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The purpose of this research is to analyse the nexus between foreign aid and poverty reduction. In this research, aid provided by traditional and (re)emerging donors, China and France, was compared to understand their strategies toward poverty reduction and the impact of their aid in improving the conditions of their beneficiaries. Guinea, a Least Developed Country, was used as unit of comparison and assessment. Qualitative research methodology was used to collect data about the two aid donors, China and France. Among other research tools used, there are documents’ analysis (official documents from donors and recipients, declarations, scholarly works, media articles, etc.), interviews with various stakeholders, site visits and observation. As for main findings, this research found similarities and differences between China and France’s aid strategies in general and in Guinea in particular. There are similarities in the ways they integrate poverty reduction into their aid policies, motives and partly in their geographical and sectoral allocation systems. In terms of differences, they use different instruments and conditions to deliver their aid for poverty reduction. Regarding the impact of their aid, both donors have to some extent contributed to improving the access of the poor population in Guinea to basic services such as education, health, water and sanitation, etc. Finally, contrary to those who have denied the importance of foreign aid as a financial tool to reduce poverty, this research posits that aid is still a relevant tool to address poverty. However, more work needs to be done at donor, recipient and direct beneficiaries’ levels to ensure its effectiveness. On the other hand, it posits that the divide between traditional and (re)-emerging donors is becoming blurred as their strategies to address poverty are becoming increasingly alike

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are highly associated with the study of e-government, and many scholars believe that within the coming decades, government operation and policy decision-making cannot persist without the use of ICTs (Van Dijk, 2018). This thesis aims to generate a conceptual framework of the behavioral factors that could contribute to the acceleration of the implementation of e-government services in Macao SAR. Rather than regarding e-government services as a goal to be realized in traditional practice through evaluating the outcome, a process-oriented study was conducted. The e-government services are regarded as advanced tools in the 21st century to transform Macao into a smart city. The design of the process-oriented approach and the comparative study of four groups of Macao citizens' behavioral intentions are solidly supported by the research gaps identified in the literature review of e-government studies in an international perspective and the actual context of local Macao studies. Under the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1991), the behavioral factors of the general public and civil servants are investigated through a qualitative approach, and the findings are triangulated from various aspects. Firstly, a systematic literature review of TPB was conducted thoroughly to better understand the current study of e-government around the world. Secondly, a content and thematic analysis of the official documents and articles from local press media and research institutes related to the topic of e-government services was carried out to demonstrate a more comprehensive picture of the current problems of implementing iv and adopting e-services in Macao SAR. Observations in some government premises that provided e-services and 40 in-depth interviews were conducted to generate detailed and first-hand data. Key issues were extracted from the interviewees’ narratives and daily actual usages. Different conceptual models for different age groups and civil servant group were formed. Special attention was paid to analyzing the "hard-to-reach" groups' behavioral intentions. Research limitations identified from the previous literature were overcome partially in this study too. After comparing the similarities and differences, a new conceptual model of significant behavioral factors that affect the behavioral intentions in adopting e-government services was built. Results and findings from the analysis could be used to develop effective interventions by the government policymakers in responding to the behavioral change of the general public in the aspect of e-government services acceptance and adoption

