Jing Gu

China's Fight Against Hiv/aids

Officially, there were 650,000 people living with HIV in China in 2005.1 The Chinese government has pledged to keep the total under 1.5 million by 2010. The study argues that China must emphasize non-epidemiological factors as mutually-reinforcing factors sustaining the disease. The fight is entwined with profound economic and social transition. Government and civil society have engaged with the principles and agencies of global HIV/AIDS governance. But HIV intersects with normative regimes addressing issues of humane governance in the widest socio-economic and political sense. Based upon primary and secondary research, the study reviews the evidence of the HIV/AIDS challenge facing China, considers the nature and quality of the national response, and evaluates the relationship of global and national regimes.  1. State Council AIDS Working Committee Office, UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China and World Health Organization, 2005 Update on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Response in China (Beijing: National Center for AIDS/STD Prevention and Control, China CDC, 24 January 2006), p. 1; State Council AIDS Working Committee Office/UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in China, A Joint Assessment of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care in China (2004) (Beijing: State Council AIDS Working Committee Office, 1 December 2004).

China and African Development: Partnership not Mentoring

This article states the conclusions of major field research into the impact of Chinese public and private economic activity on governance in Africa. China has gone into parts of Africa and sectors of African activity where Western actors have been reluctant to venture, yet receives criticism for not reaching standards of governance which the West itself is not able to apply. The Chinese go into Africa on a basis of equality and partnership but are unclear how to impose standards of conduct which are not integral to a consensual relationship or how to guide the development of standards which they do not have at home. China is itself engaging in a continuing process of economic reform and increasing privatisation. Nonetheless, it has developed a doctrine of effective governance in Africa which stresses responsibility and accountability, provision of basic services and social stability, a central Chinese objective at home and abroad.

Introduction: International Development, South-South Cooperation and the Rising Powers

This chapter examines the emergence of the BRICS as a geopolitical association with systems for intellectual, policy and financial interaction and cooperation, and their growing impact on international development and global governance arrangements. The discussion considers the history and rhetoric of South-South cooperation, exploring whether it presents an alternative to the OECD-DAC model of development aid and the future evolution of this model as the BRICS themselves develop. While the BRICS have a huge significance in global development, there has been little comparative study of what each of the BRICS has been doing in their development practices and little understanding of domestic discourses and attitudes towards development cooperation. This chapter outlines the way in which this book fills this gap. It details the economic, political and development trajectories of the BRICS grouping and introduces the various chapters examining the respective BRICS members, the BRICS grouping’s trajectory of engagement with civil society and its development of shared institutions for development cooperation.

Introduction: China and International Development: Challenges and Opportunities

In parallel to its domestic economic boom, China has also been growing as an international actor and as a ‘Rising Power’ in global development. This introduction outlines the need for further understanding of Chinas own development experience, its increasing involvement in development activities in low‐ and middle‐income countries, and its growing engagement in global governance structures. The articles highlighted contribute valuable expertise and insight from both Chinese and non‐Chinese perspectives, to map the shifting landscape of Chinas engagement in global development, and contribute to mutual understanding between traditional donors and rising powers in development cooperation.

HIV/AIDS and Young People in Provincial China and Thailand: Global Aspirations, Local Responses

Thailand and, recently, China are viewed as relative success stories in global societys fight against HIV/AIDS. But both countries are experiencing increased prevalence in most-at-risk populations (MARPs). This paper presents empirical findings from research into HIV/AIDS in Chiang Mai, Thailand and Kunming and Ruili in Chinas Yunnan Province. The study focuses upon young people as a globally recognised MARP. Adopting a human security perspective, this study investigates the impact of HIV/AIDS on health awareness and education for young people. Based on primary evidence from interview surveys with healthcare practitioners, the study examines community perceptions of responses to HIV/AIDS challenges. The main argument is that, for effective responses and sustainable capacity development, it is necessary to engage communities and include young people more fully in “bottom-up” policy development and to promote inclusive peer-to-peer group implementation practices.

Critical Human Security and HIV/AIDS in Thailand and China: National Responses and Provincial/Municipal Perceptions of the Challenges for Young People

This paper examines global and national responses to HIV/AIDS. The paper adopts a critical human security approach relating personal and community security with emancipatory development. The paper details this approach and relates it to challenges of health security and specifically to HIV/AIDS. The paper focuses upon young people as a particularly high risk population. It addresses these challenges in Thailand and China. The paper introduces an on-going study into HIV/AIDS at community level in Chiang Mai and Kunming. It concludes that, for more effective responses, it is necessary to engage communities in policy development and promote peer-group implementation.