Modernizing and Developing China - Term Paper Example

MODERN CHINA Many issues face a rapidly modernizing and developing China. The value of its currency, the human rights of its people, and its role in the great climate change debate are all problems facing a country that is growing at a rate never before seen in the world. As China rises to become a global power, it faces many challenges. In the first part of this paper I will provide a brief overview of some of the issues faced by this countrys population and leadership. In the second part I will focus on a case study that reveals a great deal about politics in China and the power the government has over its people: the one child policy. Few countries have grown as quickly as China is now doing. For many nations, the economic set back of 2008-09, knocked years off of their economic programs. It was a testament to Chinas power and resilience that they were not especially hard hit by the global economic crisis. These problems however showed how interconnected China had become with the rest of the world. Globalization is used to describe the transition of people, their knowledge, ideas, and global imports and exports. Through globalization, people have become connected economically, politically, socially, and culturally. When people think of the concept “globalization,” they think of economic globalization or the global marketplace, and its impact especially on businesses. Although Globalization can have a potentially negative impact, such as terrorism, it has resulted in economic growth as a result of rising profits from exporting goods and services to other countries, such as China and other developing economies. It has done an incredible amount to increase business productivity and trade and make many people richer. One of the founding economic theorists of globalization is David Ricardo who focused on distributing income among landowners and workers. We can see the effected on China quite clearly. The modern Chinese, for example, have begun to become Americanized. For example, they have begun actively buying and selling in the stock market in an ordinary building on the Nan Dan Dong Road. Their buying is fierce and competitive as they wave wads of cash, similar to the buying culture of Americans. The Shanghaineses fierce stock-market trading began in 1986. At that time buyers were chanting orders for buying the product called glister. The product called glister is a popular toothpaste brand in Shanghai. The people of Shanghai invested a tremendous profit into Glister, and it is five times the price of Colgate, which is one of China’s best-selling imports from the United States. Other products that sell fiercely in the Shanghai stock market are the shampoo and dish soap. These products sell ten times more than comparable local brands, but why the premium? According to the Americanization of China article, the products are packaged in a real or metaphorical red, white, and blue. The color scheme coincides with the mission of the company name, Amway, which is short for the American Way. There is a big profit and a modernization of business practices that have come along with globalization. All of these changes have happened in recent years and are dramatically increasing with each passing year. Add to them Chinas massive investment in its military and in infrastructure and you have a country that is very much on the rise. According to Zhu Wenhui, a research associate at Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University’s China Business Center, Many Chinese see in this cycle of consumption a devious plot. "The American image has penetrated into China, especially with the young." The influence is not just from foreign films and mass media. "We often use American books in Chinese schools and many of our teachers are educated in the U.S.; the teachers who go to the U.S. to study teach what they have learned," Lee says. "Its an accident and a plan, this exposure to the American Way. This is all part of selling the American Way in the larger picture. Its like a weapon." In other words, business is booming. And as the global economy recovers from its recent shocks, China is very well positioned to take advantage of new opportunities and also some of the structural weaknesses that have been revealed during this crisis. Globalization has been very good for businesses. It is process by which people, knowledge, ideas, imports, and exports are exchanged. It has opened up many new markets and expanded already open ones. China has experienced the Americanization way of life, and it has become influenced by American businesses, such as Amway, Mary Kay, Avon, and McDonalds, which has influenced China’s interest in buying and selling American products. But the changes wrought by globalization are only part of the challenge of modern china. In the following case study, this paper will examine a Chinese policy that is very much at odds with its increased integration into the world economy—a policy that shocks the conscience of many people around the world. This issue relates very much to human rights in a globalizing world. CASE STUDY: ONE CHILD POLICY China’s One Child Policy has been around for several years now, long enough to allow a certain amount of perspective on the vociferous debate that has surrounded this issue. It is one of the foremost examples, worldwide, of a state interfering in the most basic right a person has: the right to reproduce. When the state takes away this right, they have in effect taken away a person’s purpose for living—if you believe life is on earth in order to propagate. As such, this policy has consequences for all of us, especially Chinese people who have been forced to deal with it for many years. One of the purposes of this essay is to persuade policymakers in China to alter the one child policy, which is harmful to individual freedom. It examines what caused the policy to be implemented