뉴스레터

The rise of China is now an indisputable reality; since the global financial crisis in 2008, it has become natural to call China a G2 country. China's rapid economic development has had a profound effect on its academia as well. The sheer volume of publications produced in China attests to the dynamism of the country's academia. It should be noted that a majority of academic books published in China are the products of national research projects.

China's large-scale frontier research projects are administered by the government according to five-year plans. Those 'projects (項目)' after the Northeast Project need to be distinguished from the nationwide historical and cultural projects. At the same time, they should be understood from a holistic perspective. It is generally understood that the Northeast Project, i.e. the Research Project on the Northeast Borderland, is a 'historical' research project. However, considering the Project's institutions and details, it is more appropriate to view it as a Chinese 'frontier' research project. If China's major historical archaeological research projects are concerned with Middle China or its outskirts, and the Qing History Project with the history of the Qing Dynasty, the frontier research projects are primarily concerned with the 'frontier regions.'

Research on 'Frontier' Rather Than 'History'

To see why the Chinese academia is engaged in extensive frontier research, look no further than the reality facing China. Currently, China shares land borders with fourteen countries and maritime borders with six countries. Most of the fifty-five ethnic minorities of China reside in the frontier regions. The frontier issue is not limited to the territorial borders; it also overlaps the ethnic issue and the religious issue, among others. In other words, addressing the frontier and ethnic issues is indispensable to China in formulating its national development strategy and designing its future.

For the twelve years since the launch of the Northeast Project, the Chinese frontier research community has had a total of five special research projects: Northeast Project; Xinjiang Project (新疆項目); Southwest (西南) Project; Xizang (西藏) Project; and Beijiang (北疆) Project. The first four projects have been completed, and the remaining one is currently underway. With the launch of the Beijiang Project in January 2010, the series of frontier research projects by the Chinese frontier research community would cover the entire land frontier regions of China.

Specifically, the Northeast Project covers the Northeastern region of China, the Xinjiang Project covers the Xinjiang region, the Southwest Project covers the Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces, the Xizang Project covers Tibet, and the Beijiang Project covers the northern frontier region with Inner Mongolia at its center. These frontier research projects could serve as the barometer for the direction and outlook of the national development of China as a risen power. These research projects need to be constantly monitored and analyzed because they influence Korea and other neighboring countries. Of course, the process of this academic analysis should be thoroughly empirical and free of any preconceived or fixed ideas.