China

Question 1

Tiananmen Square, June 4, 1989

Answer 1

A pro-democracy demonstration took place. Soldiers acted brutally to stop the demonstration, killing an unknown number of people in the process. Thousands of people were arrested following the demonstration for their involvement.

Question 2

Geographic division

Answer 2

1. North: many plains, industrial heartland, wheat-growing
2. South: warmer, in some places semitropical, agriculture and rice cultivation
3. West: mountains and deserts (sparsely populated)

Question 3

Size of population and division by ethnicity

Answer 3

1.35 billion people (91.5% are Han Chinese, and 8.5% are other nationalities)

Question 4

Chinese Civil War (1927-1949)

Answer 4

1. Antagonists: Nationalists (Chiang Kai-shek) vs. Communists (Mao Zedong)
2. initial event: Chiang Kai-shek turned against the Communists, and nearly wiped them out in a bloody crackdown.
3. outcome: The communists won, and Mao Zedong declared the founding of the PRC. Chiang Kai-shek and his supporters retreated to Taiwan.

Question 5

Sun Yat-sen

Answer 5

The first president of the Republic of China in 1912. He was unable to hold onto power, so the country fell into conflict. He founded the Nationalist Party, hoping it would help unify the country.

Question 6

Long March

Answer 6

In 1934, under pressure from Chiang Kai-shek’s army, the communists embarked on a year-long journey to NW China. Only 10% of the original marchers finished the trek, but the communists still established their base there.

Question 7

Great Leap Forward (1958-1960):

Answer 7

It was an effort to speed up China’s development, and tried to propel China into an era of true communism. But many factors combined to lead to a setback in economic development, and a famine that killed 30-40 million people.

Question 8

Chiang Kai-shek

Answer 8

He became head of the Nationalist Party in 1925. In 1927, he cracked down on the communists, nearly wiping them out. When the civil war was over in 1949, he and his supporters retreated to Taiwan.

Question 9

Special Administrative Region

Answer 9

Regions in China that have a great deal of autonomy from the government in Beijing in most matters other than foreign relations and defense. China has 2 SARs: Hong Kong and Macau.

Question 10

Cultural Revolution

Answer 10

It was Mao’s ideological crusade to jolt China back toward his vision of communism. Its main goal was political purification of the nation. This led to widespread destruction of historical monuments and the persecution of millions.

Question 11

significance of 1949

Answer 11

Chinese communists win the civil war and establish the PRC

Question 12

Economy (3 models)

Answer 12

1. Early 1950s: Soviet-style planning system
2. Radical egalitarianism of the Maoist model
3. Market-oriented policies implemented by Deng Xiaoping and his successors

Question 13

Political Economy
Under Mao (1949-1976):

Answer 13

Initial approach: centrally planned economy based on Soviet model
o Positives: increased production
o Negatives: It created huge bureaucracies and new kinds of inequalities, especially between heavily favored industrial cities and investment-starved rural areas.
· Assessment of Mao’s stewardship
o Positives: He built a strong industrial base, and the Chinese became much healthier and better education.
o Negatives: Poor management and ill-conceived projects led to wasted resources. The economy was stagnant, and economic growth barely kept up with population increase.

Question 14

Deng (1978-1997) to present

Answer 14

Deng’s policy (2 parts): “Reform and Opening Up” Policy
· Reform letting market forces play a bigger role, while reducing government control
· Opening Up àincreasing China’s engagement with the global economy
Impact on economic decision making: Authority for making economic decisions passed from bureaucrats to families, factory managers, and private business owners.
Motivation of economic actors: Individuals were encouraged to work harder to make more money, as opposed to “serve the people.”
Impact on society [Result]: China has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world for over 20 years. From 1992 to 2012, GDP grew at an average rate of 10.3% per year.

Question 15

Carbon dioxide emissions:

Answer 15

World’s largest source of CO2 emissions, but not per capita. Coal is a big reason for pollution, especially in northern China.

Question 16

Negative consequences of harmful land use (4)

Answer 16

1. Soil erosion
2. Wetland destruction
3. Deforestation
4. Desertification

Question 17

Unsafe drinking water

Answer 17

Almost 25% of Chinese don’t have access to safe drinking water. Government does little to regulate dumping of toxic wastes in waters.
Region of water scarcity: northern China

Question 18

Trade as percentage of GDP

Answer 18

under Mao: less than 10%

since Deng: 60% of GDP (relatively equal balance between imports and exports)

Question 19

SOE( State owned enterprise)

Answer 19

Companies in which a majority of ownership control is held by the government. 40% of them are draining China’s capital, but the social cost of closing would be significant unemployment.

