Contemporary China

Smithtown High School West

Christina Cone

2007

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Which of these pictures were

taken in China?

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

DO NOW:

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True or False?1. All Chinese people speak the same language.

2. Mao unified China.

3. China has sovereignty over Taiwan.

4. Deng Xiaoping intended to implement democracy.

5. The Great Wall is a man-made object visible from space.

6. Over 20 percent of the world's population are Chinese.

7. Only Beijing and Shanghai represent the current China.

8. China is backward and poor.

9. The one child policy works.

10. China is a communist country.

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Examining Contemporary China

• Society

• Population

• Ethnic Diversity

• One Child Policy

• Politics

• Economics

• Development

• Beijing Olympics

• Environmental Impact

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PopulationWith just over _________ people, China is the world's most populous country. As the

world's population is approximately 6.5 billion, China represents a full 20% of the world's population so one in every five people on the planet is a resident of China.

One third of the population today is under 14, two-thirds are under 30.

About three-quarters of the people live in rural areas. However, urban centers are growing rapidly.

TASK:Half of the class: Explain why a large population is a positive for a country.

Half of the class: Explain why a large population is a negative for a country.

1.3 billion

Ethnic MinoritiesThe Han Chinese make up 92% of the population of China. Then, there are fifty-six extremely diverse ethnic minorities in China. Some of the minorities, including the Hui and the Zhuang, are very similar to the Han; others are very different, for instance, the Turkic peoples of the west such as the Uighurs or Kazakhs, or the

Iranian Tajiks. The minority nationalities occupy about 60 percent of China's territory, including, above all, the vast western areas.

QUESTION: Think about China’s geography. Is it an advantage or a disadvantage to live in the western region? Why?

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Chinese Nationalities and Their Populations

Minorities Shown Left to Right Descending by Population

Minority Population Minority Population Minority Population Minority Population

Han 1,136,703,824 Zhuang 15,555,800 Manchu 8,846,800 Hui 8,612,000

Miao 7,383,600 Uygur 7,207,000 Yi 6,578,500 Tujia 5,725,000

Mongolian 4,802,400 Tibetan 4,593,100 Bouyei 2,548,300 Dong 2,506,800

Yao 2,137,000 Korean 1,923,400 Bai 1,598,100 Hani 1,254,800

Li 1,112,500 Kazakh 1,110,800 Dai 1,025,400 She 634,700

Lisu 574,600 Gelao 438,200 Lahu 411,500 Dongxiang 373,700

Wa 352,000 Shui 347,100 Naxi 277,800 Qiang 198,600

Du 192,600 Xibe 172,900 Mulam 160,600 Kirgiz 143,500

Daur 121,500 Jingp 119,300 Salar 87,500 Bulang 82,400

Maonan 72,400 Tajik 33,200 Pumi 29,700 Achang 27,700

Nu 27,200 Ewenki 26,400 Jing 18,700 Jino 18,000

De'ang 15,500 Uzbek 14,800 Russian 13,500 Yugur 12,300

Bonan 11,700 Menba 7,500 Oroqin 7,000 Drung 5,800

Tatar 5,100 Hezhen 4,300 Gaoshan 2.900 Lhoba 2,300 (27)

Giant pandas are black-and-white Chinese bears that are on the verge of extinction. There are about 1500 pandas in the world. The Chinese people call the panda "Da xiong mao,"

which means "giant bear cat" in Chinese. The panda is a symbol of peace in China.

The Red Panda is native to the Himalayas in Nepal and southern China. The word panda is derived from Nepalese word "ponya" which means bamboo and plants eating animals in

Nepal.

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Population Under MaoThe failure of the Great Leap was partly blamed on Mao's idea of "the more people, the

stronger we are" and the rampant overpopulation which resulted.

In 1962 a Birth Control Campaign was launched. However, during the Cultural Revolution birth control was denounced as a bourgeois concept. As the Cultural Revolution ebbed,

birth control again received official backing.

Zhou Enlai declared that "one child is ideal, two are enough, three are too many." However in the late 70s it became clear that keeping family size down to 2 children was

inadequate. China was faced by a population growth that threatened its progress.

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One-Child PolicyChina's one child policy was established by Chinese leader _______________ in 1979

to limit communist China's population growth. The policy limits couples to one child.

Additional children will result in large fines. The families are required to pay

economic penalties, and might be denied bonuses at their workplace.

QUESTION: What do you think happens if a couple has more than one child?

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Deng Xiaoping

QUESTION: What commonalities can you notice in these images?

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Exceptions to the One-Child Policy Rule

• In most rural areas, families are allowed to have two children, if the first child is female, or disabled.

• If a couple is composed of two people without siblings, they may have two children.

• The one-child policy is mostly restricted to ethnic Han Chinese, not the minority populations.

• Children born in overseas countries are not counted into the policy if they do not obtain Chinese citizenship. Chinese returned from overseas can have a second child.

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PROS AND CONS:TASK: Brainstorm with a partner the pros and cons of the

one-child policy.

Spoiled/Little Emperor syndrome

Pros Cons

Violation of human rights

Government control over individuals

Increasing hardships in caring for elderly

Lack of sibling relationships

Gender discrimination/imbalance

Age imbalance

Slows population growth

Increased pressure on only children

Good for the environment

Good for the economy

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Confucianism and the One-Child Policy

QUESTIONS:

1. In what ways might Confucian beliefs help support the one-child policy?

2. In what ways might Confucian beliefs lead to discontent with the one-child policy?

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Effects of the One-Child Policy

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1. Estimated to have reduced population growth. The fertility rate has fallen to 1.7 births per woman.

