{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90595"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90595","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Defining the line between center and periphery: the foreign criminal as symbol of sovereignty in contemporary China","abstract":"\"In this paper, I examine the Chinese government's treatment of foreigners within its borders, contrasting the high-profile case of British national Akmal Shaikh with the on-the-ground situation, where foreigners generally receive lenient treatment from the police. I argue that this dichotomy parallels the Mainland government’s position towards Taiwan and Hong Kong, where de jure sovereignty is prioritized over de facto control. In explaining how some foreign criminals like Shaikh are moved from the periphery to the center of the government’s attention, I highlight the potential that such cases provide the Communist Party of China's leadership to assert their power on the global stage and to cement their legitimacy in the eyes of their own populace. Building on work done by Tim Liao and others on China's rhetorical strategies in issues of contested sovereignty, I will show how the Chinese media uses its portrayal of select foreign criminals as political symbols to fuel the government's \"\"memory project\"\" regarding China’s relationship with Western countries. By examining how this constructed national memory is related to contemporary issues of crime and diplomacy, we can better understand how Chinese leadership understands and performs sovereignty.\"","abstract_html":""In this paper, I examine the Chinese government's treatment of foreigners within its borders, contrasting the high-profile case of British national Akmal Shaikh with the on-the-ground situation, where foreigners generally receive lenient treatment from the police. I argue that this dichotomy parallels the Mainland government’s position towards Taiwan and Hong Kong, where de jure sovereignty is prioritized over de facto control. In explaining how some foreign criminals like Shaikh are moved from the periphery to the center of the government’s attention, I highlight the potential that such cases provide the Communist Party of China's leadership to assert their power on the global stage and to cement their legitimacy in the eyes of their own populace. Building on work done by Tim Liao and others on China's rhetorical strategies in issues of contested sovereignty, I will show how the Chinese media uses its portrayal of select foreign criminals as political symbols to fuel the government's ""memory project"" regarding China’s relationship with Western countries. By examining how this constructed national memory is related to contemporary issues of crime and diplomacy, we can better understand how Chinese leadership understands and performs sovereignty."","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Case, Josiah David"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"East Asian Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Martin, Jeffrey T."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-07-07T19:54:26Z","date_published":"2016-07-07T19:54:26Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:34Z","subjects":["China","Sovereignty"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2016 Josiah Case"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90595","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Martin, Jeffrey T."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Case, Josiah David"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2016-07-07T19:54:26Z","2016-04-20","2016-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["East Asian Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["China","Sovereignty"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2016 Josiah Case"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90595"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["\"In this paper, I examine the Chinese government's treatment of foreigners within its borders, contrasting the high-profile case of British national Akmal Shaikh with the on-the-ground situation, where foreigners generally receive lenient treatment from the police. I argue that this dichotomy parallels the Mainland government’s position towards Taiwan and Hong Kong, where de jure sovereignty is prioritized over de facto control. In explaining how some foreign criminals like Shaikh are moved from the periphery to the center of the government’s attention, I highlight the potential that such cases provide the Communist Party of China's leadership to assert their power on the global stage and to cement their legitimacy in the eyes of their own populace. Building on work done by Tim Liao and others on China's rhetorical strategies in issues of contested sovereignty, I will show how the Chinese media uses its portrayal of select foreign criminals as political symbols to fuel the government's \"\"memory project\"\" regarding China’s relationship with Western countries. By examining how this constructed national memory is related to contemporary issues of crime and diplomacy, we can better understand how Chinese leadership understands and performs sovereignty.\"","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","The student, Josiah Case, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-20 at 15:05.","The student, Josiah Case, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2016-04-20 at 15:17.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2016-04-20 at 16:48.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9382 on 2016-07-07 at 13:31:56","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T19:54:26Z (GMT). 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I argue that this dichotomy parallels the Mainland government’s position towards Taiwan and Hong Kong, where de jure sovereignty is prioritized over de facto control. In explaining how some foreign criminals like Shaikh are moved from the periphery to the center of the government’s attention, I highlight the potential that such cases provide the Communist Party of China's leadership to assert their power on the global stage and to cement their legitimacy in the eyes of their own populace. Building on work done by Tim Liao and others on China's rhetorical strategies in issues of contested sovereignty, I will show how the Chinese media uses its portrayal of select foreign criminals as political symbols to fuel the government's \"\"memory project\"\" regarding China’s relationship with Western countries. By examining how this constructed national memory is related to contemporary issues of crime and diplomacy, we can better understand how Chinese leadership understands and performs sovereignty.\"","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2016-07-07 without embargo terms","The student, Josiah Case, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-20 at 15:05.","The student, Josiah Case, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2016-04-20 at 15:17.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2016-04-20 at 16:48.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9382 on 2016-07-07 at 13:31:56","Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T19:54:26Z (GMT). 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