ChinaBy Jill Schnall and Emily Mason

Important Concepts

•Mass Line – line of communication between party leaders, members, and peasants▫Involves everyone teaching and listening to

each other•“Four Modernizations”

▫Industry, agriculture, science, military

Isolationistic Tendencies

•Mountain ranges, deserts, oceans separate China from other countries

•Han Chinese culture dates to ancient times

A Brief History

•Government based on:▫Authoritarian power▫Confucianism▫Bureaucratic hierarchy based on

scholarship▫The “Middle Kingdom”▫Communist ideologies

Historical Eras1. Dynastic Rule

▫ Scholarship establishes superiority▫ Strong sense of cultural identity

(ethnocentrism)2. Resistance to Imperialism

▫ Cultural identity nationalism▫ Resisted attempts by England, France,

Germany, Japan3. Maoism

▫ Believed in the strength of the peasant▫ Collectivism, Struggle and activism, Mass

line, Egalitarianism, Self-reliance4. Deng Xiaoping Theory

Government Today

• Chinese Communist Party – heart of political system

• People’s National Congress• People select representatives to

Congress in local elections• Local representatives select next level

of Congress and so on• Choose president and vice president

Government Today• President and Vice President• 5 year terms, 2 term limit• At least 45 years old

• Premier – head of government, appointed by the president

President Hu Jintao

Vice President Xi Jinping

Government Today

• Judiciary• “People’s Court” system –

organized hierarchically• Rule of law – laws bind behavior

and all are equally subject to them

One Child Policy• Established by Deng Xiaoping in 1979

• Supposed to be a “temporary measure”

• Main purpose is to control population growth

• Birthrates were 4 children per family

• Lack of resources

• Limits families to one child

• Exceptions – rural families,

Ethnic minorities, parents without

Any siblings

Pros

•Control population growth•Improved life expectancy•More women working because less

household duties•Social welfare benefits•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1w1Q

h02-z8

Cons

•Abortion, neglect, abandonment, infanticide

•Fines, forced abortions, sterilizations•114 males:100 females ages 0-4•Large population of elderly dependent on children•Lonely children

One Child Policy Today•Gradually relaxing rules•“2-child policy”•Aging population•Costs of raising multiple children will

prevent couples from having multiple children

Two Child Policy

•City of Yicheng chosen for secret experiment

•Allowed couples to have more than one child

•Population actually grew slower than national population

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9kdQLQYT5w

Tibet (Summary)

•China has claimed Tibet as part of its country for thousands of years

•Tibetans are a different ethnicity than most Chinese, which are Han

http://youtu.be/cc7zjkHKMbY

Should Tibet be its own country,or a part of China? Is there a compromise?