2. Gender imbalance - the ratio is now 114 males for every 100 females.

3. Ethnic minorities have had their proportion in China grow.

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DO NOW:

“Corruption is the virus that has eroded the healthy body of the party and the state. If we lower our guard and let it run wild, our party will

be ruined, the people’s power will be lost, and the great cause of socialist modernization will be forced off track. Our party, our cadres, and our people will never allow such consequences.

-Jiang Zemin, Communist Party general secretary, August 1993

Source: James A.R. Miles, The Legacy of Tiananmen, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996, p. 147.

1. What are the goals of the speaker?

2. Why do you think the speaker is so concerned with corruption?

3. Is there bias in this quote? Explain.

Politics of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)

BEIJING: President Hu Jintao said attempts to modernize China's political system must not jeopardize one-party rule…Hu, who is also the Communist Party chief,…embraced greater "political participation" by ordinary people but ruled out steps toward Western-style democracy. Such changes should… preserve the Communist Party's monopoly on political power, he said.

China's leader vows to uphold one-party ruleInternational Herald Tribune:Asia-Pacific

By Joseph Kahn, Published: June 27, 2007

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Economic Development China is one of the world's top exporters and is attracting record amounts of foreign investment. In turn, it is investing billions of dollars abroad.

China is the largest oil consumer after the US, and the world's biggest producer and consumer of coal.

There has been a massive investment in hydro-power, including the $25 billion Three Gorges Dam project.

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Beijing Olympics(48)

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“For many people in China, the Olympics symbolized that China has regained a prominent position in the world after almost 150 years of wars, political upheaval, and

periods of relative isolation.

The Olympics spurred a campaign to clean up environmental problems, renovate monuments to Chinese history and culture, and teach millions of people to speak

English. China expected to receive about a half a million visitors for the Olympics, a benefit to its economy.”

- Mary Cingcade, Associate Director, East Asia Resource Center, University of Washington

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Olympic Emblems, Symbols, Slogans

"Chinese Seal, Dancing Beijing"

SLOGAN

EMBLEM

Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival Symbol

Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics -'Green Olympics'

Volunteers Symbol of Beijing Olympics

The Color System:

The Chinese Red

The Glaze Yellow

The Chinese Scholar-tree Green

The Blue and White Porcelain Blue

The Great Wall Grey

The Jade White

All images from http://en.beijing2008.cn/62/67/column211716762.shtm

Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace to

children all over the world. Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.

Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the

Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing," offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

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Displacement of People“For thousands of Beijing's residents, this "urban makeover" came at an incredible cost. According to UNESCO, in the past three years a third of the 62km squared area that makes up the central part of the old city has now been destroyed. This has displaced close to 580,000 people – one

and a half times the total population of Washington D.C.”- Sean Gallagher, Open Democracy, Ltd.

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Rural Versus Urban

The economic disparity between urban China and the rural areas is among the largest in the world. Many impoverished rural dwellers are flocking to the country's eastern cities, which are enjoying a construction boom.

Social discontent manifests itself in protests by farmers and workers. There were 87,000 protests, or "mass incidents," in 2005, according to official figures.

VIDEO CLIP:

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How would you describe life for the migrant workers in the cities?

http://www5.unitedstreaming.com/index.cfm China Rises: Getting Rich Migrant Workers (5:49) 0-3:25

A Migrant’s Lament

From Sichuan to Canton

Thru’ Ou-yang to Shenzhen

Home is lone gone

Mom and dad had to leave

Your words forever in my heart.

They say Canton streets are made of gold

It’s been over three years

I wish my family were near

But my pockets are still bare….

A day feels like a year

It ain’t so easy to be away from home

No cash, no salt, no oil, no grain

To live is agony.

A young woman from Sichuan, who died in a tragic workplace fire at her factory in Shenzen…, had copied these words to a song in her diary.

Source: Anita Chan, China’s Workers Under Assault, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2001, pp. 113-114

Building a Harmonious Society

Methods:

Abolished agricultural tax

Expanded subsidies for education in rural areas

New retirement, unemployment, health care systems

Growing concern with the environment

Goal of President Hu and China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, to reduce the gap between China's wealthy elite and a vast majority of its working population.

QUESTIONS:

1. How does this idea resonate with Confucianism?

2. Do you think this will be successful? Why or why not?

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In Chinese culture, 8 is the luckiest number and 4 is the unluckiest number. The number 4, or si, also means death in Chinese. And the number 8, or ba, rhymes with fa the Chinese character for wealth. Having a license plate with an 8 or hopefully many 8's is suppose to bring you good

fortune and wealth.

Other Issues/Problems• Human rights campaigners criticize China for executing hundreds of people every year

• Chinese rule over Tibet is controversial. Some accuse the authorities of destruction of Tibetan Buddhist culture and the persecution of monks loyal to the Dalai Lama

• Beijing says the island of Taiwan is a part of Chinese territory that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. It has threatened to invade should Taiwan declare independence.

•The authorities have targeted the Falun Gong spiritual movement

• Corruption

• Growing rate of HIV infection

• Environmental degradation - China is home to many of the world's most-polluted cities

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Environmental Issues

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Prediction

VIDEO CLIP: “China Rises: Getting Rich” – Introduction (1:12)

The narrator asks, “Can China keep moving forward, or will the forces of change tear it apart?” How would you respond?

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