Vladimir Portyakov, Institute of Far Eastern Studies, RAS, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: portyakov@ifes-ras.ru.
The article provides an analysis of the most valuable works of Chinese authors on special economic zones (SEZ) published in the last ten years. Some unknown details of Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Xiamen and Hainan’s history of development are given. The author highlights the main features of development of the SEZs’ economy and their contribution to the reform process. Сurrent trends of growth in special economic zones of China are also described. Special focus is placed on analyzing the book “History of Special Economic Zones in China” published by China’s Special Economic Zones Study Centre for the 30th anniversary of the reforms. The article provides examples how the world market trends and the domestic policy influenced the development of zones. The author’s study of the experience of the development of main special economic zones of China reveals that the period of their functioning as a “window to the world” is near completion. The involvement of many internal provinces in international economic relations has substantially grown since the launch of the Belt and Road initiative. Consequently, SEZs began to recede from their leading positions in the country’s foreign trade. Their future is increasingly associated with the transformation into pilot free-trade zones designed to create mechanisms for China’s deep integration into the world economy as well as to promote a massive flow of Chinese investments, commodities and technologies to other countries. Nevertheless, the historical importance of SEZs cannot be denied, and their experience has even been popularized by international financial institutions.
Keywords: China, special economic zones, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Xiamen, Hainan.

Leonid Kozlov, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: kozlov.le@dvfu.ru.
This article considers the influence of international politics on the development of special economic zones based on the theory of the competitiveness of countries, the theory of the internationalization of firms and the theory of the political environment of business. The access of national and foreign capital to the special economic zones (SEZ) is compared, the role of SEZ in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) is analyzed and the information about the countries with concentrated financial and scientific and technical resources is systematized. It is assumed that positive or at least neutral political relations with these countries are of importance for the country that accepts FDI. According to some specific examples, the following conclusion is made: correlation of international politics and FDI becomes noticeable when relations between countries whose firms are interested in business interaction deteriorate or improve dramatically. There is a group of financial and technological leaders in the world who can politically control the export of their FDI, especially to technically complex industries. SEZs play a significant role in FDI of small and medium-sized countries with weak economies. In a large and strong country, the correlation between the SEZ and FDI will be subtle since the main SEZ residents are national companies. Today, there is an alternative to sources of FDI in the world. Therefore, the deterioration of relations with the US and its allies does not necessarily lead to a reduction in FDI and the decline of SEZ in the accepting countries.
Keywords: international relations, special economic zones, foreign direct investment.

Nikolay Vorontsov, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: nsv91@yandex.ru.
The article analyses the development of projects for the creation of special economic zones in Primorye. These projects were realized by Primorsky Regional Council and Vladivostok City Council of People’s Deputies and their executive committees. At the final stage of Perestroika in the USSR new solutions for overcoming the crisis were conducted not only at the high level but also at the local one. This allowed the regions, cities and regions to express and maintain their own position through regional and local councils. The objective of the research is to examine the long-term development of two regional projects which appeared in the second half of 1990. The first project envisaged granting Primorye the status of a free trade area. The second project assumed the formation of a free economic zone in the regional center. Some archival materials reveal the main goals and reasons of state and city authorities for creating these economic structures. Both projects enclose economic and political transformations. Governing authorities in the economic zones should have received considerable powers that could have let them solve many issues without reference to the republican and union centers. The regulations related to the impending reform of the municipal government in Vladivostok were of great importance. None of these projects were implemented. However, the project development was used later during the creation of a special economic zone in the city of Nakhodka and during the opening of Vladivostok for foreign citizens and corporations. Nowadays, scientific research of historical experience in solving organizational and economic issues during organization of special economic zones in Primorye can be used to improve the further development strategy of the region.
Keywords: Far East, Primorye, Vladivostok, Perestroika, special economic zone, Council of People’s Deputies.

