of ‘India-China border military standoff in Pangong Tso on 2 September.‘

Dr. Atul Bhardwaj, Adjunct Fellow, ICS, Delhi, penned a piece for The Wiretitled ‘Debate: India Cannot Emulate Anwar Sadat’s Yom Kippur War Model’ on 8 September.

Dr. Aravind Yelery, Adjunct Fellow, ICS, and Senior Research Fellow, HSBC Peking University Business School, Shenzhen, China, contributed a piece to Moneycontrol.com on ‘China’s India problem | A curious mix of ambition and paranoia’ on 8 September. He also wrote for Observation Research Foundationon ‘Can China overcome paradoxes in National Health Planning? on 9 September.‘

Dr. Happymon Jacob, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and Associate Professor, Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, penned a piece for The Hindu titled China’s LAC aggression, India’s obfuscation on 8 September.

Dr. P.K. Anand, Research Associate, ICS, Delhi, wrote a piece for Moneycontrol.com on In China and India, street vendors face similar urban challenges on 10 September.

Prof. Rama V. Baru, Honorary Fellow, ICS, Delhi, and Professor, Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Dr. Madhurima Nundy, Assistant Director and Fellow, ICS, Delhi were quoted in a piece published by South China Morning Post on 19 September, on the ‘Issues faced by Indian doctors educated in medical institutions in China’. Prof. Baru and Dr. Nundy had completed a research project in 2019 on Indian Students Studying Medicine in China. They also co-authored an ICS Ocassional Paper on this issue.‘

Mr. Santosh Pai, Honorary Fellow, ICS, co-authored a piece for Financial Express on ‘Chinese investments: Switching to the stealth mode’ on 15 September.

I participated in a debate on the topic of ‘Here's why China is trying to redefine LAC on the ground & way forward in Ladakh’ organised by ThePrint on 13 September. I also provided my comments in two pieces - ‘Why India needs new confidence building measures to clarify LAC issue with China’ published by ThePrint on 15 September and 'Is the Quad rising after China’s challenge at the LAC?' published by The Hindu on 18 September, respectively.

FACULTY UPDATES 

Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, Adjunct Fellow, ICS, Delhi, and Assistant Professor, Institute of Global Studies, Shanghai University, Shanghai, gave a talk on ‘Understanding Chinese Nationalism’ at Kalindi College, University of Delhi on 18 September, and on 'India-China in a Comparative Perspective', organised by Miranda House, University of Delhi, on 26 September. He also reviewed Guoli Liu’s,  Politics Politics and Government in China, for the journal, Strategic Analysis, Vol. 44, No. 3.

Prof. Sreemati Chakrabarti, Honorary Fellow, ICS, Delhi, spoke at a pre-workshop webinar on 'China Studies Since the Cultural Revolution' on "Ideology in the Early Post-Mao Era" on 9 September.

Ms. Poonam Surie, Adjunct Fellow, ICS, contributed a chapter titled ‘Tradition, Values and Religion: Social Welfare in India and China' in an edited volume on Social Welfare in India and China, published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Mr. Nishit Kumar, ICS-HYI Doctoral Fellow (2018 cohort) presented two papers - ‘Howard Goldblatt’s Translations of Mo Yan’s Works in English: Innovations and Strategies’ in a three-day International Conference (online) “Translation and the Glocal”, organised by the Dept. of English, Karim College, Jharkhand, India on 28 August and on ‘Chinese and Indian Literature: Through the Nobel Prize’ on 25 September at the Forum for Young Scholars, organized by the Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan.

Mr. Md Yasin, ICS-HYI Doctoral Fellow (2018 cohort) presented a paper on ‘China's Twiplomacy Beyond the Great Firewall’ at the 'International Young Scholars Summit 2020', held on 12-14 September 2020, organised by Nepal Institute for International Coperation and Engagement.

Dr. Rityusha Tiwari, Visiting Fellow, ICS, Delhi and Assistant Editor, China Report, presented a paper on ‘India-China Relations: Current Trends and A Five-Year Vision in Geo-economics’ organized by Global Counter-Terrorism Council, Delhi, on 2 September 2020. She was a discussant in two sessions organised by Foundation for Creative Theory Research, India International Centre, Delhi, and Raza Foundation, Delhi - on “Authoritarianism, Populism and Citizenship” held on 5-6 September and on “Reclaiming Republican Democracy in 21st Century” held on 26 September.

I delivered a talk at the National Defence College on 28 September and participated in several webinars.

The ICS WebsiteFacebook and Twitter accounts are among the several ways you can get the latest on our publications and activities. You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter to follow our events and publications as well as browse our YouTube and SoundCloud channels.

We look forward to your participation in our events and activities in the coming days and hope for your continued support.

Please take care and stay safe and healthy.

 

 
 

Best regards,
ASHOK K. KANTHA
Director
Institute of Chinese Studies

 

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