The Party and the World Dialogue 2015

Sean Golden, member of the Inter-Asia research group took part as an invited guest in The Party and the World Dialogue 2015 organised by the China Center for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS), a think tank of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 7-10/09/2015 and dedicated to the topic of:

To Discipline the Party: Responsibility of the Party

He participated as Rapporteur for Panel 3, dedicated to:

Governing the Party according to rules: state laws and Party Disciplines?

XV EastAsiaNet Workshop. Water in East Asia. Interfacing Environmental Risk

Sean Golden, member of the Inter-Asia research group, took part in the  XV EastAsiaNet Workshop. Water in East Asia. Interfacing Environmental Risk, Culture & Society, held at the Università Ca'Foscari Venezia from 14-16/05/2015, on the topic of:

A discourse analysis of the communication of ecological risk and its subsequent management in China

Abstract

This paper will study three sources of discourse for the communication of ecological risk in China and its subsequent management: the discourse of informal, nongovernmental or emergent civil society communication of ecological risk (social movements, protest movements, critical analysis of risk and governmental policy); the discourse of formal or academic, nongovernmental communication of ecological risk (academics, advisers, opinion-makers); the official, governmental communication of ecological risk (official think tanks, ministry documents). The working hypothesis of this study is that even though awareness of ecological risk is high among the emergent civil society, the ministry advisers and the policy-makers, the management of ecological risk is hampered by contradictory priorities and criteria in the meritocratic evaluation of performance by government and Party officials, on the one hand, and the generation of wealth, on the other. This debate is analogous to the debate on efficiency (the generation of wealth) and equity (the redistribution of wealth) in the field of economic planning and performance.

Hong Kong: Supervised Meritocracy or Unhindered People Power?

The CIDOB Barcelona Centre for International Affairs think tank has published an Opinion on the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong by Seán Golden, member of the Inter-Asia research group:

Hong Kong: Supervised Meritocracy or Unhindered People Power?, Opinión CIDOB, No. 278, November 2014.

The Party and the World Dialogue 2014

Sean Golden, member of the Inter-Asia research group, was one of more than 60 foreign experts invited to speak about and participate in the debate about the role of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in political and economic reform in the conference The Party and the World Dialogue 2014. China's New reforms: the Role of the Party, organised by the China Center for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS), a think tank of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPC in Beijing from 2-8 September 2014.

He spoke on the subject of China's Reforms: Particularities vs. Commonalities and presided over one of the panel discussions on this subject.

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CCCWS in order to promote joint research on the role of the CPC in political and economic reform and their consequences for the rest of the world through the UAB's East Asian Studies & Research Centre (Centre d'Estudis i Recerca sobre Àsia Oriental - CERAO).

The Chinese Communist Party in the Eyes of European Scholars / 欧洲学者眼中的中国共产党国际研讨会

Sean Golden, a member of the Inter-Asia research group, participated in the high-level meeting of officials from the Central Committee of the Communst Party of China (CPC) with 15 European scholars that was organised in Copenhagen (Denmark) by the Asia Research Centre (ARC) of Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and the China Centre for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS) of the International Department of the Central Committee on 11/0612014 to discuss CPC Studies in Europe and the role of the CPC in China.

He delivered a report on Chinese Studies in South Europe and a series of CPC Studies research questions and called for closer cooperation between Chinese think tanks and European think tanks.

Liu Yunshan 刘云山, a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of theCPC, and other high-level officials, also took part in the meeting.

Research questions for CPC studies: 

1. Is the CPC a political party or is it the entire political system? Can it really be compared to political parties in Western liberal democracies?
2. If the most important task of the CPC from the historical point of view was the planning of the economy, and if the CPC renounces central planning of the economy, what is now the most important task of the CPC?
3. If power comes from the people, and power is exercised on behalf of the people, how can the CPC demonstrate that it is accountable to the people?
4. What is the importance of economy of scale in political matters? If the EU seems to have learned that it is necessary to create a centralised bureaucracy based on meritocracy --the European Commission-- in order to guarantee planning and continuity (something the Chinese political culture invented thousands of years ago), as well as the separate branches of government (executive, legislative, judiciary), and China already has the centralised bureaucracy, does the CPC need to experiment with the separation of powers that was developed by European political philosophy?
5. What is the future of "one country, two (or more) systems"?
6. Should meritocracy as the basis for being selected for a governing position include people who do not belong to the CPC?
7. If Chinese people say that they have been accustomed for thousands of years to being selected rather than to being elected, in what circumstances does the CPC see elections as a valid and efficient process of selection?

