The Modern Communist Party of China connects with its citizens with a shared love of national pride instead of a shared sense of strong communist ideology
Chinese citizens have responded to the free market in China by gaining a greater sense of personal freedom
China is divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 4 municipalities
There are 55 national minorities in China
In China "autounomous regions" have there own local governments that are below the federal government
"Autonomous regions" were created for the ethnic minorities that exist within China, they comprise of areas that are more densley populated with certain ethnic minorites
For example, although the Han Chinese make up the majority ethnic group living in China, the region of Ningxia in China comprises of mainly Hui Chinese people
China's 5 "autonoumous regions" and their people
Guangxi-Zhuang people, comprise the largest minority group in China
Inner Mongolia-Mongol people
Ningxia-Hui people
Tibet-Tibetan people
Xianjiang-Uighur people
Mongols and Kazakhs
55 recognized minority groups
Mongol’s live both in China and Mongolia mostly along the border between these two countries
Kazakhs live in the Kazakh Republic and China
Tibet
Conquered by Chinese army, but the government never recognized Chinese authority and many Tibetans campaign for independence today
Uighurs
Show resistance to Chinese authority
Live in Xingjian, close to the borders of Afghanistanand Pakistan and the Central Asian state of theSoviet Union
Many want to create a separate Islamic State from China
Comprise a minority of Muslim people as part of the population of China
"Unified Multi-Cultural Nation"
"Most of the country's ethnic groups live in the huge, resource-rich but sparsely populated border regions like Tibet and Xinjiang"
Civil Society in China China As a Nation
The collective Chinese nationality is known as the Zonghua minzu, and is based on the shared descent of all ethnic groups living in China from the Yellow Emperor, with the Han Chinese making up the majority ethnic group
Many Han Chinese take a large amount of national pride in being part of the "Middle Kingdom," and they see China's vast economic growth as a sign of their unity and power
Many Chinese nationalists saw the 2008 Olympics as a display of China's new place in the world
"The central government's biggest fear is that these restive regions could tear away at the country's edges, much as the former Soviet Union was sundered apart, and as imperial China was divided in the past."
"As well as sending delegates to China's rubber-stamp parliament, minority groups in many areas are offered preferential treatment in the form of less restrictive birth control policies and easier access to university and employment."
Chinese Government in Relationship to Minorities (The Good and The Bad)
Try to promote economic development and suppress dissent in ethnic minority groups
China’s Constitution gives autonomous areas the right to self-government in cultural aspects of life, but their independence is strictly regulated
Tried to make Mandarin the official language of Government and Education
Public figures, including teachers and news reporters are forced to use Mandarin when addressing the public
"Han is basically synonymous with unity and national integrity, while non-Han is automatically associated with barbarianism and a threat to China's territorial integrity,"
The surge of economic growth in China over the last few decades has mostly occurred in Urban areas, creating a large social and economic gap between people living in the Cities and people in the Countryside
Wen Jiabao, China's Prime Minister, proposed "a new socialist countryside," in order to boost China's rural economy
There seems to be a contradiction between Urban and Rural China, with Urban China enjoying increased liberal economic growth, and Rural China experiencing greater Democratic Social Reform
Beijing
Rural China
Cleavages in gender "women hold up half of the heavens."--Mao Zedong
China's emergence into the twentieth century brought about greater equality among men and women, but traditional Chinese Confucianism still has a place in the hierarchy of the sexes
Family planning and birth control have traditionally been seen as the woman's responsibility in China
Family planning became mandatory in 1970
"one's not too few, two will do, and three are too many for you"
Family planning caused another rift between the Urban and Rural communities of China
It was still seen as a necessity to have as many children as possible in Rural China because the people there did not feel the effects of large population and because many children were needed to work the land
Ancient Chinese custom dictates that a family must produce at least one son to honor their ancestors, also led to many "lost girls" in China
Communist State and Political Participation
Communist Party created a relationship between themselves, citizens and the economy
China's politics are being more influenced by citizen participation in social movements to liberalize
Chinese government works to suppress complete freedom of media and freedom of knowledge
The Chinese government restricts citizen's rights to freely browse the world wide web, filtering out potentially "threatening information
"Google has said it may end its operations in China following a "sophisticated and targeted" cyber attack originating from the country."
Limited freedom of press and the Media must use the nationalized Mandarin Chinese dialect
Despite Stated freedom of Press, the Communist Party of China still keeps the press highly regulated and favorable to itself
Chinese Constitution, Chapter II Article 35,”Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration”
Social Movements and Political Protest
Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989 & Falun Gong Demonstration 1999
Proved that the Communist Party and Chinese government would exercise strict control over Democratic and Religious movements
The Falun Gong is seen by the CCP as a "socio-religious movement" that threatens the communist party with revolution
Falun Gong demand freedom of practice and recognition as a religion and use the Media, including internet and cell phones in order to spread their message
In order to combat the Falun Gong movement, the CCP has revived propaganda posters and character assasinations
Political Participation (Move Toward Democracy?)
