Weekly News Collection

LAW

Ethnic issues require diverse solutions

More than 100 experts recently gathered at the 2014 Annual Con­ference of China Ethnic Law Studies Association hosted in Guangxi University for Nationalities to explore the theme “Chinese Ethnic Affairs: Rule by Law”. Zhou Shizhong, secretary of the Party Com­mittee of Lijiang College of Guangxi Normal University, expounded upon the scope of application and operating procedures of ethnic group’s customary law from the perspective of judicial practice by citing his research data. “The resolution of social conflicts caused by ethnic affairs lies in diverse mechanisms, such as social welfare and autonomy.”

HISTORY

Value of Late Qing Reform should not be overestimated

From July 17 to 20, on the 6th International Academic Seminar on the History of Late Qing Dynasty held in Lanzhou city, Pan Zhen­ping, head of the Biography Division of the National Qing Dynasty History Compilation Committee, said that to a certain extent, the Late Qing Reform broke down the feudal system and facilitated economic freedom. However, some attendees countered that the ultimate goal of the Late Qing Reform was to sustain the reign of the dynasty. In addition, it was argued that reform measures sel­dom went past “empty talk.” Therefore, the historical value of Late Qing Reform should not be overestimated.

MARINE GEOGRAPHY

Key issues to be clarified for Chinese marine geography

For the past 30 years, Chinese marine geography has made head­way, but some problems persist. From July 19 to 20, the 15th Cross-Strait Symposium on Geomorphology took place in Guangxi, China. Zhang Zhenke from the School of Geographic and Oceano­graphic Sciences stressed that the priority of the study is to clarify key issues and branches of research, including the temporal and spatial changes of marine resources, geopolitical marine interest, ecological protection and management. Professor Li Jinming from the South China Sea Institute under Xiamen University called at­tention to protection in the context of China-Philippines disputes over South China Sea waters.

PUBLISHING

4th Mainland-Taiwan Symposium on Journals held

At the 4th Mainland-Taiwan Symposium on Journals held in Taipei, more than 200 publications from Mainland China and Taiwan were exhibited. Journals of Social Sciences in China Press, including Social Sciences in China (English), Social Sciences in China, Historical Re­search, Chinese Social Science Digest, and International Social Science Journal attracted the extensive attention in the exhibition. At the fo­rum, attendees explored ways to address the digital challenges faced by traditional paper journals. Some scholars posited that a mastery of the cutting-edge IT technologies is crucial, which requires profession­als with diverse skills.

LINGUISTICS

Big strides made by Chinese linguistics

For language researchers, an international vision and multidisci­plinary multilingual concepts are indispensable. The 15th China International Conference on Contemporary Linguistics (CICCL), hosted by Heilongjiang University from July 18 to 21, attracted scholars from China, Russian, England, Canada and Korea. Gu Yueguo, a research fellow from the Institutes of Linguistics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that the papers intro­duced at the conference in its early years were mostly translations or reviews of Western linguistic theories. But this year, the papers submitted were mainly about China’s independent research in the field, indicating great progress by domestic researchers.

INTERNATIONAL

FP7 project TRACE launched for human trafficking study

Although Europe is one of the strictest regions in the world when it comes to human rights, the number of people trafficked to or within the European Union still amounts to several hundred thou­sand a year, according to the European Commission. The European Commission is funding the FP7 project TRACE, a two-year initia­tive that kicked off in May 2014 with the aim of better understand­ing the perpetrators and the victims. The project’s main focus will be on understanding human trafficking as a business. The team will create a conceptual map of the human trafficking industry to better picture how it has been defined and framed in Europe.

(Edited and translated by Bai Le)