Members of the Chinese delegation:

• Liu Yunshan 刘云山，Secretary of the CPC central committee, headmaster of Party School of the CPC
• Chen Xi 陈希，Vice-Minister of Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee
• Liu Biwei 刘碧伟，Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom of Denmark
• Li Jinjun 李进军，Vice-Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee
• Guo Yezhou 郭业洲，Vice-Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee，Chairman of the Council of China Center for Contemporary World Studies
• Jiang Jinquan 江金权，vice-director of Central Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, general secretary of Party-building leadership of the CPC Central Committee
• Ding Wei 丁伟，vice minister of China’s Ministry of Culture
• Sun Haiyan 孙海燕, Director of the China Center for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS) 

European scholars:

• Mr Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard, Professor and Director of the Asia Research Centre, Copenhagen Business School.
• Mr Sebastian Heilmann, the founding director of the national Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin and professor for the political economy of China at the University of Trier, Germany.
• Mr Frank Pieke, chair professor in modern China studies at Leiden University.
• Mr Stig Thøgersen,
• professor of China Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark.
• Mr. Martin Jacques, Senior Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, Cambridge University, and a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing.
• Mr. Sean Golden, full Professor of East Asian Studies and Director of the East Asian Studies & Research Centre – CERAO at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
• Mr Kerry Brown, Professor of Chinese Politics and Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
• Mr Flemming Christiansen, Sociological Institute and Institute of East Asian Studies, The University of Duisburg-Essen.
• Mr Zhengxu Wang, Associate Professor at the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Nottingham.
• Mr Nis Grünberg, PhD Fellow at Asia Research Centre, Copenhagen Business School.
• Ms Sarah Eaton, Associate Professor in Contemporary China Studies at the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, University of Oxford.
• Mr Giovanni Andornino, Assistant Professor of International Relations of East Asia at the University of Torino (Italy); Vice President of the Torino World Affairs Institute.
• Mr Daniele Brombal, Assistant Professor at the Department of Asian and North African Studies of Venice Ca' Foscari University (Italy).
• Mr Nis Høyrup Christensen,  Assistant Professor at Asia Research Centre, Copenhagen Business School.
• Mr Andreas Mulvad, PhD Fellow at the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen. 

Discusión sobre el Índice 2013 del Global Go To Think Tank

Con ocasión del lanzamiento del  Índice 2013 del Global Go To Think Tank el pasado día 22 de enero de 2014, y dada su colaboración con esta iniciativa, el Barcelona Centre for International Affairs CIDOB organizó -como se hizo también en 31 otras ciudades en todo el mundo- una sesión de discusión sobre el papel de los think tanks en la sociedad con participantes de perfiles diferentes (investigadores, periodistas, actores económicos, sociedad civil, fundaciones políticas, entre otros). Entre los participantes se encontró Sean Golden, miembro del grupo de investigació Inter-Asia.

War and Peace in the 21st Century. Peace and prosperity in East Asia: A regional challenge of global concern

Sean Golden, member of the Inter-Asia research group, took part in the annual invitation only seminar organised by the CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs) think tanks in collaboration with the city government of Barcelona on 18 January 2014, under the heading War and Peace in the 21st Century. Peace and prosperity in East Asia: A regional challenge of global concern.

Javier Solana, Honorary Chairman of CIDOB and Former EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Carles Gasòliba, Chairman of the Board of CIDOB, presided over the seminar.

