Eric's Blog

For much of its history, China kept itself separated from the rest of the world. The high mountains and deserts protected it from invasion. Most of Chinas wars have been civil wars.

Separation from the rest of the world meant that China was a poor country. An isolated China can feed itself but cannot create enough economic demand by itself to grow its economy.  China must trade with other countries to build its economy. Before the 1800s, Chinas trade routes were on the land. The Silk Road is one of the most famous of these routes. When the British forced trade on China in the 1860s, the sea became China’s main trade link.

Trade with the British and other countries made Chinese traders along the coast very rich. But, people in inland China remained poor farmers. Many of Chinas internal problems over the last 150 years can be traced to this big difference in standard of living.  Foreigners joined the rich costal Chinese merchants to weaken the central government. Mao used poverty to unite peasants and workers and overthrow the rich landlords.

China has had a central government for over 2000 years. When the central government was strong, China was powerful. When the central government was weak, China suffered. When Mao took control of the central government, he had three main goals.

First, Mao wanted to bring all of China under the rule of a central government.  All provinces were under Beijing’s control. Second, Mao wanted to end the differences between the rich merchants of the coast and the poor farmers away from the coast. Third, Mao wanted to get rid of the foreigners who had caused so much trouble for China. Mao wanted one united Han China. Mao was successful in all three goals and the result was a united but very poor China.

Protecting Chinas Borders

Mao’s major goal after coming to power was to protect Chinas borders. Mao quickly got Manchuria and Inner Mongolia under control to protect them from Soviet control. Next, Mao took over Xinjiang and put the province under Communist control. The Soviets wanted to control Xinjiang also. Finally, Mao took control of Tibet in 1951 to protect China from India. In 1952 and 1953, China pushed the US back from Chinas border with Korea at the cost of almost 1 million Chinese soldiers. Finally, Mao protected the coast by closing almost all trade with foreigners. Mao saw foreign trade as a problem, not a solution.

Mao unified China, protected its borders but made it impossible for China to work its way out of poverty. Deng Xiaopeng understood that, to become rich, China had to trade with the world. Deng also knew that this was dangerous to Chinas unity. Dengs solution was open trade and a very strong central government run by the Communist Party. Trade would make China rich. The Party would keep China strong.

Chinas Situation Today

The biggest threat to China’s borders comes from the US Navy. The US navy could close down China’s ports, stop trade, and stop China’s oil supply. China’s main military goal to keep the US Navy from controlling China’s ports. China has worked hard to develop missiles that could sink ships and submarines that could also sink ships. This is much faster and cheaper that trying to build a navy the size of the US Navy. China wants to make it too expensive for the US Navy to interfere with China.

Another threat comes from Russia.  Russia controls much of Central Asia where China buys oil. The Russians have a lot of energy resources that China badly needs but relations between China and Russia have never been friendly. Chinese influence in Kazakhstan is a problem for Russia. No one knows how the Russian military might act if Russia feels threatened.

The biggest threat to China is not from the outside. China’s biggest threat comes from economic divisions inside of China. A unified China requires a happy China and a happy China requires a strong economy.  Anything that is a threat to China’s economy is bigger than the military threats against China. To stay in power, the central government must protect and grow trade. China’s trade depends on low cost production–mainly cheap labor.

China cannot control many of the costs required to build its exports. China does not control oil prices. If China tries to control wages, workers will become very dissatisfied. If China uses its foreign currency to subsidize exporters, it is actually giving that money back to the nations that import Chinese products. Chinas government is faced with the problem of keeping both its citizens and customers happy at the same time. It is dependent on both groups to keep China united.

One of the biggest threats to Han unity is the difference in wealth between the coastal merchants and inland farmers. This is the same situation China faced 100 years ago. The coastal merchants are closely tied with foreign customers and investors and their interests go outside of China. The inland citizens goal is to get money from the coast to flow to the inland cities and farms. The government’s goal is to keep everybody united–a big problem.

The flow of money from the coast to inland China comes from two major sources: money sent by workers to their families and money from the government to support farm prices, education and other important needs. Coastal merchants are not much interested in inland China because it is too poor to create big profits. If China’s economic growth slows, there will be less money for the government to send inland and many of the unemployed factory workers will return to their inland homes.

With 900 million Chinese living inland, the inland holds the power. With most of the economy at the coast, the coastal areas control the wealth. The government sits between them. Unity built on economic growth is not a stable political system. America’s democratic tradition has held the country together in good and bad economic times. Chinas government could benefit greatly from the US model if it wants to stay in power for a long time.

Your Opinion, Please!

What are some of Chinese government’s actions that support this article? What are some that seem opposed to this article?

How do you think the government will act to stay in power if the economy slows down too much? What is the government doing today during the “great recession”?

If China suddenly had a “one man, one vote” democratic government, what are some outcomes you could predict?

What political future do you see for China?

