Human Security in China. A Post-Pandemic State: Chi Zhang (ed.), Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022, xvii + 200pp., £71.50/€85.89 ebook

This volume, edited by Chi Zhang, is a timely contribution to the understanding of China's distinctive approach to human security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jia Liu's article discusses public health emergency management in China during COVID-19 through the lens of health security. By examining the legal and institutional structure of China's public health emergency management system, Liu offers a detailed explanation of the conditions under which "a-securitisation" and "hyper-securitisation" occurred. [Extracted from the article]

Building resilient supply chains in uncertain times: a comparative study of EU and ASEAN approaches to supply chain resilience.

Amid rising uncertainty in the global economy and unprecedented economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of supply chain resilience has gained increasing popularity in ASEAN and the EU. However, by comparing their paths to resilient supply chains, this article argues that while both organizations regard resilience as a departure from past doctrines of pure economic efficiency, each has a different understanding of and approach to supply chain resilience. While for ASEAN, supply chain resilience is meant to reconcile inward- and outward-looking dimensions to support ASEAN competitiveness, within the EU, resilience is associated with the search for strategic autonomy with an internal focus. Despite these differences, both groups regard sustainability and digital transformation as crucial components of supply chain resilience, which they see as a way to enhance their economic cooperation and strategic partnership.

Globalism or Nationalism? The Paradox of Chinese Official Discourse in the Context of the COVID-19 Outbreak.

By employing discourse-historical approach and corpus linguistics, this paper examines media reports to analyze the Chinese official discourse in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. The results demonstrate that a paradox of globalism and nationalism has been simultaneously reflected when reporting the global pandemic. Based on a polarizing discursive construction of positive "self" and negative "others," on many occasions, the globalist and nationalist arguments have been closely intertwined and complement each other to reinforce the legitimacy of the ruling party at home and the international reputation of China under the leadership of the ruling party.