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.

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?

• 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

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

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”

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

• “Inequality of privilege”

• Guanxi

• “My father is Li Gang.”

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

The People of China

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

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

Uighurs

• Muslims of Turkish descent

• Autonomous Region of Xinjiang

Uighurs

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

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

Mongolians

• Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia

• 2011 protests• Mongolian

herder run over by Han coal truck driver.

China’s Policies in Autonomous Regions

• Crackdown on religious rights (especially Tibet and Xinjiang)• Shutdown access to information• Arrests and show of force– large security presence• Death penalty for Han driver (Mongolians)• Closed-circuit cameras • Large-scale financial investment

– Economic development zones• More welfare– housing, schooling (Tibet & Mongolia)• Flood regions with ethnic Hans

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

• Emphasize Chinese– not minority– culture • Exemption from one-child policy (Mongolians)• Driven from grasslands (Mongolians)

– Against traditional culture

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

• Enforced by Family Planning Officials• Lax enforcement in countryside – Mongolians allowed 2

Issues Accompanying Policy

Population Pyramids

Hong Kong“One Country, Two Systems”

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

Democratic Process• Beijing has some veto

power

• Service-based economy– Corporate and banking

center– Separate currency

Taiwan

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

• China claims sovereignty over Taiwan

• No separate seat at UN

• 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