Social Transformations in Chinese Societies

Lou, Loretta

2021 Social Transformations in Chinese Societies

doi: 10.1108/stics-09-2020-0025

This purpose of this paper is to explain Macau’s successful pandemic response through an analysis of its social, political and economic landscapes. In particular, it focusses on the economic relief brought by casino capitalism in this era of COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachAs mobility is highly restricted during the coronavirus pandemic, digital technologies have become central to ongoing social science research. Thanks to videoconferencing programmes such as Zoom, Facetime and WhatsApp, the author was able to carry out virtual interviews with 13 local people from different sectors of Macau in July 2020. In addition to in-depth interviews, the author also undertook an extensive review of the Macau government’s pandemic policies.FindingsThis paper argues that the Macau government’s swift and effective coronavirus policies are deeply intertwined with the urban fabric and political economy of the city’s casino capitalism, which endowed the government with surplus funds and an infrastructure that enabled the implementation of an array of strict measures that few other countries could afford to subsidise. Factors that have led to Macau’s extraordinarily low rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths include: competent leadership and the public’s high compliance with mandatory health measures; the generous benefits and financial support for citizens and businesses; and the compulsory quarantine required of all incoming travellers, who are lodged in hotel rooms left empty when casino tourists stopped coming. All of these measures have been made possible by a political economy backed by the peculiarities of casino capitalism and its resultant tax revenues.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could compare the case of Macau with other small but affluent economies (ideally economies that do not depend on the gambling industry) to ascertain the role of casino capitalism in building up economic resilience.Originality/valueAlthough previous studies tend to emphasise the negative impacts of casino capitalism, this paper shows how tax revenues and infrastructure from the gambling industry can make a contribution to the host society in times of crisis.

Ho, Ka Ki Lawrence; Chan, Ying-Tung

2021 Social Transformations in Chinese Societies

doi: 10.1108/stics-10-2020-0026

This study aims to examine Hong Kong’s responses to COVID-19, arguing that Hong Kong’s relatively low infection rate is due to self-discipline of citizens together with the enforcement measures introduced by the government.Design/methodology/approachThis study reviewed the government policy announcements and the prevailing scholarly analyses on Hong Kong society during COVID-19.FindingsIt starts by examining the partial lockdown and control measures since mid-January, and the roles of different government units in enforcement were examined and assessed. Suppression of viral outbreak in Hong Kong should primarily be attributed to the appropriate lockdown and quarantine actions of the government.Originality/valueHowever, outperformance of the frontline professionals and the highly aware, self-disciplined and mutually aided citizens in the community are also the key to the “interim success” by June 2020 in the highly accessible and densely populated city.

Liu, Shuo

2021 Social Transformations in Chinese Societies

doi: 10.1108/stics-01-2021-0001

This paper aims to provide an overview of the development periods of home-based learning in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic, then discusses the differences in how the more affluent and well-educated middle-class parents and the economically and culturally disadvantaged working-class parents have dealt with the challenges of this new learning mode in their children’s education.Design/methodology/approachThis research mainly adopted the qualitative research method, and used data from multiple sources, including online and offline participant observations, informal interviews and second-hand official reports.FindingsThe preliminary findings suggest that due to the closure of the formal schooling system, the impact of unequal family resources – such as tangible economic investment and intangible cultural and social support – on students’ academic performance has been exposed, thus reinforcing the pre-existing inequality between different social classes.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this paper are primarily based on preliminary observations and informal interviews, and it needs more systematic studies, both qualitative and quantitative, are needed to provide further empirical evidence to demonstrate the impacts of digital, housing and knowledge divide between the middle- and working-class families on students’ academic performance.Originality/valueThe paper presents new empirical data concerning the class mechanisms underlying home-based learning during the class suspension in Hong Kong. It shows that home-based learning in this challenging time has exposed the existing inequality in education.

