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Abkhazia
Abkhazia ( Apsny, Apkhazeti, Abkhazia) is a political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus whose status is disputed. It considers itself an independent state (the Republic of Abkhazia). This is recognised by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, South Ossetia and Transnistria.
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Afghanistan
{{Infobox country
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Aksai Chin
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Algeria
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Altai Republic
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Anhui
Anhui (, ) is a province of the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny section in the north. The capital of the province is Hefei.
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Anhui Province
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Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic (, ), is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico, Colombia and Spain are more populous.
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Armenia
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Australia
{{Infobox country
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Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan ( ; ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (), is one of the six independent Turkic states in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south.
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Bahrain
Bahrain, officially Kingdom of Bahrain (, , literally: "Kingdom of the Two Seas"), is a small island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. While Bahrain is an archipelago of thirty-three islands, the largest (Bahrain Island) is long by wide. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway, which was officially opened on 25 November 1986. Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain.
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Bangladesh
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Beijing
{| style="float:right;"
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Beijing Municipality
#REDIRECTBeijing
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Belarus
Belarus, ( ; , ), officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno (Hrodna), Gomel (Homiel), Mogilev (Mahilyow) and Vitebsk (Viciebsk). Forty percent of its is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing.
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Bhutan
The Kingdom of Bhutan () (Dzongkha: ; Wylie: '' 'drug yul; Tibetan pinyin: ''), is a small landlocked country in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China . Bhutan is separated from the nearby state of Nepal to the west by the Indian state of Sikkim, and from Bangladesh to the south by West Bengal.
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Bohai Sea
http://wn.com/Bohai_Sea -
Brazil
Brazil (; , ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (, ), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
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Brunei
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Burma
Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the second largest country by geographical area in Southeast Asia. The country is bordered by People's Republic of China on the north-east, Laos on the east, Thailand on the south-east, Bangladesh on the west, India on the north-west and the Bay of Bengal to the south-west with the Andaman Sea defining its southern periphery. One-third of Burma's total perimeter, 1,930 kilometers (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline.
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Cambodia
http://wn.com/Cambodia -
Canada
Canada () is a country in North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area. Canada's common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.
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Changchun
Changchun () is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of about 7.5 million under its jurisdiction, including counties and county-level cities. The name originated from the Jurchen language. The urban districts of Changchun's city proper have a total population of 3.58 million.
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China
China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity.
http://wn.com/China -
Christmas Island
The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
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Colombia
Colombia (), officially the Republic of Colombia (, ), is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia also shares maritime borders with Venezuela, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. With a population of over 45 million people, Colombia has the 29th largest population in the world and the second largest in South America, after Brazil. Colombia has the fourth largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico, the United States, and Spain.
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Cuba
The Republic of Cuba (; , ) is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos.
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Cyprus
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Dabancheng
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Dongguan
Dongguan (, ; Cantonese: Dung1 gun2; old spelling Tung-kuan) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, People's Republic of China.
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East Germany
The German Democratic Republic (GDR; German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik or DDR), informally called East Germany by the West, was the socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany and in the East Berlin portion of the Allied-occupied capital city. The German Democratic Republic, which consisted geographically of northeast Germany rather than all of eastern Germany, had an area of 107,771 km2. (41,610 mi.2), bordering Czechoslovakia in the south, West Germany (officially: Federal Republic of Germany) in the south and west, the Baltic Sea to the north, and Poland in the east.
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East Timor
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Egypt
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Erlitou culture
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Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.
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France
{{Infobox Country
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Fudan University
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Fujian
is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait. The name Fujian came from the combination of Fuzhou and Jian'ou, two cities in Fujian, during the Tang Dynasty. It is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China with Han Chinese majority.
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Gansu
() is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It lies between Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and the Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia to the north and Xinjiang to the west. The Yellow River passes the southern part of the province.
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Georgia (country)
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Germany
Germany (), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (, ), is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The territory of Germany covers 357.021 km2 and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state of the European Union, and home to the third-largest number of international migrants worldwide.
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Gobi Desert
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Gobi desert
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Great Lakes
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Guangdong
Guangdong () is a province on the southern coast of People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province. It surpassed Henan and Sichuan to become the most populous province in China in January 2005, registering 79 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants who lived in the province for at least six months of the year. The provincial capital Guangzhou and economic hub Shenzhen are amongst the most populous and important cities in China.
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Guangdong Province
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Guangzhou
http://wn.com/Guangzhou -
Guatemala
http://wn.com/Guatemala -
Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin (, , both meaning "Northern Bay") is an arm of the South China Sea.
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Han Dynasty
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Harbin
Harbin (; ; Russian ), is a sub-provincial city and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China. It lies on the southern bank of the Songhua River. Harbin is the tenth largest city in China (pop. 9.87 million), serving as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications hub in Northeastern China.
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Hebei
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Hefei
Hefei (, ; also known as Luzhou or Luyang; former names: Ho-fei, Luzhou, Luchow) is a prefecture-level city and the capital of Anhui province, China. It is the political, economic, and cultural centre of Anhui. Located in the central portion of the province, it borders Huainan to the north, Chuzhou to the northeast, Chaohu to the southeast and Lu'an to the west.
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Hong Kong
Hong Kong () is one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. Situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong Kong's Han Chinese majority originate mainly from the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the neighbouring Guangdong province.
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Hubei
http://wn.com/Hubei -
Hubei Province
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India
India (), officially the Republic of India ( ; see also official names of India), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east; and it is bordered by Pakistan to the west; Bhutan, the People's Republic of China and Nepal to the north; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. In the Indian Ocean, mainland India and the Lakshadweep Islands are in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share maritime border with Thailand and the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the Andaman Sea. India has a coastline of .
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Indomalaya
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Indonesia
Indonesia ( or ), officially the Republic of Indonesia (), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With a population of around 238 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, and has the world's largest population of Muslims. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies.
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Inner Mongolia
http://wn.com/Inner_Mongolia -
Iran
Iran ( ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was also known to the western world as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, Iran is the name used officially in political contexts.
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Iraq
Iraq ( or , Arabic: ), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic:
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Israel
http://wn.com/Israel -
Italy
http://wn.com/Italy -
Japan
http://wn.com/Japan -
Jinan
Jinan (; ;) is a sub-provincial city and the capital of Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilization and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub. The city is located in north-western Shandong about south of the national capital of Beijing, it borders Liaocheng to the southwest, Dezhou to the northwest, Binzhou to the northeast, Zibo to the east, Laiwu to the southeast, and Tai'an to the south.
