Journal articles on the topic 'Americans - China - Macau (Special Administrative Region)'

On 13 April 1987, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of Portugal signed a Joint Declaration on the question of Macau, agreeing that the PRC would resume the exercise of sovereignty over the territory from 20 December 1999. In the Joint Declaration, the PRC promised that the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) would enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs which are the responsibilities of Beijing, as was to be the case for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Joint Declaration further stipulated that the government and the legislature of the Macau SAR will be composed of local inhabitants and will be vested with legislative and independent judicial power. This marked the beginning of the transition period for Macau to move from Portuguese to Chinese administration.

With China's resumption of sovereignty over Macau on 20th December 1999, another step was taken towards the reunification of Greater China. The reunification of Macau as of Hong Kong is based on the principle of “one country, two systems’, under which the socialist systems of the People's Republic of China are not applied in these territories. Instead most constituents of their previous economic, legal and social systems are preserved. In either case China negotiated what are called Joint Declarations for the resumption of sovereignty with the colonial power, under which the terms of “one country, two systems’ were spelled out. China undertook to give effect to the Declarations in Basic Laws, passed by its National People's Congress. Except for defence and foreign affairs, most matters are vested in the new entities, called Special Administrative Regions. The Basic Laws describe the constitutional system established for the regions as being characterised by a “high degree of autonomy’. As such they are an interesting addition to autonomy systems which are increasingly being applied as solutions to problems of divided societies. But the institutional support for the autonomy is particularly weak, and a closer examination of the articulation of the regions with the central authorities suggests that the primary concern in establishing the special administrative regions is less the automony for the people of Hong Kong or Macau as finding a framework for managing different economic systems from those on the mainland (I have developed these arguments in Ghai 1999).

PurposeThis article looks at the differences and similarities between globalization and the role of China on globalization, in particular for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (HKSAR).Design/methodology/approachThis article is based on research, reading, and interviews on globalization.FindingsChina is promoting the new globalization of the century called Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is a unique way to boost again the economy of China.Originality/valueStudies of the New Maritime and Land Silk Road of China are rare; in particular, the role of the HKSAR is ignored. Macau also plays a role because it was the first point of globalization in the seventeenth century. China is really a global country, and the Chinese are numerous in all continents. Chinese Internet role is also mentioned. Globalization is a key concept not only for China and Asia but also for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Africa, and countries in Latin America such as Bolivia and Venezuela. This article looks at the differences and similarities between globalization and the role of China on globalization. The HKSAR and the Greater Bay Area are part of the same country. China is developing the new globalization of the century called, in 2017, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The current definition of Chinese globalization includes land and maritime Silk Road, now the BRI.

AbstractThis article, written by John Bahrij and Lily Ko, focuses on resources in print and electronic form that are available in English for Chinese legal research in the Greater China region. The article covers resources for the People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and Taiwan. An overview of each jurisdictions legal system is also provided so that the resources can be discussed in the context of the prevailing system of law.

After the transfer of the Portuguese administration to China, Macau kept its role as a bridge between East and West, inspired in the Portuguese settlement 500 years ago. The pragmatism of the Chinese central government, using the Lusophone specificities of this Special Administrative Region, supported the creation of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, reviving the statute of the Portuguese language and culture in its own territory.

The return of Macau to the People’s Republic of China was nearly fifteen years ago but only recently have researchers been interested in studying the impact of the handover. This article reflects on the literature of Macao, focusing on texts exploring the displacement of poets from Portugal, Australia, and China to Macau. Poetry has been a crucial form of production that has showcased the social changes of this multicultural place. Although it is difficult to characterize a specific Macao way of life, during the transition period between 1987 and 1999, many poets sought to show the conflicts that occurred in the development of this special administrative region. This article attempts to analyze and characterize literary representations of recent Macao poetry published in Chinese, English, and Portuguese languages in order to define differences as well as a common sensibility.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the international mobility of mainland students in special administrative regions of China and in places outside China. Design/methodology/approach There have been studies using the framework of push–pull and reverse push–pull factors to explore the movement of mainland students to North America, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. This study follows up by exploring such research directions in Macau, which is another special administrative region of China. Different from previous studies, the sample of this study came specifically from 130 students enrolling in teacher education undergraduate programs in Macau. Findings In this study, using data collected from questionnaires and interviews, the factors affecting mainland student teachers’ choice of Macau as a place for their undergraduate studies are examined. Other related issues such as the challenges these students face and their intentions after their graduation are also studied. Originality/value The data collected for this study were primary and original, drawing specifically from students enrolling teacher education programs. Following the various studies on the global movement of mainland students, this study aimed at understanding mainland students’ mobility pattern in one of China’s special administration regions, Macau. In this regard, cultural identity and cultural factors were considered on top of other factors.

