Integration process of the South-East Asia begun after the World War II. In the 60s, the countries of the region formed the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which goal was to establish a broad economic, social and cultural cooperation, ensuring the political and economic stability, and providing the possibility of resolving regional disputes in the broader forum.
At present, the South-East Asia is one of the fastest economically developing areas in the world. The importance of this region for global economy and international trade is increasing, as is the interest of world powers in this region.
However, the most important problems of the ASEAN members are political and military expansion of China and their territorial claims in the South China Sea. Half of ASEAN members (including the three most populous) and China are engaged in this territorial dispute, primarily because the area is potentially rich in oil and natural gas deposits. Currently the members of the ASEAN are more split up and subdivided.
The political disputes are of particular importance in the context of US armed forces shift (the point of gravity) from Europe to Asia and Pacifi c region. The goal of the US presence in the Asia and Pacifi c region is not only the reaction to enlarged activity and expansion of China’s Armed Forces, but also the projection of force and reaction to non-military threats like natural or communication disasters. Therefore, increased USA activity in the Asia and Pacifi c region has not only the military but also, and probably mainly, economical and political character.

The main aim of the paper is to analyze the ground-breaking imperial edict issued in the Middle Kingdom in 1906, which introduced a package of reforms aimed to establish a constitutional monarchy. The edict is an important part of the process of selective adaptation of not only certain Western institutions, but also the fundamental principles relating to the core organization of the political community. This process was neither mechanical nor one-dimensional. „Translation” of the Western object was involved in a number of dilemmas and challenges (the relationship between the tradition of the „new”; instrumentality or autotelicity of copying foreign institutions; selection of native counterparts of the copied objects). The main theoretical perspective employed in the paper is the “legal transplant” theory. It enables to point out a broader set of conclusions about the process of copying foreign laws and institutions basing on the particular example from China at the beginning of the 20th century.

Along with the rapid development of Chinese economy people are more interested in what will be the Chinese contribution to the reconstruction of the world culture. This article presents Neo-Confucian intellectual project and contemporary problems of Neo-Confucian political philosophy. Confucianism is a very important part of Chinese culture. For the most of Chinese history Confucianism has been associated with an immutable hierarchy of authority and unquestioned obedience. At the time of Hundred Days Reform of 1898 and during the May Four Period Confucianism was criticised. During this period the beginning of Chinese liberalism can be noticed. Chinese liberal thought was identified with anti-Confucianism, science, democracy, liberty, progress and the vernacular movement. The New Culture intellectuals of the early twentieth century blamed Confucianism for Chinese weaknesses. In the People’s Republic of China Confucianism was replaced by Maoism as a new official state ideology. Nowadays, we can see again a return to the Confucian philosophy. The revival of Confucianism in China and other Chinese-speaking countries appears in the form of Neo-Confucianism. In contemporary China we can see a discussion about Neo-Confucian relevance and its possible advantages over political liberalism – the dominant philosophy in the West today. The question is whether Neo-Confucianism can offer “the third-way” or “the Chinese way” of development in the global era.

Count Maurice August Benyowsky is well-known though controversial figure in the Polish and Hungarian history. He took part in Polish military confederacy aimed to rid Poland of a Russian yoke. Benyowsky has been wounded in the fight and taken prisoner by Russians, being sent into exile to Kamchatka by the personal edict of Catherine II, the Empress of Russia. He managed to put most of the deportees under his control. They hatched a plot which resulted in the successful revolt against the authorities of Kamchatka and conspirators took control over Bolscheretsk, the main city of the peninsula. After capturing the Russian ship „St. Peter and Paul”, Benyowsky left Kamchatka with 85 people on board and after nearly 5 months long voyage through the Pacific Ocean reached the Portuguese Macau on the south coast of China.
This incredible voyage through unknown regions of the Bering Sea and the North Pacific is described thoroughly in Benyowsky’s diary entitled Journal de sont Voyage par Mer, depuis la Presqu’ile de Kamchatka, jusqu’ à Canton dans la Chine in the French manuscript, later edited and published in London in 1790.
During their 4 months long stay in Macau some of Benyowsky’s people died, among them was the 16 years old daughter of Kamchatka’s governor – Aphanasia, who helped Benyowsky to regain freedom. She was the only person among Russians, who – according to the Journal – was buried in the garden belonging to a certain Chevalier Hiss, probably somewhere near to the present Camoes Garden. All other people who died in Macau were buried within the city, supposedly on the mountain which later became known as Montanha Russa (this means Russian Mountain in Author’s opinion) and this confirms that at least several conversions of Russians into Catholicism really have taken place. According to the Swedish traveller who visited Macau in the early nineteenth century, he saw Aphanasia’s tomb in St. Paul Church and in the paper the Author is discussing some questions concerning her burial and the possible fate of her remains after St. Paul Church was destroyed by fire in 1835.

This article was based on the Author’s thesis in the field of Human Resources Management defended in 2011 at Kozminski University (in association with the Gdansk Foundation for Management Development). The text was divided into four main chapters. The first one presents a brief history of the Japanese chivalry ethos – the way of the warrior, the evolution of its components and the importance of the idea of bushidō in Japan’s feudal society, which over time has taken the form of seven values depicted in details in Inazō Nitobe’s (1862–1933) book Bushido: The Soul of Japan, first published in 1900. The second section of the article describes the concept of servant leadership in management, introduced into professional literature by Robert K. Greenleaf (1904–1990) and discusses ten attributes of a servant leader. The third chapter is an attempt to inscribe the values of bushidō into servant leadership, and to find the connecting elements of both concepts. The fourth section is based on the international survey made in February 2011 among the leaders of Jeppesen (A Boeing Company) and the analysis of its results. All four parts combine Author’s both practical and theoretical experience as a manager and at the same time are an attempt to answer the following questions: How is it possible that in the Land of the Rising Sun, where for a Westerner most things seem to work the other way around, there are values quite understandable and close to him? What makes that both ideas of leadership and the perception on the role of a leader in two different societies have so much in common, despite the barriers of time and distance? How do the values of bushidō fit into the model of servant leadership? And in particular: Can today’s leaders recognize some elements of this idea as useful in their daily work?

