Picture this you are walking through the toy aisles trying to pick the perfect present for your little brothers birthday and you want to find something made locally. However every time you turn a toy over it says MADE IN CHINA in big bold letters. Now this may not come across as surprising any more, because we all know that literally everything is made in China. However the Chinese influence is becoming more prevalent in recent years. Should we be concerned is China becoming the next big superpower? Based on the research I have come to the conclusion that no China will not become the next superpower, because they are not as mature as most western nations. China has way too many underlying issues they still need to recover from.
If we look back at China's past they weren't always as strong as they are today. Back in 1978 china was one of the poorest countries in the world, with most of their income coming from the agriculture industry. China in this time period still had ⅘ of their population working and living in rural areas even though many other countries around the world had more developed industries (Toad ,2010). This was problematic for China because they were further behind most western countries in the development process. This means that China was very poor at this time still relying on basic industries to support their economy. The average citizen was making 100 Renminbi per year which is terrifyingly low income of $63.29 per year, or seventeen cents a day (Toad, 2010). This however drastically changed in the 1980s when the communist party decided to again allow private enterprise. This started when China’s leaders Deng Xiaoping allowed outside investments and lowered restrictions on private enterprises within china. Forbes magazine stated in 2009 that “[China] gradually but methodically transformed the country from a backward land of peasants into a modern, industrialized nation with a measured move from communism to capitalism that continues to this day” (Meredith, 2009). This transformation brought China into the forefront of the western world making it look like a potential superpower but their are too many underlying issues preventing it. I will focus on two distinct reasons why China can not overpass the western world, environment and government.
Following in the footsteps of countries like America, China decided to industrialize their nation. With this great boom in their economy came the negative effects on the environment around them. An Economist study in 2013 found that “China has been responsible for two thirds of the worlds emissions since 2000” (Economist, 2013). Citizens in their capital city are faced with many smog days which, can cause respiratory problems in the future. They also found that China’s air quality is “40 times the level the World Health Organization deems as safe”(Economist, 2013). This is resulting in many business owners leaving China and setting up in other countries where there is less of a risk of getting sick. This will greatly impact the Chinese economy because not only do businesses wanna leave but even their citizens are afraid of getting sick. This will result in less direct investments because it is not a disable place to be therefore impairing the economic and trading strength of China. A recent study found that “While America and Europe are cutting their emissions by 60m tonnes a year combined, China is increasing its own by over 500m tonnes” (Lisle, 2014). This demonstrates how much stronger the US and Europe are compared to China because they understand that environmental factors are more important than economics. To me this means that China is not mature enough to become a superpower because they are too focused on economics to realize the damage they are doing. It proves that China is not a threat to the west because they do not have the same global understanding they do that money isn't everything However the Chinese government has stated that they plan to spend 3 billion dollars in the next five years, to help clean up their air and water (Berkeley, 2013). This is a great counter argument because it shows does care and want to improve their lifestyle to some extent.
Another factor that is holding back China is the lack of stable government status. The Chinese government is very powerful and leaves very little room for their citizens to have any say or rights in the matter. The commentator reported in 2012 that “the lack of meaningful political reform is also helping to stunt progress. The state is still characterized by endemic corruption, weak rule of law, and a lack of political accountability” (Hussain, 2012). This demonstrates how corrupt and unstable china is behind the scenes which proves they are not strong enough to have global power. That yes having a good industrial industry will bring you lots of money but the corruption inside it will not be recognized globally. The only way for China to be seen as a creditable superpower is to treat their citizens with respect and then others will treat them the same. They must take on western ideals such as democracy to gain respect as a global power. The western world believes strongly in democracy “The values of freedom, respect for human rights and the principle of holding periodic and genuine elections by universal suffrage” (UN, 2014). This is what sets China apart from the western world they do not have any respect for their citizens all they care about is money. This is why I believe China is not a current threat because they do not have the political maturity to handle becoming a global power. Even though they have a great industry the west will still pull through because they have a better understanding of the globe.
Based on the research I found, I conclusively believe that China is not mature enough to become a global superpower. What do you guys do they or don’t they have the potential or maturity to achieve superpower status?