Question 20

Iron rice bowl:

Answer 20

A feature of China’s socialist economy during the Maoist era (1949-1976) that provided guarantees of lifetime employment, income, and basic cradle-to-grave benefits to most urban and rural workers.

Question 21

CCP: principal bodies & one office hierarchically organized

Answer 21

1. General Secretary
2. Standing Committee
3. Politboro
4. Central Committee
5. National Party Congress

Question 22

PRC state government

Answer 22

President: same as general secretary of CCP
Prime Minister/Premier: Formally appointed by the president with the approval of the National People’s Congress. In reality, the CCP decides.

Question 23

Judiciary levels (4)

Answer 23

1. Supreme People’s Court
2. Higher (provincial)
3. Intermediate (city)
4. Grassroots

Question 24

Subnational units

Answer 24

22 provinces
4 centrally administered cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing)
5 autonomous regions (inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Guangxi)

Question 25

Police: principal organizations

Answer 25

People’s Armed Police
Ministry of State Security
Ministry of Public Security

Question 26

Policy making

Answer 26

1949-late 1980s: Top-down “Mao-in-command” system
late 1980s-present: Fragmented authoritarianism àpower is still concentrated in the leadership organizations of the CCP, but now there are many other sources of influence in the policy-making process.

Question 27

Non-CCP actors

Answer 27

o Nonparty experts
o Media
o NGOs

Question 28

Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI)

Answer 28

It investigates corruption within the party and other violations of party rules.

Question 29

Central Military Commission (CMC):

Answer 29

most important military organization in the PRC, headed by the CCP’s general secretary, who is the commander-in-chief of the PLA. It has 11 members.

Question 30

People’s Liberation Army (PLA):

Answer 30

the combined armed forces of the PRC, which includes land, sea, air, and missile forces. It’s the world’s largest military force.

Question 31

Legislature: National People’s Congress (NPC)

Answer 31

Size: nearly 3,000
Terms: 5 year terms
Sessions: only for 2 weeks every March

Question 32

Social composition of CCP

Answer 32

·      Farmers, herdsmen, fisherman: 30%
·      Managerial staff and professionals: 24%
·      Retirees: 18%
·      Industrial Workers: 8.5%
·      Party and government staff: 8.4%

Question 33

Elections

Answer 33

Kinds (2)
1. direct: All voters in the relevant area cast ballots for candidates for a particular position. Most common in rural villages.
2. indirect: the members of an already elected body elect those who will serve at the next-highest level in the power structure. Most elections are indirect.
· Functions (2)
1. Gives communist party-state greater legitimacy by allowing civic participation
2. Elections at the local level are used to manage community affairs and settle disputes.
· Liberal features of some elections: multiple candidates and open nominations, with the winner chosen by secret ballot. A number of independently nominated candidates have defeated official nominees.

Question 34

National Identity

Answer 34

· Grounds: CCP has increasingly turned to patriotic themes to rally the country behind its leadership. Official media put emphasis on greatness and antiquity of Chinese culture.
· Consequences: more aggressive foreign and military policy. China fans nationalist sentiment to gain support for its disputes over claims to uninhabited islands.

Question 35

Autonomous Provinces (5)

Answer 35

Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet (Xizang) and Xinjiang.

Question 36

Totalitarianism: Definition; mean of control

Answer 36

Totalitarianism is a form of government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens. It is characterized by strong central rule that attempts to control and direct all aspects of individual life through coercion and repression. (1)Ideological, (2)economic and (3)political control

Question 37

Prospects for democracy:argument against and for:

Answer 37

On one hand Chinas long history of bureaucratic and authoritarian rule and the hierarchical values of still influential confucian culture seem to be heavy counterweights to democracy. On the other hand, the impressive success of Taiwan’s democratization in the past decade, including free trade and fair multiparty elections from the local level up to the presidency, strongly suggests that the values, institutions, and process of democracy are not incompatible with confucian culture.

Question 38

New form of authoritarianism

Answer 38

PRC now considered a “Consultative authoritarian regime” that increasingly recognizes the need to obtain information, advice and support fro key sectors of the population, buts insists on supressing dissent and maintaining ultimate political power in the hands of the party.