Japan, the country of the rising sun, has long been a destination of high interest to many travellers. Many of them, when travelling to that country, left there some very precious and valuable memories of themselves. To be able to look at the history of Japan in the Meiji period from a broader perspective, it is necessary to compare different views and opinions on it. Only confrontation of the Letters from Japan by R. Kipling and memories of B. Grąbczewski – The Russian service gives a complete picture of a young, emerging country. Japan using foreign patterns, developed various aspects of its life, however not all of them were easy to notice. R. Kipling during his only one visit to Japan could not accurately assess the nature and prospects of development of Japan. To do so it would be necessary to have a closer look at the life and culture of this country, which in turn was done by B. Grąbczewski, who has repeatedly come there for holidays. He noted that all Japanese activities were aiming at the long-term goal – to create a strong empire,  which would be reckoned with by the Western countries. In order to achieve this, the country had to be rebuilt, modernized, open to contacts with foreign countries, it would have to soak up the “foreign” cul tural elements, but only with adapting them to the Japanese patriotism.

The dramatic economic and social situation in Vietnam in the mid-1980s had forced the communist government of that country to launch in 1986 the program of economic reforms. The reforms under the name of Doi Moi aimed to transform a state-controlled planned economy into a “socialist-oriented market economy”. The success of economic reforms initiated under Doi Moi is evident. Over the last 25 years, Vietnam has become one of the fast-growing countries in the world. An outstanding progress in reducing poverty has been reported. However, Vietnamese economy still faces a series of problems. State-owned enterprises are poorly managed and the banking system is  underdeveloped. In the paper, the Authors present the process of economic transition in Vietnam and its effects.

To find some answers in self-regulation field, we were living and meditating together with Vietnamese monks and nuns. We came to Vietnamese Truc Lam zen monastery together with eleven people, mainly students of psychology from Gdansk University. We stayed three weeks in monastery, and were the first European group, which received the permission from local state administration to stay in closed part of monastery, only used by monks and nuns to practice meditation and living. We got special clothes, special lessons of meditation and the basic outline of the philosophy of science.

The article describes the sources of contemporary Indonesian law and its structure. The Author explains that although the statutory law enjoys a predominant position in Indonesian legal system, it comprises also Islamic law and customary law (adat). This legal diversity has existed from the times of colonialism until today. Examples of it can be found both in legislative acts and courts rulings. Nevertheless, the influence of Islamic law and customary law (adat) is not identical in all Indonesian regions and there are some regions where this diversity is easier to notice (Aceh etc.).

During the 1970s New Zealand made significant changes in its foreign policy. Relations with United Kingdom – previously pivotal – had lost their importance due to the British entrance to the European Economic Community in 1973. Necessity of finding new markets for export led to increased interest in Asia. This economic factor greatly surpassed the political ones: fear of remilitarisation of Japan, concept of ‘far defence’ and close cooperation with United States which included following its policy towards China. Recognising the importance of Asia markets allowed New Zealand to defi ne main partners – Japan, China and ASEAN countries – and to overcome the prior fear of Asian threat.

Japan is the country full of contrasts. On the one hand Japanese society is looking forward to the future and on the other hand old culture and customs are still present and visible through the life of Japanese.
Feudalism in Japan ended more than one hundred years ago, when Meiji Emperor opened Japanese borders after 250 years of isolation. However, nowadays it can be seen that working conditions or daily life might be compared with the life of Japanese warriors – samurais, their honour and value system.
Self-improvement is the first thing to describe Japanese society. From the childhood to adolescent being the society demands from each person to be better than others.
Secondly, Japan created its own system of fulltime employment, which is similar to samurais’ loyalty to their masters. Honour forced the ritual death seppuku, and now, however Japan departs from fulltime employment, deaths caused by the loyalty to the company called karoshi – the death from overwork, or karojisatsu – the suicide from overwork still occur.
Japanese society is changing. Young population wants to be creative and take their lives in their hands. Furiitaa, as they are called want to be the opposite to sarariman – typical corporation worker. Japan needs to find golden mean, because now it goes from one extreme to the other.

Indonesia, the world’s fourth populous country, has an attractive value proposition for international businesses and investors. The economy is rapidly growing and by 2030 the country could become the world’s 7th-largest economy. However, there are still lacks of information among Polish resources about this market, especially concerning legal issues.
The aim of this article is to introduce the general framework of the legal system in Indonesia such as the overview of Indonesian law through historical aspects; separation of powers (including description about executive, judiciary and legislative’s bodies), sources of law (written law and unwritten law as well).
This publication contains general information, which will be more developed in further articles to make Polish readers more familiar with Indonesian issues.

Mateusz Stępień, Spór konfucjanistów z legistami. W kręgu chińskiej kultury prawnej, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Kraków 2013, pp. 274 (Marta Dargas)

Protocol between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on validity of bilateral international agreements in relations between the Republic of Poland and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, signed at Pyongyang on 1 February 2007 (Dz. U. z 2014 r., poz. 492)