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Jiuquan
Jiuquan () is a "prefecture-level city" in the westernmost part of the Gansu province in China.
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Jordan
{{Infobox Country
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Joseon Dynasty
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Kaifeng
Kaifeng (; Postal map spelling: Kaifeng), formerly known as Bianliang (), Bianjing (), Daliang (), or simply Liang (), is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Located along the southern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the west, Xinxiang to the northwest, Shangqiu to the east, Zhoukou to the southeast, Xuchang to the southwest, and the province of Shandong to the northeast.
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Karakoram
Karakoram (or Karakorum) is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan), Ladakh (India), and Xinjiang region, (China). It is one of the Greater Ranges of Asia, a part of the greater Himalaya while north of the actual Himalaya Range.
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Kashmir
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Kazakhstan
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Korea
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Kowloon
Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong, comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of 43,033/km in 2006. Kowloon is located north of Hong Kong Island and south of the mainland part of the New Territories. The peninsula's area is approximately 47 km or 18.1 mi. Together with Hong Kong Island, it contains 48% of Hong Kong's total population.
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Kuwait
The State of Kuwait (, Dawlat al-Kuwayt) is a sovereign Arab nation situated in the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south, and Iraq to the north. It lies on the northwestern shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic "akwat", the plural of "kout", meaning fortress built near water. The emirate covers an area of 17,820 square kilometres (6,880 sq mi) and has a population of about 2.7 million.
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Laos
Laos (, , or ), officially the '''Lao People's Democratic Republic''', is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west.
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Lebanon
Lebanon ( or ; ; ), officially the Republic of Lebanon (Arabic: ; French: ), is a country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
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Liaoning
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Liaoning Province
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Libya
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Lijiang River
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Lujiazui
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Macau
Macau (), also spelled Macao () is, along with Hong Kong one of China's two special administrative regions. It lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta, bordering Guangdong province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.
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Malaysia
Malaysia (pronounced or ) is a federal constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of . The country is separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo (also known as West and East Malaysia respectively). Malaysia shares land borders with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei and has maritime boundaries with Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population as of 2009 stood at over 28 million.
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Maldives
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Matsu Islands
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Mexico
Mexico, (pronounced ; ), officially known as the United Mexican States (), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost 2 million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area and the 14th largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of 111 million, it is the 11th most populous country and the most populous Hispanophone country on Earth. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
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Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty (; ), or Empire of the Great Ming (, also anachronistically ), was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Hans. Although the Ming capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng who established the Shun Dynasty, which was soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, regimes loyal to the Ming throne (collectively called the Southern Ming Dynasty) survived until 1662.
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Mongolia
Mongolia (; ) is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city, is home to about 38% of the population. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic.
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Mongolian language
The Mongolian language (in Mongolian script: , '; in Mongolian Cyrillic: , ') is the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. It has about 5.7 million speakers, including over 90% of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China. In Mongolia, the Khalkha dialect of Mongolian, written in Cyrillic, is predominant; in Inner Mongolia, the language is more dialectally diverse and written in the traditional Mongolian script.
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Morocco
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Nanjing
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Nanjing University
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Nankai University
Nankai University (NKU; ), commonly known as Nankai, is a public university in Tianjin, P.R. China.
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New Zealand
{{Infobox Country
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Nomad
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North China Plain
The North China Plain (; 'China,north,level,plain') is based on the deposits of the Yellow River and is the largest alluvial plain of eastern Asia. The plain is bordered on the north by the Yanshan Mountains and on the west by the Taihang Mountains edge of the Shanxi ('western mountains') plateau. To the south, it merges into the Yangtze Plain. From northeast to southeast, it fronts the Bohai Gulf, the highlands of Shandong Peninsula, and the Yellow Sea. The Yellow River flows through the middle of the plain into Bohai Gulf.
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North Korea
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North Vietnam
North Vietnam, also called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) (), was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout the country.
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Northern Cyprus
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Oman
Oman (pronounced ; '), officially the Sultanate of Oman''' ( ), is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The country also contains Madha and Musandam, two exclaves on the Gulf of Oman, south of the Strait of Hormuz and surrounded by the United Arab Emirates on the land side.
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Pakistan
{{Infobox country
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Pamir Mountains
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Peking Man
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Peking University
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Penghu
The Penghu Islands (, also known as Pescadores from the Portuguese, meaning "fishermen", ) are an archipelago off the western coast of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait consisting of 90 small islands and islets covering an area of 141 square kilometers.
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Philippines
The Philippines ( ), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (), is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
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Portugal
Portugal (, ), officially the Portuguese Republic (; ), is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are also part of Portugal.
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Qatar
Qatar ( ; ; local pronunciation: ), also known as the State of Qatar or locally , is an Arab country, known officially as an emirate, in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south; otherwise, the Persian Gulf surrounds the state. A strait of the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island nation of Bahrain.
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Qing Dynasty
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Republic of China
The Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia located off the east coast of mainland China. Subject to an ongoing dispute with the People's Republic of China (PRC) that has left it with limited formal diplomatic relations, the government of the Republic of China currently governs the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor islands. Neighbouring states include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south.
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Russia
Russia (; ), also officially known as the Russian Federation (), is a state in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the United States by the Bering Strait. At , Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than a ninth of the Earth's land area. Russia is also the ninth most populous nation with 142 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 9 time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
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Sanya
Sanya () is a city in southern Hainan province of China. It has a population of 536,000 as of 2006. After the capital, Haikou, it is the second most populous city of the island. Sanya is renowned for its tropical climate and has emerged as a popular tourist destination. There are small concentrations of Utsul people in this city. It is the site for training of the Chinese national beach volleyball team. It is the southernmost city in China.
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Saudi Arabia
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Shaanxi
(; Postal map spelling: Shensi) is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province. Shaanxi is the historical home, along with Gansu of the dialect of the Dungans, Hui people who emigrated out of China to Central Asia.
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Shaanxi Province
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Shandong
For the people of Shandong, see Shandong people
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Shandong Province
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Shanghai
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Shanxi
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Shenzhen
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Shun Dynasty
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Sichuan
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Sichuan Province
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Singapore
{{Infobox Country
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South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an independent country wholly surrounded by South African territory.
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South China Sea
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South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK, , ) and sometimes referred to simply as Korea, is a state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul. South Korea lies in a temperate climate region with a predominantly mountainous terrain. Its territory covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers and has a population of .
