U.S. Health Care, Chinese Health Care

All of you probably know about Obama's proposed health care reform and his plans for American society. Something similar is happening in China. Many people there are pushing for a reform of their health care as well. The government had released a drafted blueprint to the public, and has since finalized the plan. The Chinese government has promised new medical equipment, cheaper health care, and medical services for many rural villages. Of course, this idea doesn't come cheap, China has already massed billions of dollars to implement this change. But the idea is that if people have cheaper health care, they will have more money left to spend on consumer goods, thus bolstering the economy. The fact is that most families in rural China keep all of their savings reserved for any future medical needs. With this problem eliminated, the money saving stress in China can lift and they can focus on improving the economy. The change was received well by doctors, but the majority population viewed it as an empty promise. As we are moving forward in the world, one country that moves to renovate its health care will motivate many others to follow in their lead.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2009/gb20090821_005732.htm

Grameen Banking and ROSCA in China

As I said in my last post, the idea of Grameen Banking is widely used throughout 3rd-world countries. That is why many people are suggesting it should be used in China, as although the economy has been improving, there are still many impoverished villagers there in need of financial aid. The big question would be, would it work? Is the Chinese community such that it could support such a banking style like so many other 3rd-world countries. Actually, this question has already been tested and confirmed. In Taiwan, many businesses and charities use a fund management method called Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA). This is where members of a group meet and contribute towards a cumulative savings account and each has independent access to it. In a way, this can be said to be a controlled, trial run of Grameen Banking in Taiwan, and since it is so successful there, it is likely that it will enjoy similar responses in China.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotating_Savings_and_Credit_Association

Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank

Muhammad Yunus is a banker and economist from Bangladesh. He has been noted for his actions regarding world poverty, and also the founding of the Grameen Bank. The Grameen Bank is literally a bank for the poor. They make loans to impoverished villages so they can exercise better financial management skills and develop a good credit rating. Instead of making loans to individual people, the Grameen Bank gives loans to a large group, such as a village, and then collects the payment from the entire group. This way, it is less likely that there will be a net loss of money because the group can use mob psychology means such as peer-pressure to keep other group members from making bad investments. Also, this means that even if one person makes a loss of money, another group member can balance out the debt. Muhammad Yunus founded this bank in the faith of the impoverished. He believed that those who a poor are not poor due to some fault of their own, but because they missed out on the opportunity to be successful because of the state of living. That is why he had this bank created; so that those living in poverty could access this opportunity and become successful.

GAPP Cracks Down on Video Games in China

Recently, the GAPP, General Administration for Press and Publication, deleted almost 30 renowned online video games from the internet because they were illegally launched. Most famous of these, World of Warcraft was to be imported to the Chinese population, but the GAPP halted this transferring because they said that World of Warcraft did not have license to distribute in China. Also, other games have experienced deletion and changes due to censorship. This is a bit odd since up until now, the GAPP has turned a blind eye towards rampant illegal video games and is suddenly cracking down on almost all of them. While some may argue that this is good for the Chinese public since the games are illegal anyways, others will criticize the Chinese government for throwing another blanket of media control over its population. Could this move by the GAPP be a mere political power display? It is possible that in many instances like these, companies have paid off the GAPP to be allowed to distribute illegal material in China, think of all the illegal DVD's they sell there. Perhaps video game distributors came up short on the bill this time around.

The Murder of Vincent Chin and His Legacy

In June, 1982, in Detroit, Vincent Chin was beaten to death by Ronald Ebens and Micheal Nitz. The reason for this was that the two Americans were former workers at a Chrysler factory and due to the rising sales of Japanese automobiles, were laid off. They beat Chin to death because they mistook him for a Japanese, even though he was Chinese. Neither offender ended up serving jail time, a result which caused much indignation from the Asian-American community. Almost thirty years from then, there is still racism aloof. Even though the American attitude towards Japanese has cooled, many feel dislike towards Asians due to their rising economy. The murder of Vincent Chin was caused by resentment towards the rising Japanese car industry, and the mass amounts of "made in China" products out there that could potentially put American factory workers out of business may cause a similar type of hate crime.

