Suchergebnisse

In May 2002, China decided not to repatriate North Korean asylum seekers who fled to Shenyang. The decision was not only in contravention of the 1986 North Korea-China bilateral repatriation agreement, but also constituted China's repudiation of its policy denying refugee status to North Koreans in China. What explains China's change in policy in the Shenyang case? We argue that transnational advocacy networks (TANs) for North Korean human rights (NKHR) played a significant role in China's non-repatriation decision. Theoretically, the article develops a set of five propositions that specify an organizational mechanism through which TANs effectively work, and use social network analysis to test these propositions. Empirically, we employ both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis (the combination of discourse and content analysis) in order to capture the crucial role of TANs in China's policy change. Thematically, our case study of China's non-repatriation decision reveals the growing importance and relevance of TANs in world politics. (Asian Perspect/GIGA)