Hydrological Response of East China to the Variation of East Asian Summer Monsoon

Copyright © 2016 Fuxing Li et al.The sensitivity of hydrologic variables in East China, that is, runoff, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture to the fluctuation of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM), is evaluated by the Mann-Kendall correlation analysis on a spatial resolution of 1/4° in the period of 1952-2012. The results indicate remarkable spatial disparities in the correlation between the hydrologic variables and EASM. The regions in East China susceptible to hydrological change due to EASM fluctuation are identified. When the standardized anomaly of intensity index of EASM (EASMI) is above 1.00, the runoff of Haihe basin has increased by 49% on average, especially in the suburb of Beijing and Hebei province where the runoff has increased up to 105%. In contrast, the runoff in the basins of Haihe and Yellow River has decreased by about 27% and 17%, respectively, when the standardized anomaly of EASMI is below -1.00, which has brought severe drought to the areas since mid-1970s. The study can be beneficial for national or watershed agencies developing adaptive water management strategies in the face of global climate change.

Reconciling History and International Law: Territorial and Maritime Claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea

High-ranking Chinese military officials are often quoted in international media as stating that China cannot afford to lose even an inch of Chinese territory, as this territory has been passed down from Chinese ancestors. Such statements are not new in Chinese politics, but recently this narrative has made an important transition. While previously limited to disputes over land borders, such rhetoric is now routinely applied to disputes involving islands and maritime borders. China is increasingly oriented toward its maritime borders and seems unwilling to compromise on delimitation disputes, a transition mirrored by many states across the globe. In a similar vein, scholarship has found that territorial disputes are particularly intractable and volatile when compared with other types of disputes, and a large body of research has grappled with producing systematic knowledge of territorial conflict. Yet in this wide body of literature, an important question has remained largely unanswered - how do states determine which geographical areas will be included in their territorial and maritime claims? In other words, if nations are willing to fight and die for an inch of national territory, how do governments draw the boundaries of the nation? This dissertation uses in-depth case studies of some of the most prominent territorial and maritime disputes in East Asia to argue that domestic political processes play a dominant and previously under-explored role in both shaping claims and determining the nature of territorial and maritime disputes. China and Taiwan are particularly well suited for this type of investigation, as they are separate claimants in multiple disputes, yet they both draw upon the same historical record when establishing and justifying their claims. Leveraging fieldwork in Taiwan, China, and the US, this dissertation includes in-depth case studies of China’s and Taiwan’s respective claims in both the South China Sea and East China Sea disputes. Evidence from this dissertation indicates that officials in both China and Taiwan have struggled with how to reconcile history and international law when establishing their claims, and that this struggle has introduced ambiguity into China's and Taiwan's claims. Amid this process, domestic political dynamics have played a dominant role in shaping the options available and the potential for claims to change in the future. In Taiwan’s democratic system, where national identity is highly contested through party politics, opinions vary along a broad spectrum as to the proper borders of the nation, and there is considerable evidence that Taiwan’s claims may change in the near future. In contrast, within China’s single-party authoritarian political system, where nationalism is source of regime legitimacy, views on the proper interpretation of China’s boundaries do vary, but along a much more narrow range. In the dissertation’s final chapter, additional cases, such as South Korea’s position on Dokdo and Indonesia’s approach to the defense of Natuna are used as points of comparison to further clarify theoretical findings.