That is why it is important that we learn from Vincent Chin's story and also hate crimes throughout history. If America begins to regard China with derision the way they did with Japanese, any Chinese-American who might be able to compete with an American is in danger. Hopefully, we've moved on a bit since the 80's. This way, we can ensure that neither Chinese nor American feels unsafe to pursue a better life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Chin

Susan Shirk on US-China Relations over Dalai Lama's Visit

The other day, I heard a news cast on the radio reviewing the events of Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama of Tibet. There was a little bit of a debate between whether the meeting would cause friction between U.S. and China, or if it was an intentional slap in the face from the U.S. to China. Not that these accusations are unfounded. In the past few years, the U.S. has seen China try to block them out of Tibet as well as prevent them from trading with Taiwan. However, Susan Shirk, Director of University of California's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, disagrees. She believes that Obama's meeting with Tibet is just what previous Presidents have done in the past. From my point of view, this is a grey area since, in the past, U.S. Presidents had just seen China come out of a long seclusion and were keen not to upset them. Now, Obama is making a move that he knows will cause further tension and suspicion from the Chinese government. And also, pressure from the Chinese people for their country to remain powerfull might force the government to make an assertive response to the situation.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june10/dalailama_02-18.html

Tzu-Chi's Social Entrepreneurship

Today, I read an article on Tzi-Chi's (see my other posts) website about an extremely large iceberg that had recently broken off of Antarctica due to global warming. Much more than just a news article, it offered suggestions on how to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future. This is where social entrepreneurship comes into Tzi-Chi's organization. Since its foundation, Tzi-chi has grown so large (over 70,000 active volunteers, and a certified UN NGO with average US$100M donation annually) that business-like management is needed. By advertising its waste-reduction achievements, it can attract more attention to its cause, but instead of profiting from this attention, they can use it to further their charitable cause. Like a business, they realize that the efforts of their volunteers alone are not enough to solve the climate change crisis, so they broadcast and showcase their volunteers working as much as possible to motivate locals and viewers to work just as hard.

http://tzuchi-culture.com/taipei_new/?mod=tc_monthly_en&act=detail&id=193

Entrepreneurship in Charity - Project Hope

This week, I read about something called Project Hope going on in China. Project Hope is a charity organization that builds schools and provides primary level education for the many many poor people in rural China. This ongoing project has built over 11 thousand schools and raised millions of dollars for their cause. As such, the organization behind Project Hope has grown larger and larger and more stringent management style is needed. This is where social entrepreneurship comes in. Social entrepreneurship is when a person or organization applies entrepreneurial ideas to combat growing social problems. In a project as big as Project Hope, using social entrepreneurship has become necessary and has made the management of the project similar to the management of a large business. I particularly like this idea because it can connect seemingly selfish businesses with generosity and progress. Even now, charity is becoming more and more of a business with people investing in them and founding organizations as well as schools offering diplomas in categories like social entrepreneurship. These types of organizations in China make a lot of money from those in China who have made money and want to give some of it back, as well as businesses that want to improve their social image.

William Hearst and the Roaring 20's

Yesterday, I visited Hearst Castle in California, the only authentic castle in the United States. Throughout my tour, I learned a lot about William Hearst and the business smarts he needed to build such a lavish castle. Like Rockefeller, Ford, and all the big business tyrants of the Roaring 20's, Hearst made his fortune by being the first to implement new and innovative technology. Rockefeller had his railroads, and Ford dominated the car industry, but Hearst brand of money-making was the media. He owned newspapers, news channels, and magazine companies. In the laissez-faire market of the 20's, it was easy to make millions through monopolies and enterprises that are controlled more strictly by law today. Such is the current situation in China. Just having established itself as economically powerful, people are flocking to China to be a part of its "free-for-all" market. In relation to Hearst and the other 20's tyrants, these people that are invested in the Chinese market are all looking for new and innovative ways to sell to the people. Many are looking into cutting-edge technology while others use less tangible approaches and look for the newest marketing technique. Either way, China has all types of consumers ready to buy, and it can be agreed that the market there is different that any before it.

International Attention to Climate Change

I've been seeing a lot of articles lately about how global leaders are each tackling the growing problem of global warming. Specifically, Hu Jintao, has made promises to reforest immense plots of land as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a manor that reminds us of Obama's speeches at the beginning of his presidency, Hu Jintao has laid out many outlines, blueprints, and objectives on battling this problem. However, both presidents stop just short of any real action. Such is the case for many political leaders these days; they say that we have to fix this problem, but fail do tell us how. Maybe this is further evidence of the fact that global warming is an inevitable future. However, I believe that what Hu Jintao and President Obama are telling us to do is the first step in solving this crisis. International unity and economic strength are key points if we are to overcome climate change. All in all, formal action on this matter is still awaited, but I believe that both the U.S. and China are off to a good start.

