It has been over a decade since the emergence of what is now best known as the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). This Special Issue, a decade after the BRI was launched, highlights the immense complexity not only of the idea itself but also of China's global influence and the varied attitudes and responses towards it. We hope that these studies, with their diverse approaches and evidence bases, contribute to enriching the expanding literature on the BRI – a trend that is unlikely to wane anytime soon as China continues to be a major global force in the twenty-first century.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only), Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
As leading examples of large language models, ChatGPT and Gemini claim to provide accurate and unbiased information, emphasizing their commitment to political neutrality and avoidance of personal bias. This research investigates the political tendency of large language models and the existence of differentiation according to the query language. For this purpose, ChatGPT and Gemini were subjected to a political axis test using 14 different languages. The findings of the study suggest that these large language models do exhibit political tendencies, with both models demonstrating liberal and leftist biases. A comparative analysis revealed that Gemini exhibited a more pronounced liberal and left-wing tendency compared to ChatGPT. The study also found that these political biases varied depending on the language used for inquiry. The study delves into the factors that constitute political tendencies and linguistic differentiation, exploring differences in the sources and scope of educational data, structural and grammatical features of languages, cultural and political contexts, and the model's response to linguistic features. From this standpoint, and an ethical perspective, it is proposed that artificial intelligence tools should refrain from asserting a lack of political tendencies and neutrality, instead striving for political neutrality and executing user queries by incorporating these tendencies.
AI revolutionizes transportation through autonomous vehicles (AVs) but introduces complex criminal liability issues regarding infractions. This study employs a comparative legal analysis of primary statutes, real-world liability claims, and academic literature across the US, Germany, UK, China, and India; jurisdictions selected for their technological advancement and contrasting regulatory approaches. The research examines the attribution of human error, AI moral agency, and the identification of primary offenders in AV incidents. Findings reveal fragmented regulatory landscapes: India and the US rely on loose networks of state laws, whereas the UK enacted the pioneering Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018. Germany enforces strict safety standards, distinguishing liability based on the vehicle's operating mode, while China similarly aims for a stringent liability regime. The study concludes that globally harmonized legal standards are essential to foster technological innovation while ensuring minimum risk and clear liability attribution.
The rapid adoption of generative AI in the public sector, encompassing diverse applications ranging from automated public assistance to welfare services and immigration processes, highlights its transformative potential while underscoring the pressing need for thorough risk assessments. Despite its growing presence, evaluations of risks associated with AI-driven systems in the public sector remain insufficiently explored. Building upon an established taxonomy of AI risks derived from diverse government policies and corporate guidelines, we investigate the critical risks posed by generative AI in the public sector while extending the scope to account for its multimodal capabilities. In addition, we propose a Systematic dAta generatIon Framework for evaluating the risks of generative AI (SAIF). SAIF involves four key stages: breaking down risks, designing scenarios, applying jailbreak methods, and exploring prompt types. It ensures the systematic and consistent generation of prompt data, facilitating a comprehensive evaluation while providing a solid foundation for mitigating the risks. Furthermore, SAIF is designed to accommodate emerging jailbreak methods and evolving prompt types, thereby enabling effective responses to unforeseen risk scenarios. We believe that this study can play a crucial role in fostering the safe and responsible integration of generative AI into the public sector.
Organized crime groups use coercion, corruption, and collusion with political actors to achieve their aims. Why do organized crime organizations sometimes quietly coexist with local authorities, sometimes collude with them, and at other times threaten or attack them? Once restricted to few areas in advanced democracies, recent literature and media attention have shown how the impact of organized crime on political arenas is spreading across new and old democracies. This article examines how local political and economic conditions shape the strategies that organized crime adopts toward public institutions. We propose a typology of three main strategies—parasitic, collusive, and adversarial—and explore the conditions under which each emerges. Using an original data set covering almost 8000 Italian municipalities, we show that collusion is most likely where weak political parties leave local political systems open to infiltration, while adversarial strategies arise where high levels of public spending make control over resources especially valuable. The analysis demonstrates that criminal behavior is not random but responds to identifiable political and economic incentives. Beyond the Italian case, these findings illuminate how variations in democratic institutions and local economies can foster different forms of organized crime behavior.