Interbasin freshwater, heat and salt transport through the boundaries of the East and South China Seas from a variable-grid global ocean circulation model

The monthly and annual mean freshwater, heat and salt transport through the open boundaries of the South and East China Seas derived from a variable-grid global ocean circulation model is reported. The model has 1/6degrees resolution for the seas adjacent to China and 30 resolution for the global ocean. The model results are in fairly good agreement with the existing estimates based on measurements. The computation shows that the flows passing through the South China Sea contribute volume, heat and salt transport of 5.3 Sv, 0.57 PW and 184 Ggs(-1), respectively (about 1/4) to the Indonesian Throughflow, indicating that the South China Sea is an important pathway of the Pacific to Indian Ocean throughflow. The volume, heat and salt transport of the Kuroshio in the East China Sea is 25.6 Sv, 2.32 PW and 894 Ggs(-1), respectively. Less than 1/4 of this transport passes through the passage between Iriomote and Okinawa. The calculation of heat balance indicates that the South China Sea absorbs net heat flux from the sun and atmosphere with a rate of 0.08 PW, while the atmosphere gains net heat flux from the Baohai, Yellow and East China Seas with a rate of 0.05 PW.

Consumers’ intentions to adopt 3G in regional cities in China : a comparative study

Rapid mobile technological evolution and the large economic stake in commercial development of mobile technological innovation make it necessary to understand consumers' motivations towards the latest advanced and updated technologies and services. 3G (the third generation of mobile communication technology) recently started its commercial development in the world‘s largest mobile communication market, China, after being delayed for a few years. Although China fell behind in commercially developing 3G, it is difficult to ignore studying this area, given the size of the market and promising future developments. This market deserves focused research attention, especially in terms of consumer behaviour towards the adoption of mobile technological innovation. Thus, the program of research in this thesis was designed to investigate how Chinese consumers respond to the use of this newly launched mobile technological innovation, with a focus on what factors affect their 3G adoption intentions. It aimed to yield important insights into Chinese consumers‘ innovation adoption behaviours and to contribute to marketing and innovation adoption research. Furthermore, it has been documented that Chinese consumers vary widely between regions in dialect, lifestyle, culture, purchasing power and consumption attitudes. Based on economic development and local culture, China can be divided geographically into distinctive regional consumer markets. Consequently, the results of consumer behaviour research in one region may not necessarily be extrapolated to other regions. In order to better understand Chinese consumers, the disparities between regions should not be overlooked. Therefore, another objective of this program of research was to examine regional variances in consumers' innovation adoption, specifically to identify the similarities and differences in factors influencing 3G adoption, contributing to intra-cultural studies. An extensive literature review identified two gaps: current China-based innovation adoption research studies are limited in providing adequate prediction and explanation of Chinese consumers' intentions to adopt 3G; and there was limited knowledge about the differences between regional Chinese consumers in innovation adoption. Two research questions therefore were developed to address these gaps: 1) What factors influence Chinese consumers' intentions to adopt 3G? 2) How do Chinese consumers differ between regional markets in the relative influence of the factors in determining their intentions to adopt 3G? In accordance with postpositivist research philosophy, two studies were designed to answer the research questions, using mixed methods. To meet the research objectives, the two studies were both conducted in three regional cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan, centred in the three regions of North China, East China and Central China respectively, with sufficient cultural and economical regional variances. Study One was an exploratory study with qualitative research methods. It involved 45 in-depth interviews in the three research cities to gain rich insights into the research context from natural settings. Eight important concepts related to 3G adoption were generated from analysis of the interview data, namely utilitarian expectation, hedonic expectation, status gains, status loss avoidance, normative influence, external influence, cost and quality concern. The concepts of social loss avoidance and quality concern were two unique findings, whereas the other concepts were similar to the findings in Western innovation adoption studies. Moreover, variances in 3G adoption between three groups of regional consumers were also identified, focusing on the perceptions of two concepts, namely status gains and normative influence. The conceptual research model was then developed incorporating the eight concepts plus the dependent variable of adoption intention. The hypothesized relationships between the nine constructs and hypotheses about the differences between regional consumers in 3G adoption were informed by the findings of Study One and the literature reviewed. Study Two was a quantitative study involving a web-based survey and statistical analysis procedure. The web-based survey attracted 800 residents from the three research cities, 270 from Beijing, 265 from Shanghai and 265 from Wuhan. They comprised three research samples for this study and consequently three sets of data were obtained. The data was analysed by Structural Equation Modelling together with Multi-group Analysis. The analysis confirmed that the concepts generated in Study One were influential factors affecting Chinese consumers' 3G adoption intention, with the exception of the concept external influence. Differences were found between the samples in the three research cities in the effect of hedonic expectation, status gains, status loss avoidance and normative influence on 3G adoption intention. The two Studies undertaken in this thesis contributed a better understanding of Chinese consumers' intentions to adopt advanced mobile technological innovation, namely 3G, in three regional markets. This knowledge contributes to innovation adoption and intra-cultural research, as well as consumer behaviour theory. It is also able to inform international and domestic telecommunication companies to develop and deliver more effective marketing strategies across Chinese regional markets. Limitations in the research were identified in terms of the sampling techniques used and the design of the two Studies. Future research was suggested in other Chinese regional markets and into consumer adoption of other types of mobile technological innovations.

