Weekly News Collection(2013-08-22)

ENERGY SECURITY 

Li Yang says China heading for green economy at energy security forum

 The Global Forum on Energy Security took place in Beijing on Aug. 10 and 11. U.S. and Chinese government officials working in energy-related sectors of and experts from world-renowned think tanks gathered to discuss global governance on energy security, the development of unconventional gas (shale gas), reform and future prospects of the Chinese energy industry, new energy resources and renewable resources. Attendees affirmed the importance of discovering new resources and using new technologies to access unconventional resources in enhancing global energy security. Vice President of CASS Li Yang noted that “China will treat addressing climate change as a national strategy and integrate it in the long-term planning of national economic and societal development. It will develop a green economy characterized by low-carbon emission and recycling. Low-carbon industries and architecture and a low-carbon transportation system will be established.” The event was co-organized by CASS’s Institute of Quantitative and Technical Economics and Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, among others.

PSYCHOLOGY

1st Symposium of Decision Making and Brain Research held

 On Aug. 9 to 10, the 1st Symposium of Decision Making and Brain Research, organized by the Institute of Psychology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), took place in Beijing. Theme “Green and Decision-making”, the symposium drew scholars from China, Germany, the U.S., Italy and Canada who discussed decision-making in daily life, theories about decision-making, decision-making in social situations and group decision-making and the role of emotions in decision-making. In addition to focusing on behavioral decision-making and neural mechanisms, their topics also cover neuroeconomics, cognitive science, theoretical biology and computational science. Fu Xiaolan, director of CAS’s Institute of Psychology, noted that human decision-making has been an important issue for behavioral science, economics, psychology and neuroscience in recent decades.

DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Modernity needs to transcend Western archetype, scholars say

 International Modernization Forum: Modernization and Global Change took place on Aug. 8 to 9 in Beijing. Organized by the China Center for Modernization Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the forum attracted experts from 14 countries. Discussion centered on global modernization and the diversity of modernity and modernization theories. Professor Alberto Martinelli from the University of Milan asserted that modernization cannot be simply tantamount to Westernization, but rather must be recognized as a phenomenon with many approaches and manifestations. He Chuanqi, director of the China Center for Modernization Research noted that China is now in the process of its first modernization, and that it will need to coordinate its first and second modernizations.

RELIGION

Journal of Buddhist Culture Studies launched

 On Aug. 2, an event celebrating the inaugural publication of Journal of Buddhist Culture Studies was held at Nanjing University. Attendees affirmed the irreplaceable academic value of Chinese Buddhist literature, as it is the most complete and most expansive compared with the extant Sanskrit and Pali Buddhist literature, neither of which is systematic or complete. Journal of Buddhist Culture Studies will publish one to two issues per year, covering Buddhist history, classics, schools, masters, and thought. Thematic studies will also be published.

HISTORY

Scholars further discuss Japanese aggression during World War II

 The 2013 Annual Meeting of the Association about the Sino-Japanese Relations History (the translation of the organization's official title according to its website) in Northeast and Academic Symposium on Japanese Aggression and Plunder were held in Fushun, Liaoning Province from Aug. 7 to 9. More than one hundred scholars discussed the heated topics in today’s China-Japan relations, the current situation in Northeast Asia and Japan’s aggression and economic plunder of China during World War II. The event was organized by the Association about the Sino-Japanese Relations History in Northeast and Fushun Academy of Social Sciences.

CULTURE

1^st Forum on Cross-Strait Culture Development held

 1^st Forum on Cross-Strait Culture Development was held on Aug. 5 to 6 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. Themed “Cross-Strait Traditional Culture and Cultural Traditions”, the forum aims to spread traditional Chinese culture, enhance cross-strait cultural exchange and raise cross-strait cultural consensus and cultural development. Over 60 experts from Chinese Taiwan and the Chinese mainland attended the forum. The forum was co-hosted by Fujian Normal University, the Chinese National Academy of Arts and the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

4th China-Russia Culture Rally held

 The Fourth China-Russia Culture Rally was held simultaneously in Heihe, Heilongjiang Province and Blagoveshchensk, Amur Oblast, Russia. Co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Heilongjiang Provincial People’s Government and the government of Amur Oblast, the event was themed “Cultural Trade and Communication, Friendly Cooperation and Prosperous Development”. Notable for its sheer size, the rally includes events and exchanges on Chinese and Russian customs, travel, entertainment, fairs, and discussions on ongoing and future investment projects. Each rally includes six thematic areas: high-level communication, expositions and fairs, artistic performances, folk culture events, physical culture and cultural tourism, and dozens of cultural and trade activities.

Translated and edited by Jiang Hong

Revised by Charles Horne