In this digital age, where social media has become the major communication platform, memes are a powerful medium to reflect and shape societal narratives. This study aims to analyze the role of these digital artifacts as a means of social commentary in Pakistan. This study analyzes the multimodality of memes acting as political satire, cultural identity, economic crisis, and the community’s social practices and preferences through Van Leeuwen’s Social Semiotic model. The data collected for this study is 80 memes created and circulated in 2024, classified into various dimensions of Pakistani society, such as political, sociocultural, economic, religious, educational, etc. The qualitative analysis reveals how memes reflect, critique, and challenge the power dynamics within society. The findings reveal that memes are not only a source of entertainment but also address society’s serious and worth-noticing problems under the mask of humour. Furthermore, the significance of this study lies in its critical contribution to understanding digital communication. The research calls for attention to the harsh realities of society and suggests that a positive change in society would help to better portray the Pakistani community around the globe. References: Abbas, Z., Sheikh, M. A., Mir, B., & Farrukh, M. (2024). A Comparative Analysis of Pakistani and Indian Social Media Memes: Cultural Narratives and Social Understandings. Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 12(2), 1863-1873. https://doi.org/10.52131/pjhss.2024.v12i2.2299 Adebomi, Oluwayemisi Olusola. 2020. “A multimodal analysis of memetic representation of individuals and institutions in Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari administration.” Language. Text. Society 7 (1). https://ltsj.online/2020-07-1-adebomi. Ahmad, M., Aslam, A., Siddiqui, A., & Fazal, N. (2024). Decoding Digital Content: A Social Semiotic Perspective on Pakistani Social Media Trends. Journal of Arts and Linguistics Studies, 2(2), 1161–1183. https://jals.miard.org/index.php/jals/article/view/152 Amir, M. (2021). What Are Internet Memes and How Are They Used for Different Purposes? Journal of Arts and Linguistics Studies. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3874090 Ayyaz, Q. U. A., Khursheed, S., & Aslam, S. (2022). Psychological-Distress Effects of Memes: A Critical Discourse Analysis. Global Language Review, VII (II), 467–478. https://doi.org/10.31703/glr.2022(VII-II).38 Bach, K., & Harnish, R. M. (1980). Linguistic Communication and Speech Acts. Massachusetts, MA: The MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/413908 Bellar, W., Campbell, H. A., Cho, K. J., Terry, A., Tsuria, R., Yadlin-Segal, A., & Ziemer, J. (2013). Reading religion in internet memes. Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 2(2), 1–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/21659214-90000031 Chandler, R. (2013). “Meme World Syndrome: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The First World Problems And Third World Success Internet Memes”. Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2613. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2613 De Certeau, M. (1984). The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press. Davidson, P. (2009). The Language of Internet Memes. The Social Media Reader, 120–134. Dawkins, R. (2006). The Selfish Gene (original work published 1976 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Distin, K. (2005). The Selfish Meme: A Critical Reassessment. New York: Cambridge University Press. Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press. Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge. Harbo, T. F. (2022). Internet memes as knowledge practice in social movements: Rethinking Economics’ delegitimization of economists. Discourse, context & media, 50, 100650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2022.100650. Javed, M. (2022). Meme as a social and political commentary tool: discourse analysis of meme in Pakistani social media. Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research, 5(2), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.37605/pjhssr.v5i2.321 Khan, M. (2024). Political Memes and Affective Polarization: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Pakistani Political Memes. Pakistan Review of Social Sciences (PRSS), 5(1), 71–84. https://www.pakistanreview.com/index.php/PRSS/article/view/248 Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. London, UK: Routledge. Laineste, L., & Voolaid, P. (2016). Laughing across borders: Intertextuality of internet memes. The European Journal of Humour Research, 4(4), 26-49. Leeuwen, T. V. (2005). Introducing Social Semiotics. London: Routledge. Milner, R. (2012). The world-made meme: Discourse and identity in participatory media, PhD Thesis (University of Kansas). Moaswes, A. S. (2019). Humor, Virality and the Politics of Internet Memes. Journal of Content, Community & Communication, 9 (5). DOI: 10.31620/JCCC.06.19/06 Moussa, M. B., Benmessaoud, S., & Douai, A. (2020). Internet memes as “tactical” social action: A multimodal critical discourse analysis approach. International Journal of Communication, 14, 21. Mubarak, A. S., & Aayid, D. (2022). A Semiotic Approach to Some Internet Political Comic Memes. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 9192-9198. Nita, F. R., Setiawan, S., & Lestari, L. A. (2021). Meaning-making of internet memes to create humorous sense: Functions as Speech Acts. Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching, 5(2), 465-479. http://dx.doi.org/10.30743/ll.v5i2.4445 Ostanina-Olszewska, J., & Majdzińska-Koczorowicz, A. (2019). A Cognitive Linguistics approach to internet memes on selected Polish internet sites. Cognitive Studies, (19). https://doi.org/10.11649/cs.1939 Paul, T. (2024). Lockdown Humour and Gender Ideologies: A Critical Analysis of Social Media Memes. Südasien-Chronik - South Asia Chronicle Putra, R. A., & Triyono, S. (2018). The diversity of internet memes interpretations: A discourse analysis of incongruity of popular memes made by Indonesian netizens. PAROLE: Journal of Linguistics and Education, 6(2), 49-61. http://ejournal.undip.ac.id/index.php/parole. Qureshi, F., Iqbal, L., Kamran, W., Aamir, M., & Amin, S. (2023). Sociological Features Of Urdu And English Memes: An Analysis. Journal of Namibian Studies: History Politics Culture, 33, 5946-5960. https://doi.org/10.59670/jns.v33i.3353 Rathi, N., & Jain, P. (2023). SPREADING RELIGION AND CULTURE THROUGH INTERNET MEMES. Journal of Dharma, 48(4), 531–548. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379992756_SPREADING_RELIGION_AND_CULTURE_THROUGH_INTERNET_MEMES Raza, J., Sagheer, I., Sarwer, S., & Rasool, S. A. (2023). Dark Side of Pakistan Showcasing Economic Crisis Through Memes. Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies, 9 (4), 509-526. https://doi.org/10.26710/jbsee.v9i4.2862 Rasool, M. (2024). Cultural Tapestry: The Role of Popular Culture in Shaping Identities and Modernity in Pakistan. Al-Qanṭara, 38–59. https://alqantarajournal.com/index.php/Journal/article/view/589 Rezeki, T. I., Sagala, R. W., & Rabukit, R. (2024). From Humour to Impact: Internet Memes in Political Discourse through (de) legitimization. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 746-762. https://doi.org/10.70082/esiculture.vi.788 Saleem, F., Maqsood, M., & Abbasi, S. (2022). Political Memes and Ethical Boundaries: Framing Analysis in the Context of “No-Confidence Motion 2022” in Pakistan. Online Media and Society, 3, 134–148. https://hnpublisher.com/ojs/index.php/OMS/article/view/308 Shahid, A., Irfan, H., & Abbas, Q. (2021). Exploring Women’s Representation in Meme Discourse: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Selected Memes from Pakistani Facebook Pages. Journal of Development and Social Sciences, 2(4), 983–994. http://doi.org/10.47205/jdss.2021(2-IV)77 Shifman, L. (2014). Memes in Digital Culture (MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series). MIT Press. Sultana, A., & Khalid, A. (2023). Unmasking Political Narratives: A Study of Political Memes in Pakistan. Global Digital & Print Media Review, VI (II), 334–353. https://doi.org/10.31703/gdpmr.2023(VI-II).24 Sultana, S., Batool, A., & Akhtar, M. (2023). The Impact Social Media Political Memes on Youth of Pakistan: An Analysis. Annals of Human and Social Sciences, 4(3), 752–762. https://doi.org/10.35484/ahss.2023(4-III)71 Wagener, A. (2023). Semiotic excess in memes: From postdigital creativity to social violence. Internet Pragmatics, 6(2), 239–258. https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00098.wag