The Topics

Regional Economic Integration in East Asia 
Implications of a simultaneous economic emergency in all East Asian economies. Is there a common East Asian agenda on economic issues? How can economic cooperation be strengthened? Can economic cooperation contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the region? To what extent have political differences led to slow progress in regional economic cooperation? Is the East Asian regional integration centered on China? How is regional integration affecting importers, exporters and investors in the region? Lessons to be learned from the economic problems in Europe for future in-depth integration in East Asia.

Seeking a New Security Framework for East Asia
Which are the main threats for a ‘grand bargain’ on security in East Asia? Can the rising of nationalism in Asia threaten stability in the region? Are both major regional powers and weaker countries more comfortable with a new order in the region based on China’s primacy instead of US influence? What are the most appropriate multilateral forums to solve disputes among major powers? To what extent does North Korea's Nuclear Program threat regional stability? China and the US’ global competition: implications for East Asia and potential strategic allies. Is there a role for the EU in building a more peaceful East Asia?

The speakers for the first topic were Kumiharu Shigehara, President of the International Economy Policy Studies Association and Former Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, and Françoise Lemoine, Senior Economist in CEPII and Associate Researcher, Centre d'Études sur la Chine contemporaine. The session was chaired by Miquel Nadal, Economist and Former Secretary of State for International Affairs.

The speakers for the second topic were Xiang Lanxin , Professor of International History and Politics, The Graduate Institute (Geneva); Takashi Inoguchi, Emeritus Professor at the University of Tokyo and former Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations; and Ron Huisken, Senior Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University. Javier Solana chaired the second session and Jordi Bacaria, Director of the CIDOB, prepared the conclusions.

Inter-Asia think tank partners ranked among the best in the world in 2013

An important aspect of the Inter-Asia research group's current research is the role of our close cooperation with external entities (Entes Promotores Observadores; EPOs), including leading think tanks in Spain and in China. The International Relations Program of the University of Pennsylvania has recently published its 2013 Global Go To Think Tank Index, the only international ranking system for think tanks made by a university research centre available to date.

According to the 2013 edition, one of Inter-Asia's closest collaborators, CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for InternationalAffairs) has been recognised as the most influential Think Tank in the South of Europe. CIDOB was ranked 16th among the top think tanks in Western Europe (up two places from 18 in 2012), and maintained its ranking of 64th among the top think tanks worldwide (US and non US). In addition, CIDOB has been ranked 12^th in the world in the new category of “Think Tanks to Watch”.

According to this new edition of the Global Go To Think Tanks Index, with the 16th position (up 2 posts from last year’s position and 5 from the year vefore), CIDOB is the most highly valued Spanish think tank within the category of Western European think tanks

Jordi Bacaria, director of CIDOB, said that "it is very important for CIDOB to hold good positions in the Index, particularly because it means the recognition of civil society and public decision makers which we aim to reach. It means that this audience appreciates our work as analysts and opinion makers, its quality and its independence," in a preliminary assessment of the results of the survey.

Several of the Chinese think tanks with which Inter-Asia collaborates together with the CIDOB have also been very highly ranked:

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

Top Think Tanks – Worldwide (US and Non-US) (#20)

Top Think Tanks – Worldwide (Non-US) (#9)

Top Think Tanks in China, India, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (#4)

Top Domestic Economic Policy Think Tanks (#12)

Top International Development Think Tanks (#20)

Best Government Affiliated Think Tanks (#3)

Think Tanks with Outstanding Policy-Oriented Public Programs (#25)

Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP, CASS)

Top Domestic Economic Policy Think Tanks (#12)

Top International Economic Policy Think Tanks (#27)

Central Party School

Best Think Tanks with Political Party Affiliation (#12)

China Institute of International Studies (CIIS)

Top Think Tanks – Worldwide (US and Non-US) (#36)

Top Think Tanks – Worldwide (Non-US) (#30)

Top Think Tanks in China, India, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (#3)

Top Foreign Policy and International Affairs Think Tanks (#29)

Best Government Affiliated Think Tanks (#8)

Inter-Asia think tank partners ranked among the best in the world

An important aspect of the Inter-Asia research group's current project The impact of East Asia in the Spanish context: Cultural production, politics/policies and society, funded by the Spanish government, is the role of our close cooperation with external entities that promote the project and observe its results (Entes Promotores Observadores; EPOs), including leading think tanks in Spain and in China.The International Relations Program of the University of Pennsylvania has recently published its 2012 Global Go To Think Tanks Report and Policy Advice, lead by Professor James G. McGann, and the only international ranking system for think tanks available to date.

