Changing disaster relief regimes in China: an analysis using four famines between 1876 and 1962
Abstract
Once afflicted by frequent episodes of famine, China—particularly the Chinese state—is growing
in importance as a player in the overseas aid and development sector. This paper examines
four famines in modern China—defined as the period since the First Opium War of 1839–42—
to shed light on the changing nature of state involvement in disaster relief in the country, while
also demonstrating the breadth and diversity of relief agency in the past. It makes the case that
traditional disaster relief principles and methods were active well into the twentieth century, and
that the statist model of today’s People’s Republic is not an essential characteristic of Chinese
humanitarian organisation. Rather, the extent to which the Chinese state will continue to assume
a dominant role in the country’s re-emerging civic and charity sector is, as in earlier times, a function
of the political developments and struggles that lie ahead.