Abstract:
      This paper attempts to explore how Hong Kong’s urban competitiveness has changed since 1990. In this paper, the urban competitiveness of Hong Kong is studied through an indicator system approach, including four major components, namely, economic performance, global linkage, social well-being and environmental quality. It is found that the urban competitiveness of Hong Kong rose gradually over the study period, with a remarkable improvement after 2003. There were similar trends in the four major aspects, except that the sub-index of environmental quality fluctuated considerably from year to year. The result of a Spearman rank correlation analysis demonstrates that the global linkage has the strongest association with the urban competitiveness. Regarding the correlations among components, three findings are discovered. First, economic performance and global linkage correlates positively with each other. Second, a positive association is found between social well-being and global linkage. Lastly, economic performance does not have a statistically-significant correlation with environmental quality. Two conventional controversies, the marginalization of Hong Kong and deep-rooted social contradictions, are discussed. It is argued that the marginalization of Hong Kong is more like a psychological fear than a real threat and social polarization and unaffordable housing price are two intricate social problems.

Abstract:     
      The objective of this paper is twofold: Firstly, to present how the image of women in China is studied in the course subject Gender and family in East Asian Societies using literary texts, together with a broad range of other material (films, historic texts and academic texts) so students acquire an introduction to the subject of women in China based on the use of the widest possible resources. Secondly, to analyse how the image of Chinese women has been perceived in the West throughout history based on three texts used in the subject. The first is Wild Swans by Jung Chang, which gives a biographical account of three generations of women - mother, daughter and granddaughter.
      The second, a compilation by Xinran called The Good Women of China, which includes the testimony of women during a specific period in Chinese history - the Cultural Revolution. And the third text, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, which portrays daily in life in China a little over a century ago and reveals a "secret" language used by women - called nu shu - and how it provided them with a space where they could be autonomous and free.

Abstract:
      Chinese populations established outside Mainland China or Taiwan are commonly called “Overseas Chinese”, a generic name that does not take into account their number, their profile and their kind of urban settlements. In the cases of Manila and Kolkata, the Chinese communities differ in number: around 400 000 individuals in Metro Manila over a general population of 11 million, and only 8000 in Kolkata over a population of 13 million. Those two Asian cities have a different historical and social heritage that has to be considered in the study of the spaces occupied by persons of Chinese descent settled in India and in the Philippines.
      Those Chinese communities, in those two mega cities, find ways to maintain their distinctive cultural identity by being involved in urban dynamics and by creating new territories where they can reshape the functionality of the traditional urban Chinese domestic space (working /living areas).

Abstract:
      This article aims to understand the Chinese diaspora in Brazil, and the transformations it has triggered in Brazilian society. There are an estimated 35 million overseas Chinese in 150 countries, and Brazil is home to 200,000. There are three basic hypotheses: 1) Internally, in China there are economic, political, cultural and demographic factors that compel part of its population to leave; 2) Brazil, in turn, for the development of its market, becomes a magnet of attraction for people from all over the world, including the Chinese; 3) There is a redefinition of the Chinese culture among Sino-Brazilians. Brazilian society, in turn, is also modified by the new influence. The methodology consisted of historical and theoretical literature research, documents from the Brazilian government and the press. Furthermore, we performed five in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrants in São Paulo, in 2006. It can be also said that the research hypotheses were confirmed.

Abstract:
      The Thai-Chinese Yunnanese bilingual education project for the Chinese children at Ban Mai Neong Bua School in northern Thailand will commence during in the first semester of 2010. The main reason for introducing this project is because the Yunnanese Chinese children still speak their mother tongue at home and have little exposure to Thai language until they start school. When the children go to Thai school to study in the formal education system at kindergarten level, they cannot understand the Thai language. The children hesitate to speak Thai with the teacher and they cannot learn well. Consequently, their educational achievement is quite low, especially in the higher grades since major obstacle is the Thai language of instruction which is not their first language, the teachers in this school want to identify and adopt new approaches to facilitate the Thai learning ability of their students.
      This bilingual education program is an alternative for this group of students. This paper proposes a tentative bilingual education program for Yunnanese Chinese at the kindergarten level at Ban Mai Neong Bua school in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. In order to improve use of Thai by this ethnic group, the curriculum should be taught by using their mother tongue as a medium of instruction. After the children have a strong foundation in their first language, then they can easily learn a second or even third language. This bilingual program plan starts with listening and speaking in oral L1 (Yunnanese Chinese), and is followed by listening and speaking in oral L2 (Thai). Then, reading and writing L2 using a preliminary Thai primer will be taught before transferring to a regular, standard curriculum.

