Contenu du sommaire : Between Governance and the Governed: Navigating China's Borderlands in a Challenging Era

This article examines the relationship between the survival and resilience of ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and their involvement in the illicit economy in the China-Myanmar borderlands of northern Shan State over time. Drawing on fieldwork conducted from 2018 to 2022 in both the China-Myanmar and Thai-Myanmar borderlands, it employs a spatiotemporal approach to explore the interactions among border openness/closure, transnational flows, EAO's strategies, and illicit economies, including the Cold War era drug trade, the gambling industry in the early twenty-first century, and the post-Covid-19 online scams industry. The study reveals how EAOs use the border as a resource, adapting their strategies to changing political environments. It argues that these interactions are not linear but rather characterised by reciprocal influences across various historical periods. This historical overview of the interactions between non-state armed groups and illicit economies reveals the complexity of the contested borderland along the Chinese border.

This study investigates the transborder activities of the Hmong people within the tri-state area of China, Vietnam, and Laos, which emphasises their adaptive strategies in the face of evolving geopolitical and economic contexts. Through comprehensive multisite ethnographic fieldwork and snowball sampling, this study captures a wide array of perspectives from individuals directly engaged in industries crucial to the borderlands' economy, such as tourism, hospitality, and trade. It highlights the Hmong's utilisation of cultural and linguistic capital to navigate opportunities within and across their transnational networks. Key to their adaptive strategies is the role of South-South cooperation, which fosters regional integration and offers new economic opportunities while also allowing ethnic locals to retain significant aspects of their livelihoods. This study provides insights into how the Hmong community utilises both traditional clan systems and modern entrepreneurial practices to enhance their economic standing and cultural engagement across borders, which contributes to a broader understanding of minority groups' roles in global and regional development.

Using Khorgas as a case study, this article examines the dynamics in China's borderlands through a dispositif-inspired three-level analytical framework. This article finds that, at the sovereignty level, the state's control is unevenly distributed across borders, with China assuming more responsibilities due to greater resources; that discipline is enforced through both formal and informal measures, with local officials and private actors such as Camel Teams negotiating state control; and finally that governmentality reflects how local actors adapt to and operate within state-imposed structures, maintaining resilience in grassroots economies. This framework reveals how border spaces are shaped by both top-down regulations and the everyday adaptations of those living and working within them, creating a dynamic balance of power.

As society develops and public concern for animal protection grows, the perception and value of dogs is changing in China. In recent years, an increasing number of citizens have kept dogs for companionship and emotional support and have become concerned with the well-being of dogs. Despite changes in the perception of the place of dogs in Chinese society, the legal status of dogs has remained unchanged. Without the proper legal protection, dogs in China run numerous risks. In particular, as the novel coronavirus outbreak spread globally with devastating effects on human health, countless animals have become victims of “pandemic panic.” The Covid-19 pandemic affected animal ethics and the human-animal relationship, which underwent significant changes. By tracking the evolution of policies on companion animal management, this study explores the current living conditions of companion animals in China, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as social attitudes towards urban animal companions.

Courts around the globe have increasingly handled politically sensitive issues. Judicial decisions that are unfavourable to the political elites may invite political attacks. An emerging literature has explored how courts around the world develop strategies to respond to politically thorny issues. This article contributes to this literature by studying how courts in Hong Kong develop strategies for handling politically sensitive cases. Based on in-depth analysis of 58 politically sensitive cases that were heard by courts in Hong Kong between 1999 and 2023, this article finds that Hong Kong's courts adopt the following strategies: deference to the government, denying standing to the applicants, ruling that the applicants failed to follow the proper procedures, deciding that a dispute does not exist, delaying the political and legal effects of judgments that are unfavourable to the government, and emphasising that politics plays no role in judges' decisions.

Tibetan medicine, also known as Sowa Rigpa (the science of healing) is the traditional medicine indigenous to Tibetan peoples across the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau. Historically, its aetiology, nosology, treatments, and training have been closely connected to Tibetan Buddhism, language, and environments. The last three or four decades of standardisation and commercialisation in China and beyond have brought Tibetan medicine, ideas, experts, and institutions to new patient groups and new markets. This study investigates the ways in which Tibetan medicine has moved out of Tibetan communities to transcend cultural and ethnic boundaries in the People's Republic of China (PRC) today. Focusing on users of Tibetan medicine in Rebgong, a multiethnic border area known to Tibetans as Amdo and located in the PRC's Qinghai Province, the study explores and analyses how Tibetan medicine is perceived and used by diverse groups. Based on ethnographic fieldwork that combines formal and informal interviews with Tibetan doctors and both Tibetan and non-Tibetan patients (including Hui Muslims and Han Chinese), it investigates the motivations and experiences of users, their perceptions and assessments of its efficacy, and the nature of clinical encounters.

This article investigates how cross-strait distinction in religious governance affects Beijing's united front work in Taiwan's popular religious community. Due to shared spiritual lineages, Taiwanese temples are considered especially receptive to Chinese influence. Based on fieldwork and in-depth interview data collected over the years between 2013 and 2024, this article argues that institutional asymmetry has resulted in constant challenges limiting the effectiveness of cross-strait religious united front work. First, the centralised Chinese politico-religious order has limited the agency of the Chinese religious establishment in prioritising the CCP's political imperative over religious logic. Second, decentralised Taiwanese temples have created coordination problems for cross-strait brokers whose agendas are not always aligned with Beijing. Finally, Taiwanese temple leaders abiding by communal religious traditions have deployed pragmatic coping strategies to sideline Beijing's political intentions. Hence, Beijing's efforts to initiate and repurpose cross-strait religious exchanges as instances of unity have paradoxically generated conflicting narratives within the Taiwanese popular religious community.