Economic LiberalizationNOT

Political Liberalization

• Democracy Wall (1978)– Movement for increase in civil rights and liberties.– Deng Xiaoping shut it down.

• Tiananmen Square (1989)– Initially student protests– Spread throughout country– Crushed by PLA

Economic LiberalizationNOT

Political Liberalization

• Charter 08 (2008)– 60th Anniv. Of Universal

Declaration of Human Rights.– Liu Xiaobo (Nobel Prize Winner)

jailed along with others.

“Crackdown Continues on Activists in China”

• Zhu Yufu, 58-year old poet

• 7 years in prison. • Inciting subversion of

state power.

It’s TimeIt’s timeIt’s time, Chinese people!It’s time,The square is ours,The feet are ours,It’s time to use our feet to go to the square and make a choice.

Local People’s Congress & Village Elections

• Independent candidates allowed.Are elections “free and fair?”

• CCP must confirm candidates.• CCP controls election

committee.• CCP sets election laws.

Problems faced by independent candidates?

“China from the Inside: Village Elections”

• If the CCP is not “infatuated with democracy,” why do they allow elections in the villages?

• “Grassroots democracy is like water. You have to channel it to keep it from flooding.”

• Will successful local elections increase or decrease the demand for larger democratic reform?

Google in China

“Don’t Be Evil”-- Google’s motto

• Agreed to self-censorship in order to operate in China.

“While removing search results is inconsistent with Google’s mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission.”

--Google senior policy counsel Andrew McLaughlin

Google.cn

• Head of Government Relations fired for giving gifts of iPods to Chinese officials.

• “Google Suggest” suggested links the Communist Party found offensive.

• China hacked Google’s system.– Gmail accounts of dissidents and activists

• Google ended self-censorship• Google.cn now just a referral page to

Google.hk

Open Net Initiative

http://map.opennet.net/filtering-pol.html

Censorship In China

• WHAT HAPPENED?– CCP Propaganda Official substantially rewrote “Southern

Weekly’s “ article without knowledge of editors.• WHY?– Article expressed a “dream” for constitutional government

in China.• WIEBO?– Government confiscated “Southern Weekly’s” account

and posted messages saying the editors approved of the changes.

• FALLOUT? – Large protests and strike by journalists.

Religion in China

• Atheism (official state position) Majority • Buddhism (From India) 8-15%• Christianity About 2%• Islam 1-2%• Taoism (Native to China) Less than 1%

• Various other folk religions

Religion in China

• Technically protected by Constitution• 5 state-sanctioned “patriotic religious

associations. . .” Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, & Protestantism– Strictly monitored and regulated • Catholics cannot profess loyalty to the Vatican• Religious can only proselytize in registered places• Tibetan Buddhists cannot venerate the Dalai Lama.

• Other religious groups are outlawed.

Questions for “The Rise of Tao”

• Give examples of how the Chinese government closely regulates religious life.

• Overall, does the Chinese government seem to be cracking down or loosening restrictions on religion?– Give examples.

Falun Gong

• Founded in 1992• Physical and Spiritual

Well-Being• 1999: Demonstration in

Tiananmen Square– Attended by 10,000

• Outlawed as an “evil cult.”• Practitioners were jailed,

beaten, and killed in police custody.

Social Cleavages

Urban and Rural

• URBAN 690.8 million 51.3%(United States=82%)

• RURAL 656.6 million 48.7%(United States=18%)

• China’s National Bureau of Statistics, April 2011

UrbanHouseholds

RuralHouseholds

SIGNIFICANTINCOMEINEQUALITY

Geographical CleavageWest & East

Ethel Wood. AP Comparative Government and Politics. 4th Edition (Wood Yard Publications, Pennsylvania, 2009.

6%

8%

10%17%

8%

4%

11%

27%

8%

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/china_map_folio/txu-oclc-588534-54932-10-67-map.jpg

Hukou System

• System of registering people by household & region.– Registered by city, town, or village

• Used by Mao to keep poor farmers out of cities.• Perpetuates urban-rural division• Rural migrants living in cities cannot receive:– Subsidized housing, public education past

elementary, public medical insurance, or welfare payments.

Social Cleavages

Rich and Poor

• GINI Coefficient Index:• Measures amount of income inequality in a

country.• 0=perfect equality 1=total inequality

GINI Coefficient Index

• Norway .26• United Kingdom .36• Russia .40• United States .41• Iran .43• Nigeria .44• Mexico .46• China .47

• UN Human Development Report, 2008

GINI Coefficient

Index

Measures amount of

income inequality

in a country.

“The End of the Chinese Dream”

• “My father is Li Gang.”

• “It’s not simply income equality that bothers people.”

• “Inequality of privilege”

• Guanxi

Uighurs of Xinjiang Inner Mongolia

Tibet

Beijing

The People of China

• Han Chinese 91%• 55 recognized minority groups 9%– Tibetans– Uighurs– Mongolians

• http://www.daniellazar.com/category/prc-politics/

TIBET

• Since 13th Century: periods of Chinese rule• 1911-1949: China withdrew• 1950: Mao reasserted control• 1959: Dalai Lama fled• 1965: Tibetan Autonomous Region– Part of China– Theoretically has greater self-control

• 2008: series of riots– Year of the Beijing Olympics

China’s Approach to Ethnic Minorities

Uighurs

• Muslims of Turkish descent

• Autonomous Region of Xinjiang

Uighurs

• Victims of discrimination• 2009 Riots: Protest of the death of 2 factory workers

(turned violent)• Uighurs targeted Hans. 197 killed.

China’s Approach to Ethnic Minorities

Mongolians

• Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia

• 2011 protests• Mongolian

herder run over by Han coal truck driver.

China’s Approach to Ethnic Minorities

Chinese Government’s Approach Towards Ethnic Minorities in Autonomous Regions• Crackdown on religious rights (especially Tibet and Xinjiang)• Shutdown access to information• Arrests and show of force– large security presence• Closed-circuit cameras • Large-scale financial investment

– Economic development zones: Han benefit– Discourages traditional way of life

• Relocation of minorities encouraged through govt. subsidized housing • Mongolians driven from grasslands; Against traditional culture• Flood regions with ethnic Han

– Intermarriage with Han– Han given preferable jobs and economic opportunities

• Emphasize Chinese– not minority– culture through education.• Exemption from one-child policy (Mongolians)

One-Child Policy (1980)

• 1950: 500,000 million• 1980: Almost 1 billion

• Extra Child?– Pay a fine (varies; but usually at least=annual income).

• Punishment for not paying fine.– No hukou for child.– Loss of job; property destroyed– Forced abortions/sterilizations– Government abductions (some cases)

• Enforced by Family Planning Officials• Lax enforcement in countryside

– Mongolians allowed 2

Issues Accompanying One-Child Policy

Issues Accompanying One-Child Policy

Population Pyramids

Taiwan

• 1949: Nationalists (KMT) under Chiang Kai-shek fled to island

• China claims sovereignty over Taiwan

• No separate seat at UN

• One-party state until 1990s.

• Transitioned into a democracy.

• Strong economy: computer technology

Taiwan

Tensions with China

• Efforts at formal independence.

• U.S. supplies weapons to Taiwan.

• Chinese missiles pointed at Taiwan.

Easing Tensions with China

• 2009: Leaders exchanged messages.

• 2010: Trade Pact

Hong Kong“One Country, Two Systems”

• Formerly a British colony• 1997: Special Administrative region of China• High degree of autonomy– Separate currency– HK Constitution:

Democratic Process• Beijing has some veto

power

• Service-based economy– Corporate and banking

center