AbstractThis article traces the unique process of reconstructing the identity of the Macau Special Administrative Region and its people after the political resumption to China in 1999, and the political and economic significance of the reconstruction. As in other postcolonial contexts, identity is an arena of political contest where various discourses that embody re-appropriation of political traditions and legacies criss-cross. In Macau, the post-handover identity comprises the local, the national and the international components, with Macau characterized as a historical, colonial/cultural hybrid and economic object. In fact, the Macau identity after 1999 represents a re-appropriation of the image of colonial Macau propagated by the Portuguese administration since the 1980s. Also, identity making has been a process of incorporating instead of repressing or eliminating the identities of “the other,” and building a stand-alone national identity is not the prime task in the reconstruction of an identity. Rather, multiple identity components are deliberately incorporated and promoted. The success of the process has fabricated Macau's relatively smooth reintegration with China and enhanced the legitimacy of its new government.

The Macau Special Administrative Region has experienced a large number of changes before and after the Transfer of Sovereignty over Macau from the Portuguese Republic to the People’s Republic of China during the late 1999s. One of the most significant changes within the government environment should be the reform of civil servant appraisal system. Currently, the civil servants in Macau are using the new civil servant appraisal system framework under the Law Number 31/2004 “Regime geral de avaliação do desempenho dos trabalhadores da Administração Pública”. As the new appraisal system attracts a large number of attentions for research, a satisfied number of literature reviews are stored in the current research bank. However, the literature reviews and research studies about the former civil servant appraisal system framework under the Law Number 87/89/M “Estatuto dos Trabalhadores da Administração Pública de Macau” were mostly written in either Chinese language or Portuguese language. Only very few English written research studies concern the former civil servant appraisal system under the Law Number 87/89/M “Estatuto dos Trabalhadores da Administração Pública de Macau”. Therefore, this paper provides the opportunities for international and English readers to understand the administrative law reform within the Macau environment.

This article analyzes articulations among urban enclaves, finance capital, and glass architecture by exploring MGM’s corporate investments in the Las Vegas CityCenter development and the Chinese enclave of Macau. CityCenter is an unsuccessful $9 billion master-planned urban community financed by MGM and Dubai World. Macau is a former Portuguese colony and Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China which has, since its return to the PRC in 1999, replaced Las Vegas as the world’s most lucrative site of casino gaming revenue. Taken together, CityCenter and Macau are illustrative of the political economy and cultural logics of financialization. Foreign investment from Las Vegas entrepreneurs has vitrified Macau, transforming it into a phantasmagoria of glass resorts. Macau in turn plays a crucial functional role in capitalism’s recomposition in East Asia, similar to the autochthonous role of the Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa in the historical origins of capitalism. In order to ‘read’ the cities of Las Vegas and Macau, I explore intertextual legibilities among fictitious capital that relies on glass fiber-optic technology to enable grand architectural projects; expressionist fictional representations of glass architecture and its utopian transformative potential; and glass buildings that themselves dissimulate in a manner not unlike fiction.

Former Portuguese colony and now a Special Administrative Region of China, Macau had progressed from following its colonizer and its neighbouring cities, like Hong Kong and Taiwan, to establishing its own education system and being the first in the Greater China region to deliver 15-year free education. The objective of this study was to examine the perceived impacts of this policy on the affordability, accessibility, accountability of early childhood education in Macau. A multiple case study, using quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (interviews) measures, was conducted in four private kindergartens in Macau to understand how the 4 principals, 24 teachers and 119 parents viewed the policy impacts. The results indicated that: (1) across roles, parents were the most supportive of the policy and consistently gave the highest grading amongst the three stakeholders. Principals were the most knowledgeable of the policy, but graded the policy lowest and regarded the government’s financial subsidy as the most insufficient. Teachers were the least optimistic and positive about the impacts of the policy. They felt that teacher qualification and the quality of teaching resources should be further enhanced; (2) Across school types, kindergartens which joined the free education network graded the policy higher and perceived its impacts more positively than the one which did not join; (3) Extra subsidies were suggested by the respondents to cover children’s extra-curricular activities, support from childcare and special education professionals, and school-based curriculum development.

This paper describes the transformation of Macau's urban image in the first decade after the “handover” of the Portuguese enclave to the People's Republic of China (PRC). In the pre-handover years and the first years of the newly established Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), urban interventions created an image thought to assure the continuity of Macau's Eurasian identity along with future financial stability. In 2002, with the governmental decision not to renew the local gambling monopoly, Macau's urban image was radically transformed. The liberalization of the gambling industry after Macau's return to the PRC was combined with the deregulation of building heights, developer-friendly land sales, a growing number of migrant workers, and the liberalization of travel restrictions for mainland visitors. These deregulations were based on decisions by the MSAR and the PRC governments, respectively, and led to the exponential growth of Macau's GDP within only six years. This paper describes how, through these decisions, Macau's urban image and space have been transformed.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of Special Administrative Region (SAR) performance on the “trust” of Hong Kong and Macau people, who “live” under similar context of “one country, two systems,” toward Beijing Central Government. The different perceptions, relating to the abovementioned issue, of the young peoples’ are also investigated. Implication for civic education in these two societies will be brought to light. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts secondary data analysis on the captioned topic. To further illustrate the said issue, this study reviews and analyzes data from protest campaigns in both societies. Findings This paper finds that the performance of Hong Kong and Macau SAR Governments has different impacts on the peoples’ “trust” toward Central Government. It may attribute to the different perceptions about the role of Central Government and levels of democratization in these societies. Civic education emphasizing the “core spirit” of “One country, two systems,” roles of SAR and Central Governments could enable young people better comprehend their relationship with Mainland China and their role as SAR–Chinese citizens. Originality/value This paper is an exploratory study for providing implications for further research on this topic.