References
adam85isalive. (2007, March 24). China’s Grime Belt Air Pollution Extreme [Audio file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1DNjJd2YfA
Berkeley, J. (2013, August 10). Can China clean up fast enough? Retrieved June 13, 2014, from The Economist website: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21583277-worlds-biggest-polluter-going-green-it-needs-speed-up-transition-can-china
Economist. (2013, August 10). The East is grey. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from The Economist website: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21583245-china-worlds-worst-polluter-largest-investor-green-energy-its-rise-will-have
Ganga, R. (2013, July 10). China’s Smog Problem Slashes Half A Decade Off Life Expectancy. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from Gadling website: http://www.gadling.com/2013/07/10/china-smog-problem-slashes-life-expectancy/
Hussain, G. (2012, December 3). Why China won’t be the next great superpower. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from The Commentator website: http://www.thecommentator.com/article/2190/why_china_won_t_be_the_next_great_superpower
Lisle, D. (2014, May 29). Resource efficiency II: Offshoring resource consumption. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from Know the Flow website: http://www.knowtheflow.com/2014/resource-efficiency-ii-offshoring-resource-consumption/
Mandic, N. (2010, September 30). Facing the Climate [Image]. Retrieved from http://gledajnapred.blogspot.ca/2010_09_01_archive.html
Meredith, R. (2009, November 11). Where Capitalism Won, But Not Democracy. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from Forbes Magazine website: http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/10/communism-capitalism-democracy-china-taiwan-opinions-columnists-robyn-meredith.html
Terry, J. (2014, April). Luo Jie [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.internationaltraderelations.com/Trade%20Relations%20(Spring%202014).Team%207%20(Pending%20Cases).pdf
Toad. (2010, June 14). The Chinese Economy in 1978. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from WordPress website: http://marxistleninist.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/the-chinese-economy-in-1978/
UN. (2014). Democracy and Human Rights. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from United Nations website: http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/democracy/human_rights.shtml
Zhu, X. (2012). Understanding China’s Growth: Past, Present, and Future. Journal of Economic Perspectives, (Fall), 103-124.
While I enjoyed reading your article I do not agree with your conclusion on China as a superpower. I feel as though you believe China needs to take on the West's ideals and that China needs to be similar in terms of politics to the way Canada or the US works. Off your information China has risen exponentially in industrial growth over the past 30 years or so. Whereas the US is currently trillions of dollars in debt to none other than China and quite a few economists believe that the US will never get out of debt to China. I believe China does deserve to be a superpower because of this. They were able to bankrupt a country that is largely considered to be the world's largest superpower. While I agree that their system is corrupt it is not necessarily right to force democracy upon them when communism is a brilliant system. While granted communism hasn't been granted the best track record I still believe that as long as the leader is a good one, that communism makes people even and can therefore be very good for a country that has such a booming industry.
ReplyDeleteSara, after reading your article I both agree and disagree with your point of view. I noticed how much emphasis you put on the environmental aspect of China’s power. I agree with you in terms of this because it most likely does play a role in the power of China. Although that role is debatable in size. The Wikipedia definition of a superpower is, “A state with a dominant position in international relations and is characterised by its unparalleled ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the means of both military and economic strength” (Wikipedia). This definition states that pollution, or air quality has no affect on whether or not a country like China is a superpower. In addition it it states that the power of a country relies heavily on its economic status in the world. As you clearly stated in your blog in regards to China, “They are too focused on economics”. If this is true, then it would seem as if China was in fact focussed on becoming a world superpower. In continuation, according to a recent report in The Economist “In 2012 America’s intelligence agencies forecast the Asia would soon be carrying more weight in the world than any time since 1750. By 2030, Asia will have surpassed North America and Europe combined in terms of global power” (2014). This quote proves that China could in fact be viewed as a superpower, as it carries, and going back to the first definition of global power, influence over the world. Also, in addition you stated they have a 3 billion dollar budget to improve their emissions. As it would seem from that fact, they also care about how they look and are realizing the potential that they truly have. By stating this fact, it seemed like you believe China has the chance to become a superpower if they do this. So, in terms of your first argument, I would have to disagree. I would say that China is in fact a superpower due to its economics. In addition, you stated that China does not care about its citizens. I noticed you incorporated a strong quote, which carried the message, China will not be able to change to a power, until it’s government changes first. To this, I completely agree. It must take the ideals of the west more into consideration as it governs itself. A new government system will only make the majority of the Chinese happier. This result in a good relationship between the people and their government. This will cause industries to pick up, as workers aren’t as mad at the government. A change in government could do nothing but aid in the growing powers of China. To summate, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post. It was well researched and thought through. As their was topics I would debate, that is in fact the point of these blogs. Great job.
ReplyDeleteYou've outlined many very interesting arguments and I agree with your assessment that China does not care about their citizens, that they have the worst air pollution in the world, and that the government is corrupt. However I don’t think any of these things prevent a country from becoming a super power. Although all of those things are terrible and a country that has that many underlying problems should not become a super power, that doesn't stop a country from becoming a superpower in the real world. For example Russia does not care about its citizens, has a bad environmental record, and extremely high crime rates, yet it is a powerful country that is recognized as a superpower. Even though China has all these problems that doesn't take away from how powerful it is. For instance China holds a large amount of American debt, over one trillion dollars, that keeps snowballing with interest. This makes China not only a world power, but a growing world power. On top of all this power they have in money, ⅙ of the worlds population lies within China. The Chinese economy is currently improving which means the people in China are becoming more happy with their government because they have more money than they've ever had before. With such a large population supporting the government that just adds to the enormous power China already has. Chinese citizens are also moving all over the world. This means that the Chinese people will start to have a growing influence on other countries and their governments. I agree with your point that China is trying to improving air quality because the poor air quality is making their citizens mad. I believe that this is a very strategic move by China to gain more support from their own citizens and improve their status in the world. I also believe that if the Chinese government believes that they will have to do more acts of ‘good’ to improve their status to become one of the worlds biggest super powers and surpass the West they most definitely will do so. Going back to a previous point, I believe China will overcome the West as a superpower because of the large amount of debt the USA owes them. This debt allows China to influence the decisions the United States makes which is a very big deal. China is also investing money into Africa because of how resource rich the continent is. In addition China is also making treaty's with other country's such as Russia.