Anatolij Savchenko, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: savich21@mail.ru.
The article analyses the main contradictions of the transitional period in the contemporary history of the Far East when the state tried to create a new model of development of the region. During eight years, from 1985 to 1993, three mutually reinforcing scenarios of activating external economic relations were realized: the development of export business of current productions and cooperation with socialist countries of the Asia-Pacific Region, organization of joint ventures, creation of special economic zones for broad capital formation and application of new technologies from more developed states. The research shows that each of these scenarios had formidable restrictions which deprived it of quick realization. One of the reasons was the obstacles related to planned economy and the lack of incentives for the access to foreign markets. The most significant barrier was the dependence on the previous period of long isolation. Soviet economic burocracy didn’t have competencies and well-established practices for effective cooperation with foreign partners. Correspondingly, the parties didn’t reach a minimum level of mutual confidence for realization of complex and long-term projects. As a result, external economic relations developed in primitive forms which had nothing in common with declared objectives of state policy in this area. The Primorye Region is in the focus of the author’s attention.
Keywords: external economic relations, Far East, Primorye Region, China, foreign capital, free economic zones, dependence on previous development path.

Oleg Davydov, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), Moscow, Russia. E-mail: 4545233@mail.ru.
The article considers a wide range of issues related to the Korean Peninsula including its roots as well as the influence of contradictions caused by these problems between inter-Korean relations and the powers adjacent to Korea. Special attention is devoted to the analysis of the rationale behind the Korean crisis. Its growth in the previous period of time was directly connected with the wish of North Korea to strengthen its nuclear and missile capabilities as well as with the general increase of military and political tensions between North and South Korea. It is obvious that a complicated situation on the Korean Peninsula provides serious destabilizing influence on the overall climate in the North-East Asia and impedes the growth of confidence there. In this context, the emphasis is put on the positions of the major regional actors — the USA, China and Russia. The author argues that against the background of strengthening negative trends on the Korean Peninsula, there is a desperate shortage оf constructive and realistic ideas capable to indicate the way out from the current deadlock. In connection with the recent sharp turnabout in the North Korean policy since the beginning of the year, a special focus has been placed on the thorough review of the recent meaningful events including Kim Jong Un’s trip to China, the inter-Korean summit, official abandonment of missile launches and nuclear tests, the results of the meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the USA. The author makes an attempt to analyze the reasons of such drastic and positive changes in North Korean behavior as well as the prospects for denuclearization taking into consideration deep disparity of approaches on this issue between the DPRK and the USA.
Keywords: nuclear and missile issue, the Korean Peninsula, denuclearization, dialogue, peaceful resolution, inter-Korean summit, the Korean crisis, American administration, meeting between the leaders of the DPRK and the USA in Singapore

Andrei Volynchuk, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: i-abv@yandex.ru.
Sergei Pestsov, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: skpfox@mail.ru.
The article examines some aspects of space research from the standpoint of geopolitical science. It is established that the category «space» or a space aspect is an integral part of the theoretical and methodological basis of the majority of geopolitical studies. Even though the scientific category of «space» is general scientific and is used in the theory and practice of various disciplines from geography and mathematics to sociology and psychology, its use in geopolitics requires specification of this term. However, a generally accepted definition of this concept has not yet been worked out by specialists. The author’s opinion is that geopolitical space is a «special» case of geographical space. Therefore, preserving specific characteristics, geopolitical space should have properties and qualities of the category of a higher level of generalization — geospace. The main topological characteristics include the properties of three-dimensionality, continuity, connectivity, location and dynamism. Therefore, these qualities should be considered while determining the content of the notion “geopolitical space”. In addition to specifying the definition, the analysis allows to draw a distinct line between the notions “geopolitical space” and “territory”. The latter is often used by researchers as a synonym for the term “space” although it has its own logic of use in geopolitical studies.
Keywords: space, space and time, properties of space, geopolitical space, territory, natural resources.

