China: History, Government, and the Future

Objectives:1. Compare and contrast modern China to the U.S.

2. Analyze Chinese history and describe how unwanted foreign intervention has influenced China.

3. Explain how the Chinese Civil War influenced U.S. Chinese relations and led to what we consider modern China.

4. Analyze current areas of dispute between the Chinese and U.S. (Tibet, Taiwan, human rights and freedoms, currency manipulation, and military buildup)

5. Describe current problems that are plaguing China from within.

“China? There lies a sleeping giant. Let him sleep! For when he wakes he will move the world.”-Napoleon I

How will the U.S. respond to a strong China?

• Monroe Doctrine – – Statement made in 1823 by president James Monroe. Forced

Euro countries out of our hemisphere.

• Since this time we have crushed all threats to our dominance.– Imperial Germany– Imperial Japan– Nazi Germany– Soviet Union

• Will we respond to China the same way?

Language and Historic Contributions

• Language – Standard Mandarin (however many variations)

• Names: Chinese names are family name (last name) first.

• Has the world’s oldest continuously used written language system.

• Major historic inventions – gunpowder, compass, paper, printing (1st printed book = Diamond Sutra)

Why is Mandarin so hard to translate?

Characters, not letters…symbols represent a word

• Around 56,000 different symbols (many are rarely used – literacy requires about 3000)

TranslationAll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Brief ancient history

• China was ruled by dynasties from at least 2100 BC until 1911.

• 1200’s Mongol invaders under leader Kublai Khan took over all of China.

• Khan opened the country to trade and made it the largest empire in the world.

• After Khan’s death China returned to isolationism.

Kublai Khan

Empire under Khan

European Involvement: Opium Wars

European Involvement• Main interest = tea and silk.• China was wary of outsiders and limited Euro interaction.• British grow opium in India and illegally trade it to Chinese

civilians. Opium War between China and Britain follows. China loses and Brit takes the island of Hong Kong in 1842. (held until 1997)

• Other imperial countries quickly follow (Ger, Fr, Rus, Dutch, Jap, U.S.) and forcibly open China.

• “Open Door Policy” – agreement of imperial countries not to restrict the business of others in their regions. (proposed by U.S. in 1899)

• 1900-01 Boxer Rebellion

Silk Road

Opium Addicts

Heroine, Opium, Morphine are all opiates.

-According to a CBS news article, Afghanistan is supplying the opiates for 87% of the world’s heroine.

-Opiates are over 50% of Afghan’s GDP today.

-That’s over ½ million acres.

The Open Door Policy and the Boxer Rebellion

Boxer Rebellion

• Boxers were Chinese revolutionaries whose main goal was to kick out the foreign invaders. They killed missionaries, Chinese Christian converts, foreign businessmen, govnt workers.

• European and American response was strong. Unified army attacks Beijing and demands more trade freedoms. They set up a weak puppet government called the Republic of China in 1912.

Foreign armies in Beijing’s Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion (this was the dwelling of the Emperors: no outsiders

were ever allowed in here before…it was insulting)

Boxer Prisoners being guarded by U.S. troops.

This Harper's Weekly cartoon by W. A. Rogers encourages an aggressive American military reaction to the Boxer Rebellion in China.  A determined Uncle Sam has donned two naval ships as boxing gloves, provoking the Chinese rebel, whose knife drips with blood, into a wide-eyed grimace of fear.

European spheres

of influence

1914

China in World War II

• Japan invades in 1937-45. Kills over 10 million Chinese.

• U.S. and the other allies ally with China to defeat the Japanese.

• After the war China becomes a pawn of the Cold War.

Rape of Nanking. Between 200,000 and 300,000 Chinese civilians murdered by the Japanese.

Nanking

Post WWII China – Civil War

• After WWII the Nationalists (backed by U.S.) and Communists (backed by USSR) fight for control of China.

- Nationalist leader = Chiang Kai-shek

- Communist leader = Mao Zedong

• In 1949 the Nationalists flee to Taiwan and Communists take control of mainland China.

• Chairman Mao becomes the leader of China until his death in 1976.

• U.S. backing of Taiwan has created many U.S./China problems. (ex: Korean War)

Mao Zedong

China’s split in the 1949 Civil War.

• Communist – People’s Republic of China (PRC). Today’s mainland China.

• Nationalist – Republic of China (ROC). Today called Taiwan.

• U.S. backs Taiwan and refuses to recognize the PRC. Americans are shut out of the country for 22 years.

Forrest was there

Ping Pong Diplomacy –1971 U.S. ping pong team visits China (first U.S. group allowed in

since 1949) and paves the way for Nixon’s visit in 72.

The beginning of U.S./China improving relations.

Nixon’s 1972 Trip to China

• 1st time an American President visited the PRC.