Vocabulary List

costal: on the sea coast OR Pertaining to the ribs or the sides of the body; as costal nerves.

currency: dollars, yen, yuan, euros OR A continued or uninterrupted course or flow like that of a stream; as the currency of time. [货币贬值  [huo4 bi4 bian3 zhi2]  (currency: devaluation) / 貨幣兌換 货币兑换  [huo4 bi4 dui4 huan4]  (currency: exchange) / 幣制 币制  [bi4 zhi4]  (currency: system) / 金錢 金钱  [jin1 qian2]  (currency)]

democratic: where people get to vote OR Pertaining to democracy; favoring democracy, or constructed upon the principle of government by the people. [民主集中制  [min2 zhu3 ji2 zhong1 zhi4]  (democratic: centralism) / 民主派 民主派  [min2 zhu3 pai4]  (democratic: faction) / 民主黨 民主党  [Min2 zhu3 dang3]  (democratic: Party) / 民主革命 民主革命  [min2 zhu3 ge2 ming4]  (democratic: revolution) / 民主化 民主化  [min2 zhu3 hua4]  (democratic: transformation) / 民主政治 民主政治  [min2 zhu3 zheng4 zhi4]  (democratic)]

geopolitics: the study of the effects of economic geography on the powers of the state. [地缘政治学  [di4 yuan2 zheng4 zhi4 xue2]  (geopolitics)]

influence: affect how someone behaves OR A flowing in or upon; influx. [感化  [gan3 hua4]  (influence: a malefactor to a better) / 勢力 势力  [shi4 li5]  (influence: ability to) / 潛移默化 潜移默化  [qian2 yi2 mo4 hua4]  (influence: secretly    ) / 影響力 影响力  [ying3 xiang3 li4]  (influence)]

inland: Into, or towards, the interior, away from the coast. [内陆河  [nei4 lu4 he2]  (inland: river) / 內地 内地  [nei4 di4]  (inland)]

interfere: To come in collision; to be in opposition; to clash; — usually used with <ptcl>with</ptcl>; as, interfering claims, or commands; workers in a crowded shop may interfere with each other’s activity. [耽误  [dan1 wu5]  (interfere: with    ) / 摻和 掺和  [chan1 huo5]  (interfere)]

invasion: attack into another country OR The act of invading; the act of encroaching upon the rights or possessions of another; encroachment; trespass. [侵略  [qin1 lu:e4]  (invasion)]

isolated: Placed or standing alone; detached; separated from others. [特例  [te4 li4]  (isolated: example) / 孤島 孤岛  [gu1 dao3]  (isolated: region) / 幽靜 幽静  [you1 jing4]  (isolated)]

overthrow: remove by force OR The act of overthrowing; the state of being overthrown; ruin. [灭  [mie4]  (overthrow: a former regime  ) / 倒臺 倒台  [dao3 tai2]  (overthrow)]

poverty: being poor OR The quality or state of being poor or indigent; want or scarcity of means of subsistence; indigence; need. [扶贫  [fu2 pin2]  (poverty: alleviation) / 貧困率 贫困率  [pin2 kun4 lu:4]  (poverty: rate) / 貧窮潦倒 贫穷潦倒  [pin2 qiong2 liao2 dao3]  (poverty: stricken) / 貧困 贫困  [pin2 kun4]  (poverty)]

predict: tell what will happen soon OR A prediction. [捉摸  [zhuo1 mo1]  (predict: often in the combination difficult) / 卜問 卜问  [bu3 wen4]  (predict: by divining   ) / 推斷 推断  [tui1 duan4]  (predict)]

recession: bad economy OR The act of ceding back; restoration; repeated cession; as, the recession of conquered territory to its former sovereign. [经济衰退  [jing1 ji4 shuai1 tui4]  (recession: economic) / 不景氣 不景气  [bu4 jing3 qi4]  (recession)]

subsidize: To furnish with a subsidy; to purchase the assistance of by the payment of a subsidy; to aid or promote, as a private enterprise, with public money; as, to subsidize a steamship line. [资助  [zi1 zhu4]  (subsidize)]

threat: to say you are going to do something to hurt someone OR The expression of an intention to inflict evil or injury on another; the declaration of an evil, loss, or pain to come; menace; threatening; denunciation.

unemployed: people without jobs OR Not employed in manual or other labor; having no regular work. [无业游民  [wu2 ye4 you2 min2]  (unemployed)]

unified: together [统管  [tong3 guan3]  (unified: administration) / 統配 统配  [tong3 pei4]  (unified: allocation) / 統建 统建  [tong3 jian4]  (unified: construction) / 統配 统配  [tong3 pei4]  (unified: distribution) / 統貨 统货  [tong3 huo4]  (unified: goods) / 統一資源 统一资源  [tong3 yi1 zi1 yuan2]  (unified: resource)]

In category: China , Politics | Tags: ESL News |

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