Voting and Self-Government
1987--China's Ministry of Civil Affairs began using direct, competitive village elections in order to regain Party Control over the rural areas of China
In this way people may elect local officials to represent them giving them a greater sense of Democratic participation and control over policies
The Party still has the power to veto nominees in village elections, but Democratic elections are beginning to spread into Urban areas as China progresses in the 21st century
Chinese political voting procedures
Evolving Role of Media in China
2010 the Chinese Government amended their "Law on Guarding State Secrets," now requiring Internet Companies and telecommunications operators to cooperate with authorities in the investigation of leaked stake secrets, but their is no clear definition of what constitutes "a state secret" in the PRC
Chinese Government has asserted "Internet Sovereignty" requiring all Internet Users in China, including foreigners, to obey Chinese law and regulation
The Chinese Government blocks and restricts access to certain websites and media feed during times of potential controversy (blocked media has included The New York Time's website, Wikipedia, BBC's Chinese website and certain iPhone apps)
China's media is making a slow movement toward privatization which will lead to less censorship
China has the #1 and #2 largest broadband providers in the world. China Telecom and China Uni-com together account for a fifth of all global broadband subscribers.
The Economist online “China Clicks” Aug. 10, 2010
economist biggest broadband providers Facts about China: TECHNOLOGY, INTERNET & MEDIA
Looking Toward the Future
It seems as though China has left itself with plenty of room to grow, even now its economy continues to expand, becoming larger and less restricted
Liberty in China seems to be following suit
Although the Communist Party of China maintains control over its government and the state, including the autonomous regions, the people of China seem to have inevitably gained more freedom over the last 50 as a result of necessary reform and their strong belief in an expanding economy with no borders on trade
It is difficult to have such freedom in an economy without a similar decline in restrictions on social liberty
China's government is still very new and therefore protective of what it has and all that it has achieved. The government of China understandably fears uprisings and large sweeping reforms and for this reason finds censorship and restrictions on people's rights necessary in order to maintain social order in such a large and diverse country
Although minority groups in China may not have close to equal representation, this can be said of many countries with such small proportionate minorities (even in countries with the highest levels of civil liberties such as the U.S. and Britain, minorities tend to be underrepresented and restricted)
Like in the U.S., minorities in China seem to be growing at a faster rate than the other majority ethnicities
Future of China's Economy [CIA World Fact Book; Fortune “China is richer, but most Chinese are still poor” Feb. 17, 2011 ]
Nino Poidomani
Citizens of PRCChina is divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 4 municipalities
China's 5 "autonoumous regions" and their people
Mongols and Kazakhs
- 55 recognized minority groups
- Mongol’s live both in China and Mongolia mostly along the border between these two countries
- Kazakhs live in the Kazakh Republic and China
Tibet- Conquered by Chinese army, but the government never recognized Chinese authority and many Tibetans campaign for independence today
Uighurs"Most of the country's ethnic groups live in the huge, resource-rich but sparsely populated border regions like Tibet and Xinjiang"
Civil Society in China China As a Nation
"The central government's biggest fear is that these restive regions could tear away at the country's edges, much as the former Soviet Union was sundered apart, and as imperial China was divided in the past."
"As well as sending delegates to China's rubber-stamp parliament, minority groups in many areas are offered preferential treatment in the form of less restrictive birth control policies and easier access to university and employment."
Chinese Government in Relationship to Minorities (The Good and The Bad)
"Han is basically synonymous with unity and national integrity, while non-Han is automatically associated with barbarianism and a threat to China's territorial integrity,"
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Cleavages and politics (ethnic, racial, class, gender, religious, regional) "2 China's"
Cleavages in gender "women hold up half of the heavens."--Mao Zedong
"one's not too few, two will do, and three are too many for you"Communist State and Political Participation
"Google has said it may end its operations in China following a "sophisticated and targeted" cyber attack originating from the country."
Social Movements and Political Protest
Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989 & Falun Gong Demonstration 1999Political Participation (Move Toward Democracy?)
Voting and Self-Government
Evolving Role of Media in China
- China has the #1 and #2 largest broadband providers in the world. China Telecom and China Uni-com together account for a fifth of all global broadband subscribers.
The Economist online “China Clicks” Aug. 10, 2010Looking Toward the Future
Future of China's Economy
[CIA World Fact Book; Fortune “China is richer, but most Chinese are still poor” Feb. 17, 2011 ]
Resources
http://www.iisg.nl/landsberger/Government and Politics in China
http://www.lurj.org/article.php/vol1n2/china.xml
http://www.china-mike.com/facts-about-china/facts-technology-internet-media/
http://www.cfr.org/china/media-censorship-china/p11515
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3982537.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8455712.stm