A Stain on Chinese History

Today, I read an article that was written in response to the PRC's 60th anniversary parade. It questioned the Chinese government because there was not even a word said about the darker side of what everybody was celebrating, the PRC's rise to power. Sixty years ago, in the city of Changchun, the People's Liberation Army, led by Mao Zedong, laid siege one the already battered residents. Although they were successful, the siege resulted in thousands of civilians starving to death. Oddly enough, this black mark of China's is never mention in any history textbook that its students use. As such, it has become a dark but forgotten moment in Chinese history. Such a cover-up reminds us of the strict censorship that the Chinese government placed on its citizens, and how China could go another anniversary celebration without touching upon this unresolved matter.

The PRC's 60th Anniversary: Power or Puffery?

In recently read an article detailing the events of the parade celebrating the People's Republic of China's 60th anniversary titled, "China Celebrates 60 years of Communism." Although the title indicates clear bias which is followed through in the article, it did bring up many interesting points that put the Chinese government under scrutiny. Surely, President Hu Jintao made a big effort to broadcast his parade around the globe, but this article questions whether or not the parade was for everyone or just certain Chinese. Hu Jintao conducted the parade in a manner reminiscent of previous Communist leaders, most notable Mao Zedong, whom is infamous in the Western world but greatly looked upon in China. So why, some people may ask, would Hu Jintao bring back such a despised figure if the parade was aimed at the entire world? Well maybe the article is correct, then, in saying that the parade was specifically designated at the Chinese public only. In my opinion, the anniversary celebration was mostly a display of military strength to intimidate of countries and establish China as a global power. However, this could have probably been better done if Hu Jintao had done it in a way more accepted by the global community, and not just his own country.

Hu Jintao's Outline for Tackling Global Warming

A few weeks ago, Chinese President Hu Jintao presented a speech in which he described how all countries should cooperate in an effort to prevent global warming. During this speech, he stressed the importance of developed countries supporting 3rd world countries such as those in Africa as well as small islands. He says, "We should make our endeavor on climate change a win-win for both developed and developing countries and a win-win for both the interests of individual countries and the common interests of humanity." I believe he makes a good point because without financial and technological stability, many countries will not be able to contribute in the battle against climate change. And if they cannot contribute, Hu Jintao's plan for international cooperation and benefits falls apart.

One thing I noticed about Hu Jintao's speech was that even though he lays out all the objectives to commentate in battling global warming, he provides little insight on how to achieve them. He wants support to be provided to economically unstable countries, but the U.S. is facing its own monetary difficulties at the moment. And also, even if these 3rd world countries did get this aid, they would be hard pressed to spend it on global warming issues when they are facing civil war and poverty.

Obama's Front on Economics vs. Environment

For a while now, there have been articles appearing on the Internet criticizing Obama's slow and uneventful approach on both domestic and international difficulties. Among these indignities is the question of when Obama will have America "go green". To be fair, he's had his hands full for a while now with the health care and taking the presidency at such an economically unstable period of time. The truth is, he's not a very bad president, the thing is that he has a lot of pressure and expectations riding on him. He's the first black President and he's promised the world, well, the world. At the start of his term, he made promises to cut the U.S.'s emission of greenhouse gases in an effort to stall global warming. Well, it's been over a year now and not a single thing has been done about America's role in the environment. The fact is that Obama is facing a dilemma, economy or environment. If he chooses the latter, people will be complaining that Obama doesn't place his own country's problems as priority, but if he chooses to fix the economy first, people say he doesn't live up to his promises regarding world affairs.

China Coming to Grasps with its Growing Influence

Following the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China (PRC), there have been many opinions on how China should take on the role of a world power. Many people say that, now that the U.S. is losing economic and political influence in the world, China should take a bigger role in world affairs. This is quite a big jump for a country that only a generation ago shed its Communist boundaries. In my opinion, although the government, the economy, and the influence of China is growing, it is still, in many ways, a young child thrust into an arena of veteran killers. Many of the people are still living in poor conditions, and while the U.S. has always been keen to stick a hand into foreign affairs, China's relations with other countries are shaky and vague. They have no concrete friendlies or spiteful enemies, and I believe that China wants it to stay that way. Still although China may not want to be a team player in foreign relations, it doesn't hesitate to sent a clear message of its power. At the celebration of the PRC's 60th anniversary, China demonstrated its growing strength with a parade of military infantry, missile launchers, and tanks that sent a clear "don't mess with us" message.