Jason Hung is a fourth/final-year PhD in Sociology candidate at the University of Cambridge. He is a five-time book author. His latest published monographes include Indonesian and Philippine Media on China and COVID-19 (Routledge). He formerly worked as a Fellow at the Institute for Humane Studies (C.A.). He is now actively seeking research funding to work as a Principal Investigator in the UK. Supervisors: Mark Ramsden and Supervisor Phone: +4407478119080
As of today, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues showing signs of its transition tow... more As of today, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues showing signs of its transition towards green development; whilst the Thai sustainable tourism industry is encountering substantial environmental problems of unfavourable water quality and waste management outcomes. This paper dissects how China has been transitioning into the practice of a greener BRI, as well as how Thailand has benefitted from its greener BRI partnership with China in recent years. This paper delineates the major environmental issues faced by Thailand, in order to suggest why Thailand needs to urgently and responsively address any notable environmental concern for long-term economic growth and sustainability. There is a lack, if not an absence, of existing studies that analyse Sino-Thai green BRI partnerships with the presentation of supporting, updated data and statistics. The findings presented in this paper respond to such a research gap. This paper concludes by arguing that should China's distribution of development finance to Thailand be able to enhance the latter's environmental health and landscape, more Southeast Asian (SEA) and global emerging powers may develop an increasing interest in forming or strengthening green BRI partnerships with China. In the long run, such an optimistic outcome allows China's diplomatic influence to grow further. China's greener development finance plan is an ambitious, globally impactful strategy. Such an ambitious strategy aims to capitalise on the opportunities to address countries' developmental and environmental needs to boost China's global competence and image, in addition to elevating its diplomatic influence.
This paper engages in the profound dynamics of poverty-led crime in Indonesia, emphasizing its so... more This paper engages in the profound dynamics of poverty-led crime in Indonesia, emphasizing its socioeconomically constructed nature and the potential for deliberate deconstruction through targeted interventions. As Indonesia rapidly evolves as an emerging economy, the paper highlights the critical role Jakarta plays in shaping the future trajectory of its vast human resources. It underpins the urgency for comprehensive policies that prioritize improved education, social welfare, and economic opportunities, particularly for the underprivileged youth. The paper argues that inclusive policies, even within predominantly elite-focused resource allocations, are paramount for fostering equity in the labor market. With a focus on the pervasive issue of prostitution, the paper elucidates how socioeconomic factors contribute to the phenomenon and evaluates existing anti-prostitution policies. By uncovering gaps in the current approach, the article advocates for pro-poor and pro-development strategies to mitigate crime. Recognizing Indonesia’s potential for urbanization and economic growth, the paper contends that disciplined citizenship, achievable through incentivizing conventional paths for the younger and underprivileged population, is crucial for the nation’s prosperity. The proposed policy recommendations aim to guide local policymakers in formulating effective measures that not only address crime but also contribute to the overall development of Indonesia.
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 2023
Purpose – The essay aims to suggest policies that can help strategically deconstruct and dereprod... more Purpose – The essay aims to suggest policies that can help strategically deconstruct and dereproduce the establishment of (child) sexual exploitation in Thailand and Cambodia in phases, for the purpose of upholding child and human rights and rebranding the global image of these two regional commercial sex hubs in the long term.
Design/methodology/approach – This essay is constructed based on the theoretical framework of the social control and general strain theories. Supported by the theories, the essay examines what are the socioeconomic determinants driving the prevalence of the (child) commercial sex industry in Thailand and Cambodia. Here the essay highlights and summarises how the (child) commercial sex industry has been constructed and reproduced. Next, the essay presents the existing policy gaps in relation to (child) sex tourism and sex exploitation. Last, and more importantly, the essay delivers perspectives on how Thai and Cambodian lawmakers and policymakers should respond to the severe societal problems of (child) sex trafficking and prostitution in relation to the prevailing sex tourism.
Findings – At the national level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have an urgent need to rebrand their countries, despite partially allowing commercial sex activities. Moreover, to promote gender equality, Bangkok and Phnom Penh should redistribute their education and occupational opportunities, enabling more school-aged girls or work-aged women to obtain a fairer share of life chances for self-empowerment. At the regional level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have to tighten regulations against (child) sex exploitation. At the community level, the promotion of community policing can be conducive to minimising any prostitution activities. At the family level, more positive socialisation should be exercised. When more children, including girls, are subsidised to enter school, and are positively parented, there are more educational opportunities for school-aged cohorts.
Originality/value – This essay contains scholarly originality and significance in the presentation of the socioeconomic construction of (child) sexual exploitation, and its relationship to sex tourism and (child) prostitution in Thai and Cambodian contexts, grounded in up-to-date, relevant sociological arguments. A major area that identifies the originality of this essay is the examination of existing, relevant policy gaps in a timely fashion, and correspondingly, the suggestion of policy development that helps deconstruct and deproduce (child) sexual exploitation at the national, regional, community and family levels.
Aims:
By discussing the mental health challenges faced by left-behind children, this article reco... more Aims: By discussing the mental health challenges faced by left-behind children, this article recommends or comments on existing social protection policies that can affect left-behind children’s mental health at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels to holistically understand how a range of parties can jointly socially include left-behind children, a process which is conducive to the latter’s mental health development.
Methods: J.H. carried out a systematic review by searching through the English bibliographical databases Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus, in addition to Chinese bibliographic databases CNKI, Wanfang Data and VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals. Here J.H. searched for the words (‘social protection’ OR ‘socially protected’) AND (‘mental health’ OR ‘psychological wellbeing’ OR ‘mental problems’ OR ‘psychological problems’) AND (‘left-behind children’ OR ‘LBC’ OR ‘leftover children’) AND (‘China’ OR ‘Chinese’). Publication dates of the search results were limited to between 2010 and 2022.
Results: One of the primary problems encountered by left-behind children is their inadequate home supervision. A further study indicates that parental migration serves as a crucial risk factor for child depression. State-level provision of insurance programmes helps curtail these children’s encounters of mental health challenges. Moreover, an improvement in family and school protection is essential when optimising the protection system for left-behind rural Chinese children from poor villages. It is necessary for upper-level government units to re-structure their lower-level counterparts to improve the local administration. This allows lower-level government units to exploit preferential policies, refine relevant regulations and policies on child protection, and facilitate the establishment of social organisations where local policies can be successfully implemented to socially include and protect left-behind children in villages.
Conclusions: At the meso-level, community environment construction should be emphasised. At macro- and meso-levels, government authorities and social organisations should encourage the marketisation of hiring professional surrogate parents. At the micro-level, migrant parents should proactively take an initiative to contact their left-behind children via telecommunications.
Digital Literacy and Inclusion: Stories, Platforms, Communities, 2023
In this chapter, the digital growth of the Southeast Asia (SEA) region was conceptually explored,... more In this chapter, the digital growth of the Southeast Asia (SEA) region was conceptually explored, and we provided a systematic overview and analysis of how countries digitally harness and maximise the benefits of online platforms. Then, we discuss how the digital divide, marginalisation, and exclusion as processes, continue to be ingrained in the region, urging a need for intra- and inter-countries’ inclusive responses to e-development. Last, we raise some concerns over digital transformation and explore how different SEA parties can respond to these risks.
On 6 December 2022, Jakarta passed a controversial law criminalising extramarital sex within Indo... more On 6 December 2022, Jakarta passed a controversial law criminalising extramarital sex within Indonesian territories. In this policy article, in response to Indonesia's recent criminalisation of extramarital sex, the author problematises how such legislation compounds domestic sex workers' encounters with poverty. Then, the author visits Indonesia's minimum tolerance of prostitution, arguing how such an impractical policy hinders Jakarta from eradicating the socioeconomic root causes of prostitution. Next, the author suggests policy directions that Jakarta should take into account in order to deconstruct the problems of underprivileged, marginalised and impoverished women and girls entering the sex industry. Here the author emphasises that Indonesia can deny the recognition of prostitutes, but it has to recognise prostitutes as local citizens. Therefore, social protection schemes designated for domestic citizens should be made accessible on a gender-blind basis, regardless of beneficiaries' socioeconomic backgrounds.