Abstract China, the European Union, and the United States are the three largest digital economies in the world. This article compares the antitrust regulation of the digital economy in the three regions after the 2000s. It argues that over time, the antitrust regulation of the digital economy in the three regions tends to converge along three dimensions: growing separation of the antitrust regulation of the digital economy from that of the other economic sectors, convergence of regulatory objectives, and convergence of regulatory methods. In combination with the geopoliticization of the platform economy, this article argues that four factors have contributed to shape such convergence: (1) historical factors, (2) globalization of the digital economy, (3) increasing policy imitation and policy competition among the major digital powers of the world, (4) support from the civil society.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only), Economic growth, development, planning
Artashes I. Shahnazaryan, Ashot A. Melkonyan, Igor V. Kryuchkov
et al.
Introduction. A significant amount of diverse and valuable information regarding the Mongols, who arrived in Armenia during their exploratory expeditions in 1220–1222 and governed the country from 1236 to 1353, has been preserved in Armenian manuscript sources. These sources contain detailed accounts of the Mongols’ names, origin, homeland, appearance, food, character, customs, beliefs, weaponry, martial arts, language, and overall ethnology. This collection of insights illuminates the historical significance due to the fact that Mongols played a pivotal role in global history. The scientific importance of this material should not be underestimated, particularly for Mongolian studies and Mongolian ethnology. This significance arises from both the variety of accounts in the Armenian manuscript sources and the reliability of the majority of these reports. Many of these accounts are based either on direct observations by the authors or the information obtained from credible sources, including the Mongols themselves. It is no coincidence that this emphasis on accuracy is regularly highlighted within the manuscript sources. The purpose of this study is aimed at bringing together and, for the first time, introducing into scientific circulation the ethnological material on the Mongols provided in the rich and valuable Armenian manuscript sources (historical works, minor chronicles, manuscript colophons) of the High Middle Ages (13th-14th centuries). Materials and methods. Among the Armenian manuscript sources addressing the ethnological characteristics of the Mongols, the historiographical works of such notable historians as Kirakos Gandzaketsi, Vardan Vardapet, Grigor Aknertsi, Smbat Sparapet, Hetum the Historian, and Stepanos Orbelian are particularly prominent. Several chroniclers and authors of manuscript colophons have echoed or even expanded upon the mentioned above accounts. The work on the Mongols by Vanakan Vardapet, the teacher of Kirakos Gandzaketsi, by Vardan Vardapet and by Grigor Aknertsi, also undoubtedly contained valuable insights into this subject. Unfortunately, this work has not survived, although Vardan Vardapet almost certainly drew upon it in his own writings. In some cases, Vardan Vardapet also compiled material about the Mongols from the works by Kirakos Gandzaketsi. The information related to the ethnology and lifestyle of the Mongols, as recorded in the Armenian sources of the High Middle Ages, is presented here through a combination of historical compilation and analytical methods for the reconstruction of the history. Results. The aforementioned evidence forms the basis for introducing the material from Armenian manuscript sources on Mongol ethnology into scientific discourse that will facilitate a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the ethnological characteristics of the Mongols during the period in question.