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South Ossetia
South Ossetia ( or ; , Khussar Iryston; , Samxret Oseti; , Yuzhnaya Osetiya) or Tskhinvali Region (, Tsxinvalis regioni; , Tskhinvalskiy region) is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
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South Yemen
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Soviet
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Soviet Union
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Sri Lanka
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (commonly known as Sri Lanka (, , or ); ; , ) is a country and a sovereign state off souther coast of the Indian subcontinent. A island nation in South Asia, it was till 1972 known as Ceylon (, , or ). Sri Lanka is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait.
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State of Palestine
The State of Palestine (, dawlat filastin), officially simply Palestine (, filastin), is a polity that was unilaterally declared in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) National Council (PNC) adopted the Palestinian Declaration of Independence.
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Sudan
Sudan (), officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and the Arab world, and tenth largest in the world by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east,Kenya and Uganda to the southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest. The world's longest river, the Nile, divides the country between east and west sides.
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Suzhou
Suzhou (; Suzhou dialect: ; ancient name: ) is a prefecture-level city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake in the province of Jiangsu, China. The city is renowned for its stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens which have contributed to its status as a great tourist attraction. Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Suzhou has also been an important centre for China's silk industry and continues to hold that prominent position today. The city is part of the Yangtze River Delta region.
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Sweden
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Syria
Syria ( ; ' or '), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.
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Taipei
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Taiwan
Taiwan, also known (especially in the past) as Formosa (from , "Beautiful Island"), is an island situated in East Asia in the Western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It comprises most (99%) of the territory of the Republic of China (ROC) since the 1950s. The term "Taiwan" is also a common name to refer to the entire country of the Republic of China.
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Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait (formerly Black Ditch ()) is a 180-km-wide (111.85-mile-wide) strait between China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast. The narrowest part is 131 km (81.4 mi.) wide.
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Tajikistan
Tajikistan ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Tajikistan (, Jumhurii Tojikiston; , Respublika Tadzhikistan; Jomhuri-ye Tajikestan), is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east. Tajikistan also lies adjacent to Pakistan and the Gilgit-Baltistan region, separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor.
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Taklamakan Desert
For the novelette by Bruce Sterling see Taklamakan (story).
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Temple of Heaven
:Tian Tan redirects here. For the Big Buddha statue in Hong Kong, see Tian Tan Buddha
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Thailand
Thailand ( or ; Ratcha Anachak Thai, ), formerly Siam (, ), is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast and Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest.
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Tian Shan
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Tianjin
(; ; Postal map spelling: Tientsin) is a metropolis in Northeastern China and one of the five national central cities. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is thus under direct administration of the central government, and borders Hebei Province and Beijing Municipality, bounded to the east by the Bohai Gulf portion of the Yellow Sea. In terms of urban population, it is the sixth largest city of the People's Republic of China, and its urban land area ranks 5th in the nation, only after Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
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Tianjin Municipality
#REDIRECTTianjin
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Tibetan Plateau
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Togo
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Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University (THU; ), colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911, originally under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang". The school was renamed the "Tsinghua School" in 1912. The university section was founded in 1925 and the name "National Tsinghua University" adopted in 1928. With a motto of Self-Discipline and Social Commitment, Tsinghua University describes itself as being dedicated to academic excellence, the well-being of Chinese society and to global development. Today, many national and international rankings place Tsinghua amongst the best universities in mainland China.
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Turkey
Turkey (), known officially as the Republic of Turkey (), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between Eastern Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
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Turkmenistan
The Turkmenistan (), also known as Turkmenia () is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, Uzbekistan to the east and northeast, Kazakhstan to the north and northwest and the Caspian Sea to the west.
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Turpan Depression
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United Arab Emirates
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a country and sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island nation, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border with another sovereign state, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. Great Britain is linked to continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel.
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United States
The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
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Uzbekistan
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Vietnam
Vietnam ( ; , ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (, ), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China (PRC) to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea, referred to as East Sea (), to the east. With a population of over 86 million, Vietnam is the 13th most populous country in the world.
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Wuhan
Wuhan (; ) is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in central China. It lies at the east of Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han River. Arising out of the conglomeration of three boroughs, Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, Wuhan is known as "the nine provinces' leading thoroughfare"; it is a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city. The city of Wuhan, first termed as such in 1927, has a population of approximately 9,100,000 people (2006), with about 6,100,000 residents in its urban area. In the 1920s, Wuhan was the capital of a leftist Kuomintang (KMT) government led by Wang Jingwei in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek, now Wuhan is recognized as the political, economic, financial, cultural, educational and transportation center of central China.
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Wuhan University
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Wuxi
Wuxi (; former spellings: Wu-shi, Wushi, or Wu-hsi; lit. "Without Tin"; Shanghai dialect: ) is an old city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Split into halves by Lake Taihu, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The northern half looks across to Taizhou to the north over the Yangtze River, while the southern half also borders the province of Zhejiang to the south. Wuxi earned its nickname "Pearl of Lake Tai" because it's built on the shore of Lake Tai with beautiful sceneries. Wuxi was also dubbed "little Shanghai" because of its close proximity to the city and its fast urbanization and booming economy.
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Xi'an
http://wn.com/Xi'an -
Xinhua
http://wn.com/Xinhua -
Yellow River
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Yellow Sea
http://wn.com/Yellow_Sea -
Yemen
http://wn.com/Yemen -
Yuan Dynasty
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Zengmu Ansha
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Zhejiang
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Zhejiang Province
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Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University (ZJU; ), sometimes referred to as Zheda, is a national university in China. Founded in 1897, Zhejiang University is one of China's oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher education. The university is one of the nine members of the C9 League.
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Zhoukoudian
Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien (, ) is a cave system in Beijing, China. It has yielded many archaeological discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, dubbed Peking Man, and a fine assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris. The Peking Man lived in this cave approximately 200,000 to 750,000 years ago.
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Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe ( ; officially the Republic of Zimbabwe and formerly Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe Rhodesia) is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three official languages: English, Shona (a Bantu language), and Ndebele (also a Bantu language).
http://wn.com/Zimbabwe
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.cn
.cn is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for mainland China.
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14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (Religious name: Tenzin Gyatso, shortened from Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, born Lhamo Dondrub, 6 July 1935) is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figure in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has controversially consolidated control over the other sects in recent years. He is also well known for his political activities relating to the Tibetan independence movement, although he has recently moderated his stance. Tibetans traditionally believe him to be the reincarnation of his predecessors.