Abstract This study focuses on Macao, a former Portuguese colony and a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China after 1999. A questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2012 and 2013 respectively among freshmen of the University of Macau to investigate their attitudes to issues in Macao’s language policy and planning (LPP). Findings of this study reflect their practical attitudes, as reflected in their attitudes towards the choice of English or Portuguese as the first foreign language in Macao public schools. At the same time, their attitudes also reflect their strong local allegiances and resistance to Mainland China’s cultural practices, as reflected in their views on the issue of the official status of Putonghua in the Macao SAR, the choice of Putonghua or Cantonese as the medium of instruction, and the maintenance of traditional Chinese characters, written Cantonese, and Cantonese Romanization System in Macao.

Hong Kong island is located in Southern China at the mouth of the Pearl River. Its coastal location down river from the significant port-city of Guangzhou (formerly Canton), is strategically located in the trade route known as the Maritime Silk Road, the 2,000-year-old trade between China, Southeast Asia, India and Arabia. It was because of this trade that the waters and islands at the Pearl River mouth were frequented by many nations, and where the Portuguese had their port-city, Macau from 1557, and the British were based on Hong Kong island from 1842. Over the next 60 years, the British leased further surrounding territories and the arrangement eventually led to the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, hereafter called the Hong Kong region. A significant maritime cultural landscape was built up, which included sites from earlier periods. An example of this maritime cultural landscape can be seen in the Sai Kung (eastern) district of the Hong Kong region. Many ships travelled along this coastline between the northern China ports and Guangzhou, and a number of coastal facilities were established. Beginning in 2009, a group of Hong Kong residents (Hong Kong Underwater Heritage Group) implemented a series of maritime archaeological projects in the Sai Kung district in collaboration with the Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM). The results of this work can be seen in three maritime archaeology survey and excavation projects implemented from 2014 to 2017, including the discovery of a 1,000-year-old underwater cultural heritage (UCH) site. They complement the many coastal cultural heritage in the Sai Kung district to reveal its maritime cultural landscape.

Purpose – The Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has a unique identity. This study is based on a long period of research undertaken between 1995 and 2014. Permanent residents, the Chinese of Macau and all other MSAR residents constitute a body of model “citizens” which makes their legal identity understandable in the MSAR’s present social and economic context. Macau’s legal identity is based on centuries of trade and commerce. In Article 5 of the first chapter (I-5) of the MSAR’s Basic Law, the “way of life” in Macau’s society and economy are recognized as part of the MSAR’s legal framework. However, social change may play an important role in Macau’s development. The purpose of this paper is to look at the legal corpus as though it was a physical body with rights and duties, but also capabilities based on the nationality and residence statuses of its citizens, its companies and other entities (which will be studied more specifically in following articles). Design/methodology/approach – This study has used the combined approaches of fieldwork carried out between 2010 and 2015, interviews, and questionnaires. Findings – Way of life and the concept of One Country, Two Systems are key points that contribute to Macau’s contemporary identity. Way of life in the Basic Law constitutes a complex matrix formulation based on a series of particular facts and cultural traits, which leads to a better legal definition of important concepts such as nationality and residency in the particular case of Macau. The Basic Law is the constitutional law of the MSAR, but “Chineseness” still dominates the locals’ identity from day to day. More than 65 percent of the interviewees in the survey asserted their “Chineseness.” However, both Chinese and Portuguese, will continue to be official languages of Macau until 2049. The MSAR’s Chinese society speaks Cantonese and increasingly Putonghua, but it does not seem concerned by communicating using the Portuguese language. Clayton’s thesis emphasized the “unique cultural identity” of the MSAR and wrote that what made the Chinese of Macau “different from other Chinese, is the existence of a Portuguese state on Chinese soil.” Portuguese cultural tolerance is not mentioned, but it is a historical fact that has influenced Macau’s legal identity. The MSAR’s government has done its best to harmonize Macau’s multicultural society and it has particularly protected the Sino-Portuguese way of life in Macau. Practical implications – To apply the law and maintain the existing harmony in its society and economy, legal actions have had to be taken by the Macau government and courts. The courts of the MSAR are structured in three levels and have final powers of adjudication, except in very narrow political areas. The judicial system includes the following courts, from the highest to the lowest: the Court of Final Appeal, the Court of Second Instance and the Court of First Instance (Tribunal de Primeira Instância). Originality/value – This research is unique inasmuch as studies of legal identities focussed on large regions such as the MSAR of China are rare.

