High-Speed Rails All Around

High-speed rails in Europe and China have brought convenience, "green" traveling, and a better economy to the people of those areas. President Obama, recognizing these benefits, recently pledged $8 billion taxpayer money to fund America's first high-speed rail. It is odd that the U.S., one of the leading superpowers of the world, is so late in building a high-speed rail. This is most likely because Americans don't need a high-speed rail since so many of them own cars or travel by subway or train. If that is the case, this new high-speed rail could soon become a poorly maintained burden on the U.S. economy. However, Obama obviously recognizes these possible setbacks and to him, practicality may not be his foremost goal. Aside from being fast and convenient, high-speed rails are a show of social development and technological advancement. Recently, when Obama was visiting China, he went sightseeing at China's own high-speed rail. If fact, China has many more of these transportation systems in the planning. One ambitious plan is to build a "grid" of 8 interlocked high-speed rails, 4 traveling east-west and 4 traveling north-south. When Obama saw Europe and China's railways, and heard of their grand plans for the future, perhaps he thought it was time for the U.S. to have its own high-speed rail

Hillary Clinton Speaks Out to the Chinese People

Recently Hillary Clinton and Tim Geithner visited China and appeared on the popular Chinese TV show "Appointment With Lu Yu". American politicians get media and news coverage all the time when they visit China, but Clinton and Geithner were the first to appear on what is more of a talk show than a news channel. I think Hillary connected very well with the Chinese masses in that she presented herself as more of a real person than a politician. There was no discussion of debates or politics; what was talked about was Clinton's family and background. Clearly, this was deft move intended to bridge the gap between U.S. politicians and the average Chinese.

On the other hand, Geithner has always been well-liked by the Chinese public. He attended Peking University to learn Chinese and is well known for playing basketball there. His Chinese name is Gao Yiran (Chinese 高逸然). Gao meaning tall and Yiran meaning something like "naturally free soul". By having a Chinese name, attending school in Beijing, and speaking excellent Chinese, Geithner has cast himself in a favorable light among the Chinese people; very rarely do they see important Western politicians show such deep and sincere appreciation for their culture.

China's Green Policy

We're all familiar with the issue of global warming. We've seen its effects already through polar bears trapped on floating ice blocks as well as the growing number of dead sea life washing up on shores around the world. For the average westerner, this is enough to motivate them to "go green" and start saving electricity and fuel. But in China, many people are still living in 3rd world conditions. Things like global warming don't matter to them. The poorest of the Chinese will work hard to feed themselves and their families, regardless of greenhouses gasses and whatnot. This reason, combined with the booming, super-industrialism of China results in high emissions of greenhouse gasses and damage to the environment. That is why China came up with a simple but possibly very effective solution to this problem. The government introduced "CO2 quotas", a system in which if you emit C02 exceeding your allowed amount you have to buy more "quota" or plant trees. Not a very elegant solution on the surface, but the average person won't have much of a problem keeping their C02 emissions under the quota. The impact lies in big business. Large companies who emit large amounts of C02 will regularly exceed their quota. Obviously, you won't see such companies like Boeing going around and planting trees, so their solution is to "buy" those trees from the average, poor Chinese farmer mentioned above. Now we see why this solution is plausible; large companies will be pressured to emit less Co2 at the same time that the lower class Chinese will be motivated to plant more trees, resulting in a "greener" China.

The Hukou Housing System

The Hukou system is a government rule that says only those with who have applied and been approved for immigration are allowed to move between areas. This system was employed by China some time ago to regulate the balance between rural and urban areas. For instance, when China was rising to economic strength there was a huge influx of immigrants from the countryside into the cities. Hukou helped manage this surge of migrants, but as it was not strictly enforced, many people moved to the cities illegally anyways. Even today there are many citizens in Beijing and other major cities who are not registered to live in those cities. Even though this may seem to make little difference since the Hukou system is not heavily enforced, in reality, this presents a major problem to China, its people, and its government. If you are not registered to live in a certain area you do not receive some major benefits that you would otherwise be entitled to. Health care, food supply, and other benefits are restricted to those with proper registration. Another one of these benefits is education. This ties back to my previous post about the Chinese preschool shortage. Those without registration can only send their children to local schools by paying a hefty price. As you can see, what was once a rationalized solution to a growing immigration problem is now a heavy burden on the people of China. It is one of the many problems that are lowering the quality of life of the average Chinese.