The Wuzhen Theatre, Zhejiang, China: An architectural review

Designed by Taiwanese architect Kris Yao of Artech Architects for the Wuzhen Tourism Development Company, the Wuzhen Theatre is situated in Wuzhen, a historic scenic water town located in east China's Zhejiang Province. This theatre stands as an architectural beacon for Wuzhen, and is to be considered an important place on the global atlas of theatre and China's epicentre of theatre, culture and arts.

Dynamics of the East Asian Summer Monsoon in Present and Future Climates

This thesis aims at enhancing our fundamental understanding of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM), and mechanisms implicated in its climatology in present-day and warmer climates. We focus on the most prominent feature of the EASM, i.e., the so-called Meiyu-Baiu (MB), which is characterized by a well-defined, southwest to northeast elongated quasi-stationary rainfall band, spanning from eastern China to Japan and into the northwestern Pacific Ocean in June and July.

We begin with an observational study of the energetics of the MB front in present-day climate. Analyses of the moist static energy (MSE) budget of the MB front indicate that horizontal advection of moist enthalpy, primarily of dry enthalpy, sustains the front in a region of otherwise negative net energy input into the atmospheric column. A decomposition of the horizontal dry enthalpy advection into mean, transient, and stationary eddy fluxes identifies the longitudinal thermal gradient due to zonal asymmetries and the meridional stationary eddy velocity as the most influential factors determining the pattern of horizontal moist enthalpy advection. Numerical simulations in which the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is either retained or removed show that the TP influences the stationary enthalpy flux, and hence the MB front, primarily by changing the meridional stationary eddy velocity, with reinforced southerly wind on the northwestern flank of the north Pacific subtropical high (NPSH) over the MB region and northerly wind to its north. Changes in the longitudinal thermal gradient are mainly confined to the near downstream of the TP, with the resulting changes in zonal warm air advection having a lesser impact on the rainfall in the extended MB region.

Similar mechanisms are shown to be implicated in present climate simulations in the Couple Model Intercomparison Project - Phase 5 (CMIP5) models. We find that the spatial distribution of the EASM precipitation simulated by different models is highly correlated with the meridional stationary eddy velocity. The correlation becomes more robust when energy fluxes into the atmospheric column are considered, consistent with the observational analyses. The spread in the area-averaged rainfall amount can be partially explained by the spread in the simulated globally-averaged precipitation, with the rest primarily due to the lower-level meridional wind convergence. Clear relationships between precipitation and zonal and meridional eddy velocities are observed.

Finally, the response of the EASM to greenhouse gas forcing is investigated at different time scales in CMIP5 model simulations. The reduction of radiative cooling and the increase in continental surface temperature occur much more rapidly than changes in sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Without changes in SSTs, the rainfall in the monsoon region decreases (increases) over ocean (land) in most models. On longer time scales, as SSTs increase, rainfall changes are opposite. The total response to atmospheric CO^2 forcing and subsequent SST warming is a large (modest) increase in rainfall over ocean (land) in the EASM region. Dynamic changes, in spite of significant contributions from the thermodynamic component, play an important role in setting up the spatial pattern of precipitation changes. Rainfall anomalies over East China are a direct consequence of local land-sea contrast, while changes in the larger-scale oceanic rainfall band are closely associated with the displacement of the larger-scale NPSH. Numerical simulations show that topography and SST patterns play an important role in rainfall changes in the EASM region.