Government service mini-programs have become an integral component of eGovernment in the Greater Bay Area, and successful eGovernment is necessary for building a smart city. Service quality and citizens' trust play a vital role in urban integration and in-depth cooperation in the Bay Area. The ubiquitous nature of mini-programs based on WeChat and Alipay provides excellent flexibility in accessing government services. Technology advantages, mutual recognition of cross-border data, and online transactions bring value and benefits to citizens. However, the mechanism of mini-program adoption has not been elaborated. Homogenization, conflict of regulations, and policy effectiveness are issues of great concern. This study employed Self-Determination Theory and Motivation Theory, proposed an empirical model based on the extended SOR paradigm, and aimed to identify the critical factors determining the intention of government service mini-program adoption from the user’s perspective. Six hundred and nine valid samples were collected from Macau, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen through online survey platforms. The findings suggested that service quality, trust in eGovernment, ubiquity, and social influence constituted the determinants of intention to adopt. Service quality and ubiquity were salient determinants, and a great extent of service quality and ubiquity could promote perceived value and intention. Citizens' trust in government service mini-programs was reasonable, where benevolence, integrity, and competence were crucial indicators of trust. Social influence amplified and transmitted risk perception while perceived risk significantly reduced intention. Perceived value positively associated with the four determinants and enhanced user intention; it acted as a mediator with high explanatory power in the model. Government support received positive ratings from citizens; it negatively regulated the relationship between intention and the determinants respectively, implying that excessive intervention from the government could lead to inhibition. Finally, we proposed relevant implications and suggestions for the GBA government agents and policymakers

This study investigates the regulatory-operational dynamics of the premium market in Macau casinos using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 participants from three stakeholder groups. The grounded theory analysis identifies seven core categories illustrating the impact of the new regulatory system on the premium direct and premium mass segments in casinos. These categories include regulatory changes and operational challenges, decline of gaming promoters, premiumization of the gaming market, new player retention strategies, cross-border player acquisition risks, presence of unauthorized agents in casinos, and non-gaming development amid international competition. These insights highlight four major regulatory impacts on the industry themes and operational trends, i.e., industry regularization, market premiumization, product diversification, and criminal fragmentation. This study also identifies specific regulatory mechanisms and operational management in premium gaming, such as premium player identification, enhanced operational procedures, multi-tiered market segmentation, and the provision of personalized services. Additionally, stakeholder perceptions of the new gaming regulatory system are explored, with casino and expert groups considering it necessary and junket participants finding it restrictive. From these findings, a conceptual model structured around regulatory functions, compliance, and improvement is developed to provide a theoretical regulatory framework that aligns with the characteristics of the gaming industry in Macau and possibly other gaming jurisdictions.

According to recent data (Hoje Macau, 2014), 79% of the Macao families own computer equipments (desktops and laptops). 93% of the residents have access to the internet from their own homes and 24% also surf the internet while in the work place. Accordind to the same source, Macao residents make use of the internet, especially to search for information (87%), communicate (83%) and to access government services (35%). In Macao, in the Higher Education sector, at the moment, the Portuguese Language, one of the official languages of the Region, can be learned in, at least, five institutions: University of Macau (public), Macau Polytechnic Institute (public), Institute for Tourism Studies (public), City University of Macau (private) and University of Saint Joseph (private). Each of these institutions may have Portuguese, Brazilian and Chinese teachers to carry on the teaching/learning process. Having said that, what is the relationship between the previous two aspects? It is obvious that in Macao the new technologies, digital tools and the internet are very important. We hardly need to make a survey to realize that young people use, for example, facebook and wechat, daily and constantly (“allways-on”). Travelling on a bus, from home to school, one will see mobile phones or ipads on almost everyones hands. In meanwhile, are the teachers of Portuguese Language in Macao, in the Higher Education, taking advantage of the digital tools and of the young people interest in new technology to teach the foreign language? In this study, through an online based questionnaire, we would like to know if the teachers of Portuguese (Chinese, Brazilian and Portuguese), working in the previous mentioned Higher Education institutions, are aware of language learning with new technology. We also would like to learn about teachers’ opinion on the technology and digital tools as facilitators of learning. Finnally, we’ll try to know what specific tools are used by the teachers to achieve certain learning goals. This study will allow us to know whether, in a society dominated by new technology, Internet and “digital natives” (Prensky 2001), on one hand, teachers of Portuguese in Macao Higher Education institutions have experience using online materials to teach the language and, on another hand, learn about the reasons why they do/do not make use of those materials.