Valentin Golovachev, Institute of Oriental Studies, Moscow, Russia. Е-mail: valliu@complat.ru.
The story of Soviet tanker “Tuapse”, intercepted by the ROC Navy on June 23, 1954 in neutral waters near Taiwan, is widely covered in national media. In order to get the whole and adequate picture as well as the true nature of events, it is necessary to review the incident on the part of initiators and performers. The article examines the dramatic events through the reflection in top-level American sources — declassified historical documents of the US State Department from June until December 1954. These documents give the eye-opening answers to such questions as: how and by whom the seizure of the “Tuapse” was conceived, and why the US should have faced an unexpected side effect — partial loss of control over the “American Gambit” while Chiang Kai-shek started his own risky political game. Unexpectedly, he tried to use “Tuapse” as an instrument of bargaining with Washington for earliest signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty. Negative international reaction, domestic criticism and the escalation of military tensions in the region have turned the incident into a sensitive irritant for the White House. After the signing of MDT on December 2, 1954, Chiang allegedly had no more strategic reasons for further detention of “Tuapse” and could release the hostages after ratification of the MDT. Yet, for another eight months the US was highly interested in further detention of Soviet seamen for the reasons explored by the author in other special articles.
Keywords: Department of State, Mutual Defense Treaty, seizure, China, Republic of China, PRC, Korean War, UN, USSR, US, Taiwan, “Tuapse”, tanker, Chiang Kai-shek.

Alexandr Isaev, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: alex.hist@mail.ru.
An active and comprehensive study of the collectivization of agriculture, including the Far East of the USSR, began in historiography only two decades ago. The socio-psychological factor, which involves the reaction of the peasants to the activities of the authorities, still has not received adequate coverage in the historical literature devoted to the development of the Far East in the early 1930s. The reaction of the peasant population was ambiguous and depended on various political, ideological and socio-economic aspects of the life of the Far Eastern village. The purpose of the article is to review and analyze the statements of the Far Eastern peasantry on the policy of collectivization of agriculture in the early 1930s. These statements are contained in archival documents and most of them have been introduced into scientific discourse for the first time. Part of the peasantry with positive reaction to the actions of the state was the force which the government counted for. On the one hand, this reaction was motivated by the expectations that a socially fair society with equal opportunities for all citizens would be built. On the other hand, there was a hope for significant material support from the state in the creation and development of collective farms. The approval of some peasants was also due to the fact that under difficult conditions of agricultural production in the Far East region collective labor was more productive, especially as a result of the reduction of the male population after non-return from the fronts of the First World War and the Civil War. That part of the peasantry which for various reasons could not (or did not want to) improve its socio-economic situation hoped to limit the influence of the rural bourgeoisie in the village. In this regard, it is especially important to identify the reasons of certain reactions among the peasants, to analyze the nature and semantic components since they influenced the formation of value judgments about the state policy among the rural population of the Far Eastern region.
Keywords: Far East of the USSR, collectivization, peasants, poor peasants, middle-class peasants, kulaks, collective farm.

Maksim Oskin, Institute of Jurisprudence and Management of the All-Russian police association, Tula, Russia. E-mail: maxozv@yandex.ru.
The article is devoted to the activities of the Russian purchasing organization in Mongolia during the First World War and the Revolution of 1917. The war, which lasted for several years, revealed the problem of the shortage of certain food products to supply the front. First of all, that was meat. It was due to the relatively low level of development of domestic livestock farming. Meat ration was a very important part for feeding soldiers and it reduced during the war. However, it was impossible to exclude it which was the reason for the transition to the import of meat products. The Russian side made purchases of cattle in neighboring countries in order to preserve the main herd during the war years. Iran, China, Korea were the regions of meat import. An important source of procurement was Mongolia where meat was supplied not only to the army but also to the consumers in Siberia and the Far East. After the Revolution of 1917, the Russian purchasing organization “Mongoleks” continued its activity in Mongolia. It made purchases before the withdrawal of Russia from the First World War and at the beginning of the Civil War. It is noteworthy that the work in Mongolia was carried out until 1918, and only the Civil War in Siberia interrupted its work and connection to the center of Russia. The first head of “Mongoleks” was Russian scientist and explorer Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov. The organization contributed to the decrease of the level of the meat crisis in Russia during the First World War, especially in Siberian regions.
Keywords: Special Expedition, purchase of livestock, Mongolia, meat supply, food crisis.