There is a limited number of existing literature exploring the nuanced relationship between onlin... more There is a limited number of existing literature exploring the nuanced relationship between online learning, academic performance and mental health among Chinese students in the COVID-19 epoch (Chi X, Liang K, Chen S, Huang Q, Huang L, Yu Q, Jiao C, Guo T, Stubbs B, Hossain M, Yeung A, Kong Z, Zou L Int J Clin Health Psychol 21:100218, 2020). The limited amount of available research prompts the development of this chapter, where the author systematically reviews, evaluates and summarises relevant studies, for the purpose of presenting a broad understanding of how the digitalisation of learning approaches is associated with Chinese students’ academic and psychological performance. As per the framework of this systematic review, existing literature focusing on (1) digital learning, (2) academic performance and (3) mental health in Chinese contexts during the outbreak of the pandemic is exclusively examined. Since 30 January 2020, China has been one of the first countries to apply school closures and massification of digital learning (Ma Z, Idris S, Zhang Y, Zewen L, Wali A, Ji Y, Pan Q, Baloch Z, BMC Pediatrics 21:1–8, 2021). Thus, understanding if the digital pedagogies result in positive outputs regarding Chinese students’ development would be conducive to shedding light on whether a similar digitalisation process in academic settings should be delivered in contexts beyond China. In this chapter, the author explores available Chinese literature that assesses the nuanced relationship between digital learning, academic performance and mental health during the pandemic. He analyses how Chinese students undertaking e-learning are, positively and negatively, impacted by digital, non-face-to-face education. In addition, the author suggests interventions on how the design and delivery of digital education can be modified or improved, and how social support can be better arranged, in order to optimise Chinese students’ academic and psychological development.
Research Aims. This research project investigates what are the major benefits and risks of Chines... more Research Aims. This research project investigates what are the major benefits and risks of Chinese students using ChatGPT for academic activities. Also, the project assesses how, if applicable, should ChatGPT be regulated in Chinese academic settings in order to maintain academic integrity and ethical standards. Methodology. The collection of primary data from relevant newspaper articles serves as the foundation of this research project. Here, the content analysis is used for primary data collection. A combination of keywords [“ChatGPT” AND (“China” OR “Chinese”) AND (“students” OR “student”)] were typed on the Google news search engine on 12 April 2023. A sum of 40 newspaper articles were deemed eligible for data analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative data were extracted and analyzed. Findings. The opinion of using ChatGPT to fulfil academic responsibilities has been polarized in China. The conservative camps worry that students are using ChatGPT to commit academic cheating. However, some Chinese educators believe AI-powered technologies should be incorporated into academic learning as AI-enabled writing tools can help improve the quality of academic outputs. A major concern that Chinese educators hold, to date, is plagiarism violations by students as an act of academic cheating. Most newspaper articles presented the use of ChatGPT in Chinese academic settings neutrally. Newspaper articles published in March 2023 contained more positive and negative word(s) about the use of ChatGPT in academic learning. Conclusions. Given the benefits ChatGPT can provide and the near-infeasibility of massively ban the use of AI-powered software, more regulations should be set up in Chinese academia. Teachers have to guide students on how to fact-check the details provided by AI and add citations and references accordingly in their coursework. Moreover, teachers should guide students on how to ask AI-powered software questions systematically and creatively, in order to maximize the intellectual outputs generated from ChatGPT.
Introduction: This paper will build on existing scholarly assets, addressing how the avoidance of... more Introduction: This paper will build on existing scholarly assets, addressing how the avoidance of rural-to-urban labour migration as a solution to mitigate the challenges faced by left-behind children is pragmatically infeasible. As an alternative, this paper will engage in the discussion about the relevant policy development and existing policy gaps the Chinese Government has implemented and has been subject to, respectively, in order to locate the problems of how left-behind children continue to be exposed to emotional and psychological vulnerabilities, despite the Chinese Government’s interventions. Methods: Bibliographic databases, Google Scholar and PubMed were searched. A combination of words ((“left-behind children” OR “LBC”) AND (“China” OR “Chinese”) AND (“human rights” OR “mental health” OR “well-being”) AND (“policy” OR “policies” or “policymaking”)) was input into the search engines. A total of 38 papers deemed eligible and relevant were chosen non-systematically, studie...
There is a well-documented scholarly discourse on how the COVID-19 outbreak adversely affects the... more There is a well-documented scholarly discourse on how the COVID-19 outbreak adversely affects the mental health of Chinese nationals. However, there is little evidence revealing how the public health crisis negatively influenced the mental health of rural-to-urban migrants in China. The relevant literature argues that rural-to-urban migrant workers and their dependents have been experiencing discrimination, exclusion, and stigmatization in the urban labour market and social space, thereby jeopardizing their mental health to a large extent. However, whether the COVID-19 outbreak and its associated consequences further compounded rural-to-urban migrant workers’ mental health has rarely been discussed. Since 2010, the Chinese government has emphasized the importance of promoting positive mental health. Without identifying how COVID-19 specifically imposed mental health challenges on rural-to-urban migrant cohorts, Chinese policymakers cannot effectively and efficiently address the dilemmas faced by such vulnerable groups. The significant rural-to-urban migrant population (i.e. 291million), alongside their disposition to encounter social and psychological challenges, prompts the urgency to develop this narrative essay to examine whether their mental health burdens worsened during the pandemic. The author also discusses remedies for the worsened mental issues faced by migrant cohorts, and recommends policies that local Chinese governments should adopt to mitigate the mental health burdens encountered by rural-to-urban migrants.
Background
While most existing studies reveal left-behind children (LBC) are prone to suffering f... more Background While most existing studies reveal left-behind children (LBC) are prone to suffering from mental health issues, some other literature fails to develop a statistical significance between being left-behind and facing mental health dilemmas. In further detail, it is noteworthy that suicide ideation is a gendered issue. Here girls, relative to their male counterparts, are more likely to experience emotional and affective challenges, alongside a higher risk of suicide ideation. Aside from suicide ideation, the rate of suicide attempts is also higher among Chinese female than among male LBC. However, Chang et al. counter-argue that, within the LBC cohorts, it is not statistically significant to state that girls were more likely for suicide attempts than boys.
Methods In this paper, a systematic review of relevant literature and a meta-analysis of all qualified randomised controlled trial (RCT) studies were conducted. The authors aim to examine all relevant studies with similar methodologies to observe the nuanced relationships between being left-behind and mental health issues in Chinese contexts. Specifically, the authors will, grounded on the findings from the systematic review and meta-analysis, assess whether the relationship between mental health issues and being left-behind is gendered in Chinese contexts by analysing all relevant findings derived from similar methodologies and the same method (i.e., RCT).
Results Aside from Wanjie et al.’s studies, it is noticeable that the rest of the studies share similar point estimates and their CIs overlapped to a large extent. As per the I2, given the presence of Wanjie et al.’s studies that demonstrate an observably higher degree of heterogeneity than the rest of the studies, the I2 values, each for the measurement of anxiety and depression, are 74.8 percent and 34.7 percent respectively. This shows that there is a considerable heterogeneity level for anxiety, while the heterogeneity level for depression is moderate. However, both p-values for the I2 statistics are larger than 0.05. Therefore, at the 0.05 significance level, it is statistically insignificant to reject the null hypothesis that there is no heterogeneity between individual studies in both the subgroups of anxiety and depression. Therefore, the concern of the potentially substantial heterogeneity should be irrelevant in this meta-analysis. Beyond the discussion from the forest plot, when looking at the single study addressing the relationship between being left-behind and having suicide attempts (note: LBC—OR is 1.22; 95 percent CI is 1.22 –and NLBC—OR is 1.42; 95 percent CI is 1.09–1.86 –at the pvalue of 0.34), the findings demonstrate that such a relationship per se is not gendered at the 0.05 statistical significance level. However, when examining the relationship between being resilient and left-behind, such an association is gendered where the OR of female left-behind university students being resilient, relative to male left-behind university students, is slightly higher than that of female non-left-behind university students being resilient, relative to their male non-left-behind university student counterparts. It is noteworthy that this study focuses on studying left-behind and non-left-behind samples who entered universities. Since a raft of LBC are socially, educationally disadvantaged, they lack the opportunities to receive higher education. Therefore, the findings of this study might not be indicative of the LBC population at large.