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2011 BRICS summit
http://wn.com/2011_BRICS_summit -
Aksai Chin
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Altai Republic
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Anhui
Anhui (, ) is a province of the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny section in the north. The capital of the province is Hefei.
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Anhui Province
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Beijing
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Beijing Municipality
#REDIRECTBeijing
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Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19, 1946) is the former 42nd President of the United States and served from 1993 to 2001. At 46 he was the third-youngest president. He became president at the end of the Cold War, and was the first baby boomer president. His wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is currently the United States Secretary of State. Each received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Yale Law School.
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BRICS
http://wn.com/BRICS -
Buddhism
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Buddhist
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Buyei
http://wn.com/Buyei -
Chen Guidi
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Chengdu J-10
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Chengdu J-20
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Chiang Kai-shek
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China
China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity.
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China Mobile
China Mobile Limited () (, ) provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network, the largest of its kind in the world. Also the most valuable mobile telecommunications company in the world and a state-owned enterprise, it is listed on both the NYSE and the Hong Kong stock exchange. As of 2009, it has the world's largest mobile phone subscriber base, with over 508 million customers, is the largest Chinese company listed overseas and is the largest telecom in Asia.
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China Proper
http://wn.com/China_Proper -
China Telecom
http://wn.com/China_Telecom -
China Unicom
China Unicom or China United Netcom (Hong Kong) Ltd (), ( ), is a telecommunications operator in the People's Republic of China.
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Chinese Century
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Chinese Communists
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Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:
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Chongzhen Emperor
The Chongzhen Emperor (; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-chen/old spelling: ''Ch'ung-cheng'') (February 6, 1611 - April 25, 1644) was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".
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Chu Hsi
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Chunyun
Chunyun, (), also referred to as Spring Festival travel season, or 'Chunyun period', is a period of travel in China with extremely high traffic load around the time of the Chinese New Year. The period usually begins 15 days before the Lunar New Year's Day and lasts for around 40 days. The number of passenger journeys during the Chunyun period has exceeded the population of China, hitting 2.26 billion in 2008. For comparison, this equals the number of rail journeys undertaken in the UK during the entire 2005-2006 year. It has been called the largest annual human migration in the world. Rail transport experiences the biggest challenge during the period, and a myriad of social problems have emerged.
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Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. (branded Citi) is a major American financial services company based in New York City. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group on April 7, 1998.
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CJ-10 (missile)
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Cultural Revolution
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Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (; 22 August 1904 19 February 1997) was a Chinese politician, statesman, theorist, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy. While Deng never held office as the head of state, head of government or General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (historically the highest position in Communist China), he nonetheless served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 to the early 1990s.
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Emperor of China
http://wn.com/Emperor_of_China -
Empress Dowager Cixi
http://wn.com/Empress_Dowager_Cixi -
Environment of China
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Expressways of China
The '''Expressway Network of the People's Republic of China () is one of the longest in the world. The network is also known as National Trunk Highway System (NTHS'''). The total length of China's expressways is 65,065 km at the end of 2009, the world's second longest only after the United States and roughly equals that in Canada, Germany, and France combined. In 2009, 4,719 km of expressways were added to the network.
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Falun Gong
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Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (; born January 20, 1964) is an Indian-American journalist and author. After a long career as a columnist for Newsweek and editor of Newsweek International, he has recently announced a move to Editor-At-Large of Time. He is also the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, and a frequent commentator and author about issues related to international relations, trade and American foreign policy.
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Floating population
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Foreign aid to China
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Fujian
is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait. The name Fujian came from the combination of Fuzhou and Jian'ou, two cities in Fujian, during the Tang Dynasty. It is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China with Han Chinese majority.
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Gang of Four
The Gang of Four () was the name given to a leftist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The members consisted of Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong's last wife and the leading figure of the group, and her close associates Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen.
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Gansu
() is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It lies between Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and the Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia to the north and Xinjiang to the west. The Yellow River passes the southern part of the province.
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George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (; born July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut) was the 43rd President of the United States, serving from 2001 to 2009, and the 46th Governor of Texas, serving from 1995 to 2000.
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Great Firewall
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Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward () of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern communist society through the process of agriculturalization, industrialization, and collectivization. Mao Zedong led the campaign based on the Theory of Productive Forces, and intensified it after being informed of the impending disaster from grain shortages.
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Guangdong
Guangdong () is a province on the southern coast of People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province. It surpassed Henan and Sichuan to become the most populous province in China in January 2005, registering 79 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants who lived in the province for at least six months of the year. The provincial capital Guangzhou and economic hub Shenzhen are amongst the most populous and important cities in China.
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Guangdong Province
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Guangxu Emperor
The Guangxu Emperor () (14 August 1871–14 November 1908), born Zaitian (), was the tenth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, under Empress Dowager Cixi's influence, only from 1889 to 1898. He initiated the Hundred Days' Reform, but was abruptly stopped when Cixi launched a coup in 1898, after which he was put under house arrest until his death. His reign name means "The Glorious Succession".
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Guangzhou
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Guy Sorman
Guy Sorman (born March 10, 1944, Paris, France) is a French professor, columnist, author and public intellectual in economics and philosophical matters. He has written twenty books that preach the ideals of creativity and modern capitalism. He is close to classical liberalism postulates. His ideas about renewable energy and environmentalism, as expressed in his book Progress and its Enemies, are particularly controversial. He is a strong defender of human rights in China; he is committed to support democracy in many places like Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Chile, Poland, and Argentina. Guy Sorman is one of the founders of the leading French NGO " Action against Hunger, in 1979 : he was the President of ACF until 1990 and became its Honorary President .He is the global advisor of the South Korean President and he has held many public positions in France at the governmental level.
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Hebei
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Hong Kong
Hong Kong () is one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. Situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong Kong's Han Chinese majority originate mainly from the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the neighbouring Guangdong province.
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Hong Xiuquan
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Hu Jintao
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Hu Yaobang
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Hua Guofeng
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Hubei
http://wn.com/Hubei -
Hubei Province
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Hui people
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Hukou system
A Hukou () or huji () refers to the system of residency permits which dates back to ancient China, where household registration is required by law in People's Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan).
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Inner Mongolia
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Islam in China
Islam in China has a rich heritage. China has some of the oldest Muslim history, dating back to as early as 650, Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas, was sent as an official envoy to Emperor Gaozong during Caliph Uthman's era. Throughout the history of Islam in China, Chinese Muslims have influenced the course of Chinese history.