History of Asia, Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
How did China achieve remarkable expansion in social insurance coverage in recent years? The significant social insurance coverage expansion in China since the mid-first decade of the twenty-first century appears to counter the findings of a substantial segment of the policy implementation literature, which portrays local governments as lacking enforcement capabilities and incentives. This study argues that firm compliance plays a crucial role in driving social insurance coverage expansion. It employs a novel strategy to verify the aforementioned argument by investigating informal sector workers’ social insurance enrolment status. Analysis of nationally representative survey data reveals that firm compliance emerges as a key factor. Although this study shows that state enforcement does not directly impact coverage expansion, it also establishes that the likelihood of firm compliance increases with the anticipated severity of government sanctions. These findings enhance the understanding of the roles of the state and firms in the expansion of social insurance coverage in China.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only), Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
Invitation to take part in "Global", "International", and "Worldwide" conferences seem attractive and prestigious and often with affiliation in Europe, USA, Japan or other well-developed Asia countries. Moreover, the possibility of sharing a stage with a "top speaker" and/or eligibility for reduced registration and accommodation fees and being listed in the abstract book on the "international" level might be a hook not only for young researchers but even for experienced ones. A broad range of submissions, low processing fees, increasing authors' citations, high "local" impact factor, an invitation to write an article for money, "gift-authorship”, suboptimal author guidelines or special offers. "Pseudo" means something that pretends to be the truth. If it is not, we face deception, fraud or a lie. Science is always valuable and treasured by people [1], but the word "pseudoscience" makes this meaning disgusting. In particular, pseudoscience in Medicine that can spread misinformation, leading away from evidence-based Medicine, decreasing adherence to proven guidelines of treatments and public health measures, as well as leading patients to seek ineffective or unproven therapy or care. But the worst thing is to be captured by fraud and involved in pseudoscience without realizing it. This editorial focuses on how pseudoscience products created by diverse scam agencies can be spotted and how to protect our research from predatory publication pitfalls [2] that are very common. It aims to describe the main traps the authors may fall into and to indicate red flags that can warn the readers about the dangers and strategies on how to avoid them. Pseudoscience and predatory publications: how it works? The contact information, most often email address, which was is taken from already published paper (even in a reputable journal), professional organization subscription, conference abstract or vendor subscriptions, will be used by predatory publishers to make contact with potential victims [3]. It is remarkable that the number of emails from predator publishers rapidly grow after a successful publication or visiting big conference or congress. It seems very rewarding for young or inexperienced researchers to think that the research is interesting for the audience, but it is very often not the case. How not to get deceived, and how to choose a legitimate audience and the right way to present the results of the study? Here we provide “red flags” that may help to avoid the pitfalls of predators in publishing results of medical research. Predatory conferences The invitation to be a top speaker at the conference is often based on the recently published article. Typical characteristics: The organized conference doesn't refer to any professional scientific society or institution with a decent scientific reputation. Reduced registration fee and/or accommodation. The organizers strictly provide the accommodation. Despite invitation, one who is invited should pay “the reduced fee”. Listed as a top-speaker among other notable researchers. Checking the list of "notable" speakers might be disappointing, realising there are no real experts in this field. The affiliation of the organizing committee members is unknown. Often, there is no precise contact information and no connections to the respected Institutions. In most cases, some unknown or recently created offices with US or European locations are used to impress or make it trustworthy. This is a repeating email. The recipient will receive further emails extending the abstract submission deadline and proposing additional discounts, such as for Conference materials, etc. Broad range submission. One conference might include medicine, economics, politics and other areas. Format of presentation. Typically, online formal will be offered if you cannot visit the conference on site. Nevertheless, they will ask for payment. Predatory conferences papers Predatory conference papers or abstracts are associated with predatory conferences but may appear as a separate part. Unfortunately, it is difficult to detect fraud as the organizers usually create a fake conference and published an electronic abstract book available in internet. The submitters, especially from low- and middle-income countries, are thirsty for international publication and ready to