Beijing Kindergarden Crisis

A growing problem in the city of Beijing and throughout China is that there aren't enough preschools to accommodate the children born in the last few years. The extremity of the situation shows itself in several ways. For example, some of the better preschools are charging up to 15000 USD a year! Think about it! You could send your child to college with that money, but instead its being spent on preschool! Also, prior to the beginning of the school year, the registration lines for preschools is dauntingly long. In one case, a grandma in her 60's went to wait in line for her grandson because no one else would bother. Another family was in line for 9 days! Inevitably, the severity of the situation has caused many illegal preschools to spring up. Chinese law dictates that preschools must be administered by the government but the officials turn a blind eye on these underground schools because the government knows they are necessary to keep students in education. It has reach a point that the number of illegal preschools outnumbers legitimate ones! The root of the problem is that government funding for preschool education is too low and that there are not enough teachers. This is partly due to low pay for teachers resulting in not many people wanting the job. Clearly, the problem of Beijing's preschools has reached outrageous levels and even now the Chinese government is pounding its head at how to tackle this issue.

Guns, Germs, and Steel 9

Chapter 16 of GGS begs the question, "How did China end up as uniform as it is today?". China's resolute unity is indeed unique and for several reasons. As mentioned before, the disparity between latitudes supports very different climates and environments in a north to south axis. As such, Northern China is very different from Southern China. So how the two become unified and how did technology and commerce travel between them? The reality is that China had and still has a multitude of dialects. While most speak Manderine, many Chinese speak smaller localized languages known only to a few thousand people. Also, China started widespread agriculture early on, allowing it to develop more advanced societies similar to those of Europe's. China's expansion can be seen in Korea and Japan, whose cultures are very similar to that of the Chinese. Chinese language remains so prominent in its neighboring countries that little has changed in the written language; you can still spot many similarities between the characters of the languages.

Guns, Germs, and Steel 8

Chapter 15 - the development of Australia. We are all familiar with the story of English criminals being shipped to Australia and later populating the continent, but what about the indigenous peoples who had come to live there long before the Europeans? Aborigines were hunter-gatherers, and that is one of the many reasons why Australia ended up the way it is today. Why were indigenous Australians technologically and socially inferior to Europeans at the time of their meeting? As mentioned above, Aborigines did not farm and therefore could not develop food surpluses and specialized societies. Much of the land in Australia was unfit for agriculture. Also, the Australian hunter-gatherers had low population limits. They had a lot less people than cultures in Eurasia did, and this led to a less cosmopolitan environment. Finally, European crops and livestock were well-suited to the Australian terrain and made colonization much easier. Not only this, but Europeans brought lethal diseases to the Australians. The big picture is that the British colonized and dominated Australia in the same way it did other countries at the height of its power.

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Chapter 13, "Necessity's Mother", contradicts the old saying, "Necessity is the mother of all technology". Diamond says that experimentation is the mother of all technology. Those peoples with free time and energy could devote themselves to the tinkering of materials. Eventually, they would come upon a gadget that was interesting but redundant. However, over a period of time, people would eventually find a use for this seemingly useless invention that made daily life easier. But another key point is the difference in the spread of technology between peoples. Europeans were on the forefront of technological advancement for such a long time because of several reasons. First, Europeans were early to adopt farming and therefore food surpluses. This resulted in its peoples being able to devote more time into inventions. Second, Europe, unlike Africa or the Americas, was easy to traverse and therefore technology spread more easily since there were not natural barriers to prevent it. And lastly, Europe's population was denser than most other areas of its time. This meant it had more inventors and more people power. In the end, Europe's lucky mixture of fundamental qualities allowed it to surpass all other nations in terms of technology.

Guns, Germs, and Steel 6

In this chapter, we come across one of the pinnacles of human existence: the development of writing. However, this invention was not some new fab that took the world by storm overnight. The spread of writing was disappointingly slow. Diamond explains that this is because of the limited uses of writing at the time. As you can imagine, much of the things we use writing for today (books, history, etc.) were not very relevant to the everyday life of the ancient man. However, the countries that did grasp this marvelous technological advancement received the full benefits of its potentials. Nations with writing could more easily make documents and instructions for new technology. Also, news and information could travel quicker and more accurately by writing. The original message of the sender would not be altered by numerous repetitions from word of mouth. All in all, most cultures did not develop writing on their own, but borrowed it from nearby nations.