Conclusions While the findings of this meta-analysis project fail to reflect any gendered issues statistically, the authors are aware of the fact that the data included in this project were collected based on perception. Here samples, or their parents and teachers, were responsible for answering the questions with respect to samples’ mental health status and demographic details. In China, especially in less developed rural regions, the discourse on mental health challenges might continue to be seen as taboo, so individuals giving responses might, consciously or not, tend to give socially desirable answers to avoid any potential social stigmatisation. Therefore, there is some extent of reservation regarding the validity of the included studies’ data.
Introduction: This paper will build on existing scholarly assets, addressing how the avoidance of... more Introduction: This paper will build on existing scholarly assets, addressing how the avoidance of rural-to-urban labour migration as a solution to mitigate the challenges faced by left-behind children is pragmatically infeasible. As an alternative, this paper will engage in the discussion about the relevant policy development and existing policy gaps the Chinese Government has implemented and has been subject to, respectively, in order to locate the problems of how left-behind children continue to be exposed to emotional and psychological vulnerabilities, despite the Chinese Government’s interventions. Methods: Bibliographic databases, Google Scholar and PubMed were searched. A combination of words ((“left-behind children” OR “LBC”) AND (“China” OR “Chinese”) AND (“human rights” OR “mental health” OR “well-being”) AND (“policy” OR “policies” or “policymaking”)) was input into the search engines. A total of 38 papers deemed eligible and relevant were chosen non-systematically, studied and summarised. Results: Local rural governments lack any concrete measures designated for left-behind rural children to specifically support their mental health needs. Additionally, medical care coordination within the Chinese Government and across counties, respectively on improving the emotional and psychological well-being of left-behind rural children is disorganised. Moreover, there is a very limited collection of up-to-date and available datasets examining left-behind children’s development and well-being. Discussion: This paper suggests, in detail, how the Chinese Government can strategically apply policies and interventions for the redistribution of resources and opportunities to left-behind children in rural China. This paper recognises the existing interventions initiated and implemented by the Chinese Government for resource redistribution and, simultaneously, recommends that the Government follow two localised American models for further resource redistribution per se that are designed for benefitting left-behind rural Chinese children.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Mainland China has been concerned about the national growth rate of older adults aged 60 or above... more Mainland China has been concerned about the national growth rate of older adults aged 60 or above. The rapid growth of the cohort of older adults will significantly burden the Chinese healthcare system as they are at higher risk of suffering from chronic illnesses and functional disabilities. In geriatrics, aged populations often endure a wide range of diseases, dysfunctions, and cognitive impairment, so the corresponding healthcare services needed for them are substantial. The rise in the older adults’ life expectancy has compounded the burden of the healthcare system in mainland China in the long term. In this narrative essay, it is important to discuss how the state should assume a higher share of relevant responsibilities, by assessing how Chinese policymaking has been transformed to better satisfy the older population’s care and healthcare needs in mainland China. It is also pivotal to focus on analysing relevant Chinese policy development within the most recent dozen years to ...
For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/In a new East-West Wire co... more For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/In a new East-West Wire commentary, columnist Jason Hung writes that the Philippines, like many other developing countries, has few choices other than China for access to COVID-19 vaccines as wealthier nations scoop up supplies of more advanced Western vaccines. But this may come with a long-term economic and diplomatic price tag. China, on the other hand, is gambling on the Philippines as a proving ground for marketing its vaccines as safe and effective"Desperate to contain the public health crisis," Hung writes, "Philippine leaders appear willing to gamble both on China's less proven but more affordable alternative, and on becoming more beholden to Beijing. China, however, also has a lot at stake. A successful rollout of its vaccines in the Philippines would open the door to other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond, as more developing countries seek to strengthen their economic partnershi...
In this paper, the author investigates rural Chinese citizens’ encounters of structural and insti... more In this paper, the author investigates rural Chinese citizens’ encounters of structural and institutional inequalities and social (im)mobility. The author addresses social (im)mobility from a holistic perspective (i.e., in institutional, occupational, social, educational, cultural and political dimensions). In this regard, the author explores if a range of parental disadvantages serve as significant hindrances to the acquisition of social mobilising opportunities among the next generations in rural Chinese contexts. Here a holistic presentation helps understand the nuanced relationship between institutional barriers (i.e., rural hukou status) and alternative obstacles to social mobility; and explore, in part, how parental inheritance of rural hukou status would bar individuals’ from socially mobilising and result in some forms of unsustainability. Previous research on China restrictively measures social (im)mobility from limited perspectives, failing to fully and accurately reflect ...
In 2017, the State Council of China published an action plan for the construction of a smart and ... more In 2017, the State Council of China published an action plan for the construction of a smart and healthy elderly care industry (2017–2020). The action plan designed and implemented by the State Council of China demonstrates the Central Government’s determination to informationalise and digitalise the Chinese society. Therefore, the market of smart home care services should expectedly mushroom in the coming decades, as the demand for smart home care increase. However, there are a range of barriers to achieving the massification of smart home care services, which will be discussed in the following sections. In addition to the shortage of family care and nursing services, elders being physically and psychologically vulnerable also engenders the Central Government to accelerate the provision of smart home care services to the Chinese elderly population. Here, smart home investment and delivery are necessary when building a sustainable elderly care system. The investment in smart home elderly care can lessen the long-term burden on China’s healthcare system as more elders would be able to self-manage their everyday life and minor physical and psychological problems. In this article, the author would critically analyses China’s implementation of smart home elderly care services, particularly on the benefits and challenges of technological advancement in elderly care and the advantages and problems of relevant policy development. The author also highlights how the informationalisation and digitalisation in elderly care and policy development enhance the convenience of the elderly populations’ everyday life when family care is limited or absent. Additionally, the author assesses what the gaps are in existing smart home elderly care technologies and policy development that need to be addressed by Chinese policymakers to further advance the safety and convenience of the elderly cohorts’ living.
Here researchers have the disposition to engage in the scholarly discourse on how the pandemic ad... more Here researchers have the disposition to engage in the scholarly discourse on how the pandemic adversely influenced individuals' mental health and what remedies should be exercised in response to the mental health challenges. There is a shortage of scholarly discussion about who benefitted from the occurrence of the pandemic. Mancini et al. argued that the pandemic benefitted the social and mental health functioning of a subset of the population, despite the pandemic causing considerable risks of harm to mental health. In this perspective, the author summarizes relevant findings and arguments to present which subsets of the population benefitted at school, at home, and in the workplace during the pandemic. Although COVID-19 is no longer deemed a pandemic, many by-products of the public health crisis, including the encouragement of remote work and studies, remain. In this perspective, by understanding who benefitted from the pandemic and why, the author can evaluate if any public policies formed in response to the pandemic should be kept in the long run in order to maximize individuals' mental health.
Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 2022
This book review essay critically analyses the scholarly contribution and limitations of Yu's Mig... more This book review essay critically analyses the scholarly contribution and limitations of Yu's Migration and Educational Policymaking in China: A Critical Engagement with Policy Sociology and Bourdieu (2022). The essay primarily criticises how, while Yu adopts Bourdieu's concept of fields to develop the theoretical framework for his research on the trajectory of educational policymaking in China, he overlooks the importance of including alternative, relevant Bourdieu's concepts in his discussion. These concepts include capital, habitus and social and cultural reproduction of inequality (and how these intertwine with social immobility). The author, however, appreciates Yu's efforts in the exploration of localised education and related policies for migrant children in five first-tier Chinese cities, especially in how a comparative approach is exercised. The author believes Yu's book, despite a number of criticisms and scepticism, adds significant scholarly values to help academic researchers who have a disposition to present policy recommendations, along with postgraduate students of interest, enrich their understanding of how educational policymaking differs between different localised Chinese contexts and evolves in the past decades.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
In this narrative review, the relationships between digitalisation and the mental health status a... more In this narrative review, the relationships between digitalisation and the mental health status among children and youths will be discussed first. Second, amidst the pandemic, parents and children have much more time to spend together at home, so parenting plays a more significant role in determining children’s wellbeing. Therefore, how different parenting styles impact digitalisation and the mental health experienced by children and youths will be assessed. This narrative review aims to investigate the parenting conditions needed for children and youths to benefit from the growth of digitalisation, so that policies for digital transformation can be recommended. The outputs of this narrative review include recommending the endeavours of digital transformation that involve indiscriminately active inclusion and facilitating privileged young people, as well as their less advantaged counterparts, to maximise the advantages digitalisation offers.