pay for it quite often a reasonable fee. Typical characteristics: Absence of scientific or professional societies among organisers. Low (adequate) price for publication. Electronic abstract book. No peer-review. Flexible deadline. Remote participation: There is no need to join the conference because there is no conference. Possibility to submit an abstract in your language (not English). Increasing scientific profile / citations The "We write, you pay" model requires the academic society to see the results of the research activity. The number of reads, downloads, citations, impact factor, etc., are markers of the researcher's performance. Some organisations provide "tools" to improve the author profile, but this is an artificial, unethical intervention [4]. Typical characteristics: Proposal to increase citation. Proposal to add the author to the author block of some articles without any contribution (only financial). Fake citations. "Supporting" manuscript submission to the Journals. Services for language editing and academic English with no guarantee to perform it. Publishing in Supplemental issue. Supporting the researcher "You write, we pay" model. The invitation to pay for writing the manuscript and doing research. Accepting this invitation, the author supports and creates pseudoscience. Typical characteristics: No grant proposal. No official institution or research theme. The author's contribution will be divided among those who pay for it. No authorship, copyright authorship. Unknown agreement and financial process. Poor journal quality (lack of peer-review process, editing, proofreading). To sum up, by implementing these strategies and being aware of predatory practices of blocklisting agencies, "copycat" journals, publisher imitators, hijacked journals, formerly legitimate, but lacking proper editorial oversight and peer review, leading to the publication of low-quality or plagiarized content and prioritizing money-making over scientific integrity [5], we can prevent the spread of pseudoscience in medical sciences. Attending and promoting conferences organized by established scientific societies or institutions [6–8] with a strong reputation for scientific rigor will help present your research in a right way. Mentoring junior and unexperienced researchers and informing about ethical problems related to predatory publishing practices is crucial for progress in the academic medical sphere.
An important historical feature of Russia was the Europe-Asia divide factor. The two parts of the country differed considerably in terms of geography, climate, infrastructure, distance from borders and from the center, ethnic composition and population denomination. The recognition of the imperial heterogeneity requires historiographers to take a differentiated approach to studying and evaluating imperial peripheral policy. This notion covers the important areas of regional politics, from the imperial ideology and practices in the regional dimension to the establishment of the internal and external boundaries of a region and the dynamics of administrative organization as well as administrative activities within a given territorial space. In addition to administrative and judicial institutions, a unified monetary system, communications, taxes, the state language and the Russian Orthodox Church played a huge role in the development of authority in the region. All the religious activities of the government in the eastern part of the Empire were marked by the great importance of the Russian Orthodox Church, especially its missionary work. The latter, according to the official authorities, “revived” only in the nineteenth century, with the appearance of new figures of inorodic education and a number of “public” organizations patronized by the authorities (the Russian Bible Society, the Society for the Distribution of Holy Scripture in Russia, the Orthodox Missionary Society). The Orthodox Missionary Society was headed by the famous Aleutian-Kamchatian missionary and, from 1868, Metropolitan Innocent Veniaminov of Moscow and Kolomna. The Empress was proclaimed the Society's patroness. Diocesan bishops headed the society’s local branches, established in all 11 Siberian dioceses. About 50 % of the Society's funds went to support the Siberian missions each year. Much attention was paid to the training of missionaries of local nationalities in seminaries and at the universities of Kazan and St Petersburg, while the Synod officially allowed worship in local languages in Siberian dioceses. Conventions of Orthodox missionaries played an important role in spreading Orthodoxy as a means of integrating the aboriginal people in the east of the empire. By the end of the 19th century, the number of dioceses in the region had risen to 12, and the number of churches in the Irkutsk diocese had increased by 46 %, in the Tobolsk diocese by 52 % and in the Tomsk diocese by 45 %. 88 new parishes had been opened in the churches of the Siberian dioceses, 33 of which were financed entirely by the state’s treasury. At the same time, eight Orthodox missions were permanently active in the vast territory of Siberia and the Far East. The number of missionary priests had increased rapidly. A small number of missions are found only in the northern territories of Siberia – Berezovsky and Turukhansky districts. Meanwhile, missions like those in Altai, Irkutsk and Trans-Baikal are stepping up their activities. The Russian state's confessional policy towards the Siberian "indigenous peoples" was an inseparable part of the imperial policy in Siberia as a whole.