Guns, Germs, and Steel 5

The following chapter of Guns, Germs, and Steel analyzes the reason's for Europe's long-standing dominance over the world. In other words, why Europe of all countries was able to quell, conquer, and in some cases exterminate other nations. The answer lies in livestock. Europeans have always been a pastoral people with many domesticated animals. As proven earlier in the book, domesticated life is a big factor in the wealth of a nation, but another, less obvious gift from livestock were germs. Europeans contracted many viruses from their livestock but were protected by their immune systems. On the other hand, other cultures' immune systems had not adapted to combat such germs. That is why Europeans had such an easy time invading the Americas and Africa; their germs eliminated most of the opposition before they even came face to face.

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Chapter 10 of GGS answers yet more interesting questions. This time, "Why does the spread of farming move faster on an east to west axis?" The answer lies in the question. Areas on the same line of latitude share similar qualities such as length of day and climate. Humans, as atoned to their environment as they are, have adapted similarly to their area of latitude meaning that other humans on the same east-west axis will be similar. So the answer to the question is quite simple: plants moving on an horizontal route were spreading to areas similar to that of their origins. Therefore, the species could develop and be domesticated more easily there than north of south of their original position.

Also important to the spread of crops were geographical barriers. Deserts, mountains, thick forests, and the like all played roles in preventing the spread of indigenous species. That is why the people of The Sahara domesticated camels but not Africans further south. The same can be said for the Americas, for example the domestication of llamas in Mexico but not further south or north. As we can see, the domestication of certain plant and animal species was heavily affected by both longitude and geography.

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Chapter 9 of Guns, Germs, and Steel explains why some animals and plants were domesticated and some were not. The mystery is that most major domesticated animals were domesticated very early on. These major animals are what Jared Diamond calls "The Major Fourteen". After the last of the 14 was domesticated (several thousand years ago), there has been little progress in the domestication of animal life. That is to say that no new animal has been added to the Major 14 for thousands of years. This seems strange at first because surely technological advancements over time would allow for domestication of more species. But Diamond explains that there are several key factors that determine where or not an animal is worth domesticating. There are 6 reasons in all: Diet, Growth Rate, Problems of Captive Breeding, Nasty Disposition, Tendency to Panic, and Social Structure. All of these qualities are vital to the domestication of any animal. If an animal is lacking just one of these characteristics it is rendered unable to be domesticated.

Guns, Germs, and Steel 2

Today I've got another post on Guns, Germs, and Steel, specifically about chapters 5-8. These four chapters describe the introduction of agriculture to humans and why agriculture went in the direction it did. To begin with, why did some cultures begin farming earlier than others? It wasn't an issue of geography; many fertile areas were not farmed earlier than less fertile ones, but an issue of necessity. Some cultures found that hunting and gathering was more effective than farming.

More importantly, why did some plants and animals become domesticated and others not? The answer is that there are certain criteria that all domesticated life must meet, if a certain plant or animal fails in one of these areas, it's not worth domesticating. In my opinion, this means that the success of certain culture comes down mainly to chance. If, in the beginning, you found that the area you lived in was full of game, you wouldn't bother with farming. On the other hand, a less lively area with fertile land would support farming and eventually those farmers would discover the benefits of having a food surplus and their society would advance. Also, the lazier hunters mentioned above would have hunted most domesticate-able animals. We can see this through Native Americans who hunted the indigenous horses of the Americas. Later, they would find that without horses, they were militarily disadvantaged since they had no cavalry which undoubtedly made it easier for the Europeans to exterminate them. All in all, it was the time an circumstance of human introduction to a certain region that determined the success of those particular humans, although the results may take thousands of years to play out.