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Jia Qinglin
Jia Qinglin (; born March 1940 in Botou, Cangzhou, Hebei) is a senior leader of the People's Republic of China. He is the fourth ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the Chairman of the People's Political Consultative Conference. Jia's functions as the head of China's consultative legislative body are largely ceremonial in nature. Earlier he had served as the CPC Party Chief in the country's southern Fujian province, and also as Mayor of Beijing.
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Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin (born August 17, 1926, in Yangzhou, Jiangsu) is the "core of the third generation" of Communist Party of China leaders, serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and as Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004.
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Jinan
Jinan (; ;) is a sub-provincial city and the capital of Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilization and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub. The city is located in north-western Shandong about south of the national capital of Beijing, it borders Liaocheng to the southwest, Dezhou to the northwest, Binzhou to the northeast, Zibo to the east, Laiwu to the southeast, and Tai'an to the south.
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JL-2
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Koreans in China
The population of Koreans in China include millions of descendants of Korean immigrants with citizenship of the People's Republic of China, as well as smaller groups of South and North Korean expatriates, with a total of roughly 2.3 million people .
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Lan Yu (general)
Lan Yu (died 1393) was a general who helped the founding of the Ming Dynasty. He was Chinese Hui people and also Muslim. The founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang employed Muslim Generals in his army including Lan Yu, Chang Yuchun, Ding Dexing, and Mu Ying.
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Li Zicheng
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Liaoning
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Liaoning Province
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Macau
Macau (), also spelled Macao () is, along with Hong Kong one of China's two special administrative regions. It lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta, bordering Guangdong province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.
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Mainland China
Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China (PRC). This term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
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Manchu
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Manchu people
#REDIRECTManchu
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Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong (; December 26, 1893 September 9, 1976) was a Han Chinese revolutionary, political theorist and communist leader. He led the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism-Leninism, military strategies, and his brand of Communist policies are now collectively known as Maoism.
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Marco Polo
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Martino Martini
Martino Martini (, Jitai) (20 September 1614, Trento, Bishopric of Trent - 6 June 1661, Hangzhou, China) was an Italian Jesuit missionary, cartographer and historian, mainly working on imperial China.
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Matsu Islands
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Migration in China
This article is about internal migration within the People's Republic of China. On top of the existing 103 million urban migrants, Chinese cities will face an influx of another 243 million migrants by 2025, taking the urban population up to nearly 1 billion people. In the medium and large cities, about half the population will be migrants, which is almost three times the current level.
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Mongol
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Nanjing
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One-China Policy
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One-China policy
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Paramount Leader
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Paramount leader
Paramount leader () literally "the highest leader of the party and the country", in modern Chinese political science, unofficially refers to the political leader of the People's Republic of China who, at present, usually held the following posts:
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Peking University
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People's commune
The '''people's commune''' () in the People's Republic of China, were formerly the highest of three administrative levels in rural areas during the period of 1958 to 1982-85 until they were replaced by townships. Communes, the largest collective units, were divided in turn into production brigades and production teams. The communes had governmental, political, and economic functions.
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People's Daily
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PetroChina
PetroChina Company Limited (, ) (, , ) is a Chinese oil company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer, and is the world's most valuable company by market value as of September 28th 2010. Traded in Hong Kong and New York, the mainland enterprise announced its plans to issue stock in Shanghai in November 2007, and following its debut on the Shanghai index, its market value tripled, making PetroChina the first company to reach a trillion dollar market capitalization.
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Poverty in China
Poverty in China refers to people whose income is less than the $1.25 per day poverty line (PPP) set by the World Bank. Poverty has affected all aspects of China, including the environment, health, education, housing, nutrition, and agriculture. It has disrupted families and communities, and sent millions from the poorer regions to the cities in a desperate search for work.
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Prophet Muhammad
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Puyi
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Qin Shi Huang
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Religion in China
Religion in China has been characterized by pluralism since the beginning of Chinese history. The Chinese religions are family-oriented and do not demand the exclusive adherence of members. Some scholars doubt the use of the term "religion" in reference to Buddhism and Taoism, and suggest "cultural practices" or "thought systems" as more appropriate names. The questions of who should be called religious in China, and what religion or religions they should be called are up to debate. Generally, the percentage of people who call themselves religious in China have been the lowest in the world.
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Richard Eden
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Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974, having formerly been the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. A member of the Republican Party, he was the only President to resign the office as well as the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
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Rufus Yerxa
Rufus H. Yerxa (born 1951) is currently Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He has served in this position since 2002. He was the former Chief International Counsel for Monsanto Company.
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S-300 (missile)
The S-300 is a series of Russian long range surface-to-air missile systems produced by NPO Almaz, all based on the initial S-300P version. The S-300 system was developed to defend against aircraft and cruise missiles for the Soviet Air Defence Forces. Subsequent variations were developed to intercept ballistic missiles. The S-300 was jointly produced by Almaz with Samsung Group of South Korea since 1993.
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Sanya
Sanya () is a city in southern Hainan province of China. It has a population of 536,000 as of 2006. After the capital, Haikou, it is the second most populous city of the island. Sanya is renowned for its tropical climate and has emerged as a popular tourist destination. There are small concentrations of Utsul people in this city. It is the site for training of the Chinese national beach volleyball team. It is the southernmost city in China.
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Shaanxi
(; Postal map spelling: Shensi) is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province. Shaanxi is the historical home, along with Gansu of the dialect of the Dungans, Hui people who emigrated out of China to Central Asia.
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Shaanxi Province
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Shandong
For the people of Shandong, see Shandong people
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Shandong Province
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Shanghai
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Shanxi
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Shenyang J-11
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Shinzo Abe
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Sichuan
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Sichuan Province
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South China Sea
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Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays, and islands in the South China Sea between Brunei, China, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land area, spread over more than 425,000 square kilometers of sea. The Spratlys are part of the three archipelagos of the South China Sea, comprising more than 30,000 islands and reefs which so complicates geography, governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia. Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries. There are no native islanders but there are rich fishing grounds and initial surveys indicate the islands may be near significant oil and gas deposits.
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Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the Founding Father of Republican China, a view agreed upon by both Mainland China and Taiwan. Sun played an instrumental role in inspiring the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China, which began in October 1911. He was the first provisional president when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912 and later co-founded the ''Chinese National People's Party or Kuomintang'' (KMT) where he served as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and remains unique among 20th-century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
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Taiwan
Taiwan, also known (especially in the past) as Formosa (from , "Beautiful Island"), is an island situated in East Asia in the Western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It comprises most (99%) of the territory of the Republic of China (ROC) since the 1950s. The term "Taiwan" is also a common name to refer to the entire country of the Republic of China.