Purpose Over-tourism signifies the dilemma of managing tourism growth in cities. With growing media sensationalism and an oversimplification of the phenomenon of over-tourism, its academic theorization has become extremely important. Using Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China as a case in point, the purpose of this paper is to theoretically explore the nexus between over-tourism and sustainable consumption in cities, highlighting governments’ inevitable role in this successful convergence. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a selective systematic literature review (SLR) of existing studies in the form of both news material and academic journals. It investigates the growing concern of over-tourism and the contribution of sustainable consumption grounded in strong political support. It also adopts a case study approach with specific reference to Macau. Findings The general overview of the literature provides evidence of an age-old concept that has re-emerged to make local residents’ voice more pronounced. Generally, the studies concentrate on understanding residents’ attitudes, the perceived impact of over-tourism, community resilience and sustainable strategies to tackle the problem. Most popular studies are recent (i.e. 2018 and beyond) and empirically set in developed cities of Europe. Research limitations/implications The SLR used in the current study requires further empirical testing to validate some of the proposed concepts in the literature. Practical implications The study highlights the role of government in ensuring that sustainable consumption is sustainably implemented in the context of over-tourism. Originality/value Given the re-emergence of over-tourism, yet with few theoretical discussions on the concept, this study serves as a knowledge-base for future studies both empirically and theoretically.

From February to December 2020, the Government of Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) implemented strict health measures to control the pandemic caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19). Among several other developments, universities in the territory turned to online teaching, which lasted for the entire 2020 spring semester. This paper aims to identify the empirical lessons learned from that period, from both pedagogic and governance points of view, keeping in mind the impact of technological, human-related, and governance challenges. The sustainability of online teaching for a limited period of time was directly related to the effectiveness (and speed) of external coordination (involving the relevant governmental departments) and internal commitment within the university. Despite the relative academic success and the technological transformation, one of the key lessons learned is that online teaching cannot effectively contribute to the processes of secondary and anticipatory socialization in the same way as in-person learning. Therefore, online teaching is not sustainable as a stand-alone tool in higher education. It fails to deliver secondary and anticipatory socialization particularly with regard to the sense of connection and togetherness. Clearly, the current model of academic governance has not been designed to face this type of challenge

Previous studies have reported lateral violence (LV) styles among nurses and the adverse impacts of LV on nurses and nursing. Young nurses, including nursing students and novice nurses, are often victims of LV. A large qualitative research study that contained three sub-studies exploring professional identity development in different professional stages was conducted by a research team in Macau, Special Administrative Region of China. Semi-structured interviews with nursing students and clinical nurses were carried out; among the 58 participants in the three sub-studies, 20 described some forms of LV and their ways of dealing with them. Framed by the feminist perspective, the researchers explored young nurses’ coping strategies in dealing with LV perpetrated by senior colleagues. Two themes were developed reflecting the coping strategies for LV: “making extra efforts” and “soothing emotional distress”. Three sub-themes were under the theme of “making extra efforts”: “catching up knowledge”, “making the most use of learning resources”, “adjusting communication manner”; another batch of sub-themes was under the theme of “soothing emotional distress”: “seeking support from schoolmates”, “living with family but crying alone”, and “adjusting lifestyle”. The study implied that young nurses exerted their agency in coping with LV in clinical practices. Nursing managers and educators should support young nurses’ efforts in overcoming power-based LV and incivility.

In China, the topics of pandemic and economic recovery gradually lose their importance and give place to another deterioration in U.S.–China relations due to pressure from the United States on Hong Kong, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, and the insufficient, according to the American side, pace of implementation of China’s first phase of commercial transactions with the United States. Beijing takes Washington’s threats to deprive Hong Kong of the status of a special customs territory in trade and economic cooperation with the U.S. quite seriously. However, Chinese experts note that the implementation of these threats will not lead to the collapse of the Hong Kong economy, since the most-favored-nation regime applies to about 5% of Hong Kong’s exports to the United States. At the same time, Beijing is trying to find an alternative to Hong Kong as a financial center in the face of Macao. However, the main characteristics of the Macao economy do not yet allow us to seriously talk about a full-fledged replacement, since most of the GDP of this special administrative region is formed by the gaming, tourism and restaurant industries. To a certain extent, the “position” of Hong Kong is claimed by Shanghai, but the extent of its claims is limited by the Chinese legal system, which is less flexible and liberal than that of Hong Kong. In May 2020, the so-called “Two sessions” were held in Beijing: the national Committee of the People’s Political Consultative Council of China (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC). The latter presented a report on the government’s work in 2019 and the first quarters of 2020. The report contains the main guidelines and targets for the country’s socio-economic development for the current year, as well as a list of measures to support the economy in the so-called “post-crisis” period. Most of the mechanisms for stimulating growth are of a fiscal nature: the authorities do not want to inflate the amount of debt owed by public and private companies too much, and they go, first of all, for tax breaks. At the same time, the Central budget deficit is expected to increase to 3.6% due to reduced tax revenues because of quarantine measures and increased government spending to support consumer demand. At the same time, Beijing announced a reduction in spending by the central and provincial governments on “unimportant” and “non-priority items”: construction of buildings, business trips, celebrations, etc. The report on the government’s work reflected the desire of the Chinese leadership to accelerate the ongoing work on “launching” a new economic model of China’s development, aimed not at achieving high growth rates, but at quality indicators. For the first time, the NPC session did not specify the expected GDP growth rate in 2020. However, the main characteristics of this model have not yet been fully clarified. In the first approximation, it is a bet on the production of high-tech products, the implementation of traditional infrastructure projects within China and the expansion of domestic consumption – while maintaining the strategy of going outside in the format of the “Belt and Road” (or the “Silk Road Economic Belt”). The so-called “separation” of China and the United States in the financial and economic spheres, which is widely discussed in the world press, has not yet taken place. D. Trump’s “return of American business to the United States” is not yet perceived by the American private business itself, which is interested in expanding its presence in Chinese financial and other markets. China, for its part, by opening previously closed sectors of its economy is trying to provide new business opportunities to American companies in a “compromise” way, in contrast to military and political issues, where Beijing acts extremely harshly. In Russian-Chinese relations, there is still a trend to deepen strategic partnership in the military-political sphere and, if possible, in the economy – taking into account the negative consequences of the pandemic and adjusting for the scale of the Russian economy.