According to the 2012 edition, one of Inter-Asia's closest collaborators, the CIDOB Foundation (the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs; Centro de Estudios y Documentación Internacionales de Barcelona) has been recognised as the most influential Think Tank in the South of Europe. CIDOB was ranked 18th in the top 75 think tanks in Western Europe, 35th in the worldwide (non US) category, and 64th among the 150 top think tanks worldwide (US and non US).

According to this new edition of the Global Go To Think Tanks, with the 18th position (up 15 posts from last year’s position) CIDOB is the most valued Spanish think tank within category of the top 75 think tanks in Western Europe.

Within the category of the top 100 think tanks Worldwide (Non-U.S.) CIDOB is ranked number 35, up from position number 37 in 2010. Compared to 2011 edition, CIDOB not only improves its score in the Western Mediterranean ranking, but this year appears within the Top 150 think tanks Worldwide (US and non-US) in position number 64, thus entering the global elite of think tanks for the first time. "In a year in which CIDOB is celebrating 40 years, it is placed as one of the top think tanks in Europe. The big challenge ahead is to consolidate the position and try to improve it", says Carles A. Gasòliba, President of CIDOB, in a preliminary assessment of the results of the survey.

Several of the Chinese think tanks with which Inter-Asia collaborates together with the CIDOB Foundation have also been very highly ranked:

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)
Top 150 Think Tanks – Worldwide (US and Non-US) (#17)
Top 100 Think Tanks – Worldwide (Non-US) (#5)
Top   45 Think Tanks in China, India, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (#1)
Top   80 Domestic Economic Policy Think Tanks (#11)
Top   50 International Development Think Tanks (#14)
Think Tanks with Outstanding Policy-Oriented Research Programs (#18)
Think Tanks with the Most Significant Impact on Public Policy (#14)

Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP, CASS)
Top 80 Domestic Economic Policy Think Tanks (#11)
Top   50 International Development Think Tanks (#27)

Central Party School
Best Think Tanks with Political Party Affiliation§ (#12)

China Institute of International Studies (CIIS)
Top 150 Think Tanks – Worldwide (US and Non-US) (#38)
Top 100 Think Tanks – Worldwide (Non-US) (#36)
Top   45 Think Tanks in China, India, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (#8)
Best Government Affiliated Think Tanks (#7)

CHINA’S FIFTH GENERATION OF LEADERS: an Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove

The CIDOB Foundation of Barcelona think tank has published an analysis of the new leadership of the Chinese Communist Party by Seán Golden, member of the Inter-Asia research group that comments on the following topics:

• The 18th National Congress of Communist Party of China has replaced half the members of the Central Committee..
• The Red Guard generation born after the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 have come to power.
• There was a strong internal struggle between the children of veteran revolutionaries (taizidang) and the meritocrats who had risen to power through the Party’s selection processes (tuanpai).
• The taizidang promote liberalization in order to generate more wealth; the tuanpai promote redistribution of wealth to combat social inequality.
• The results of the 18th National Congress seem to indicate that the taizidang faction is winning the struggle.
• There are signs of political change in China: the social media allow people to organise themselves and publicise information the official media suppress.

The full text can be consulted here.