This research investigates how users of Bilibili, a video sharing website based in China have responded to carbon neutrality. By conducting quantitative textual analyses on 3,311 comments on Bilibili using LDA topic extraction and content statistics, this research discovers that: (1) Bilibili users have assigned more weight to geopolitical topics (56.3%) than energy (22.0%) and environmental topics (21.7%). (2) When assessing carbon neutrality, Bilibili users considered geopolitical (53.8%) and energy factors (15.8%) more heavily than factors related to the class (9.2%), economy (8.9%), environment (8.7%), and definition (3.6%). (3) More Bilibili users had negative (64.6%) attitudes towards carbon neutrality, with only a small portion of them expressing positive (26.8%) and neutral (8.6%) attitudes. (4) Negative attitudes towards carbon neutrality were mainly driven by concerns about the West's approach to China, other countries' free-riding on China's efforts and the West's manipulation of rules, doubts about the feasibility of energy transition, and suspicion of capitalists exploiting consumers through this concept. This research highlights the geopolitical concerns behind the environmental attitudes of Chinese people, deepening our understanding to psychological constructs and crisis sensitivity of Chinese people towards environmental issues.
Political science (General), Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
This study aims to analyze and identify the strengths and interests of state actors and non-state actors in the revitalization of residents’ houses in the riverside area of Banjarmasin City from the perspective of Collaborative Governance. This study used a qualitative approach by collecting data through observation, in-depth analysis, and document analysis. The findings of this study explain that collaborative governance is an alternative to public policy as an interactive process involving state and non-state actors autonomously who use shared rules and norms carried out collectively to solve societal problems. Collaboration involving actors in power with interests in decision-making might fail during its implementation. This research contributes to the scientific literature on interactions between actors and collaborative governance because the problems faced by the public are fought for, and collaborative governance implementation cannot be separated from the presence of actors involved in advocating for issues of public concern.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Alexander Lew, Sydney Thompson, Nathan Tsoi
et al.
Deploying interactive systems in-the-wild requires adaptability to situations not encountered in lab environments. Our work details our experience about the impact of architecture choice on behavior reusability and reactivity while deploying a public interactive system. In particular, we introduce Shutter, a robot photographer and a platform for public interaction. In designing Shutter's architecture, we focused on adaptability for in-the-wild deployment, while developing a reusable platform to facilitate future research in public human-robot interaction. We find that behavior trees allow reactivity, especially in group settings, and encourage designing reusable behaviors.
Rajiv Movva, Sidhika Balachandar, Kenny Peng
et al.
Large language models (LLMs) are dramatically influencing AI research, spurring discussions on what has changed so far and how to shape the field's future. To clarify such questions, we analyze a new dataset of 16,979 LLM-related arXiv papers, focusing on recent trends in 2023 vs. 2018-2022. First, we study disciplinary shifts: LLM research increasingly considers societal impacts, evidenced by 20x growth in LLM submissions to the Computers and Society sub-arXiv. An influx of new authors -- half of all first authors in 2023 -- are entering from non-NLP fields of CS, driving disciplinary expansion. Second, we study industry and academic publishing trends. Surprisingly, industry accounts for a smaller publication share in 2023, largely due to reduced output from Google and other Big Tech companies; universities in Asia are publishing more. Third, we study institutional collaboration: while industry-academic collaborations are common, they tend to focus on the same topics that industry focuses on rather than bridging differences. The most prolific institutions are all US- or China-based, but there is very little cross-country collaboration. We discuss implications around (1) how to support the influx of new authors, (2) how industry trends may affect academics, and (3) possible effects of (the lack of) collaboration.