A very important yet little known front in the Russian Civil War existed in neighbouring Xinjiang, a region in China's northwest, that was at that time self-governing. In Xinjiang, Russian White Commanders and their troops gained sanctuary, financial assistance, food and shelter from Chinese provincial leaders, and then used those sanctuaries to launch operations against Soviet forces. However, by 1921, Red Army troops destroyed any remaining organised White forces, which then melted into the Chinese landscape. The ramifications of the Russian Civil War in Xinjiang had important impacts on the people of Xinjiang, and on Russia and China as well.

The Trinity, i.e., one God in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), is the core doctrine of Christianity. It confesses that God truly exists as one, and the three persons truly exist each in themselves. The seemingly paradoxical doctrine was from the beginning of the Church imprinted on the popular faith witnessed in the New Testament, the liturgy, especially the rite of baptism, and the catechetical practice. (Kelly, 1960/1968, pp. 88-90) Yet it took four centuries of controversies and synods to transform the initial faith into a doctrine. The main achievements were made in the 4th century: first, the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea I in 325 acknowledged the common substance of the Trinitarian persons by accepting the Greek term homoouios (homo means same, and ousios means being, substance, or essence); second, in the decades after Nicaea I, the common substance of the three and the distinctiveness of each person are expressed as “mia ousia, treis hypostaseis” (one substance, three persons). 三一论,即一体三位,是基督教的核心教义。它意味着天主为一、真实存在,同时天主拥有三个真实存在的位格,即圣父、圣子、圣神。这一看似自相矛盾的教义从教会建立之初就蕴含在《新约圣经》、礼仪(尤其是圣洗圣事)和信仰实践中。然而,这一原初的信仰要经过四个世纪的理论争辩和教会会议才被转化为教会教义。其中至关重要的是325年的尼西亚大公会议通过接受希腊词“同一体性(homoouios)”一词来表述圣父和圣子之间的关系,认定了天主圣三的共同体性;以及尼西亚大公会议之后,卡帕多西亚教父用希腊语中两个同为表示存在、体质的近义词ousia和hypostasis分别指代天主的同一体性和三位各自的独特存在,由此提出了“mia ousia, treis hypostaseis”(一体三位)这一三一论的经典表述。本文将根据哲学所提供的术语框架,阐述卡帕多西亚教父在三一论神学中对ousia和hypostasis的区分,然后阐释这种区分的神学意义。

With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we find ourselves living in a time of crisis. Our cultural and technological developments are being largely challenged. The pandemic tells us that the ultimate solution for all the problems we face is not in our own hands. God is where we find the final hope and salvation. In this regard, the present crisis may not be totally negative for our lives. To read the situation positively and even spiritually, we turn to the 4th-century Church Father Gregory of Nyssa, who is famous for his apophatic Mysticism. Viewing through the apophatic lens, the crisis has reminded us of the limitations of human intellectual power, which may turn our eyes to the final cause of the world, the ultimate meaning of life, and eventually what is essential for our final salvation. That is where we start our spiritual transformation anew.

內容摘要:古羅馬的普羅提諾作為新柏拉圖主義的開創者,針對亞里斯多德對柏拉圖理念論中無限逆推問題的批判,以第一原則太一作為世界的第一本原建構起自太一逐級向下生成各級存在的宇宙生成模式。在這個宇宙模式中,太一對理智的的生成決定了各級存在的生模式,並成為了普羅提諾理論體系的特點之一。本文對太一生成學說進行梳理,重點澄清作為太一生成的前提的太一的特性、太一生成中的核心概念「動能」和「雙重活動」,從而總結普羅提諾的生成觀的特色。

本文透過教父尼薩的額我略的早期著作《真福八端講道集》，探討其神學體系中天主的恩寵和人的自由之間的關係。作者著眼於天主的恩寵和人的自由在聖化過程中的動態關係，首先闡釋額我略對人的聖化即是回歸本性的縱向旅程的理解；其後具體分析該講道集中額我略對天主的恩寵（外在恩寵、內在恩寵）和人的自由（選擇的自由和自主性的自由）的理解；最後分析兩種恩寵和兩種自由在靈性旅程中本質上是並行發展、相容互惠的關係。