2nd Asia-Europe Forum on Methods and Perspectives of Risk Analysis

The Hong Kong Advanced Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Studies of the City University of Hong Kong organised the 2nd Asia-Europe Forum on Methods and Perspectives of Risk Analysis on 8-9 November 2012, in collaboration with the IN-EAST Institute of East Asian Studies of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, coordinator of the EastAsiaNet thematic research network that includes the East Asian Studies & Research Centre of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Inter-Asia and the CIDOB Foundation of Barcelona think tank. Seán Golden, a member of the Inter-Asia research group, spoke on the topic of A Discourse Analysis of the Official and Non-official Communiocation of Ecological Risk and its Subsequent Management in the PRC:

Abstract
This paper will present a case study of three sources of discourse for the communication of ecological risk in the PRC and its subsequent management. The three sources are: the discourse of informal, nongovernmental or emergent civil society communication of ecological risk (social movements, protest movements, critical analysis of risk and governmental policy); the discourse of formal or academic, nongovernmental communication of ecological risk (academics, advisers, opinion-makers); the official, governmental communication of ecological risk (official think tanks, ministry documents). These three kinds of communication will then be compared and contrasted with the results of official management of ecological risk in the PRC. The working hypothesis of this study is that even though awareness of ecological risk is high among the emergent civil society, the ministry advisers and the policy-makers, the management of ecological risk is hampered by contradictory priorities and criteria in the meritocratic evaluation of performance by government and Party officials, on the one hand, and the generation of wealth, on the other. This debate is analogous to the debate on efficiency (the generation of wealth) and equity (the redistribution of wealth) in the field of economic planning and performance.

10th EastAsiaNet Research Workshop

The East Asian Studies and Research Centre of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the CIDOB Foundation of Barcelona think tank organised the 10th EastAsiaNet Research Workshop at the CIDOB Foundation on 25-26 October 2012 in collaboration with the Inter-Asia Research Group of the UAB, the Masters degree in European Union-China. Culture & Economy of the UAB, the Confucius Institute Foundation of Barcelona, the Spanish Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness and the Residence for Researchers of the Spanish Higher Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas- CSIC).

The Speakers were:

• Alain-Marc Rieu (University of Lyon 3, France): Japan after Fukushima: toward a new governance arrangement
• Lau Blaxekjær (University of Copenhagen, Denmark):  Post-Fukushima Governance – Institutional Dissonance and Post-Normal Governance?
• Kristin Surak (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany): Civil Society and Migrant Labor Recruit Schemes in East Asia: Possibilities and Pitfalls in Lobbying for Reform
• Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard (Copenhagen Business Sxchool, Denmark): Murder, Sex, Corruption: Will China Continue to Hold Together?
• Andrea Revelant (University of Venice - Ca'Foscari, Italy): Between state and society: political parties in Japan
• Stéphane Corcuff (Lyon Institute of East Asia, France): Local, national, cross straits, global: Do Taiwanese voters establish a hierarchy of identification references in their voting behaviour?
• Xavier Ortells-Nicolau (Inter-Asia, UAB, Spain): Major trends in English-speaking scholarship on China’s civil society, 1989-2000s
• Sean Golden (Inter-Asia, UAB, Spain): “Social construction”, “social management”, and “social system reform” versus “‘civil society’ is a ‘Western pitfall’”: official discourse on civil society and governance going into the 18^th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
• Joaquín Beltrán (Inter-Asia, UAB, Spain):  Culture and the Confucius Institute: Soft power to meet global governance and external challenges
• Laura De Giorgi (University of Venice - Ca'Foscari, Italy): History education and civil society in contemporary China
• Thomas Boutonnet (University of Lyon 3, France): Consumerism as a Risk for Social Stability? Governance and Risk Management in the "Eight Honours and Eight Disgraces" Campaign
• Carmen Amado Mendes (University of Coimbra, Portugal): The role of Macau’s governance and civil society in promoting lusophony: the manipulation of a concept for managing risk in China’s relations with the lusophone world

Taizidang versus tuanpai: What's next for China's succession?

Seán Golden, member of the East-Asia research team, has published a commentary on the Bo Xilai scandal in China in the CIDOB Foundation of Barcelona's think tank publication Opinión CIDOB, n.º 148, 11 May 2012: Taizidang versus tuanpai: What's next for China's succession?

