This study examines how the blind Russian poet Vasily Eroshenko (1890–1952) was visually constructed in 1920s China through Chu Baoheng’s photography, transforming him from political exile to transcultural icon during the May Fourth Movement (1919–1924). Through formal visual analysis of six key photographs taken between 1921 and 1923, this research reveals how these images functioned simultaneously as documentary evidence, cultural allegory, and philosophical “metapictures” – images that reflect on the process of pictorial representation itself. The investigation proceeds through four analytical dimensions: the strategic framing of Eroshenko through translations and media following his 1921 expulsion from Japan; his photographic documentation at Stopani’s memorial in Shanghai as revolutionary allegory; his intimate portrayal in Zhou Zuoren’s traditional courtyard house and Beijing’s social spaces, revealing visual evidence of cultural integration and domestic harmony; and the iconic “poet on a donkey” image that crystallized the dialectical tension between these photographs of social belonging and the Zhou brothers’ textual accounts of “desert-like” loneliness. This contradiction illuminates May Fourth intellectuals’ complex negotiation between cosmopolitanism and nationalism. Eroshenko’s evolving portrayal from revolutionary exile to literati scholar reveals how transnational figures become screens for local intellectual projections about modernity. By examining how these photographs gained new significance across changing political contexts – particularly in Zhou Zuoren’s post-1949 reinterpretations – this study contributes to our understanding of visual media’s role in constructing cultural memory and articulating intellectual identity during China’s pivotal engagement with global modernity.

The unanticipated spillover effects of economic policies on residents’ political trust have seldom been discussed in the literature. This paper examines the impact of the rapid increase in housing prices, triggered by the economic stimulus policies implemented by the Chinese government in response to the 2008 financial crisis, on residents’ political trust. Empirical research based on data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) indicates that the rapid rise in housing prices had differentiated effects on political trust among different age groups: it weakened the political trust of the younger and middle-aged groups but enhanced the political trust felt by elderly groups. Mechanism analysis reveals that the sudden and rapid rise in housing prices exacerbated younger people’s housing difficulties, suppressed their wealth accumulation and undermined their sense of self-efficacy, thus eroding their political trust. The findings of this paper not only extend the research on the formation mechanism of political trust but also broaden the research perspective of housing politics and provide new empirical evidence for understanding the complex dynamic relationship between economic development and political stability.

Taiwanese politics is often characterized as being dominated by two camps: the “blue” camp, which supports the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and the “green” camp, which supports the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). However, a substantial portion of the electorate identifies as independent, representing one of the largest but least studied groups in Taiwan’s political landscape. This study examines how independent voters differed from partisan voters in their responses to one of the most defining political moments in recent years, the legislative reform, and the subsequent Bluebird movement, one of the largest social protests in Taiwan since 2014. Drawing on two waves of original survey data, we find that independents were more likely to adopt the KMT’s framing of the protests and related legislative reforms. However, independent voters had greater support than blue camp supporters for democratic practices, despite their alignment over the Bluebird movement. These findings advance understanding of Taiwan’s electoral blocs, the dynamics of movement–party relations and the contours of democratic support among its citizens.

Suzume no tojimari (2022) depicts the coming-of-age road trip of a teenage girl through abandoned places, in order to save Japan from giant earthquake worms, and to confront her own past of 3/11. With hyperrealistic visuals and references to Shinto mythology and folklore traditions, the movie constructs a correlation between human misbehavior and natural disasters. This narrative indicates the restoration of a mythological unity of Japanese land, people, and culture to prevent earthquakes, and to overcome personal and social issues, echoing Japanese national conservative discourse. By doing so, the movie puts moral responsibility to the individual to cope with disasters and decline.

Since 2012, China has steadily advanced its anti-corruption efforts through the dual strategies of “hunting tigers” and “swatting flies.” However, the distinct impact of information about these two approaches on public perceptions of corruption across government levels remains underexplored. Drawing on a randomized survey experiment with 1,596 respondents in H province, this study reveals a phenomenon we term “hierarchical corruption perception.” Our findings indicate that information about grassroots-focused “swatting flies” efforts significantly reduces public perceptions of corruption at lower levels of government while producing mixed effects for perceived corruption at higher levels. In contrast, information about high-profile “hunting tigers” cases has limited average effects but significantly impacts individuals with lower corruption tolerance. By demonstrating that the effects of anti-corruption information depend on both the level of government involved and individual predispositions, these findings challenge conventional views on “corruption scandal fatigue” and provide important insights for designing effective, grassroots-oriented anti-corruption communication strategies.

How do institutionalized memories of historical trauma shape contemporary political attitudes? This study examines how emotionally evocative reminders of past violence influence public opinion. Drawing on a survey experiment in South Korea, I test how symbolic narratives of Japanese colonial repression affect emotional responses and downstream political views. The results show that while these reminders evoke strong emotions—especially anger and fear—they do not directly alter attitudes toward national identity or policy. Instead, anger, more than fear, consistently predicts both inclusive orientations, such as increased national pride, and exclusive preferences, including support for protectionist policies. These findings suggest that historical trauma influences political behavior not by providing new information but by activating internalized emotional frameworks. The study contributes to research on the legacy of political violence by identifying discrete emotions as key mechanisms linking collective victimhood to divergent political responses.

There has been a decade-long debate in the studies of Malaysian politics on whether there is indeed an urban–rural difference when it comes to elections. Studies using aggregated election data suggest stark differences in parties’ performance in urban and rural electoral districts, while studies relying on survey data tend to downplay urban–rural differences in voting patterns. Notwithstanding the ecological fallacy problem inherent in studies using aggregated election data, the consistent differences between studies using individual and aggregated data are puzzling, and cast a shadow over our understanding of electoral politics in Malaysia. This article argues that in Peninsular Malaysia the urban–rural differences supported by aggregated election data may have been overestimated due to results being driven by a few large urban centers. Combining survey data from the fifth wave of Asian Barometer and aggregated election data from the fourteenth general election in Malaysia, this article demonstrates that both kinds of data in fact point to the same conclusion. Once we specifically control for inter-state and local heterogeneity in population density, the association between population density and party performance attenuates.

For much of imperial Chinese history, chroniclers and explorers understood a maritime land called Liuqiu to be the Ryūkyūs. In the early twentieth century, however, a new dynastic history claimed that Liuqiu was in fact Taiwan. This article explores how and why an uncontested and unambiguous understanding of Chinese maritime history was suddenly rewritten in the modern world, becoming the accepted interpretation and shaping twenty-first century geopolitics. While scholars have weighed the veracity of Liuqiu as either Taiwan or Ryūkyū, this article focuses on how the Liuqiu–Taiwan thesis was produced and transmitted, showing how scientific methodology, imperialism, and nationalism worked to reshape geographical history. The article further contributes to an understanding of the shaping of the borders and claims of the modern Chinese nation: whereas scholars have investigated late Qing and early Republican debates over the western frontier and ethnicities, this article shows that questions over Taiwan were just as important.

How does China strategically allocate foreign aid to increase its influence on South China Sea disputes? We posit that China uses foreign aid as a tool of strategic appeasement to manage militarized interstate disputes, particularly targeting claimant states with smaller winning coalitions that are more susceptible to aid influence. The results of our empirical analysis show that China is more likely to allocate aid to the ASEAN SCS claimants with a smaller winning coalition. These findings not only support the notion of foreign aid as a strategic tool employed by China to mitigate tensions in the South China Sea but also highlight the vulnerability of certain recipient states. This article contributes to the foreign assistance and conflict literature by examining the conditionality of claimant donors’ decisions to provide foreign aid to other claimant recipients.