The researcher employed personal belief system (PBS) theory as the theoretical foundation for this study because it holds that teachers’ PBSs may influence their teaching behaviours, teaching styles, and pedagogies in classroom practice due to cultural influences. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how teachers’ personal beliefs influence how they teach and how their approach may align with or diverge from cultural expectations in a private adult learning facility for English learning in Macau Special Administrative Region, China. The participants in this study were classroom teachers in a learning community who believe in collaborating to create environments for best practices. Two main research questions guided this study: (1) What is the relationship between teachers’ personal belief systems and their classroom practice; and (2) How does a teacher’s educational experience as a K-12 student affect their pedagogy in an adult English language learning program? Three types of data collection methods were employed: interview, classroom observation, and field note taking. The findings showed that teachers utilize their personal belief systems to engage their students through interactive teaching strategies, which was counter-intuitive for both teachers and students who had been taught with Eastern teaching styles. This study contributed to personal belief system theory and broadens the understanding of the perspectives and concepts of English teaching and supervision. The beliefs of teachers influenced their understanding of teaching and their classroom practices.

PurposeIn response to the emergence of a strong cross-border student flow of postgraduate students from mainland China to the Macau Special Administrative Region (Macau), this study examines the motivations and experience of a special group of doctoral students: college teachers working in Guangdong Province and simultaneously pursuing PhD degrees at private universities in Macau.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative research method, thirteen college teachers were interviewed.FindingsThe research findings reveal their motivations for pursuing doctoral studies in Macau, and the difficulties they faced and gains they obtained from this experience.Originality/valueAll the findings indicate a potential expansion of the role of Macau’s higher education system. Once merely a stepping-stone, it is now an acceleration site for brain circulation between Macau and Guangdong as part of a regionalization strategy for China’s Greater Bay Area.

Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is considered an early event of cardiovascular diseases including hypertension, atherosclerosis and so on. Inflammation participates centrally in all stages of cardiovascular diseases and is considered as a hallmark of endothelial dysfunction. In this study, the effect of adiponectin (APN), an adipocytokine derived mainly from adipocytes, on palmitate acid (PA)-induced inflammation in endothelial cells. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with PA with or without APN pretreatment. The mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and ICAM-1 were measured with RT-PCR. The protein expression of ICAM-1, NOX1, NOX2, NOX4, and phosphorylation of MAPKs (JNK, ERK, and p38MAPK), IKKβ, p65 NF-κB were determined by Western blotting. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) formation were determined with DCFH2-DA and DAF-FM respectively. APN significantly ameliorated PA-induced mRNA expression of TNF-α, IL-6 and ICAM-1 and protein expression of ICAM-1, NOX2, and phosphorylation of IKKβ, p65 NF-κB, p38MAPK, without affecting NOX2 and phosphorylation of JNK and ERK. APN also partly reversed PA induced ROS formation and NO decrease. NAC, a ROS scavenger, showed similar activities. The p38MAK inhibitor, SB203580, also reversed PA induced protein expression of ICAM-1 and mRNA expression of TNF-α, IL-6 and ICAM-1. Taken together, these results showed that APN improved PA induced endothelial dysfunction by regulating ROS/p38MAK/NF-κB pathways. Acknowledgement: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81160048) and the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macau Special Administrative Region (No. 021/2012/A1).