As of today, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues showing signs of its transition tow... more As of today, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues showing signs of its transition towards green development; whilst the Thai sustainable tourism industry is encountering substantial environmental problems of unfavourable water quality and waste management outcomes. This paper dissects how China has been transitioning into the practice of a greener BRI, as well as how Thailand has benefitted from its greener BRI partnership with China in recent years. This paper delineates the major environmental issues faced by Thailand, in order to suggest why Thailand needs to urgently and responsively address any notable environmental concern for long-term economic growth and sustainability. There is a lack, if not an absence, of existing studies that analyse Sino-Thai green BRI partnerships with the presentation of supporting, updated data and statistics. The findings presented in this paper respond to such a research gap. This paper concludes by arguing that should China's distribution of development finance to Thailand be able to enhance the latter's environmental health and landscape, more Southeast Asian (SEA) and global emerging powers may develop an increasing interest in forming or strengthening green BRI partnerships with China. In the long run, such an optimistic outcome allows China's diplomatic influence to grow further. China's greener development finance plan is an ambitious, globally impactful strategy. Such an ambitious strategy aims to capitalise on the opportunities to address countries' developmental and environmental needs to boost China's global competence and image, in addition to elevating its diplomatic influence.
This paper engages in the profound dynamics of poverty-led crime in Indonesia, emphasizing its so... more This paper engages in the profound dynamics of poverty-led crime in Indonesia, emphasizing its socioeconomically constructed nature and the potential for deliberate deconstruction through targeted interventions. As Indonesia rapidly evolves as an emerging economy, the paper highlights the critical role Jakarta plays in shaping the future trajectory of its vast human resources. It underpins the urgency for comprehensive policies that prioritize improved education, social welfare, and economic opportunities, particularly for the underprivileged youth. The paper argues that inclusive policies, even within predominantly elite-focused resource allocations, are paramount for fostering equity in the labor market. With a focus on the pervasive issue of prostitution, the paper elucidates how socioeconomic factors contribute to the phenomenon and evaluates existing anti-prostitution policies. By uncovering gaps in the current approach, the article advocates for pro-poor and pro-development strategies to mitigate crime. Recognizing Indonesia’s potential for urbanization and economic growth, the paper contends that disciplined citizenship, achievable through incentivizing conventional paths for the younger and underprivileged population, is crucial for the nation’s prosperity. The proposed policy recommendations aim to guide local policymakers in formulating effective measures that not only address crime but also contribute to the overall development of Indonesia.
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 2023
Purpose – The essay aims to suggest policies that can help strategically deconstruct and dereprod... more Purpose – The essay aims to suggest policies that can help strategically deconstruct and dereproduce the establishment of (child) sexual exploitation in Thailand and Cambodia in phases, for the purpose of upholding child and human rights and rebranding the global image of these two regional commercial sex hubs in the long term.
Design/methodology/approach – This essay is constructed based on the theoretical framework of the social control and general strain theories. Supported by the theories, the essay examines what are the socioeconomic determinants driving the prevalence of the (child) commercial sex industry in Thailand and Cambodia. Here the essay highlights and summarises how the (child) commercial sex industry has been constructed and reproduced. Next, the essay presents the existing policy gaps in relation to (child) sex tourism and sex exploitation. Last, and more importantly, the essay delivers perspectives on how Thai and Cambodian lawmakers and policymakers should respond to the severe societal problems of (child) sex trafficking and prostitution in relation to the prevailing sex tourism.
Findings – At the national level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have an urgent need to rebrand their countries, despite partially allowing commercial sex activities. Moreover, to promote gender equality, Bangkok and Phnom Penh should redistribute their education and occupational opportunities, enabling more school-aged girls or work-aged women to obtain a fairer share of life chances for self-empowerment. At the regional level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have to tighten regulations against (child) sex exploitation. At the community level, the promotion of community policing can be conducive to minimising any prostitution activities. At the family level, more positive socialisation should be exercised. When more children, including girls, are subsidised to enter school, and are positively parented, there are more educational opportunities for school-aged cohorts.
Originality/value – This essay contains scholarly originality and significance in the presentation of the socioeconomic construction of (child) sexual exploitation, and its relationship to sex tourism and (child) prostitution in Thai and Cambodian contexts, grounded in up-to-date, relevant sociological arguments. A major area that identifies the originality of this essay is the examination of existing, relevant policy gaps in a timely fashion, and correspondingly, the suggestion of policy development that helps deconstruct and deproduce (child) sexual exploitation at the national, regional, community and family levels.
Aims:
By discussing the mental health challenges faced by left-behind children, this article reco... more Aims: By discussing the mental health challenges faced by left-behind children, this article recommends or comments on existing social protection policies that can affect left-behind children’s mental health at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels to holistically understand how a range of parties can jointly socially include left-behind children, a process which is conducive to the latter’s mental health development.
Methods: J.H. carried out a systematic review by searching through the English bibliographical databases Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus, in addition to Chinese bibliographic databases CNKI, Wanfang Data and VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals. Here J.H. searched for the words (‘social protection’ OR ‘socially protected’) AND (‘mental health’ OR ‘psychological wellbeing’ OR ‘mental problems’ OR ‘psychological problems’) AND (‘left-behind children’ OR ‘LBC’ OR ‘leftover children’) AND (‘China’ OR ‘Chinese’). Publication dates of the search results were limited to between 2010 and 2022.
Results: One of the primary problems encountered by left-behind children is their inadequate home supervision. A further study indicates that parental migration serves as a crucial risk factor for child depression. State-level provision of insurance programmes helps curtail these children’s encounters of mental health challenges. Moreover, an improvement in family and school protection is essential when optimising the protection system for left-behind rural Chinese children from poor villages. It is necessary for upper-level government units to re-structure their lower-level counterparts to improve the local administration. This allows lower-level government units to exploit preferential policies, refine relevant regulations and policies on child protection, and facilitate the establishment of social organisations where local policies can be successfully implemented to socially include and protect left-behind children in villages.
Conclusions: At the meso-level, community environment construction should be emphasised. At macro- and meso-levels, government authorities and social organisations should encourage the marketisation of hiring professional surrogate parents. At the micro-level, migrant parents should proactively take an initiative to contact their left-behind children via telecommunications.
Digital Literacy and Inclusion: Stories, Platforms, Communities, 2023
In this chapter, the digital growth of the Southeast Asia (SEA) region was conceptually explored,... more In this chapter, the digital growth of the Southeast Asia (SEA) region was conceptually explored, and we provided a systematic overview and analysis of how countries digitally harness and maximise the benefits of online platforms. Then, we discuss how the digital divide, marginalisation, and exclusion as processes, continue to be ingrained in the region, urging a need for intra- and inter-countries’ inclusive responses to e-development. Last, we raise some concerns over digital transformation and explore how different SEA parties can respond to these risks.