Multiple types can represent the same concept. For example, lists and trees can both represent sets. Unfortunately, this easily leads to incomplete libraries: some set-operations may only be available on lists, others only on trees. Similarly, subtypes and quotients are commonly used to construct new type abstractions in formal verification. In such cases, one often wishes to reuse operations on the representation type for the new type abstraction, but to no avail: the types are not the same. To address these problems, we present a new framework that transports programs via equivalences. Existing transport frameworks are either designed for dependently typed, constructive proof assistants, use univalence, or are restricted to partial quotient types. Our framework (1) is designed for simple type theory, (2) generalises previous approaches working on partial quotient types, and (3) is based on standard mathematical concepts, particularly Galois connections and equivalences. We introduce the notion of partial Galois connections and equivalences and prove their closure properties under (dependent) function relators, (co)datatypes, and compositions. We formalised the framework in Isabelle/HOL and provide a prototype. This is the extended version of "Transport via Partial Galois Connections and Equivalences", 21st Asian Symposium on Programming Languages and Systems, 2023.
Alyssa Gosteli Dela Cruz, Ta-Wei Chu, Sung Jae Lee
et al.
We examine the Thai government's politicised COVID-19 containment strategies, which have been challenged by Thai protesters. Although we use securitisation theory as an explanatory framework, we argue that researchers using this theory can explain the issues only if they simultaneously use social-conflict theory to explain the interactions between securitising actors and their audiences. By supplementing securitisation theory with social-conflict theory, we have found that the roles of securitising actors and audiences are not fixed. In our case study of Thailand, the Thai government and protesters have played two roles simultaneously: the role of a securitising actor and the role of an audience. This finding suggests that successful securitisation is impermanent; that is, it is subject to change over time. Securitisation may be successful, but the success can only be temporary because as new actors or resources enter the picture, the previously successful securitisation will, at some point, diminish.
International relations, Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Kazunori Akiyama, Juan-Carlos Algaba, Tao An
et al.
The East Asian VLBI Network (EAVN) is an international VLBI facility in East Asia and is operated under mutual collaboration between East Asian countries, as well as part of Southeast Asian and European countries. EAVN currently consists of 16 radio telescopes and three correlators located in China, Japan, and Korea, and is operated mainly at three frequency bands, 6.7, 22, and 43 GHz with the longest baseline length of 5078 km, resulting in the highest angular resolution of 0.28 milliarcseconds at 43 GHz. One of distinct capabilities of EAVN is multi-frequency simultaneous data reception at nine telescopes, which enable us to employ the frequency phase transfer technique to obtain better sensitivity at higher observing frequencies. EAVN started its open-use program in the second half of 2018, providing a total observing time of more than 1100 hours in a year. EAVN fills geographical gap in global VLBI array, resulting in enabling us to conduct contiguous high-resolution VLBI observations. EAVN has produced various scientific accomplishments especially in observations toward active galactic nuclei, evolved stars, and star-forming regions. These activities motivate us to initiate launch of the 'Global VLBI Alliance' to provide an opportunity of VLBI observation with the longest baselines on the earth.
This study verified the effectiveness of Donald Trump's Twitter campaign in guiding agen-da-setting and deflecting political risk and examined Trump's Twitter communication strategy and explores the communication effects of his tweet content during Covid-19 pandemic. We collected all tweets posted by Trump on the Twitter platform from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.We used Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis with a fixed effects model to analyze the existence of the Twitter strategy. The correlation between the number of con-firmed daily Covid-19 diagnoses and the number of particular thematic tweets was investigated using time series analysis. Empirical analysis revealed Twitter's strategy is used to divert public attention from negative Covid-19 reports during the epidemic, and it posts a powerful political communication effect on Twitter. However, findings suggest that Trump did not use false claims to divert political risk and shape public opinion.