in the first place and looks the effects the policy has had on Chinese families and society. Some of the effects can be seen as positive, but it is evident to a reasonable person than many of the effects are highly negative. Authorities in China say that since 2000, more than 250 million live births have been prevented by the use of this policy. They claim that if these people had been born, the current infrastructure and social structure in China would be unable to support them and that China would be weaker today. This argument goes to the core of the policy and is one of the main reasons it was implemented in the first place by the Chinese government back in the late 1970s following the period of economic opening led by Deng Xiaping. At the time the policy was implemented by the government there were grave concerns about China being overpopulated and being unable to support its own people. This led some politicians to suggest the one child policy. Another cause was the fact that it contraception was not widely available back at the time this policy went into effect. It was harder for women to control their own reproduction; instead, the state decided to take control. But today, several decades later, many wonder if it was even necessary. For example, has it done much to address this state problem? Even today, China’s birthrate is closer to 2 births per woman at around 1.8 births per woman. This is significantly highly than in many Western developed countries which have a low birth rate and no planning policy. Many of the women in these countries rely on birth control and contraceptives, something Chinese women had trouble doing back in the 1980s. Today many planning clinics offer such drugs and one wonders whether the planning policy is even necessary anymore (although the government has signalled it would be kept in place for another ten years). Whether or not its causes require the policy in the first place, it is clear that it has had a significant impact on Chinese society, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. For example, there are many who suggest that the low number of children Chinese families have has allowed them to significantly increase their savings rate. Instead of paying money for the upkeep and education of their children—things that are usually very expensive—Chinese people are able to save their money in the bank. These savings may have been partly responsible for the significant economic growth seen in China over the last few years. Instead of buying everything on credit, many Chinese actually have money in their pocket to spend. The example above is a positive effect. That said, there are also many possible negative effects of the policy. For example, the one child policy is unequally enforced. It is much easier to get away with having two or more children if you live in rural areas. In part this is because farmers and people like farmer require more children to keep the land and bring in the harvest; it is also a function of the fact that it is simply harder to keep tabs and to police rural areas where people live far from roads and often in the middle of nowhere. People in urban areas, who are easier to keep an eye on, are often disproportionately affected by the policy. This unequal application of the law has led to an increasing cultural and political tension and divide between rural and urban areas in China. Another serious issue and unintended consequence of the program has been a large gender ratio disparity. There are simply more boys born in families than girls these days. How has this come to pass? No one knows for sure, but it is likely that infanticide is being practiced in the countryside against female babies. The problem for rural Chinese is that there is a gender preference for boys over girls. Boys can do more labour and they are also more prized for cultural reasons. If couple can only have one child they really prefer for it to be a boy rather a girl—for whom they would also have to pay an expensive dowry when she marries. This silent killing spree has dramatically affected gender ratios in China. A third serious problem that comes as a result of this policy also similar to the last one. Because the law states that if you do have more than the one child allotted to you you must pay a heavy fine and have no access to the state subsidized programs like schools, etc, and that you have pay for them yourselves, many parents cannot afford these burdens. If they accidentally have more children than they are allowed, they are forced to give them away. Some go to state orphanages which are now overcrowded and have very bad standards. Imagine how sad it would be to go to an orphanage even though your parents are still alive! Other babies are sold to foreigners or adoption agency. This heartache, all in the name of state planning, must be wrenching and has clearly had a powerful affect on the relationship between the people and the state. It remains to be seen whether this policy will be enough to make people boil over with hatred to their government but it is hard to imagine what might do so otherwise. No one likes to see the government involved in managing peoples’ personal lives, and yet this is what we see in China. The Chinese government has taken control of the most basic and individual choices of its citizens. While there might be a few small benefits to the one child policy such as trying to relieve the burden on the system due to overpopulation, the negative effects far outweigh any positive outcome. Works consulted Gluckman, Ron, et al. “THE AMERICANIZATION OF CHINA.” 30 Mar. 2009. . Plinge, J. Walter. “What Causes Americanization?” © Copyright 2002 31 Mar. 2009. . “Avon profit, 2008 sales outlook send shares higher.” REUTERS. 5 Feb. 2008. 31 Mar. 2009. . Christine Byrd. “China’s Brave New World Explored.” U of C Newsroom. July 17, 2007. http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/9352 Read More