On 6 December 2022, Jakarta passed a controversial law criminalising extramarital sex within Indo... more On 6 December 2022, Jakarta passed a controversial law criminalising extramarital sex within Indonesian territories. In this policy article, in response to Indonesia's recent criminalisation of extramarital sex, the author problematises how such legislation compounds domestic sex workers' encounters with poverty. Then, the author visits Indonesia's minimum tolerance of prostitution, arguing how such an impractical policy hinders Jakarta from eradicating the socioeconomic root causes of prostitution. Next, the author suggests policy directions that Jakarta should take into account in order to deconstruct the problems of underprivileged, marginalised and impoverished women and girls entering the sex industry. Here the author emphasises that Indonesia can deny the recognition of prostitutes, but it has to recognise prostitutes as local citizens. Therefore, social protection schemes designated for domestic citizens should be made accessible on a gender-blind basis, regardless of beneficiaries' socioeconomic backgrounds.
There is a limited number of existing literature exploring the nuanced relationship between onlin... more There is a limited number of existing literature exploring the nuanced relationship between online learning, academic performance and mental health among Chinese students in the COVID-19 epoch (Chi X, Liang K, Chen S, Huang Q, Huang L, Yu Q, Jiao C, Guo T, Stubbs B, Hossain M, Yeung A, Kong Z, Zou L Int J Clin Health Psychol 21:100218, 2020). The limited amount of available research prompts the development of this chapter, where the author systematically reviews, evaluates and summarises relevant studies, for the purpose of presenting a broad understanding of how the digitalisation of learning approaches is associated with Chinese students’ academic and psychological performance. As per the framework of this systematic review, existing literature focusing on (1) digital learning, (2) academic performance and (3) mental health in Chinese contexts during the outbreak of the pandemic is exclusively examined. Since 30 January 2020, China has been one of the first countries to apply school closures and massification of digital learning (Ma Z, Idris S, Zhang Y, Zewen L, Wali A, Ji Y, Pan Q, Baloch Z, BMC Pediatrics 21:1–8, 2021). Thus, understanding if the digital pedagogies result in positive outputs regarding Chinese students’ development would be conducive to shedding light on whether a similar digitalisation process in academic settings should be delivered in contexts beyond China. In this chapter, the author explores available Chinese literature that assesses the nuanced relationship between digital learning, academic performance and mental health during the pandemic. He analyses how Chinese students undertaking e-learning are, positively and negatively, impacted by digital, non-face-to-face education. In addition, the author suggests interventions on how the design and delivery of digital education can be modified or improved, and how social support can be better arranged, in order to optimise Chinese students’ academic and psychological development.
Research Aims. This research project investigates what are the major benefits and risks of Chines... more Research Aims. This research project investigates what are the major benefits and risks of Chinese students using ChatGPT for academic activities. Also, the project assesses how, if applicable, should ChatGPT be regulated in Chinese academic settings in order to maintain academic integrity and ethical standards. Methodology. The collection of primary data from relevant newspaper articles serves as the foundation of this research project. Here, the content analysis is used for primary data collection. A combination of keywords [“ChatGPT” AND (“China” OR “Chinese”) AND (“students” OR “student”)] were typed on the Google news search engine on 12 April 2023. A sum of 40 newspaper articles were deemed eligible for data analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative data were extracted and analyzed. Findings. The opinion of using ChatGPT to fulfil academic responsibilities has been polarized in China. The conservative camps worry that students are using ChatGPT to commit academic cheating. However, some Chinese educators believe AI-powered technologies should be incorporated into academic learning as AI-enabled writing tools can help improve the quality of academic outputs. A major concern that Chinese educators hold, to date, is plagiarism violations by students as an act of academic cheating. Most newspaper articles presented the use of ChatGPT in Chinese academic settings neutrally. Newspaper articles published in March 2023 contained more positive and negative word(s) about the use of ChatGPT in academic learning. Conclusions. Given the benefits ChatGPT can provide and the near-infeasibility of massively ban the use of AI-powered software, more regulations should be set up in Chinese academia. Teachers have to guide students on how to fact-check the details provided by AI and add citations and references accordingly in their coursework. Moreover, teachers should guide students on how to ask AI-powered software questions systematically and creatively, in order to maximize the intellectual outputs generated from ChatGPT.
Introduction: This paper will build on existing scholarly assets, addressing how the avoidance of... more Introduction: This paper will build on existing scholarly assets, addressing how the avoidance of rural-to-urban labour migration as a solution to mitigate the challenges faced by left-behind children is pragmatically infeasible. As an alternative, this paper will engage in the discussion about the relevant policy development and existing policy gaps the Chinese Government has implemented and has been subject to, respectively, in order to locate the problems of how left-behind children continue to be exposed to emotional and psychological vulnerabilities, despite the Chinese Government’s interventions. Methods: Bibliographic databases, Google Scholar and PubMed were searched. A combination of words ((“left-behind children” OR “LBC”) AND (“China” OR “Chinese”) AND (“human rights” OR “mental health” OR “well-being”) AND (“policy” OR “policies” or “policymaking”)) was input into the search engines. A total of 38 papers deemed eligible and relevant were chosen non-systematically, studie...
There is a well-documented scholarly discourse on how the COVID-19 outbreak adversely affects the... more There is a well-documented scholarly discourse on how the COVID-19 outbreak adversely affects the mental health of Chinese nationals. However, there is little evidence revealing how the public health crisis negatively influenced the mental health of rural-to-urban migrants in China. The relevant literature argues that rural-to-urban migrant workers and their dependents have been experiencing discrimination, exclusion, and stigmatization in the urban labour market and social space, thereby jeopardizing their mental health to a large extent. However, whether the COVID-19 outbreak and its associated consequences further compounded rural-to-urban migrant workers’ mental health has rarely been discussed. Since 2010, the Chinese government has emphasized the importance of promoting positive mental health. Without identifying how COVID-19 specifically imposed mental health challenges on rural-to-urban migrant cohorts, Chinese policymakers cannot effectively and efficiently address the dilemmas faced by such vulnerable groups. The significant rural-to-urban migrant population (i.e. 291million), alongside their disposition to encounter social and psychological challenges, prompts the urgency to develop this narrative essay to examine whether their mental health burdens worsened during the pandemic. The author also discusses remedies for the worsened mental issues faced by migrant cohorts, and recommends policies that local Chinese governments should adopt to mitigate the mental health burdens encountered by rural-to-urban migrants.
Background
While most existing studies reveal left-behind children (LBC) are prone to suffering f... more Background While most existing studies reveal left-behind children (LBC) are prone to suffering from mental health issues, some other literature fails to develop a statistical significance between being left-behind and facing mental health dilemmas. In further detail, it is noteworthy that suicide ideation is a gendered issue. Here girls, relative to their male counterparts, are more likely to experience emotional and affective challenges, alongside a higher risk of suicide ideation. Aside from suicide ideation, the rate of suicide attempts is also higher among Chinese female than among male LBC. However, Chang et al. counter-argue that, within the LBC cohorts, it is not statistically significant to state that girls were more likely for suicide attempts than boys.
Methods In this paper, a systematic review of relevant literature and a meta-analysis of all qualified randomised controlled trial (RCT) studies were conducted. The authors aim to examine all relevant studies with similar methodologies to observe the nuanced relationships between being left-behind and mental health issues in Chinese contexts. Specifically, the authors will, grounded on the findings from the systematic review and meta-analysis, assess whether the relationship between mental health issues and being left-behind is gendered in Chinese contexts by analysing all relevant findings derived from similar methodologies and the same method (i.e., RCT).
Results Aside from Wanjie et al.’s studies, it is noticeable that the rest of the studies share similar point estimates and their CIs overlapped to a large extent. As per the I2, given the presence of Wanjie et al.’s studies that demonstrate an observably higher degree of heterogeneity than the rest of the studies, the I2 values, each for the measurement of anxiety and depression, are 74.8 percent and 34.7 percent respectively. This shows that there is a considerable heterogeneity level for anxiety, while the heterogeneity level for depression is moderate. However, both p-values for the I2 statistics are larger than 0.05. Therefore, at the 0.05 significance level, it is statistically insignificant to reject the null hypothesis that there is no heterogeneity between individual studies in both the subgroups of anxiety and depression. Therefore, the concern of the potentially substantial heterogeneity should be irrelevant in this meta-analysis. Beyond the discussion from the forest plot, when looking at the single study addressing the relationship between being left-behind and having suicide attempts (note: LBC—OR is 1.22; 95 percent CI is 1.22 –and NLBC—OR is 1.42; 95 percent CI is 1.09–1.86 –at the pvalue of 0.34), the findings demonstrate that such a relationship per se is not gendered at the 0.05 statistical significance level. However, when examining the relationship between being resilient and left-behind, such an association is gendered where the OR of female left-behind university students being resilient, relative to male left-behind university students, is slightly higher than that of female non-left-behind university students being resilient, relative to their male non-left-behind university student counterparts. It is noteworthy that this study focuses on studying left-behind and non-left-behind samples who entered universities. Since a raft of LBC are socially, educationally disadvantaged, they lack the opportunities to receive higher education. Therefore, the findings of this study might not be indicative of the LBC population at large.
