Mercator Institute for China Studies

Blacklists are the bread and butter of the Social Credit System. On-brand for this highly complex system, there is an equally complex web of different blacklists, ranging from court blacklists to those for specific economic sectors and for trains and airlines. What connects them is their human-driven nature and the emphasis on a small group of deeply “untrustworthy” entities. This avoids techno-dystopian automated decision-making, but political and institutional interests lead to campaigns that sideline rights protection, penalties for online “rumours”, and initiatives to reward fame over compliance. Naming and shaming of violators add to the coercive and unpredictable potential of this system, while safeguards in the form of initiatives like credit repair remain underdeveloped. Although authorities pride themselves on dozens of flashy statistics purporting to show the system’s efficacy in regulatory enforcement, this chapter shows such ambiguous numbers come with real risks for human rights and equal treatment in China.

Abstract The High-Speed route joins the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre Junction just North of Lichfield, enabling HS2 Phase One services to continue North to Crewe and beyond. All High Speed Two design and construction for assets such as civil structures, track and overhead power is undertaken within the same engineering coordinate system, called the HS2 Survey Grid. The West Coast Main Line is an Absolute Track Geometry route, and the asset information including rail alignment is maintained in the West Coast Grid. The HS2 Survey Grid is well defined and understood, however the West Coast Grid is a legacy grid with no formal definition as defined purely by ground markers. To enable design coordination at the interface between High Speed Two and the West Coast Mainline, a workable transformation between the two systems is required. This paper presents a new approach for transforming design between the two systems that uses the Transverse Mercator with Affine Postprocess (TMAF) projection, with the major benefit of building upon existing capabilities within design software such that data exchange is streamlined, and transformation risks are minimised with greater compatibility between complex design models and other data sources. The derivation of the West Coast Grid TMAF, applicable to Handsacre Junction, results from a collaboration between High Speed Two and Network Rail. It is fully documented here including validation featuring ‘in situ’ survey control observations showing transformation accuracy to within ±4 mm. The implementation of the TMAF process has clear impact on design coordination and advantages include the optimal coordination of the track alignment interface. It is expected to bring similar efficiencies at further points along the High Speed Two route. The new approach is a significant step forward in coordinating interfaces with assets managed in legacy engineering grids and being fully generic is therefore applicable on other projects beyond rail.

Ambiguity in policy formulation is a strategy setup with multifarious institutional flexibilities that maintain the credibility of functioning institutions. In the framework of the ‘credibility thesis’ as introduced by Peter Ho, this article posits that Chinese policymakers intentionally or unintentionally made a smart choice in coining the highly ambiguous term ‘TVEs’ for promoting institutional reforms on property rights, and providing a unique buffering effect for a (comparatively) smooth policy transition towards increasingly liberal reform agendas. Furthermore, TVEs’ content was evolving through time and consistently adapting to the interactions among various stakeholders in the reform process. The conceptual ‘3C’ model of strategic ambiguity in policy formulation elaborated by the evidence of TVEs might be an approach for China’s policy studies.

Abstract Counterfeiting is known as the cross-border crime of the 21st century and has been increasingly investigated in the academic literature within a national context. The present study addresses a cross-county examination and investigates antecedents of purchase intention toward counterfeits and its impact on consumers´ willingness to pay for the original in culturally diverse countries. Based on the theory of planned behaviour and the adoption level theory the developed framework is tested on consumer data from China, Romania, and Germany. Results of the partial least squares approach revealed significant differences in the antecedents’ impact on purchase intention toward counterfeits between the countries. While fairness does not appear as a significant driver of purchase intention in countries, which score high in ‘Confucian dynamism’, subjective norm accounts for a higher predictive value in collectivistic countries compared to individualistic ones.KeywordsCounterfeittheory of reasoned actionpurchase intentionadaptation-level theorycrosscultural research

Abstract Differential scanning calorimetry indicates a structural phase transition of high‐purity single crystal β‐rhombohedral boron close to 550 K.

Abstract Fuel cells in the low power range can be operated with either hydrogen or methanol as fuel. Requirements with respect to a hydrogen fuel cell for portable applications are outlined. The state‐of‐the‐art of the development of low power stacks and small‐scale systems is described. Additionally, an overview of the current R&D activities worldwide and of the prototypes presented is summarized, although the reader should be aware of the rapid progress in this type of development. The hydrogen supply to the fuel cell, some properties of hydride materials and data for storage units are considered. The second alternative is to combine the stack with a small‐scale gas processor, and current activities in this sector are described. Finally, a comparison of energy densities of batteries with possible architectures of fuel cell systems is made.

The atomic dynamics of an Al-Ni-Fe decagonal quasicrystal and an Al-Cu-Fe icosahedral quasicrystal are investigated experimentally using the isotopic contrast method in inelastic neutron scattering. The partial spectra of thermal vibrations of copper, nickel, iron, and aluminum atoms in the decagonal and icosahedral quasicrystals are reconstructed directly from the experimental data without recourse to model concepts. The limiting energies and positions of the main features in the partial spectra of atomic thermal vibrations in decagonal and icosahedral quasicrystals are determined. It is established that, in the quasicrystals under investigation, the copper and nickel atoms are bound more weakly than the iron atoms and that the partial vibrational spectrum of aluminum atoms in the quasicrystals is considerably harder than the spectrum of pure metallic aluminum.

The impedance dependence of resonant tunneling diode (RTD) based on InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructure was measured in 0.1...50 GHz frequency range. It is shown, that the simplest equivalent circuit, consisting of parallel resistor and capacitance and connected to them in series resistor, describes the experimental behavior rather well. The RTD equivalent circuit parameters dependences on applied bias were obtained and standard deviations of these parameters were evaluated with methods of mathematical statistics.

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.