Population dynamics of the water mite Unionicola arcuata (Unionicolidae) in the freshwater bivalve Cristaria plicata (Unionidae) in Poyang Lake, eastern China

Population dynamics of the water mite Unionicola arcuata were investigated in the freshwater bivalve Cristaria plicata during the period from January to December 2002 in Poyang Lake, East China. A pattern of seasonal variation was observed, with prevalence and abundance peaking in early spring and autumn. The number of mites in individual hosts was significantly correlated with the size, but not with the sex, of bivalves. The change in infection level of mites on different infection sites in C. plicata was significant, with > 58% of the mites found on the outer and inner gills, indicating that U. arcuata shows site preference.

Seasonal occurrence of Dollfustrema vaneyi (Digenea : Bucephalidae) metacercariae in the bullhead catfish Pseudobagrus fulvidraco in a reservoir in China

The seasonal population dynamics of metacercariae of the bucephalid Dollfustrema vaneyi (Tseng, 1930) Echmann, 1934 in the bullhead catfish Pseudobagrus fulvidraco (Richardson) were investigated in Jiangkou reservoir, Jiangxi Province, east China, during the period from April 1990 to August 1991. In total, 523 fish were obtained, and the overall prevalence of the metacercariae was 89.87 % and mean abundance 136.25 +/- 308.09 (mean +/- SD). A pattern of seasonal changes in prevalence and mean abundance was observed, with higher levels of metacercariae infection in late spring and summer. An analysis of the distribution of D. vaneyi in different organs of P. fulvidraco suggested that the eyes might be a suitable location for the parasite. Furthermore, the possible role of metacercariae in bullhead catfish was discussed in relation to the life cycle of this parasite.

Black carbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of China's marginal seas

This study investigates the distribution of black carbon (BC) and its correlation with total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (I PAH) pound in the surface sediments of China's marginal seas. BC content ranges from < 0.10 to 2.45 mg/g dw (grams dry weight) in the sediments studied, and varied among the different coastal regions. The Bohai Bay sediments had the highest BC contents (average 2.18 mg/g dw), which comprises a significant fraction (27%-41%) of the total organic carbon (TOC) preserved in the sediments. In comparison, BC in the surface sediments of the North Yellow Sea, Jiaozhou Bay, East China Sea and the South China Sea is less abundant and accounted for an average of 6%, 8%, 14% and 5%, respectively, of the sedimentary organic carbon pool. The concentration of I PAH pound in the surface sediments ranges from 41 to 3 667 ng/g dw and showed large spatial variations among the sampling sites of different costal regions. The Bohai Bay has the highest I PAH pound values, ranging from 79 to 3 667 ng/g dw. This reflects the high anthropogenically contaminated nature of the sediments in the bay. BC is positively correlated to TOC but a strong correlation is not found between BC and I PAH pound in the surface sediments studied, suggesting that BC and PAHs preserved in the sediments are derived from different sources and controlled by different biogeochemical processes. Our study suggests that the abundance of BC preserved in the sediments could represent a significant sink pool of carbon cycling in China's marginal seas.