Conclusions While the findings of this meta-analysis project fail to reflect any gendered issues statistically, the authors are aware of the fact that the data included in this project were collected based on perception. Here samples, or their parents and teachers, were responsible for answering the questions with respect to samples’ mental health status and demographic details. In China, especially in less developed rural regions, the discourse on mental health challenges might continue to be seen as taboo, so individuals giving responses might, consciously or not, tend to give socially desirable answers to avoid any potential social stigmatisation. Therefore, there is some extent of reservation regarding the validity of the included studies’ data.
Introduction: This paper will build on existing scholarly assets, addressing how the avoidance of... more Introduction: This paper will build on existing scholarly assets, addressing how the avoidance of rural-to-urban labour migration as a solution to mitigate the challenges faced by left-behind children is pragmatically infeasible. As an alternative, this paper will engage in the discussion about the relevant policy development and existing policy gaps the Chinese Government has implemented and has been subject to, respectively, in order to locate the problems of how left-behind children continue to be exposed to emotional and psychological vulnerabilities, despite the Chinese Government’s interventions. Methods: Bibliographic databases, Google Scholar and PubMed were searched. A combination of words ((“left-behind children” OR “LBC”) AND (“China” OR “Chinese”) AND (“human rights” OR “mental health” OR “well-being”) AND (“policy” OR “policies” or “policymaking”)) was input into the search engines. A total of 38 papers deemed eligible and relevant were chosen non-systematically, studied and summarised. Results: Local rural governments lack any concrete measures designated for left-behind rural children to specifically support their mental health needs. Additionally, medical care coordination within the Chinese Government and across counties, respectively on improving the emotional and psychological well-being of left-behind rural children is disorganised. Moreover, there is a very limited collection of up-to-date and available datasets examining left-behind children’s development and well-being. Discussion: This paper suggests, in detail, how the Chinese Government can strategically apply policies and interventions for the redistribution of resources and opportunities to left-behind children in rural China. This paper recognises the existing interventions initiated and implemented by the Chinese Government for resource redistribution and, simultaneously, recommends that the Government follow two localised American models for further resource redistribution per se that are designed for benefitting left-behind rural Chinese children.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Mainland China has been concerned about the national growth rate of older adults aged 60 or above... more Mainland China has been concerned about the national growth rate of older adults aged 60 or above. The rapid growth of the cohort of older adults will significantly burden the Chinese healthcare system as they are at higher risk of suffering from chronic illnesses and functional disabilities. In geriatrics, aged populations often endure a wide range of diseases, dysfunctions, and cognitive impairment, so the corresponding healthcare services needed for them are substantial. The rise in the older adults’ life expectancy has compounded the burden of the healthcare system in mainland China in the long term. In this narrative essay, it is important to discuss how the state should assume a higher share of relevant responsibilities, by assessing how Chinese policymaking has been transformed to better satisfy the older population’s care and healthcare needs in mainland China. It is also pivotal to focus on analysing relevant Chinese policy development within the most recent dozen years to ...
For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/In a new East-West Wire co... more For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/In a new East-West Wire commentary, columnist Jason Hung writes that the Philippines, like many other developing countries, has few choices other than China for access to COVID-19 vaccines as wealthier nations scoop up supplies of more advanced Western vaccines. But this may come with a long-term economic and diplomatic price tag. China, on the other hand, is gambling on the Philippines as a proving ground for marketing its vaccines as safe and effective"Desperate to contain the public health crisis," Hung writes, "Philippine leaders appear willing to gamble both on China's less proven but more affordable alternative, and on becoming more beholden to Beijing. China, however, also has a lot at stake. A successful rollout of its vaccines in the Philippines would open the door to other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond, as more developing countries seek to strengthen their economic partnershi...
In this paper, the author investigates rural Chinese citizens’ encounters of structural and insti... more In this paper, the author investigates rural Chinese citizens’ encounters of structural and institutional inequalities and social (im)mobility. The author addresses social (im)mobility from a holistic perspective (i.e., in institutional, occupational, social, educational, cultural and political dimensions). In this regard, the author explores if a range of parental disadvantages serve as significant hindrances to the acquisition of social mobilising opportunities among the next generations in rural Chinese contexts. Here a holistic presentation helps understand the nuanced relationship between institutional barriers (i.e., rural hukou status) and alternative obstacles to social mobility; and explore, in part, how parental inheritance of rural hukou status would bar individuals’ from socially mobilising and result in some forms of unsustainability. Previous research on China restrictively measures social (im)mobility from limited perspectives, failing to fully and accurately reflect ...
In 2017, the State Council of China published an action plan for the construction of a smart and ... more In 2017, the State Council of China published an action plan for the construction of a smart and healthy elderly care industry (2017–2020). The action plan designed and implemented by the State Council of China demonstrates the Central Government’s determination to informationalise and digitalise the Chinese society. Therefore, the market of smart home care services should expectedly mushroom in the coming decades, as the demand for smart home care increase. However, there are a range of barriers to achieving the massification of smart home care services, which will be discussed in the following sections. In addition to the shortage of family care and nursing services, elders being physically and psychologically vulnerable also engenders the Central Government to accelerate the provision of smart home care services to the Chinese elderly population. Here, smart home investment and delivery are necessary when building a sustainable elderly care system. The investment in smart home elderly care can lessen the long-term burden on China’s healthcare system as more elders would be able to self-manage their everyday life and minor physical and psychological problems. In this article, the author would critically analyses China’s implementation of smart home elderly care services, particularly on the benefits and challenges of technological advancement in elderly care and the advantages and problems of relevant policy development. The author also highlights how the informationalisation and digitalisation in elderly care and policy development enhance the convenience of the elderly populations’ everyday life when family care is limited or absent. Additionally, the author assesses what the gaps are in existing smart home elderly care technologies and policy development that need to be addressed by Chinese policymakers to further advance the safety and convenience of the elderly cohorts’ living.
Here researchers have the disposition to engage in the scholarly discourse on how the pandemic ad... more Here researchers have the disposition to engage in the scholarly discourse on how the pandemic adversely influenced individuals' mental health and what remedies should be exercised in response to the mental health challenges. There is a shortage of scholarly discussion about who benefitted from the occurrence of the pandemic. Mancini et al. argued that the pandemic benefitted the social and mental health functioning of a subset of the population, despite the pandemic causing considerable risks of harm to mental health. In this perspective, the author summarizes relevant findings and arguments to present which subsets of the population benefitted at school, at home, and in the workplace during the pandemic. Although COVID-19 is no longer deemed a pandemic, many by-products of the public health crisis, including the encouragement of remote work and studies, remain. In this perspective, by understanding who benefitted from the pandemic and why, the author can evaluate if any public policies formed in response to the pandemic should be kept in the long run in order to maximize individuals' mental health.
Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 2022
This book review essay critically analyses the scholarly contribution and limitations of Yu's Mig... more This book review essay critically analyses the scholarly contribution and limitations of Yu's Migration and Educational Policymaking in China: A Critical Engagement with Policy Sociology and Bourdieu (2022). The essay primarily criticises how, while Yu adopts Bourdieu's concept of fields to develop the theoretical framework for his research on the trajectory of educational policymaking in China, he overlooks the importance of including alternative, relevant Bourdieu's concepts in his discussion. These concepts include capital, habitus and social and cultural reproduction of inequality (and how these intertwine with social immobility). The author, however, appreciates Yu's efforts in the exploration of localised education and related policies for migrant children in five first-tier Chinese cities, especially in how a comparative approach is exercised. The author believes Yu's book, despite a number of criticisms and scepticism, adds significant scholarly values to help academic researchers who have a disposition to present policy recommendations, along with postgraduate students of interest, enrich their understanding of how educational policymaking differs between different localised Chinese contexts and evolves in the past decades.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
In this narrative review, the relationships between digitalisation and the mental health status a... more In this narrative review, the relationships between digitalisation and the mental health status among children and youths will be discussed first. Second, amidst the pandemic, parents and children have much more time to spend together at home, so parenting plays a more significant role in determining children’s wellbeing. Therefore, how different parenting styles impact digitalisation and the mental health experienced by children and youths will be assessed. This narrative review aims to investigate the parenting conditions needed for children and youths to benefit from the growth of digitalisation, so that policies for digital transformation can be recommended. The outputs of this narrative review include recommending the endeavours of digital transformation that involve indiscriminately active inclusion and facilitating privileged young people, as well as their less advantaged counterparts, to maximise the advantages digitalisation offers.
This book review critically evaluates the book entitled China Urbanising: Impacts and Transitions... more This book review critically evaluates the book entitled China Urbanising: Impacts and Transitions, co-edited by Weiping Wu and Qin Gao and co-authored by a number of Sinologists, including Shinqi Ma and Jermy Wallace. The book presents the complex, mutual relationships between space, individuals and their interactions under the process of urbanisation. The authors delivered arguments on the transition in state government policy direction and how such a shift amplifies the array of local factors of demolitions of illegal residential units in Chinese cities.
This book constructs the theoretical framework based on a range of prominent social theories to a... more This book constructs the theoretical framework based on a range of prominent social theories to address how juvenile delinquency is socioeconomically constructed. Here the presentation of conceptual details is supported by Chinese literature that rationalises, problematises, and analyses how left-behind children are vulnerable to premature smoking, heavy drinking and drug abuse and. I critically review all the most recent publications to highlight the most updated socioeconomic structure of juvenile delinquency experienced by Chinese left-behind children. In addition, the author summarises and analyses all the most up-to-date policy recommendations and evaluations concerning the mitigation of left-behind children’s juvenile delinquency. The policymaking outputs help inform readers on how Chinese policymakers have specifically been endeavouring to intervene in left-behind children’s delinquent behaviours and what policy directions the corresponding policymakers are trending towards in the future.
Problematises the socioeconomic and institutional construction of prostitution in Thai contexts
... more Problematises the socioeconomic and institutional construction of prostitution in Thai contexts
Explores the relationships between society, inequality, governance, criminality, and policy in Southeast Asian contexts
Identifies root causes that propel underprivileged, discriminated women and girls to enter the sex industry
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Papers by Jason Hung
Design/methodology/approach – This essay is constructed based on the theoretical framework of the social control and general strain theories. Supported by the theories, the essay examines what are the socioeconomic determinants driving the prevalence of the (child) commercial sex industry in Thailand and Cambodia. Here the essay highlights and summarises how the (child) commercial sex industry has been constructed and reproduced. Next, the essay presents the existing policy gaps in relation to (child) sex tourism and sex exploitation. Last, and more importantly, the essay delivers perspectives on how Thai and Cambodian lawmakers and policymakers should respond to the severe societal problems of (child) sex trafficking and prostitution in relation to the prevailing sex tourism.
Findings – At the national level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have an urgent need to rebrand their countries, despite partially allowing commercial sex activities. Moreover, to promote gender equality, Bangkok and Phnom Penh should redistribute their education and occupational opportunities, enabling more school-aged girls or work-aged women to obtain a fairer share of life chances for self-empowerment. At the regional level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have to tighten regulations against (child) sex exploitation. At the community level, the promotion of community policing can be conducive to minimising any prostitution activities. At the family level, more positive socialisation should be exercised. When more children, including girls, are subsidised to enter school, and are positively parented, there are more educational opportunities for school-aged cohorts.
Originality/value – This essay contains scholarly originality and significance in the presentation of the socioeconomic construction of (child) sexual exploitation, and its relationship to sex tourism and (child) prostitution in Thai and Cambodian contexts, grounded in up-to-date, relevant sociological arguments. A major area that identifies the originality of this essay is the examination of existing, relevant policy gaps in a timely fashion, and correspondingly, the suggestion of policy development that helps deconstruct and deproduce (child) sexual exploitation at the national, regional, community and family levels.
By discussing the mental health challenges faced by left-behind children, this article recommends or comments on existing social protection policies that can affect left-behind children’s mental health at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels to holistically understand how a range of parties can jointly socially include left-behind children, a process which is conducive to the latter’s mental health development.
Methods:
J.H. carried out a systematic review by searching through the English bibliographical databases Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus, in addition to Chinese bibliographic databases CNKI, Wanfang Data and VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals. Here J.H. searched for the words (‘social protection’ OR ‘socially protected’) AND (‘mental health’ OR ‘psychological wellbeing’ OR ‘mental problems’ OR ‘psychological problems’) AND (‘left-behind children’ OR ‘LBC’ OR ‘leftover children’) AND (‘China’ OR ‘Chinese’). Publication dates of the search results were limited to between 2010 and 2022.
Results:
One of the primary problems encountered by left-behind children is their inadequate home supervision. A further study indicates that parental migration serves as a crucial risk factor for child depression. State-level provision of insurance programmes helps curtail these children’s encounters of mental health challenges. Moreover, an improvement in family and school protection is essential when optimising the protection system for left-behind rural Chinese children from poor villages. It is necessary for upper-level government units to re-structure their lower-level counterparts to improve the local administration. This allows lower-level government units to exploit preferential policies, refine relevant regulations and policies on child protection, and facilitate the establishment of social organisations where local policies can be successfully implemented to socially include and protect left-behind children in villages.
Conclusions:
At the meso-level, community environment construction should be emphasised. At macro- and meso-levels, government authorities and social organisations should encourage the marketisation of hiring professional surrogate parents. At the micro-level, migrant parents should proactively take an initiative to contact their left-behind children via telecommunications.
While most existing studies reveal left-behind children (LBC) are prone to suffering from mental health issues, some other literature fails to develop a statistical significance between being left-behind and facing mental health dilemmas. In further detail, it is noteworthy that suicide ideation is a gendered issue. Here girls, relative to their male counterparts, are more likely to experience emotional and affective challenges, alongside a higher risk of suicide ideation. Aside from suicide ideation, the rate of suicide attempts is also higher among Chinese female than among male LBC. However, Chang et al. counter-argue that, within the LBC cohorts, it is not statistically significant to state that girls were more likely for suicide attempts than boys.
Methods
In this paper, a systematic review of relevant literature and a meta-analysis of all qualified randomised controlled trial (RCT) studies were conducted. The authors aim to examine all relevant studies with similar methodologies to observe the nuanced relationships between being left-behind and mental health issues in Chinese contexts. Specifically, the authors will, grounded on the findings from the systematic review and meta-analysis, assess whether the relationship between mental health issues and being left-behind is gendered in Chinese contexts by analysing all relevant findings derived from similar methodologies and the same method (i.e., RCT).
