In August 2001, students of East Asian Studies travelled for field research to Sichuan province in Southwest China. The excursion was organized and supervised by Prof. Dr. Thomas Heberer and Anja-Désirée Senz. In the rural districts of South Sichuan the group conducted qualitative and...

The article describes the experiences of the political scientist Li Fan with the first direct election in Buyun township, P.R. China. Li Fan gives details about the processes before and during the election and reviews the relevance of this election, that has been recognized worldwide. A short...

From the old Chinese songs, we know that '56 Chinese brothers and sisters' live together in a big family. This expression refers to the number of nationalities living in P.R. China. However, many Han Chinese live far away from the National Minorities and they get to know their brothers and...

The border regions between Northeast India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Southwest China are characterized by close historical, intra-ethnic relations and a developing civil society sector as well as violent conflicts and disputes about hydropower and resource extraction projects. What is more, this...

This paper analyses institutional reforms and political participation, most notably indirect and direct elections of residential committees (RC), in China's urban neighbourhoods and communities (shequ). It shows that these elections at present are not meaningful to the majority of city dwellers...