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Tank Man
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Terrorism in China
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Tianjin
(; ; Postal map spelling: Tientsin) is a metropolis in Northeastern China and one of the five national central cities. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is thus under direct administration of the central government, and borders Hebei Province and Beijing Municipality, bounded to the east by the Bohai Gulf portion of the Yellow Sea. In terms of urban population, it is the sixth largest city of the People's Republic of China, and its urban land area ranks 5th in the nation, only after Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
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Tianjin Municipality
#REDIRECTTianjin
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Tibetan people
The Tibetan people (; ) are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan.
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Time in China
The two political entities currently using "China" as part of their official name, the People's Republic of China (PRC) (including mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau) and the Republic of China (ROC) (commonly referred to as Taiwan) are in the same time zone which is eight hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+8). Before the founding of PRC in 1949, when the whole Chinese region was governed by ROC, there were five time zones in China.
http://wn.com/Time_in_China -
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University (THU; ), colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911, originally under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang". The school was renamed the "Tsinghua School" in 1912. The university section was founded in 1925 and the name "National Tsinghua University" adopted in 1928. With a motto of Self-Discipline and Social Commitment, Tsinghua University describes itself as being dedicated to academic excellence, the well-being of Chinese society and to global development. Today, many national and international rankings place Tsinghua amongst the best universities in mainland China.
http://wn.com/Tsinghua_University -
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is the sixth and current Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy. He also holds membership in the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, the country's de facto top power organ, where he is ranked third out of nine members.
http://wn.com/Wen_Jiabao -
Wu Bangguo
Wu Bangguo (; born July 1941 in Feidong County, Anhui) is a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China. He is currently Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a position that makes him China's chief legislator. He is also ranked second in official rankings of state and party leaders according to his qualifications in the Party.
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Wu Sangui
http://wn.com/Wu_Sangui -
Xi'an
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Xinhua
http://wn.com/Xinhua -
Xinjiang
Xinjiang (; ; ; Postal map spelling: Sinkiang) is an autonomous region (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2. Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.
http://wn.com/Xinjiang -
Yang Liwei
http://wn.com/Yang_Liwei -
Yao Ming
Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a professional basketball player who plays for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently the tallest player in the NBA, at .
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Yeheidie'erding
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Yi people
http://wn.com/Yi_people -
Yuan Shikai
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Zhejiang
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Zhejiang Province
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Zheng He
http://wn.com/Zheng_He -
Zhou Enlai
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Zhu Rongji
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Zhuang people
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the national anthem of the People's Republic of China
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:48
- Updated: 28 Oct 2012
the national anthem of the People's Republic of China
http://wn.com/the_national_anthem_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China
Peoples Republic of China Most Powerful Military in History HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:23
- Updated: 07 Oct 2012
Peoples Republic of China, one of oldest civilizations with richest history and today, where almost every thing in the world is manufactured. Peoples Liberation Army under Comrade Mao Zedong was destined to see this day as largest and best equipped military in history, with modernized upgrade of hardware and by far best trained personnel with unmatched discipline, moral, loyalty and willingness to sacrifice for their Motherland. Probably highest military might ever possible by man. Type-99 MBT Biological warfare, nuclear radiation resistant, Anti Tank Guided Missile launched from cannon, classified armor composition, 80 kmph, Counter measures from Russian T-90 like Shtora, T-90 based fire control, laser range finder, wind sensor, ballistic computer, thermal barrel sleeve, Dual stabilization. Simply equal to T-90, but presents larger target and less mobile, cheaper and more produceable. Dongfeng DF-21 Top Secret** Mobile Ballistic Missible, able to defeating all known anti missile counter measures on American Supercarriers. Only non-nuclear weapon able to destroy "Supercarrier" instantly. Dongfend DF-25 Mobile ICBM with range of over 1700 kilometers Dongfend DF-31 Mobile ICBM (4th generation) Range over 10000 kilometers! Dongfend DF-41 Mobile ICBM Top Secret*** Range over 15000 kilometers, 10 Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle (each nuclear armed) Submarine Borne. Chengdu J-20 5th Generation Stealth Fighter, lauched in late 1990s, very good radar deflection ...
http://wn.com/Peoples_Republic_of_China_Most_Powerful_Military_in_History_HD
Nelson Can - People's Republic of China
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:24
- Updated: 28 Oct 2012
Official music video for the song "People's Republic of China" by the Danish girlband Nelson Can. Get the EP here: itunes.apple.com Selina Lannie: vocals Signe Tobiassen: bass+vocals Tam Vibberstoft: drums+vocals Nelson Can: www.facebook.com www.nelsoncan.com music video by Tam Vibberstoft, tamvibberstoft.dk and Rafaël Elders label 10.000 Records, 10000records.com The song is produced, recorded and mixed by Noah Rosanes, noahrosanes.com
http://wn.com/Nelson_Can_People's_Republic_of_China
Mao declares the Peoples' Republic of China
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:21
- Updated: 18 Oct 2012
Mao declares the Peoples' Republic of China. Tian'anmen Square, Beijing, October 1st 1949
http://wn.com/Mao_declares_the_Peoples'_Republic_of_China
The People's Republic and the Republic of China explained
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:16
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
The People's Republic vs. the Republic of China... or Taiwan. Or Chinese Taipei... and the stupidity of "one China" policy
http://wn.com/The_People's_Republic_and_the_Republic_of_China_explained
People's Republic Of China National Anthem
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:04
- Updated: 28 Sep 2012
This is my Revised Version of the People's Republic of China National Anthem Video.Hope U Like It!!!
http://wn.com/People's_Republic_Of_China_National_Anthem
Chairman Mao Tse-tung: People's Republic of China (PRC)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:39
- Updated: 10 Sep 2012
~Communists~ 'A Communist should have largeness of mind and he should be staunch and active, looking upon the interests of the revolution as his very life and subordinating his personal interests to those of the revolution; always and everywhere he should adhere to principle and wage a tireless struggle against all incorrect ideas and actions, so as to consolidate the collective life of the Party and the masses; he should be more concerned about the Party and the masses than about any individual, and more concerned about others than about himself. Only thus can he be considered a Communist. Every comrade must be brought to understand that the supreme test of the words and deeds of a Communist is whether they conform with the highest interests and enjoy the support of the overwhelming majority of the people. Every Communist working in the mass movements should be a friend of the masses and not a boss over them, an indefatigable teacher and not a bureaucratic politician.' Chairman Mao's Little Red Book, at chp.28
http://wn.com/Chairman_Mao_Tse-tung_People's_Republic_of_China_PRC
Chinese Anti-Terror Unit Training
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:12
- Updated: 06 Sep 2012
Looks to be a promo video for a Chinese anti-terror unit or special police force in training. Looks a bit "Hollywood" to be real training to me. I originally thought this was S. Korean but numerous people have told me that it is probably Chinese b/c all the signs on the vehicles and buildings are Chinese.