Reconstruction of vertical thermal structure from several subsurface temperatures in the China Seas and adjacent waters

Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis is used in this study to generate main eigenvector fields of historical temperature for the China Seas (here referring to Chinese marine territories) and adjacent waters from 1930 to 2002 (510 143 profiles). A good temperature profile is reconstructed based on several subsurface in situ temperature observations and the thermocline was estimated using the model. The results show that: 1) For the study area, the former four principal components can explain 95% of the overall variance, and the vertical distribution of temperature is most stable using the in situ temperature observations near the surface. 2) The model verifications based on the observed CTD data from the East China Sea (ECS), South China Sea (SCS) and the areas around Taiwan Island show that the reconstructed profiles have high correlation with the observed ones with the confidence level > 95%, especially to describe the characteristics of the thermocline well. The average errors between the reconstructed and observed profiles in these three areas are 0.69A degrees C, 0.52A degrees C and 1.18A degrees C respectively. It also shows the model RMS error is less than or close to the climatological error. The statistical model can be used to well estimate the temperature profile vertical structure. 3) Comparing the thermocline characteristics between the reconstructed and observed profiles, the results in the ECS show that the average absolute errors are 1.5m, 1.4 m and 0.17A degrees C/m, and the average relative errors are 24.7%, 8.9% and 22.6% for the upper, lower thermocline boundaries and the gradient, respectively. Although the relative errors are obvious, the absolute error is small. In the SCS, the average absolute errors are 4.1 m, 27.7 m and 0.007A degrees C/m, and the average relative errors are 16.1%, 16.8% and 9.5% for the upper, lower thermocline boundaries and the gradient, respectively. The average relative errors are all < 20%. Although the average absolute error of the lower thermocline boundary is considerable, but contrast to the spatial scale of average depth of the lower thermocline boundary (165 m), the average relative error is small (16.8%). Therefore the model can be used to well estimate the thermocline.

Sea surface height and transport stream function of the South China Sea from a variable-grid global ocean circulation model

A fine-grid model (1/6degrees) covering the South China Sea (SCS), East China Sea and Japan/East Sea, which is embedded into a coarse-grid (3degrees) global model, was established to study the SCS circulation. In the present paper, we report the model-produced monthly and annual mean transport stream functions and sea surface heights(SSH) and their anomalies of the SCS. Comparison to the TOPEX/Poseidon data shows that the model-produced monthly sea surface height anomalies (SSHA) are in good agreement with altimeter measurements. Based on the results, the circulation of the SCS, especially the upper layer circulation, is discussed. In the surface layer, the western Philippine Sea water intrudes into the SCS through the Luzon Strait in autumn, winter and spring, but not in summer. However, as far as the whole water column is concerned, the water intrudes into the SCS through the Luzon Strait all the year round. This indicates that in summer the water still intrudes into the SCS in the subsurface and intermediate layers. The area near the northern continental slope of the SCS is dominated by a cyclonic circulation all the year round. The SCS Southern Anticyclonic Gyre, SE Vietnam Off-Shore Current in summertime and SCS Southern Cyclonic Gyre in wintertime are reproduced reasonably. The difference between the monthly averaged SSH and SSHA is significant, indicating the importance of the mean SSH in the SCS circulation.

Numerical simulation of principal tidal constituents in the South China Sea, Gulf of Tonkin and Gulf of Thailand

The principal tidal constituents M-2, S-2, K-1 and O-1 in the South China Sea, Gulf of Tonkin and Gulf of Thailand are simulated simultaneously using the numerical scheme of Kwok et al. (1995 Proceedings of the 1st Asian Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference, pp. 16-19). The average differences between the computed and observed harmonic constants are mostly within 5 cm and 10 degrees for amplitudes and phase-lags, respectively. The simulated tidal regimes in the present model are believed to be more accurate than the previous numerical results. Our studies confirm that a clockwise rotating M-2 amphidromic system lies in the southeast of the Gulf of Thailand and an S-2 amphidromic system at the near-shore area of the northeast South China Sea. The linear tidal energy equation developed by Garrett (1975 Deep-Sea Research 22, 23-35) is generalized to the nonlinear case. Based on the numerical results, the energy budgets in the South China Sea and its subareas, namely the Taiwan Strait, the Gulf of Tonkin, the Gulf of Thailand and the remaining area are investigated. The tidal motion in the Taiwan Strait is maintained mainly by the energy fluxes from the East China Sea for both semidiurnal and diurnal species and partially from the Luzon Strait for semidiurnal species. For the other parts of the South China Sea, the tidal motion is mainly maintained by the energy fluxes through the Luzon Strait. The energy inputs from the tide-generating force are negative for semidiurnal species and positive for diurnal species. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organic geochemical studies of sinking particulate material in China sea area(I) - Organic matter fluxes and distributional features of hydrocarbon compounds and fatty acids