Pavel Lapin, Russian Embassy in China, Beijing, PRC. E-mail: waijiao2000@mail.ru.
The imperial Qing court regularly invited foreigners for work. This practice was used widely in the second half of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century when pro-Western reforms were carried out in China in order to consolidate the position of the country on the international stage. Foreign experts served in China in various spheres one of which was a new practical education. The most significant aspect of the activity of these government establishments was balanced financial policy on ensuring normal financial position of foreign and Russian teachers who worked at Chinese schools. Local authorities had many difficulties as the court’s primary focus was on military and industrial construction. The development of education was not a matter of priority so it was financed residually. Acting within limited assignments, the heads of educational institutions were able to find opportunity to invite foreign teachers and to fix a big salary that ensured accumulation of progressive knowledge and experience in leading spheres. The article analyses the economic conditions of Russian teachers who worked in China in the context of general financial policy of education. The study also compares the income of Russian teachers in China and Russia. This aspect is important from the point of view of employment possibilities for Russians in Chinese educational system.
Keywords: Qing Empire, education financing, Russian language in China, teaching Russian language, Russian teachers, economic conditions of teachers.

Tatiana Sem, Department of Ethnography of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Ethnographic Museum, Saint-Petersburg, Russia. E-mail: semturem@mail.ru.
Vladimir Podmaskin, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail:podmaskin@yandex.ru.
The article deals with the hierarchy of gods and mythical characters. The Pantheon showed the archetypes of the all-Tungus picture and the model of the world revealed through the dualism of different natural elements. The pantheistic ideas of the Uilta were formed on the basis of identification of characters and gods with nature, with the whole universe. Spiritual communication of images was initially carried out with the faceless sky, then with the supreme deity Enduri (there are different variants of writing), similar to the Manchurian, Nanai, Udege and Orok archetypes. The dualistic Uilta mythology developed a universal image of the Universe — Bo, Bua, Boa Enduri, Bo Enduri, Na Enduri — in fact, the cosmic deity, the lord of heaven, weather, forest, Earth. Similar in function and semantics became a local image of Kalgama (in shamanism, hunting and home cult) — a mountain spirit, the master of the forest and rivers, territories and the Universe. Some images of animals were the markers of ethnicity, territorial or tribal affiliation. The article reveals the regional aspect of the origin of the masters of nature associated with a bear, a tiger and sea animals. The communication with the sea deity symbolizing the success of hunting and human health is emphasized. The shamanic Pantheon based on animistic views with the system of images of personal spirits-patrons and preservation of mythological ties (the plots and characters of myths and rituals) formed a dominant basis of the Uilta worldview.
Keywords: the Uilta, the Оroks, Sakhalin, animism, hierarchy of deities, masters of nature, protectors of a clan, mythological characters, shamanic spirits.

Anatolij Startsev, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: starcev.42@mail.ru.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, two concepts on ethnogenesis and ethnic history of the Oroks of Sakhalin were highlighted. One of them belongs to the researchers of the Post-Soviet period who considered that the numerous self-names of the Oroks of Sakhalin known from the second half of the nineteenth century in written variants as Оlcha (Оl’chi), Ulcha (Ul’chi), Ulta (Uil’ta), Ulta (Ul’ta) and Ujlta (Ujl’ta) represent different soundings of one term approved in scientific literature in the form of Ujl’ta. The author agrees with another concept and considers that all self-names of the Oroks are different names of the territorial groups consisting of Negidals, Evens, Orochs and other ethnoses the Oroks originated from. The idea of similarity of Orok self-names goes back to L.I. Shrenk, V.K. Arsenyev, A.N. Lipsky, T.I. Petrova and other scientists when there was no theory of ethnos. This theory explained that apart from the main self-name (endoethnonym), each nation could have some additional names indicating the territories where ethnic groups had lived earlier but later became a part of the Oroks. The researchers of the Post-Soviet period ignored this theory. They didn’t verify the facts, trusted eminent scholars and took the wrong path believing that the term Ujl’ta is the primordial ancient name of the Oroks which originated from the self-name Ul’ta borrowed from T.I. Petrova’s work. For good measure, the scholars referred to Japanese philologist Ikegami and his recommendations of the name for the Oroks.
Keywords: historical period, territory, ethnographic group, ethnogenesis, people, the Oroks, philologist Ikegami, self-name, Ujta.