La Cina verso la nuova Leadership. Le sfide politiche ed economiche nell'anno del drago

Seán Golden, member of the Inter-Asia research group, spoke at the conference La Cina verso la nuova Leadership. Le sfide politiche ed economiche nell'anno del drago, organized by the Dipartimento di Studi sull'Asia e sull'Africa Mediterranea, Università Ca'Foscari Venezia (Italy), on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the journal east. rivista europea di geopolitica and the think tank Istituto per gli Studi di Politiche internazionale on the occasion of launching Numero 41, Ombre cinesi (Aprile 2012) in Venice.

Abstract

The Party-State of the PRC is going through a generational change that will be formalised by the Party Congress in October 2012. The rapidly changing status of the PRC in the new world order requires a rethinking of many of the ideological bases of the socialist revolution in China. There are epistemic and interpretive communities acting as advisers to the new leadership that are proposing new paradigms “with Chinese characteristics” for international relations theory: Qin Yaqing, Yan Xuetong and Zhao Tingyang as examples.

Il Partito-Stato del PRC sta attraversando un cambio generazionale che sarà formalizzato dal Congresso del Partito in ottobre 2012. Lo stato di rapida evoluzione del PRC nel nuovo ordine mondiale richiede un ripensamento di molte delle basi ideologiche della rivoluzione socialista in Cina. Ci sono comunità epistemiche e interpretative che agiscono come consulenti per la nuova dirigenza che stanno proponendo paradigmi “con caratteristiche cinesi” per le teorie delle relazioni internazionali: Yaqing Qin, Yan Xuetong e Zhao Tingyang come esempi.

The Chinese elites' perception of Catalonia

Sean Golden, member of the Inter-Asia research group, recently conducted a study trip to China, visiting Xi'an, Xining, the Qinghai Plateau and Beijing. While in Beijing he met with Prof. 张敏 Zhang Min of the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) to begin discussing details of a new study to be carried out jointly with CASS, China's #1 think tank, on behalf of the Patronat CatalunyaMón, to investigate the perception of Catalonia among China's elites (government, business, communications media; policy-makers and opinion-formers), in order to design a strategy for better promoting Catalan interests in China.

Inter-Asia think tank partners ranked among the best in the world

An important aspect of the Inter-Asia research group's current project The impact of East Asia in the Spanish context: Cultural production, politics/policies and society, funded by the Spanish government, is the role of our close cooperation with external entities that promote the project and observe its results (Entes Promotores Observadores; EPOs), including leading think tanks in Spain and in China.The International Relations Program of the University of Pennsylvania has recently published its Global Go to Think Tanks Report 2011, the fifth edition of its annual report, lead by Professor James G. McGann, and the only international ranking system for think tanks available to date. As part of the survey process, the Report contacted 6,545 think tanks, while producing the most authoritative list of high performance think tanks in the world.

China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) - CIDOB Foundation think tank seminar on the EU sovereign debt crisis

On 7 November 2011, Inter-Asia research group member Sean Golden helped organise the CIDOB Foundation of Barcelona think tank seminar requested by a visiting delegation of scholars from the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) to discuss the EU sovereign debt crisis and Sino-Spanish relations:

China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) - CIDOB Foundation think tank seminar on the EU sovereign debt crisis

On 25 November 2011, Inter-Asia research group member Sean Golden co-organised with the CIDOB Foundation of Barcelona and participated in a think tank seminar requested by a visiting delegation of scholars from the China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the EU sovereign debt crisis, the role of municipal governments under globalisation and Sino-Spanish relations:

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) - CIDOB Foundation think tank seminar on the EU sovereign debt crisis

On 9 November 2011, Inter-Asia research group member Sean Golden co-organised with the CIDOB Foundation of Barcelona and participated in a think tank seminar requested by a visiting delegation of scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), on the following topics: 

• The extent to which the European sovereign debt crisis has an impact on European Economic recovery, growth patterns, and relationships with trading partners;
• Rules and impact of EU economic governance vis-a-vis Spain;
• Spanish strategies towards EU governance measures;
• Spanish attitude towards IMF, World Bank, G20 and other international institutions;
• Spanish expectations of future bilateral relations with China and the role of Spain within the framework of EU China relations.