ECFA - The Good and the Bad

The ECFA is a trade agreement signed last month between China and Taiwan. Previously, China had used its influence to prevent other countries from trading with Taiwan. With this new agreement, China and Taiwan can conduct limited trade with each other; effectively opening their boarders to each other. However, not everybody supports this new agreement. Taiwan has a history of people who strongly advocate independence from the PRC. They fear that this new agreement will only serve to further tie Taiwan to China. Also, as with any trade agreement, select businesses fear that the ECFA will negatively impact their income if their markets are being opened to another country. Most of all, Taiwanese people worry that mainland Chinese people will take their jobs due to the agreement.

Nonetheless, the big picture is more jobs and revenue created for both countries. Going beyond reasons of the economic, I believe that the ECFA will ease any remaining tensions between mainland China and Taiwan. Also, the negotiations provide an opportunity for Taiwan to be fully recognized in the eyes of China, to establish itself as more than a subsidiary of the PRC. Whatever the results, the two parties have had antagonistic relations with each other for well over half a century, and this agreement is the beginning of a friendlier environment for everyone.

Foxconn's Employee Scuicides

Foxconn is a computer electronics manufacturing cooperation that makes parts for Apple, Sony, Microsoft and other major names in the software industry. With its origins in Taiwan, Foxconn has its industries mostly in China where it has come under attack from allegations of employee mistreatment. If we look at its history, this is not surprising; Foxconn has had 12 employees attempt suicide in the mere first few months of this year, not to mention rumors of other misconducts on the company's premises.

To name a few examples, employee Sun Danyong committed suicide after losing one of the 16 iPhone prototypes. Supposedly, his superiors physically abused him and illegally raided his house. A few days later, he jumped off his apartment building. In February, a reporter that was photographing Foxconn buildings was beaten by security. The list of misconducts goes on an on and the result is what we see as bad work conditions for Foxconn employees. As if China didn't have enough problems with the media snapping at its child and factory labor issues.

However, the blame might not all be on Foxconn. If we look closely at its revenue compared to that of its suppliants, Foxconn only has a 4% annual gain while Apple's is 40%. Obviously, Foxconn might not be able to afford better working conditions for its employees (although this does not absolve them from blame) (Foxconn actually provides dormitories for its employees). The pressure on the employees, in fact, may be coming from the big companies like Apple and Microsoft so they can keep their 40% profit gain. If Foxconn were to put money into its employees' welfare, the money would eventually come out of the American companies' pockets. In the case of Sun Danyong, his intrusive superiors were actually from Apple, and it is quite possible that it was his fear of their reprimanding that caused him to commit suicide.

The Best are not Good Enough

At the end of the most recent school year, China's College Entrance Exam Board released the scores of the top students. This might seem weird to some people because in America, people respect each others privacy and nobody's scores would ever be publicly announced. But in China, it is a common practice to announce the top student of the school, school district, province, and country. This year's top student, Mr. Li, graduated at the top of his class; he was class president, Chairman of the Model UN, and had won numerous math competitions across China. Predictably, Mr. Li applied to all the top schools of the U.S., such as the Ivy Leagues, but less predictably, was rejected from all of them.

The reasoning for this was that while colleges in China rely largely on scores and titles, colleges in the U.S. look for passion and devotion to one's interests. They very likely saw Mr. Li as a tool of the Chinese school system with little independence or defining character. People around the world say that the American school system is declining, and that Chinese, Indian, and certain European students are the new #1, but American students possess the diversity, well-roundedness, confidence that is hard to find in Asian countries. But if the Chinese school system's best produce is a student like Mr. Li, by rejecting him, is the U.S. rejecting almost all mainland Chinese students? Even if a diverse, well-rounded, American-college-ready student were to appear in the Chinese school system, to be #1 would mean to end up like Mr. Li, and to not be #1 would mean to not rise to prominence nor get noticed by the American school system. Perhaps it will take much longer for the Western and Eastern school systems to come to the same level and make stronger connections.

http://udn.com/NEWS/MAINLAND/MAI2/5685175.shtml

Guns, Germs, and Steel - An Analysis

As a departure from the tradition of this blog, from now on, once in a while, I will be adding some articles about interesting books I have read that may be relevant to Chinese-American relations. One book I have recently begun reading, Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond, is particularly noteworthy in that its author is very well-known and his book is equally famous. Jared Diamond's other book, The Third Chimpanzee, details the progress of early human evolution and why certain key factors have allowed us to develop into the most dominant species on the planet. GGS follows along that line in describing why certain groups of people in certain areas of the world have risen to prominence over other nations. In that sense, there may or may not be a section on China with which I can tie this book back to the overall theme of the blog.

