China's Status as a Global Superpower

China is the most populous country in the world. While this might not be its most notable factor, it still affects its policies and actions. The political, historical, economic, religious, and social characteristics of China are like no other. Rapidly becoming a global superpower, China is a country that is impossible to ignore, and many would be wise to watch closely as China continues to flex its economic muscles. It could soon be the most prosperous country in the world.

To fully understand a nation, one must look into its past, because much of the country's current motivations can be found in its historical background. China, according to the U.S. Department of State (2008), is the world's oldest continuous civilization. Their records date back roughly 3,500 years. While this leaves a lot of history to be examined, it accurately illustrates the ability of the Chinese people to continue with life, no matter what occurs. China was governed by bureaucratic control that was created by several of the dynasties that ruled. This allowed them to retain control when attacked by others. For instance, when the Mongols invaded China, they eventually placed the Chinese back in control of the bureaucracy, because it was simply easier to let them have control of their own citizens (U.S. Dept. ofState). The dynastic period lasted for quite some time, and the final one was established in 1644 as the Qing dynasty. During the 19 th century, thedynasty's control weakened, andChina experienced social, economic, and population problems. There were several power struggles during that time, followed by the First Opium War (1840), which China lost. The loss cost them much, in that Britain and other countries occupied thecountry and took special economic liberties within China. In 1911, after much resistance to reform, the Qing dynasty was ended, and a republic was created. The leader of the republic, General Yuan Shikai, died in 1916, which left the country in the lurch yet again.

In the following years, warlords struggled for power from their separate provinces. The next major event took place when Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese Communist Party, began to fight for control of the country. By 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) occupied most of the country. Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China in October of 1949. The country was war-weary and economically destroyed from all of the fighting, but the new government worked to create a Soviet-style model of government within its borders. In 1958, Mao decided to go in a new direction, separated from the Soviet model, and heralded the new "Great Leap Forward." The Great Leap forward forced the Chinese into rapid industrial production, which led to widespread famine from 1960-1961. From the early1960s to 1976, the country was torn yet again by political power struggles. When Mao died in September of 1976, the new leadership chose to adopt economic, legal and social changes in order to get the country back on its feet. In 1989, protestors gathered in Tiananmen Square. "The government used armed force to remove them, and it is estimated that casualties were in the hundreds" (U.S. Dept. of State).

Even with widespread outcry by foreign governments, China continued to kill, imprison, or "reeducate" the protestors. Fast-forward to 2001, when China entered the World Trade Organization and became a low-cost exporter of goods. Currently, pollution and safety issues are some of the greatest problems facing the country. China hasdefinitely come a long way. From fighting off invaders to dealing with pollution problems, China will continue to grow as a world power as it always has.

China's religious background is another interesting tale. While China is officially atheistic, there are many different religious groups currently operating in the country. Nearly 100 million Chinese citizens practice Buddhism, making it thelargest religious faction in the country. Other religions include Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism (U.S. Dept. of State). While the Chinese government officially promotes religious toleration, they actually restrict religious practices outside of state-recognized and state-sanctioned groups. Recently, a Christian pilgrimage wascalled off by the government, further increasing the dissatisfaction of the country's Christiangroups (Pontifex). Many choose to meet in secret locations, because they believe that the government should not be in control of their spiritual lives. While the Chinese government "allows" religious practice, they actually have quite a tight rein on this segment of the population.

Chinais widely criticized for some of its social policies. For starters, their population control policy forceseach family to have only a single child. Over the years, there have been many problems enforcing this law,including forced sterilization and extreme late-term abortions (Pan). China's human rights record is dismal as well. The government's abuse of personal freedoms is well-known. The following are only a few of the problems associated with China: arbitrary and lengthy incommunicado detention, forced confessions, torture, and mistreatment of prisoners as well as severe restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, religion, privacy, worker rights, and coercive birth limitation cite/paraphrase (U.S. Dept. of State). Simultaneously while doing these things, China has, strangely, encouraged economic growth and freedom through many different government programs. China is rapidly moving forward in their global economic standing. Their economy is booming, and theyare rapidly absorbing job-seeking, rural Chinese citizens into the urban areas. In fact, some experts believe that at least 300 million rural Chinese will move into cities over the next 15 years (Hinsonp 1).

Since 1979, China has implemented changes that have made China the fourth largest economy in the world. It has sustained growth of between nineand ten percent for the past 25years. In 2006, China exported nearly a trillion dollars worth of goods tothe rest of the world. Their 800 million workers are easily the world's largest workforce, and their workers fall into the following areas: agriculture-45%, industry-24%, and services-31% (U.S. Dept. of State). Much of the world depends on Chinese exports, but what will the rest of the world do when the Chinese citizens can start to afford their own products? According to Hinson (2007), the Chinese automobile market may eclipse that of the U.S. by 2025, because more than 70 million Chinese families can already afford their own vehicles (p 1). Our country is rapidly becoming more and more dependent on Chinese imports.

The U.S. trade deficit with China exceeded$230 billion in 2006, with around $55 billion in U.S. exports and $287 billion in imports from China. China is obviously a good choice for investment, since it has gathered the largest pool of foreign exchange reserves of $1.07 trillion (the largest in the world) by the end of2006 (U.S. Dept. of State). It'seasy to see how and why China has become the massive juggernautthat it has.

China has come a long way from its original government-restricted business arena. Since 1979, China has worked to relinquish some government controls on private industry so that the free market can work to grow the economy. The past twenty years have revealed an initiative and aggressiveness to Chinese entrepreneurship (U.S. Dept. of State).

According to Daisann McLane (2008), an interestingly important factor of doing business in China involves, of all things, a business card. She reminisces of how she has developed a lightning fast reflex for retrieving her card fromher purse and presenting it to an acquaintance. She also says, "In Hong Kong, if you don't have a mobile phone, you'll have no friends. And if you don't have a business card, you don't exist" (McLane). Because China is literally on the other side of the world, it's a given that there will be different cultural and social differences.

A company created by Lawrence Lo, LHY Consulting, gives training for businessmen and businesswomen that would like to be more knowledgeable of Chinese business etiquette (McLane). The Chinese business world is constantly growing, and it would be useful for potential newcomers to develop some understanding of China and Chinese culture.

Although China may have been an unwieldy giant in the past, it'srapidly becoming a much more powerful entity on the global scene. China definitely has some work to do in its environmental and social areas. However, it is definitely on the right track with its economic decisions. The other countries of the world should definitely peer into the future and decide what everyone is going to do when China starts consuming its own products. While everything might be going well at this time, the future could hold some potentially disastrous consequences.

References

Hinson, P. L. (2007). The FairTax and the global economy. FairTax Website. http://www.fairtax.org/PDF/TheFairTaxAndTheGlobalEconomy.pdf

McLane, D. (2008). Hong Kong: "Do You Have a Card?" Globespotters Blog. http://blogs.iht.com/tribtalk/travel/globespotters/?p=353

Pan, P. P. (2005). Who controls the family [electronic version]? Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/26/AR2005082601756.html

Pontifex, J. (2008). Pray for China's Christians. Christian Today. http://www.christiantoday.com/article/pray.for.chinas.christians/17973.htm

U.S. Department of State (2008). China (04/08). Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Web site: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/18902.htm