Abstract:
      The process of globalization entails, among other effects, the possibility of visiting cultures far removed geographically and historically. This knowledge may allow a better mutual understanding of institutions, customs, art and economic life. But also favors the comparison between matrices that have articulated reflective life of their societies. Inside of all these fundamental matrices excel conceptions of space and time ordering multitude of phenomena of varied nature. In this sense, the comparison between some aspects of conceptions of time from traditional Chinese and classical Greek thought, could be initial contribution to this mutual understanding and recognition of the globalization era. This has been chosen as reference Chinese intellectuals productions of the so-called Chun Qiu and Zhan Guo period and Greek intellectuals productions of V-IV b.C. Continuing the lines of investigation of François Jullien, will offer an approximation to the similitudes and differences of the time conceptions in traditional Chinese thought and Greeks pre-Christian, articulating them in the notion of the “occasion” ( kairós / shí) and exposing partner-cultural conditions.

Abstract: 
    After more than twenty years’ economic reform, opening-up, and socio-economic changes, traditional residential communities housing people from all walks of life are disappearing. The market-driven economic reform, which has widened income gap and intensified stratification, also resulted in classification of neighborhood. Although people are empowered with a free will to choose their residence in a market-driven economy compared with that in a planned economy, income has now become a major contributory factor of people’s choices. Housing price has inevitably become a major player “filtering” and “sorting” social stratification in terms of residential communities and areas. Accessibility, environment quality, employment situation, and education opportunities vary from area to area, resulting in different levels of access to scarce resources. In many of China’s major cities, especially those coastal cities, housing price, which is filtering and sorting the space dimension of stratification, has contributed to western style polarization in terms of residential stratification and separation, affecting the equality of allocating urban space resources. Based on analyzing the theory of urban residential space avail and differentiation , the factors of housing price in Shanghai (like area, average price per unit and the spatial pattern of housing classification), the present study summed up the urban social structure model in Shanghai and investigated into the spatial differential situation of various social classes. Furthermore, the filtration action on urban social classes by housing price were deeply researched and some considerations about harmonious spatial governance strategies were put forward according to such situation.

Abstract:
     China intensifies its economy, constantly increases the import of resources, thus optimizes the world foreign trade structure. It’s the result of domestic regional policies and wise and correct behavior of Chinese government in the system of international relationships.
Because of China geopolitical location its integration of the regional economy strategy is of major importance for neighboring countries and especially for Russia. The Program of regional cooperation between Russian Far-East and Eastern Siberia and North- East of the People’s Republic of China (2009-2018 years) is the international integration project and the real proof of the co-development strategy.
The Program of economic rise of neighboring regions defines the major trends and key projects in promoting regional cooperation. Integration of regional economy partnership is the key mechanism in the development of the North-East of China and Russian eastern regions. And China strategy in the partnership presents its nation as a reliable global power.

Abstract:
      The prominence of the face concept is displayed in its semi-attached and semi-detached nature. In considering face, one starts with an analysis of morality and continues with a discussion of exchange in daily interactions. In people management, face is a vicegerent of position, function and authority, coming through esteem and dignity, honour and shame, power and authority. The gradations of face in the reciprocal exchange and credit control are intangible but powerful.
Like a seesaw, while one side of the face moves up the other side moves down. Quality of face is difficult to grasp. It speaks of a dilemma – the fair use of personal prestige and the fair dealings of personal reputation with ethics as well as the individual defence of mirrored honour. The twin aspects of face – lian and mianzi as a dilemma of management practice are introduced in this paper.

Abstract:
      We have analyzed a wide number of textbooks for the teaching of English as a foreign language to Spanish youngsters (mainly ESO and Bachillerato students) written by British and Spanish authors. The image of China has been constantly massacred in them in various ways, sometimes more blatantly, sometimes more subtly. Indeed, a multi-faceted black legend of China has been passed onto the younger Spanish population in the last decades following a negative anti-China perspective by textbooks of English as a foreign language. Western children and youngsters are being educated and led “the English way” to see society the way that English-speaking countries want them to. EFL textbooks (many of them published in Britain or authored by British ELT experts) are lending a useful hand in doing so. And in many of them China is mocked or depicted as a “strange” culture.

Abstract:
      The essence of “New Chinese regionalism” paradigm in modern globalizing processes is to provide regional and international environment favorable for the PRC’s further peaceful harmonious development and sustainable growth. The Chinese regionalism presupposes establishment of Chinese Regional Order, so called Pan-Sinica regional society, by implementing such peaceful means as economic, ideological, political and cultural strategies. One of them is “Chinese “Go Global” Strategy” realized by means of the complex mechanism of international and interregional cooperation and openness to the outside of the world.
Regional forms of influence are based on PRC’s cooperation with neighboring countries. One of the “stimulators” of regional cooperation was “reform and open-up” policy started in 1978 by Communist Party of China and Chinese Government. As a part of the policy in 1992 Chinese Government initiated the program of border town development.
One of the most significant border towns in the context of interregional cooperation between RF and PRC is considered to be Manzhouli (IMAR). The town has received the status of ‘civilized port of nation-wide importance, it has cultural specificity historically connected with Russia. Regional cooperation between RF’s and PRC’ border towns are analyzed in the paper in the context of specificity of the Chinese border regionalism.