• U.S. acknowledges that Taiwan is part of China but says a peaceful agreement must be reached by both to unify (it still hasn’t).

• This trip is the starting point for the improving U.S./China relationship today.

As a gift Mao gave Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing. Nixon gave them 2 musk oxen in return.

• Ling Ling died in 1992, Hsing Hsing in 1999

1989 student protests in Tiananmen Square.

Tank Man on Frontline (90 min)Shorter Video discussing the incident first 10 min of film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB70mWXrzEE

Working Conditions and students interviewed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL9-kfgm8kA&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Notice the portrait of Mao.Notice the difference in clothing.Are these positive or negative images for China?What is the message of the artist who painted each?What other significant differences do you see?

A tail of two paintings…before and after the 1989 Cultural Revolution.

American Consumption. What happens when China tops this?

Current Problems: Tibet

Go to the website http://www.freetibet.org/about/10-facts-about-tibet

• When was Tibet invaded?• Who is the spiritual leader of Tibet?• Where does he run the Tibetan “Government in

Exile” from now?• Why does China say that it invaded Tibet?• What freedoms have the Chinese limited in Tibet?• How big is Tibet?• How have the Chinese harmed the Tibetan

environment?• Why has the U.N. done very little about the problem?

Assignment 1: Tibet• Tibet was independent until China invaded in 1949.• Tibetans rebelled but were crushed in 1959.• Tibetans have a unique culture and religion compared

to the Chinese. Most are devout Buddhists.• They continue to protest for their freedom and are

brutally repressed.• International outcry for Tibetan freedom has been

huge.

Assignment 2:

• Do your own research online and find an environmental issue that is plaguing China. Briefly summarize the issue, the cause, and what is being done about it. You will share this with the rest of the class.

Assignment 2

• Do some research online and find a specific human rights issue dealing with China. Briefly summarize the issue, explaining what happened and how the Chinese dealt with the problem. You will be sharing this with the class.

Assignment 3

• Go to the following link and forward the video to 18 minutes (deals with China) http://www.hulu.com/watch/184846/cnbc-originals-trash-inc-the-secret-life-of-garbage

• After watching the video, briefly summarize the environmental problem faced by the Chinese due to the disposal of trash.

The Dali Lama, the spiritual leader of Buddhist Tibet has been in exile in India since 1959.

Former home of the Dali Lama in Tibet

Protests around the globe before the 2008 Olympics

Current Problems: Taiwan• Taiwan has its own democratic government and says

it is independent. China says that it owns Taiwan.• U.S. recognizes that there is only 1 China and that

Taiwan is a part of it, but won’t let China interfere.• U.S. supports mutually agreed upon peace, however,

we supply Taiwan with military supplies. (have threatened force in the past)

• It is still a touchy issue.– China per cap GDP 5,000…..Taiwan 30,000

Chinese Pollution Problem

• Largely due to unregulated coal power plants.

• Has16 of the top 20 polluted cities.

• Kills thousands if not hundreds of thousands every year

Taihu lake: China’s 3rd

largest.

Beijing: China’s largest city

NASA image showing

Chinese air pollution (gray)

Government

• China is a communist state. Its government is unelected and restricts many freedoms.– Press, Speech,

Religion, Assembly (no more than 5 gathered ).

President Hu Jintao

Religion

• The Chinese Government recognizes five official religions--Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Catholicism, and Protestantism.

• Religion isn’t allowed outside of state controlled religious venues. Violators face harassment and detainment.

Media

• State run media with heavy censorship of the internet.

• Do a search for Tiananmen Square and compare the number of results. – Google.com = U.S. version– Google.cn = Chinese version

Military Buildup

• http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-07-27-china-strengthens-military_n.htm

Chinese buying debt: What would happen if they cashed in

their bonds?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1dDIrOCbUo

U.S. Debt Graph

U.S. debt and China

• We spend over $450 billion a year in just interest on our debt. If we didn’t have a debt payoff income taxes could be 40% lower.

• U.S. debt represents over 1/2 of our GDP.• Most U.S. debt is bought by its citizens in the

form of bonds but countries buy it too.• Bonds are a relatively safe form of investment for

China who has bought over $1 trillion.• To pay back so much debt there are worries that

the U.S. may devalue its currency.

U.S. debt and China• Purchasing debt provides money

for the U.S. government to stimulate the economy and lend. It also keeps the value of the dollar high and Chinese money low.

• If China cashed in all their bonds or stopped buying new ones our economy may go into a tailspin b/c we would have far less $ to lend. = Economic clout.

• This relationship is symbiotic

                                                                      

                                                                                          

U.S. and China Currency dispute

• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/module.html?s=news01s4754q1035

• Start at 3 minutes