Sinking particulate material collected from Nansha Yongshu reef lagoon and the continental shelf of the East China Sea by sediment traps has been analyzed and studied for the first time using organic geochemical method. The results show that about half of the sinking particulate organic matter in the two study areas are consumed before reaching the depth of 5 m to the sea floor and the degree of this consumption in Yongshu reef lagoon is larger than that in the continental shelf of the East China Sea. The distributions of hydrocarbons and fatty acids indicate that the minor difference of biological sources of sinking particulate organic matter exists between Yongshu reel lagoon and the continental shelf of the East China Sea, but they mainly come from marine plankton. Stronger biological and biochemical transformations of sinking particulate organic matter are also observed and the intensity of this transformation in Yongshu reef lagoon is greater than that in the continental shelf of the East China Sea. It is found that the occurrence of C-25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) diene may be related to the composition of diatom species.

Distribution characteristics of matrix-bound phosphine along the coast of China and possible environmental controls

Matrix-bound phosphine (MBP) concentrations in surface sediments collected from 37 stations along the coast of China in 2006 are reported. MBP was found in all samples and the average concentration was 6.30 ng kg(-1) dry weight (dw). The distribution of MBP showed certain spatial variation characteristics with high MBP concentrations at stations near to the coast. The average concentrations of MBP in the northern Yellow Sea (NYS), the southern Yellow Sea (SYS), the northern area of East China Sea (NECS), the southern area of East China Sea (SECS), and South China Sea (SCS) were 5.57 +/- 3.78, 3.78 +/- 2.81, 5.27 +/- 3.07, 5.48 +/- 4.05 and 13.52 +/- 7.86 ng kg(-1) dw. respectively. The correlations between MBP and influencing factors, such as the sedimentary environmental characteristics (sediment type, the grain size, contents of phosphorous, organic matters and redox potential) and the aquatic environmental characteristics (temperature, salinity, depth and hydrodynamics) were studied. The results indicated that MBP was strongly influenced by various factors, such as total phosphorus (TP), organic phosphorus (OP), organic carbon (OC), the grain size and hydrodynamics, all of which not only offered reasonable interpretations for the distribution characteristics of MBP but also provided evidence to support the viewpoint that phosphine originated from OP decomposition. This work is the first comprehensive study of the distribution of MBP along the coast of China and its relationships with environmental factors which will lead to a better understanding of the phosphorus (P) biogeochemical cycle in the sea. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Incidencia de la política "desarrollo pacífico" en las relaciones de china y la ASEAN. Una aproximación desde la soberanía de las islas Spratly, 2004 – 2012

El interés de este trabajo es el de analizar la Política Exterior de la Republica Popular China, más específicamente la conocida como Desarrollo Pacífico, y su incidencia en las disputas territoriales del Sudeste Asiático. El trabajo se dividirá en 3 partes, donde cada una tratara distintos aspectos del Desarrollo Pacífico, y través del mismo se explicará como por medio de distintos conceptos se pueden entender las múltiples posiciones chinas, así como las preocupaciones de los países que conforman el bloque ASEAN. El propósito de este documento será demostrar que a pesar de que dicha política ha ayudado de forma sustancial a mejorar las relaciones entre ambos bandos y ha traído bastantes beneficios políticos, no ha sido suficiente para eliminar la tensión en la zona y dar una solución a las disputas que se viven.