The impact of China's "ecological civilisation" principle on China's management of transboundary rivers in the region.

我的博士论文将解决这样一个问题：中国领导人对“生态文明”原则的承诺如何影响了中国对跨界河流管理的方法？我建议对2012年至2022年期间流经中国的三条跨界河流进行比较分析，如下面的方法部分所述。我的目标将是发展一个严格的定义“生态文明”;发现“生态文明”是否反映在中国的管理和跨境河流的话语，以及不同层次的治理之间的互动，包括区域治理的动态;并评估是否可以观察到模式在不同的河流流域时，不同的河流国家参与。 本论文的创新之处在于将中国的“生态文明”及其对跨界河流的管理和论述结合在一起。“生态文明”是一个中国概念，可以追溯到1984年前苏联《科学共产主义》中提到的一个术语。1它在2000年代中期逐渐进入政治领域，并被载入中国宪法2018年的承诺。这是中国的可持续发展计划2，包括在国际层面引领生态文明进步的愿望。一个可以适用于不同情况的严格定义尚未制定，该原则在中国外交政策中的作用也不明确。我的博士论文将有助于讨论中国政府对“生态文明”的理解，它如何塑造中国的外交政策和话语，以及它如何为中国内外的不同利益相关者创造激励机制。 除了对“生态文明”文献的具体贡献外，我的博士论文还将增加我们对协调中国环境和发展目标的挑战的理解。在地区层面，它将展示中国的规范如何塑造中国与邻国的关系，以及更广泛的资源分配和治理。它还具有全球意义，因为中国的“生态文明”--它塑造了中国的能源基础设施投资方式，并日益成为一个环境大国--将成为中国在21世纪世纪崛起的关键部分。在中国研究领域之外，它将有助于国际政治规范的文献，以及大国在国际环境政治中的意义和责任。最后，它将在现有的试图解释水政治学的理论框架基础上，建立一个新的框架，分析跨界河流背景下行为体的相互作用。在这些领域的进一步研究可以建立在我的论文的贡献，例如，通过应用“生态文明”的概念到另一个政策领域，比较“西方”和非西方规范的动态，并应用修改后的水政治框架的见解在中国语境之外。

My PhD thesis would address the question: How has the Chinese leadership's commitment to the principle of "ecological civilisation" influenced China's approach to transboundary river management? I propose to study the years 2012-2022 using a comparative analysis of three transboundary rivers that flow through China, as outlined in the Methods section below. My aim would be to develop a rigorous definition of "ecological civilisation"; discover whether "ecological civilisation" is reflected in the Chinese management of and discourse around transboundary rivers, as well as the dynamics of interaction between different levels of governance, including regional governance; and evaluate whether patterns can be observed across different river basins when different river states are involved. The originality of the thesis would lie in bringing together China's "ecological civilisation" and its management of and discourses around transboundary rivers. "Ecological civilisation" (shengtai wenming) is a Chinese concept which can be traced back to a term referred to in Scientific Communism in the former Soviet Union in 1984.1 It gradually entered the political sphere in the mid-2000s and was enshrined as a Chinese constitutional commitment in 2018. It is China's plan for sustainable development2 and includes an aspiration to lead the advancement of ecological civilisation at the international level.3 The concept remains poorly understood and understudied outside of China. A rigorous definition that could be applied across different cases has yet to be developed, and the role of the principle in Chinese foreign policies is not clear. My PhD thesis would contribute to debates about what the Chinese government means by "ecological civilisation", how it shapes Chinese foreign policies and discourses, and how it can create incentives for different stakeholders within and outside China. Beyond its specific contribution to the literature on "ecological civilisation", my PhD thesis would increase our understanding of the challenges of reconciling environmental and development goals in China. At the regional level, it would show how Chinese norms shape China's relations with its neighbours, as well as the distribution of resources and governance more generally. It also has global relevance, as China's "ecological civilisation" - which shapes its approach to energy infrastructure investments and growing role as an environmental power - will be a key part of China's rise in the 21st century. Beyond the field of Chinese Studies, it would contribute to the literature on norms in international politics, and the significance and responsibilities of great powers in international environmental politics. Finally, it would build on existing theoretical frameworks that seek to explain hydropolitics to develop a novel framework to analyse actors' interactions in the context of transboundary rivers. Further studies in these fields could build on the contributions of my thesis, for example by applying the concept of "ecological civilisation" to another policy area, comparing the dynamics of "Western" and non-Western norms, and applying the insights of the revised hydropolitics framework outside the Chinese context.