Area Studies and Study Abroad in the 21st Century The future now belongs to societies that organize themselves for learning. - Ray Marshall and Marc Tucker, Thinking for a Living, xiii Few today would argue with the conviction that nearly every phase of our daily lives is shaped and informed by global societies, corporations, events and ideas. More than ever before, it is possible to claim that we are increasingly aware of the dynamic power and penetrating effects of global flows on information, technology, the sciences, the arts, the humanities, and languages. Borderless, spaceless and timeless, such sources of knowledge, it appears, are effortlessly digested and disseminated without clocks, calendars, or physical limitations. It is, of course, a mistake to believe that packages of “instant” knowledge that appear to wing their way at megahertz speeds in and through our earthly lives account for all or nearly all that there is to know—or, more importantly, to learn—about our communities, regions and the globe itself. On the contrary: the “knowing” about how to live, to work, to prosper, or to understand ourselves and those around us is not what educators mean when they speak of intellectual achievement and practical understanding. It is the “learning” about us, our societies and our global knowledge that lies at the heart of the international educator’s life work, and it is the learning that is the most controversial aspect of education. The act of “learning,” in fact, is less objective and more subjective, is less passive and more active, and is less superficial and more profound in each of our lives. By definition, a responsible learner is one who takes on the intellectual challenge and the social and personal obligation to leave this globe a better place for those who follow, who assumes the life work of influencing the lives of others, and who is committed to making the best of every opportunity both within the reach and beyond the vision of the mind’s eye. Study abroad has traditionally been viewed as a time of seeing and viewing, however passively, the differences and similarities of other peoples, societies and cultures. The period of knowing about what others do or say can occur at any time during one’s life; however, the “knowing” of studying abroad is accomplished in the college years prior to the accumulated knowledge about practical learning and living. In this respect, study abroad has been seen as an experience which may or may not invest the students in greater or lesser insights about the peoples, societies or cultures around them. Further, when study abroad is bound up with travel or movement from place to place, it can become a passive act, so much so that travel rather than learning becomes the goal of the study abroad experience. Simply put, the more that one travels, the more, it is argued, one learns. Furthermore, while seen as desirable for “classroom learning,” some would say that no amount of academic preparation appears to be useful in the enterprise of the travel experience, since so many experiences are unpredictable, individualized and, in some cases, arbitrary. From the perspective of study abroad, it might be said that the gods of area studies no longer completely fulfill our students’ needs, while the gods of global studies have not yet fulfilled their promises. Janus-like, international educators look in one direction at a still highly intense and valued picture of local cultures and identities, and in another direction toward an increasingly common culture, economy and society. The former appears to celebrate the differences and “uncommonness” of the human experience while the latter smoothes over the differences to underscore the commonalities and sameness of our contemporary world. The choice appears to be between the particular and the universal, the local and the global. Academic preparations, such as area studies programs, appear to be unnecessary for the individualized forms of learning, such as study abroad. Indeed, since an area studies preparation may raise or strengthen stereotypical perceptions of the overseas peoples, societies and cultures, it has been argued that it best be left aside. In this context, students are viewed as a tabula rasa on which new discoveries from living and studying overseas leave an imprint or impression. It seems that sending as many students as possible in as many directions as possible has become the dominant study abroad objective. Thus, “whole world” presentations and documentation often rely on the “other” as the learning objective with little or no attempt to discriminate or distinguish the levels of learning that such “whole world” immersion entails. In recent times, additional concerns about liability, health, safety and comfort levels have been added to the “pre-departure” orientations and training programs. The “student as self-learner” continues to be viewed and treated as a “customer knowledge-consumer” within both U.S. private and public colleges and universities. In the age of “globalization,” it is the conviction of the editors of Frontiers that knowledge consumption is only a small aspect of the 21st century international educators’ arsenal. More importantly, it will be argued in this special issue on area studies and Study Abroad that the intellectual development of the U.S. undergraduate needs to be enhanced with skills of self-learning and transdisciplinary perspectives on local and regional cultures and languages. The authors contributing to this special thematic issue of Frontiers have been asked to bring their state-of-the-art thinking on area studies to bear on the key question confronting study abroad: How does specialized understanding of geographical and cultural areas of the world enhance and strengthen undergraduate learning on and beyond our campuses? In other words, in what ways do area studies inform overseas learning through the activity of study abroad? The variety of responses demonstrates two principal ways in which area studies has begun to reformulate its goals and strategies. First, area studies reaffirms a commitment to local and regional comprehensive research and teaching, and redefines its mission in terms of the need to come to grips with local knowledge and specific social and cultural practices within a globalized world. Second, area studies specialists question long-held definitions of concepts, including those of “geographical area” and “globalization,” in order to maximize contributions to U.S. undergraduate learning. David Ludden begins our issue with a review of the Social Science Research Council and the Ford Foundation’s understanding of the transition in area studies from the Sputnik era to the globalization era. Ludden notes the faculty dilemma in working in an “area.” He points out the political interests of the Cold War for public funding of such specialized academic skills, skills which, whether funded by the government or not, were and continue to be defined by the scholar first and then by finances. Drawing on his own experience at the South Asia Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, Ludden takes the reader through