http://wn.com/Chinese_Anti-Terror_Unit_Training
SpongeBob SquarePants in China -- by Boom Chicago
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:16
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
But what changes will the Chinese government demand? Written by Rob AndristPlouorde and Dan Oster. Directed by Matt Chapman
http://wn.com/SpongeBob_SquarePants_in_China_-_by_Boom_Chicago
Shanghai - Peoples Republic of China
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 25:52
- Updated: 18 May 2012
In Shanghai, Joe decides to do as the locals do and start the day with some T'ai Chi in the park. This ancient practice of movement and meditation gets him ready to meet his co-host, Tianran, at her home. Tianran's family is very welcoming, and teaches Joe to use chopsticks. Tianran, a former gymnast, promises to take Joe to the circus school for a class later on. First, she wants to take him on a tour of Shanghai, starting with the city's most famous landmark - the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. At the top of the tower, the duo takes in a breathtaking view of Shanghai.
http://wn.com/Shanghai_Peoples_Republic_of_China
President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao 胡錦濤
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:25
- Updated: 03 Oct 2012
Collection of photos of Hu Jintao, the current President of the People's Republic of China.
http://wn.com/President_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China_Hu_Jintao_胡錦濤
Falcon 4: Allied Force People's Republic of China Declares War, Opening Night Sweep
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 36:23
- Updated: 24 Oct 2012
China declares war on South Korea, escalating the war. We quickly frag a sweep flight to intercept enemy fighters streaming across the FLOT. Most of the mission is done with NVGs on, but we intercept a number of J-11s (chinese mig-29), J-7s (mig-21) and H-6s (bombers) and manage to make it home safely. Demonstrates how to do a grinder.
http://wn.com/Falcon_4_Allied_Force_People's_Republic_of_China_Declares_War,_Opening_Night_Sweep
Lejeune Marines Host People's Republic of China Minister of National Defense
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:19
- Updated: 24 Sep 2012
B-roll of the the People's Republic of China Minister of National Defense visiting Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC, May 9, 2012. Produced by Staff Sgt. Jeremy Ross.
http://wn.com/Lejeune_Marines_Host_People's_Republic_of_China_Minister_of_National_Defense
Shanghai City Global East World Financial Metropolis People's Republic of China by BK Bazhe.com
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:08
- Updated: 04 Oct 2012
Shanghai - www.BAZHE.com China, Asia Shanghai is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province-level status. BKBAZHE is a writer, poet, and artist. He is the author of DAMAGES (creative nonfiction) —Winner in the Writers Digest Awards and IDENTITIES (poetry). He is published and exhibited in Europe and America. More info at BK Bazhe Website: www.bazhe.com Amazon Books & Art by BKBazhe astore.amazon.com YouTube Videos by BK Bazhe: www.youtube.com Google Blog by BK Bazhe: bazhe.blogspot.com
http://wn.com/Shanghai_City_Global_East_World_Financial_Metropolis_People's_Republic_of_China_by_BK_Bazhecom
95 the Yangtze River · Peoples Republic of China
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:00
- Updated: 09 Apr 2012
Wehave selected 100 unique places on Earth that are projected to undergo profound changes within the next few generations. We based our selection of the 100 places on the 4th Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Simply by drawing attention to the beauty of these places, 100 Places to Remember Before they Disappear creates an argument to preserve them. The 100 Places we have chosen to highlight, and the people who live in them, are in serious danger because of rising sea levels, rising temperatures and extreme weather events triggered by climate change. Among ambassadors are Joss Stone, Desmund Tutu for more info visit www.100places.com - The Yangtze River · Peoples Republic of China The Golden Gateway between East and West If you havent travelled up the mighty Yangtze, you havent been anywhere. (Chinese saying) The Yangtze River snakes its way from the Tibetan plateau through several of Chinas provinces before it flows into the East China Sea. Stretching for 6300 km, it is the longest river in Asia, and is surpassed only by the Amazon in South America and the Nile in north-east Africa. The winding Yangtze River has created some of Chinas most impressive landscapes. The deep valleys, hills densely covered in greenery and steep walls slicing into the muddy water of the Yangtze are a compelling sight. The famous Three Gorges are particularly renowned for their dramatic beauty. In the middle and lower regions of the Yangtze, where the ...
http://wn.com/95_the_Yangtze_River_·_Peoples_Republic_of_China
Little-known past of China's 'next leader'
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:33
- Updated: 02 Oct 2012
The People's Republic of China is preparing for a once-in-a-decade transition of power. When president and Communist Party chief Hu Jintao ends his 10 years in charge he is expected to be replaced by 57-year-old Xi Jinping. Though his official biography extolls his virtues as a good party official with a strong work ethic who comes from a family with solid revolutionary credentials, little else is known about him. Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan went to a remote village in China's Shaanxi Province to learn more about his upbringing.
http://wn.com/Little-known_past_of_China's_'next_leader'
China shows military might at anniversary celebration - 1 Oct 09
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:26
- Updated: 10 Sep 2012
The People's Republic of China is celebrating 60 years since its founding with a mammoth display of national pride and ceremonial pomp. As well as the pageant of colourful floats streaming through Tiananmen Square, the same route the Peoples Liberation Army took 60 years ago under Mao Zedongs command, also on display was the might of China's army and its increasingly impressive military hardware. Al Jazeeras Melissa Chan reports from Beijing, China's capital.
http://wn.com/China_shows_military_might_at_anniversary_celebration_1_Oct_09
People's Republic of China - Socialism is Good
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:55
- Updated: 30 Sep 2012
Dedicated to the People's Republic of China. Strong since 1949. I know the current government is not like it was with Mao, but it seems they're rebounding. At least they do not give in to the demands of the west. Song - Socialism is Good (Rock Version) EDIT: Due to frequent skeptic comments, I have a link for people to read in order to avoid arguments: marxistleninist.wordpress.com Read it and form your own conclusions.