Results
Aside from Wanjie et al.’s studies, it is noticeable that the rest of the studies share similar point estimates and their CIs overlapped to a large extent. As per the I2, given the presence of Wanjie et al.’s studies that demonstrate an observably higher degree of heterogeneity than the rest of the studies, the I2 values, each for the measurement of anxiety and depression, are 74.8 percent and 34.7 percent respectively. This shows that there is a considerable heterogeneity level for anxiety, while the heterogeneity level for depression is moderate. However, both p-values for the I2 statistics are larger than 0.05. Therefore, at the 0.05 significance level, it is statistically insignificant to reject the null hypothesis that there is no heterogeneity between individual studies in both the subgroups of anxiety and depression. Therefore, the concern of the potentially substantial heterogeneity should be irrelevant in this meta-analysis. Beyond the discussion from the forest plot, when looking at the single study addressing the relationship between being left-behind and having suicide attempts (note: LBC—OR is
1.22; 95 percent CI is 1.22 –and NLBC—OR is 1.42; 95 percent CI is 1.09–1.86 –at the pvalue of 0.34), the findings demonstrate that such a relationship per se is not gendered at the 0.05 statistical significance level. However, when examining the relationship between being resilient and left-behind, such an association is gendered where the OR of female left-behind university students being resilient, relative to male left-behind university students, is slightly higher than that of female non-left-behind university students being resilient, relative to their male non-left-behind university
student counterparts. It is noteworthy that this study focuses on studying left-behind and non-left-behind samples who entered universities. Since a raft of LBC are socially, educationally disadvantaged, they lack the opportunities to receive higher education. Therefore, the findings of this study might not be indicative of the LBC population at large.
Conclusions
While the findings of this meta-analysis project fail to reflect any gendered issues statistically, the authors are aware of the fact that the data included in this project were collected based on perception. Here samples, or their parents and teachers, were responsible for answering the questions with respect to samples’ mental health status and demographic details. In China, especially in less developed rural regions, the discourse on mental health challenges might continue to be seen as taboo, so individuals giving responses might, consciously or not, tend to give socially desirable answers to avoid any potential social stigmatisation. Therefore, there is some extent of reservation regarding the validity of the included studies’ data.
Design/methodology/approach – This essay is constructed based on the theoretical framework of the social control and general strain theories. Supported by the theories, the essay examines what are the socioeconomic determinants driving the prevalence of the (child) commercial sex industry in Thailand and Cambodia. Here the essay highlights and summarises how the (child) commercial sex industry has been constructed and reproduced. Next, the essay presents the existing policy gaps in relation to (child) sex tourism and sex exploitation. Last, and more importantly, the essay delivers perspectives on how Thai and Cambodian lawmakers and policymakers should respond to the severe societal problems of (child) sex trafficking and prostitution in relation to the prevailing sex tourism.
Findings – At the national level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have an urgent need to rebrand their countries, despite partially allowing commercial sex activities. Moreover, to promote gender equality, Bangkok and Phnom Penh should redistribute their education and occupational opportunities, enabling more school-aged girls or work-aged women to obtain a fairer share of life chances for self-empowerment. At the regional level, Bangkok and Phnom Penh have to tighten regulations against (child) sex exploitation. At the community level, the promotion of community policing can be conducive to minimising any prostitution activities. At the family level, more positive socialisation should be exercised. When more children, including girls, are subsidised to enter school, and are positively parented, there are more educational opportunities for school-aged cohorts.
Originality/value – This essay contains scholarly originality and significance in the presentation of the socioeconomic construction of (child) sexual exploitation, and its relationship to sex tourism and (child) prostitution in Thai and Cambodian contexts, grounded in up-to-date, relevant sociological arguments. A major area that identifies the originality of this essay is the examination of existing, relevant policy gaps in a timely fashion, and correspondingly, the suggestion of policy development that helps deconstruct and deproduce (child) sexual exploitation at the national, regional, community and family levels.
By discussing the mental health challenges faced by left-behind children, this article recommends or comments on existing social protection policies that can affect left-behind children’s mental health at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels to holistically understand how a range of parties can jointly socially include left-behind children, a process which is conducive to the latter’s mental health development.
Methods:
J.H. carried out a systematic review by searching through the English bibliographical databases Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus, in addition to Chinese bibliographic databases CNKI, Wanfang Data and VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals. Here J.H. searched for the words (‘social protection’ OR ‘socially protected’) AND (‘mental health’ OR ‘psychological wellbeing’ OR ‘mental problems’ OR ‘psychological problems’) AND (‘left-behind children’ OR ‘LBC’ OR ‘leftover children’) AND (‘China’ OR ‘Chinese’). Publication dates of the search results were limited to between 2010 and 2022.
Results:
One of the primary problems encountered by left-behind children is their inadequate home supervision. A further study indicates that parental migration serves as a crucial risk factor for child depression. State-level provision of insurance programmes helps curtail these children’s encounters of mental health challenges. Moreover, an improvement in family and school protection is essential when optimising the protection system for left-behind rural Chinese children from poor villages. It is necessary for upper-level government units to re-structure their lower-level counterparts to improve the local administration. This allows lower-level government units to exploit preferential policies, refine relevant regulations and policies on child protection, and facilitate the establishment of social organisations where local policies can be successfully implemented to socially include and protect left-behind children in villages.
Conclusions:
At the meso-level, community environment construction should be emphasised. At macro- and meso-levels, government authorities and social organisations should encourage the marketisation of hiring professional surrogate parents. At the micro-level, migrant parents should proactively take an initiative to contact their left-behind children via telecommunications.
While most existing studies reveal left-behind children (LBC) are prone to suffering from mental health issues, some other literature fails to develop a statistical significance between being left-behind and facing mental health dilemmas. In further detail, it is noteworthy that suicide ideation is a gendered issue. Here girls, relative to their male counterparts, are more likely to experience emotional and affective challenges, alongside a higher risk of suicide ideation. Aside from suicide ideation, the rate of suicide attempts is also higher among Chinese female than among male LBC. However, Chang et al. counter-argue that, within the LBC cohorts, it is not statistically significant to state that girls were more likely for suicide attempts than boys.
Methods
In this paper, a systematic review of relevant literature and a meta-analysis of all qualified randomised controlled trial (RCT) studies were conducted. The authors aim to examine all relevant studies with similar methodologies to observe the nuanced relationships between being left-behind and mental health issues in Chinese contexts. Specifically, the authors will, grounded on the findings from the systematic review and meta-analysis, assess whether the relationship between mental health issues and being left-behind is gendered in Chinese contexts by analysing all relevant findings derived from similar methodologies and the same method (i.e., RCT).
Results
Aside from Wanjie et al.’s studies, it is noticeable that the rest of the studies share similar point estimates and their CIs overlapped to a large extent. As per the I2, given the presence of Wanjie et al.’s studies that demonstrate an observably higher degree of heterogeneity than the rest of the studies, the I2 values, each for the measurement of anxiety and depression, are 74.8 percent and 34.7 percent respectively. This shows that there is a considerable heterogeneity level for anxiety, while the heterogeneity level for depression is moderate. However, both p-values for the I2 statistics are larger than 0.05. Therefore, at the 0.05 significance level, it is statistically insignificant to reject the null hypothesis that there is no heterogeneity between individual studies in both the subgroups of anxiety and depression. Therefore, the concern of the potentially substantial heterogeneity should be irrelevant in this meta-analysis. Beyond the discussion from the forest plot, when looking at the single study addressing the relationship between being left-behind and having suicide attempts (note: LBC—OR is
1.22; 95 percent CI is 1.22 –and NLBC—OR is 1.42; 95 percent CI is 1.09–1.86 –at the pvalue of 0.34), the findings demonstrate that such a relationship per se is not gendered at the 0.05 statistical significance level. However, when examining the relationship between being resilient and left-behind, such an association is gendered where the OR of female left-behind university students being resilient, relative to male left-behind university students, is slightly higher than that of female non-left-behind university students being resilient, relative to their male non-left-behind university
student counterparts. It is noteworthy that this study focuses on studying left-behind and non-left-behind samples who entered universities. Since a raft of LBC are socially, educationally disadvantaged, they lack the opportunities to receive higher education. Therefore, the findings of this study might not be indicative of the LBC population at large.
Conclusions
While the findings of this meta-analysis project fail to reflect any gendered issues statistically, the authors are aware of the fact that the data included in this project were collected based on perception. Here samples, or their parents and teachers, were responsible for answering the questions with respect to samples’ mental health status and demographic details. In China, especially in less developed rural regions, the discourse on mental health challenges might continue to be seen as taboo, so individuals giving responses might, consciously or not, tend to give socially desirable answers to avoid any potential social stigmatisation. Therefore, there is some extent of reservation regarding the validity of the included studies’ data.
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