Chapter one begins the chronology of human history with an account of the spread of humanity throughout the globe. Where humans went and at what time they got there are two subjects addressed in this chapter. What is most interesting is that we can see the progress of human development in their movement around the world. We can see which peoples developed boats and reached the islands soonest as well as at what time technology was introduced that allowed humans of a certain region to overcome geographical obstacles and reach new regions. Chapters 2-4 are more specific examples of international interaction. From the Maori-Moriori conflict to the Spanish conquest of the South Americas, the main idea developed in these passages is that a nation's success is determined by a few, key factors. Farming and writing are top on this list, as farming allows for settlements to grow and writing for information to travel quickly and accurately. As we can see, Jared Diamond is skillful and insightful in pinpointing the exact causes of one country's dominance over another.

China's Media Moves into Times Square

Xinhua News Agency, the official press agency of China, recently announced its final decision to move to 1540 Broadway. This major physical shift is representative of China's increasing globalization. Too long has China been a secluded country and only recently has it opened up its boarders to trade and commerce. Although Xinhua already had a headquarters in New York, this new office space will give the company a stronger foothold on the American media. Following along with this move on the U.S. mass media, Xinhua also announced that it would be producing an English-language channel. Perhaps they are hoping that this would be able to give China a voice in the American news media which had long been dominated by news channels like Fox who may not have portrayed China in a favorable light. If this is the case, then it is odd how China is seeking to extend its influence into American media but at the same time allows so little American news, websites, and opinions into their strictly monitored media network. Also, many people may be concerned about the influence Xinhua will have internationally and in America. The agency has long been criticized for its lack of credibility as well as for been a puppet of the Chinese government.

Southern Metropolis Daily, China's Liberal Newspaper

Southern Metropolis Daily, mainly distributed in the Pearl River Delta area, is one of the more liberal newspapers in China. As I mentioned before, it was this newspaper that first published the Tianamen cartoon that so annoyed the Chinese government. But that was not the first time that Southern Metropolis Daily has been a thorn in the government's side. Their journalists have been ferreting out and exposing government mishaps that the government would have preferred be kept secret. It is truly a unique newspaper in that it still exists even when its ideals are so opposite from the government's. In the U.S., freedom of speech is something exercised everyday; we, newspapers, and journalists are free to expose and criticize the government whenever we want. But in China, that is a criminal offense. As you can imagine, many of Southern Metropolis Daily's journalists are now behind bars, mostly due to trumped-up charges the government invented to get this newspaper under control. This news company dances skillfully on the legal line regarding freedom of speech in China.
Its controversial ideas are what gets Southern Metropolis Daily its readers, but the newspaper is recognized for its liberal side even outside of China. Once, when Obama was visiting China, he requested to go meet with the heads of Southern Metropolis Daily. Predictably, the Chinese government denied his request. They obviously didn't want two of the most liberal groups in their territory conspiring together.

Tianamen Propaganda Censorship

Everyone is familiar with China's strict internet censorship policies, and as last month marked the 21st anniversary of the Tian'an'men Square massacre, there was sure to be clashes between protesters and government. The Chinese government has been doing its best to obscure the massacre from the eyes of the Chinese public. For example, one of the newest pieces of protester propaganda to hit the web is that of a young boy drawing tanks and soldiers on a chalkboard. Published by the news article Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern City Daily) in respect to Children's Day, the image was promptly deleted from the Chinese internet but was leaked to the rest of the world. This is just another instance of the effort to cover-up a blemish on Chinese history.

But is this the best way to confront the issue of Tiananmen that still lingers in people's minds today? Perhaps it would be better to face the problem head-on. When we look at atrocities and mistakes in American history, the difference between the Chinese and American cultures is apparent. The massacre of Mailai during the Vietnam war was certainly a stain on U.S. history, but no attempt was made to cover it up. We recognize our mistake and we've moved on. But China is still stuck in the past because it does not recognize the error of its ways. Maybe it was right to stop the protesters at Tiananmen, but not with violence. And with China's affinity for censorship and cover-ups, there's nothing stopping China from committing similar acts of violent riot control.