the intellectual rationale for area studies, and how that rationale is being redefined in favor of stronger area studies in the present globalization era. Gregory Kulacki’s study of China and the Chinese experience points accurately to one approach to defining area studies; that is, in terms of the peoples and cultures studied. In a sense, Kulacki makes it clear that Chinese studies is “legitimate” and has authority as long as it reflects the Chinese themselves, their experiences and lives. Ann Curthoys, on the other hand, notes the growing importance of defining Australians and Australian studies not only in terms of the changing experiences of contemporary Australia, but also in terms of the demands of non-Australians, who ask for more precision in defining Australians, their history, society and cultures. Richard Beach and George Sherman take on a more difficult matter, at least from the viewpoint of U.S. faculty and students. Canada is rarely seen as a study abroad site for U.S. students, not only because of its geographical position but also for its cultural and historical proximity. The overall U.S. view, albeit unflattering, is that Canada and Canadians are very much like the U.S. and Americans, so why study in Canada? Beach and Sherman argue that history, languages, and borders do make a difference, both physically as well as culturally. Using the argument of the previous area studies specialists, they are interested in the ways that Canadians have shaped and informed their cultural and social identities in the teeth of U.S. economic and political domination in the region. The implications of globalization are, perhaps, more immediately evident in the Canadian case than in any other world region. U.S. students would do well to observe the processes of adaptation and acculturation first-hand by studying and living in Canada. James Petras gives us a broader vista of regional adaptation to the economic and political forces of globalization with his essay on Latin America. Indeed, Latin America has a dynamic similar to that of Canada due to its physical, cultural and historical proximity to the U.S. It would be a mistake to see Latin America only in terms of the north-south regional dynamics, since Europe, Asia and Africa have also shaped both past and present structures and institutions within that region in ways far more dramatic than has the United States. Study abroad, Petras reminds us, is an excellent way of learning directly about Latin American societies, cultures and politics from Latin Americans themselves, a learning that may be widely different from the official U.S. diplomatic and corporate perspectives. Finally, the very familiar world regions, such as England, offer in some cases more challenges to the U.S. undergraduate than might be expected. Jane Edwards looks at Britain and all that U.S. students may or may not know about that culture and society. The study of Britain lends itself, Edwards argues, to more than the usual challenges, due to the preconceived notions that U.S. students bring with them to, say, London. Understanding the “European-ness” of Britain and its historic relationship with continental Western Europe will justify the need to see Britain as less familiar and more complex, thus necessitating the need to study, visit and live in parts of Britain and Western Europe. In this case, the area does define the country, its identity and culture in a historical interplay of social, cultural and economic forces. David Lloyd, Philip Khoury and Russell Bova invite the reader to return to large regional perspectives through African, Middle Eastern and Russian area studies. David Lloyd presents an analysis of the broad and immediate contexts of African studies. While recognizing the difficulty of establishing consistently causal links between African studies and study abroad in Africa, he delineates the significance of local, experience-based study for the development of collaborative African studies research. Lloyd argues that the benefits of study abroad in Africa to African studies belie the relatively small number of students involved. Further, assessment for funding and other purposes needs to utilize criteria that take into account the challenges of on-site study in Africa and the depth of post-study abroad participation not just in African studies per se, but in other related areas as well. Considering the recent past of Middle East studies, Philip Khoury charts its response to post-Cold War criticism. He illustrates new directions the field is taking towards including different geographic areas, and new emphasis in organizational priorities, noting the importance of funding for providing first-hand contact for students in Middle Eastern studies with scholars from the Middle East. Khoury assesses the impact of recent historical and political events in the area on Middle Eastern studies, and looks toward more inclusive research efforts. Russell Bova examines another region that has undergone considerable political, social and economic change in the 20th century. Having moved from empire to soviet socialist states and now to a confederation of nation states, Russia and, naturally, Russian area studies, offer an excellent example of local and regional complexities both in the nomenclature of the region and in the changes in Russian studies programs. Bova illustrates the need to understand the specific dynamics of local communities in their relationship to larger administrative units such as provinces, states and national capitals. In referring to the “double transition” of contemporary Russia, Bova reminds us that globalization is both a grass roots and elite process with many unlikely “bedfellows” that is also changing more rapidly each decade than had been the case fifty years ago. Finally, Richard Falk and Nancy Kanach collaborate to discuss the ways in which globalization and study abroad are emerging in the post-Cold War period. The sudden shifts of economic and political power make our world more fragile and more difficult to comprehend without considering the “computer gap” that is rapidly leaving whole communities and even nations in a more uneven relationship with the power brokers than ever before. The need to reflect with care and precision through area studies is complemented by the additional pressing need to study, see and learn outside of the U.S. Globalization means promoting study abroad and reaffirming the strengths of local and regional studies. Taken together, these essays invite international educators to reconsider notions of learning before, during and after study abroad. The writers view study abroad as an opportunity for social and intellectual engagement with other peoples and with oneself. The essays point to a variety of ways of intellectually preparing our students for their initial encounters with sets of real-life global experiences. Reflecting on such engagement and encounters allows students to begin to formulate, with increasing sophistication, specific and general concepts about individual differences, local and regional commonalities, and the global transformations of our present era. In light