ReplyDeleteThis combination of global influence, enormous wealth, and support from a giant portion of the worlds population make me believe that China can easily surpass the West as a superpower in the future, if not near future.
Sara, after reading about your thoughts on China, I have come to agree that no China will not become the next superpower. You were very persuasive and linked your quotes back to your ideas well. I agree that the Chinese economics have an immense impact on the products being created in today's society, as basically everything is made in China. The quotations you used linked back to why the country will not become the next superpower, but I feel that their could have been a few more visual pictures for the reader. While I agree that China has a lot of issues and is not as mature as the other westernised nations, I still am a firm believer that they have some positive influences to the rest of the world. They do make a large amount of products that are used daily throughout society, like you said "However every time you turn a toy over it says MADE IN CHINA in big bold letters". This goes to show that China isn't all bad, and has some positive effects towards the rest of the world. That being said, I still agree that China needs to improve their sustainability, government, and economy in order to become the next superpower. While I agree with your statement that the U.S and Europe are more aware of pollution and the environment, however I personally think that there is still a problem with pollution in these countries (U.S and Europe). There are still multiple fossil fuels being burned throughout these society's on a daily basis. This is negatively effecting the environment as fossil fuels are damaging wildlife and ecosystems. Overall, I do agree with your argument that will not become the next superpower, but i feel as though you disregarded the positive influences chinese economics has on western society.In addition, i also agree in regards to the pollution of the environment, Western society is more aware of these issues, however that does not exempt them from criticism. In summation, for the most part i agree with the basis of your argument as to why China will not become the next superpower, but i believe you should have addressed the positive influences China has on Western society.
ReplyDeleteThis was awesome! Not only did you pick an interesting topic, but by specificity saying that they lack maturity over ability I think is really powerful, and true. With the environment, the way China treats it is unbelievable. To be putting themselves in danger let alone the world! They think they need to keep doing what they do in order to have a better economy, but what they don't realise is that unless they smarten up and take a more reasonable and sustainable move, the economy they have is just going to eventually get worse. People leaving, not wanting to work or to sick to work. And then to say that they'll spend $3 billion to help fix it ... well it proves my point exactly! Because of their actions they have to put a ridiculous amount of money into fixing what they've started. They just hit themselves in the face on that one. In terms of their government. It's pretty much explains it all. Maybe if they let people have a say they would have already started to strengthen their government. Maybe if they had more say the environment wouldn't be so bad there. Maybe with more say they wouldn't be busting their buts all the time to have a better economy. The government is the basis of all their problems. They need to "mature" their government before the other things will be even close to fixed. But even if that were to happen, I still don't think there would be any problems about them being a super power. If they have gotten this far and still not realised their faults then there's no way there going to figure out how to even start becoming a superpower. Just as you said. They're just not mature enough.
ReplyDeleteThis is a little bit of a tricky subject for most because, although I agree with you that China should try to address these issues for the good of the entire planet, I disagree with you when it comes to the point that this means that China isn't and won't be a superpower for along time. In fact, in my opinion, China is already a superpower for reason stated above. To begin with, what is a superpower? A superpower is a country that, because of its economic power, military force, and standard of living, has achieved a prominent place within the world stage and affects the actions of most other countries. By this definition, you would be right to assume that china's poor living standard is a deterrent to its superpower status, however, China's military is the biggest in the world and is powerful enough to even scare the U.S and as far as economics go, as you said before, China's economy has been booming and has taken over the world. on top of this, China has earned a place in the UN's security council, which means that no matter what, China has a say in what the rest of the world does. I agree that China needs to work on its living standards (although it has been very slowly doing just that), but I believe that the idea that a country needs to be "righteous" in order to become a superpower is one that is biased and skewed towards the ideas of western ideologies, and for these reasons I believe that China actually already is a Superpower.
ReplyDeleteSara, I agree with Shane (thanks for the definition), Alec and Tanner.
ReplyDeleteYou suggestion that "China is not mature enough to become a superpower...{and is} not a threat to the west." For me their 'lack of maturity' makes them more of a threat to the west.