Li, Pengfei

2021 Social Transformations in Chinese Societies

doi: 10.1108/stics-09-2020-0023

The draconian measures to lock down communities and cities in China during the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented in human history. First the mega-city of Wuhan, then the province of Hubei, and eventually the whole nation of China, were shut down, surveilled and governed in a way that was identical to the 17th century plague-stricken European town re-portrayed and analyzed by Foucault. Instead of categorizing China’s COVID-19-triggered spatial and social governance as an ad hoc and hence abnormal disciplinary mechanism, this essay argues that the spatial lockdown and social control in China during the COVID-19 pandemic express the long existing and well-established governance model of China: that of a pre-liberal disciplinary society.Design/methodology/approachA disciplinary society using “the meticulous exercise of the right of the sword” with neither liberal values nor liberal practices, China’s swift re-configuration into a pre-liberal disciplined society during the COVID-19 pandemic invalidates a neo-liberal reading of the Chinese governance. Furthermore, the radical spatial and social control measures not only expose the fundamentally illiberal nature of the Chinese governance but also suggest its institutional dependence on its Leninist nomenklatura system.FindingsWith this institutional dependence, draconian spatial and social control measures are likely to be continuously carried on in China after the COVID-19 crisis, albeit in a less brutal manner.Originality/valueIt offers a conceptual and theoretical framework to understand China's socio-spatial governance.

Hsieh, Chih-Wei; Wang, Mao

2021 Social Transformations in Chinese Societies

doi: 10.1108/stics-09-2020-0022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has helped Taiwan gain widespread recognition and commendation. Taiwan's low infection rate is praiseworthy not merely because it was once considered a high-risk region but because it has weathered the COVID-19 storm without resorting to draconian measures. The purpose of this paper is thus an effort to understand and explain how Taiwan has been able to achieve a fine balance between disease containment and everyday life.Design/methodology/approachAccording to the COVID-19 Government Response Event Dataset, Taiwan’s actions focus mainly on the management of health resource allocation, external border restrictions, quarantine of high-risk cases and the establishment of a centralized crisis task force. On this basis, the authors highlight and discuss the critical factors for Taiwan’s success against COVID-19. Caveats are also detailed to caution some aspects of the lessons to be drawn from it.FindingsSetting clear goals, effective leadership, active community participation and innovative solutions are four pillars of Taiwan’s success against COVID-19. The island believes that once stringent border controls are strictly executed, virus-free citizens can relax inside. However, those who would like to learn from Taiwan’s experience should be mindful of the likelihood of asymptomatic spread of the disease as well as the unique geographical and social characteristics that contribute to Taiwan’s approach to COVID-19.Originality/valueThe authors’ analysis of Taiwan adds anecdotes to the scholarly discussion on public health emergency management, suggesting that anti-COVID-19 policy would get its intended outcomes only if government leaders and community stakeholders collaborate to set clear goals ahead and implement them with innovative solutions.

Wong, Kennedy Chi-Pan

2021 Social Transformations in Chinese Societies

doi: 10.1108/stics-10-2020-0028

Diasporic mobilization studies often incorporate collective emotions into the discussion of movement strategies, less we knew about how emotion becomes the language by which they communicate collective responsibility after the protests. The purpose of this paper is to draw from participant observation research to explore how diasporas construct the language of collective emotions to sustain their commitment to the transnational mobilization project during and after the homeland protests.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on ten months of participant observations in the USA, the author observed how members in a Hong Kong diaspora group, Black Bauhinia Society (BBS), transform their project from a transnational protective gear sourcing action during the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Bill Movement into a global medical personal protective equipment (PPE) sourcing action during the COVID-19 pandemic.FindingsDuring homeland uprising, BBS recruits participants using a set of compassion language that encompasses the suffering stories of homeland dissidents and the members’ expression of guiltiness for staying afar. The compassion talk reinforces the transnational ties between BBS members and Hong Kong dissidents over the process of resource mobilization. When the homeland movement ceased during the pandemic, BBS transformed their compassion talk to politicize charitable actions and recruit volunteers and donors to source PPE for Hong Kong.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the emerging discussion on how diaspora mobilizes after the protest by showing how the language of collective emotion cultivates commitments and sustain collective identity after the protests.