of the current area studies debates, we might also reconsider approaches to pre-departure preparations, create onsite projects, and reorganize the overseas curricula of study abroad programs themselves. In particular, students can continue to benefit from area and global studies programs back on the home campus upon their return, where they can enter effectively into scholarly debates and continue the learning and personal growth that began while they were abroad. Frontiers welcomes comments and suggestions for future special issues. We see ourselves and our field of international education in greater need of close cooperation with our faculty colleagues both in terms of defining the work of international learning, and in terms of formulating and designing international or global programs. We thus invite our readers to see Frontiers as a forum for such academic exchanges, and promise that Frontiers will respond to articles, essays, book reviews and reviews of resources for study abroad with collegial interest and enthusiasm. We wish to thank especially Brian Whalen, Rhoda Borcherding and our other colleagues on the Editorial Board for their support, encouragement and assistance in completing this special issue. We are particularly pleased with the authors and their willingness to listen to our requests and comments. Thomas Ricks, Villanova University Katharine Krebs, SUNY Binghamton Michael Monahan, Macalester College Suggestions for Further Reading Altbach, Philip G. and Patti McGill Peterson, eds. Higher Education in the 21st Century: Global Challenge and National Response. IIE Research Report Number 29. Annapolis, MD: IIE Books, 1999. This slim volume focuses on principal topics for colleges and universities to consider both locally and globally. Philip Altbach and Todd Davis set the tone of the volume with their “notes for an international dialogue on higher education.” Stressing the need for practical education, the authors also raise issues about the role of technology, the increase in “internationally mobile students,” the global role of graduate education, privatization of higher education, committed faculty and the threats of “managerialized” universities. The eight responses to the opening themes address specific issues for China, India, Africa and South Africa, Latin America, Japan and Europe. The work is a very good discussion text for international educators and their area studies faculty colleagues, and also provides a theoretical basis for the design and development of overseas programs. Stephen R. Graubard, ed. “Education Yesterday, Education Tomorrow.” Daedalus. Vol. 127, No. 4 (Fall, 1998). The eleven authors of this issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences build off the Fall 1995 issue of Daedalus and its topic of “American Education: Still Separate, Still Unequal.” While neither accepting nor rejecting the thrust of A Nation at Risk, the authors look both at what has occurred over the past three decades, and at what is on the horizon for the next decade. In stressing reforms of systems and innovative ways of learning, the authors’ discussions invite the international educator to address a variety of ways in which students learn and to challenge the system in which they thrive. WWW. NAFSA.ORG/SECUSSA.WHYSTUDY In 1989, NAFSA and COUNCIL created the Whole World Committee (WWC). Initially chaired by John Sommers and now chaired by Mick Vandenberg, the WWC set out to find ways by which U.S. students could and would choose non-European overseas sites for a semester of study and learning. One of the tasks that the WWC accomplished was the creation of four area study essays on Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East. Each essay, entitled “Why Study in …,” addresses basic fears and stereotyping of the non-European world regions. The essays then focus on benefits, health and safety, “getting started,” housing, and practical learning in each of these regions. In newly-attached longer versions, the essays also have a bibliography and more informative texts. The shorter versions were published serially in Transitions Abroad. NAFSA has added two additional important essays to this website, on “Class and Study Abroad” and “An African-American in South Africa.” Overall, the readers of Frontiers will be well-advised to access the articles at the website and consider using all the essays in their pre-departure orientation training, faculty area studies discussion groups, and in welcome-back sessions for returning students. Richard Falk. Predatory Globalization: A Critique. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 1999. The thesis of Richard Falk’s critique is that “predatory globalization’ has eroded, if not altogether broken, the former social contract that was forged between state and society during the last century or so” (p. 3). The breaking of that contract resulted from the state’s “deference to the discipline of global capital” and the neglect of the common good. Falk argues that only the “massing of strong transnational social pressures on the states of the world could alter the political equation to the point where the state could sufficiently recover its autonomy in relation to the world economy.” He demonstrates the emergence of a new kind of transnational politics referred to as “globalization-from-below.” In restoring “global civil society,” this new politics will need to move forward with the project of cosmopolitan democracy, including the protection of human rights. For the international educator, creating overseas programs that allow for a better understanding of the interconnectedness of regional and global levels is an admirable goal. More important, however, are those programs that offer U.S. undergraduates insights into “world order priorities” such as global poverty, protection of the planet, the sources of transnational violence, and “responsible sovereignty” in ways rarely found in traditional classroom learning on our campuses. Mark Tessler, Jodi Nachtwey and Anne Banda. Eds. Area Studies and Social Science: Strategies for Understanding Middle East Politics. Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1999. This edited work addresses a wide range of issues involved in the “rational choice” versus area studies debate that is so well elucidated by David Ludden in the opening article of our special issue. Looking at the “area studies controversy” from the perspective of political scientists, the editors’ Introduction underscores questions that we international educators need to address ourselves. It is valuable to wonder about the “uses and abuses” of area studies in planning our overseas programs, or discussing the “internationalization” of our curricula. It is also critical to understand the Eurocentric and overly-simplistic approaches of the social science “rational choice” models. While agreeing that both area studies and the social science theories and methodologies are necessary for a global understanding, the present work places such questions within the context of the Middle East as a stimulus and a model for increasing the value of research about any country or region.