Sergei Yakovenko, independent researcher, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: iakovenko.sv@dvfu.ru.
The article considers one of the aspects of the Japanese mentality of the Heian period (794—1185) — a reflection on their belief in the supernatural in the context of the emergence of a specific perception of the world around them that later developed and penetrated into many spheres of human life. The Japanese believed that the human soul was able to continue its path after the death acting as a guardian of the clan or, according to the examples in the paper, transforming into evil spirits and taking revenge on their lifetime offenders. It is noted that the key moments of the phenomenon of this belief are a basis of the worldview of the Japanese people toward the miraculous, i.e. toward the substance with its manifestations that a person had to live side-by-side with, to reconcile and to adjust with its actions. The analysis of the extensive classification of spirits shows that already in the Heian period the interpretation of the mystical phenomenon, which nowadays has a collective term ё: kai, was extremely difficult because the same phenomenon, the same spirit could have been interpreted and named in different ways. The article provides the data on the attitude of contemporaries to the manifestations of this phenomenon as well as the features of calming and appeasing these spirits.
Keywords: mentality, spirits, Japan, Heian period, aristocracy, yokai.

Andrey Tutorskiy, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: tutorski@mail.ru.
The main aim of the article is to give a brief overview of the history of the Maclay coast (contemporary name ‘Rai-coast’) in 1887—1914. The paper is based on German sources from the archive of the United Evangelical Mission in Wuppertal (Archive der Vereinten Evangelischen Mission in Wuppertal), which contain the reports of the missionaries, letters to Germany, maps of stations, dictionaries of local idioms, etc. The author’s opinion is opposed in a way to the data of English and Australian colonial archives which understate the importance of the German influence on the Maclay Coast. The article touches upon three main aspects. Firstly, the main historical facts related with the activities of the Rhenish Missionary Society in New Guinea, the organization of the stations and the activities of first missionaries. Secondly, the research on linguistic and geographic peculiarities of the region (the difference of linguistic studies in lexicography of Bongu and Bogatim languages is demonstrated). Thirdly, so called Siar revolt which is dated 1904 by the testimonies of oral history and Australian scientists, but 1912 in German documents. The conflicts in 1904 are not described in the reports of Rhenish missionaries. The 1912 Revolt is mentioned in connection to the ressetlement of the inhabitants of the Siar island to the coast and termination of the activity of the station. The research demonstrates how new authorities tried to adjust the history in the region. German missions kept silent about Miklukho-Maclay’s presence in Astrolabe Bay. In turn, Australian colonial administration preferred to underestimate the presence of Germany and the results of its activity in the region.
Keywords: N.N. Miklukho-Maclay, Rhenish Missionary Society, Astrolabe Bay, history mastery, Siar Revolt.

Dmitriy Makoveev, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: demon.eretic@mail.ru.
Bows and arrows occupied the most important place among the weapons used by the Jurchen people. The Jurchen people, like all other medieval people, used the bow as the most popular individual attack weapon. A large number of found arrow-heads indicate the widespread prevalence of this type of weapon. A huge variety of shapes, weights and sizes give ground to assume that the Jurchen bows had different design and characteristics. Despite many years of excavation of the Jurchen archaeological sites, bows or their fragments were not found (partly due to climatic conditions and soil composition of the Far East of Russia: wood, bone, skin and tendons persist badly). Thus, any reconstruction of the Jurchen bows can only be hypothetical. Many researchers studied the weapons of the Jurchen people: V.E. Shavkunov, A.V. Korobeinikov, N.V. Mityukov, E.I. Derevyanko. All of them considered the problem of the Jurchen bow from a certain point of view. This article attempts to generalize the available information about the Jurchen bow and to make assumptions about its characteristics. The research material is the data from written works, original images as well as archaeological papers.
Keywords: Jurchen people, Jin State, armament supplies, recursive bow, arrows, kibit, string, bony overlays.