http://wn.com/People's_Republic_of_China_Socialism_is_Good
Touhou Hisoutensoku 12.3 - The People's Republic of China vs KING METAL SLIME Reimu
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:13
- Updated: 20 Oct 2012
You are already dead.
http://wn.com/Touhou_Hisoutensoku_123_The_People's_Republic_of_China_vs_KING_METAL_SLIME_Reimu
History of the People's Republic of China
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:11
- Updated: 29 Jul 2012
This is a short slideshow I made about the highlights of PRC's almost-60 year history. I was bored and couldn't think of anything creative today. Enjoy and go China!
http://wn.com/History_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China
Mao Zedong 毛泽东- Establishment the People Republic of China 1949
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:19
- Updated: 29 Oct 2012
1st of October 1949 Mao Zedong establish the People Republic of China at Tiananmen Square Beijing.
http://wn.com/Mao_Zedong_毛泽东_Establishment_the_People_Republic_of_China_1949
Ma Ying-jeou,President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) | Journal Interview
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:17
- Updated: 02 Oct 2012
Taiwan and the People's Republic: Co-operation instead of Confrontation?
http://wn.com/Ma_Ying-jeou,President_of_the_Republic_of_China_Taiwan_|_Journal_Interview
Peoples Republic of China National Anthem
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:30
- Updated: 07 Sep 2012
The National Anthem of China "March of the Volunteers" The english translation: Arise! All who refuse to be slaves! Let our flesh and blood become our new Great Wall! As the Chinese nation faces its greatest peril, All forcefully expend their last cries. Arise! Arise! Arise! Our million hearts beat as one, Brave the enemy's fire, March on! Brave the enemy's fire, March on! March on! March on! On! Another English translation: March on! People of all heroic nationalities! The great Communist Party leads us in continuing the Long March , Millions with but one heart toward a communist tomorrow, Develop and protect the country in a brave struggle. March on, march on, march on! We will for generations, Raise high Mao Zedong's banner, march on! Raise high Mao Zedong's banner, march on! March on! March on! On!
http://wn.com/Peoples_Republic_of_China_National_Anthem
Photo: AP / Themba Hadebe
29 Oct 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. Yesterday while protesting with striking mine workers in South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi was gunned down by heavily armed security forces. Gandhi, who...
Photo: AP / John Minchillo
30 Oct 2012
At least 13 people have been killed in the US and millions are without power after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline and hurled a record-breaking 13ft surge of seawater at New...
Photo: AP / Joseph Kaczmarek
29 Oct 2012
> • TheUnited Stateson Sunday is bracing for the impact of an incredibly large Hurricane Sandy. • Hurricane Center warned residents of mid-Atlantic coast should expect life-threatening storm surges. •...
Photo: AP / Jacqueline Larma
30 Oct 2012
Updated: October 30, 2012 11:08AM NEW YORK — Millions of people from Maine to the Carolinas awoke Tuesday without electricity, and an eerily quiet New York City was all but closed off by car, train...
Photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
29 Oct 2012
A poll of Jewish Israelis published last week in Ha'aretz newspaper created headlines round the world with its findings of support among the public for discriminatory policies. Some greeted the...
LA Daily News
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The Washington Times
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BBC News
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This article is about the People's Republic of China. For other uses, see China (disambiguation).
"PRC" redirects here. For other uses, see PRC (disambiguation).
| People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国
Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó |
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Anthem:
 "March of the Volunteers" 《义勇军进行曲》 (Pinyin: "Yìyǒngjūn Jìnxíngqǔ") |
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.svg) |
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| Capital | Beijing 39°55′N 116°23′E / 39.917°N 116.383°E / 39.917; 116.383 |
|||||
| Largest city | Shanghai[1][2] | |||||
| Official language(s) | Standard Chinese[3] | |||||
| Recognised regional languages | Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Zhuang, and various others | |||||
| Official written language | Vernacular Chinese | |||||
| Official script | Simplified Chinese[3] | |||||
| Ethnic groups | 91.51% Han;[4] 55 recognised minorities |
|||||
| Demonym | Chinese | |||||
| Government | Nominally Marxist–Leninist single-party state[5][a] | |||||
| - | President[b] | Hu Jintao | ||||
| - | Congress Chairman | Wu Bangguo | ||||
| - | Premier | Wen Jiabao | ||||
| - | Conference Chairman | Jia Qinglin | ||||
| Legislature | National People's Congress | |||||
| Establishment | ||||||
| - | Unification of China under the Qin Dynasty | 221 BC | ||||
| - | Republic established | 1 January 1912 | ||||
| - | People's Republic proclaimed | 1 October 1949 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 9,640,821 km2 [c] or 9,671,018 km² [c](3rd/4th) 3,704,427 sq mi |
||||
| - | Water (%) | 2.8[d] | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2010 census | 1,339,724,852[4] (1st) | ||||
| - | Density | 139.6/km2 (53rd) 363.3/sq mi |
||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $11.299 trillion[6] (2nd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $8,382[6] (91st) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $7.298 trillion[6] (2nd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $5,413[6] (90th) | ||||
| Gini (2007) | 41.5[7] | |||||
| HDI (2011) |  0.687[8] (medium) (101st) |
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| Currency | Renminbi (yuan) (¥) (CNY) |
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| Time zone | China Standard Time (UTC+8) | |||||
| Date formats | yyyy-mm-dd or yyyy年m月d日 (CE; CE-1949) |
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| Drives on the | right, except for Hong Kong & Macau | |||||
| ISO 3166 code | CN | |||||
| Internet TLD | .cn[c] .中國[9] .中国 | |||||
| Calling code | +86[c] | |||||
| a. ^ Simple characterizations of the political structure since the 1980s are no longer possible.[10]
b. ^ As paramount leader, Hu Jintao holds four concurrent positions: General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission for both state and party.[11] c. ^ 9,598,086 km2 (3,705,842 sq mi) excludes all disputed territories. |
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China (
i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area,[13] and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.[14]
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China.[15] It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau).[16] Its capital city is Beijing.[17] The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
China's landscape is vast and diverse, with forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts occupying the arid north and northwest near Mongolia and Central Asia, and subtropical forests being prevalent in the wetter south near Southeast Asia. The terrain of western China is rugged and elevated, with the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separating China from South and Central Asia. The world's apex, Mt. Everest (8,848 m), lies on the China–Nepal border, while the world's second-highest point, K2 (8,611 m), is situated on China's border with Pakistan. The country's lowest and the world's third-lowest point, Lake Ayding (−154 m), is located in the Turpan Depression. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, have their sources in the Tibetan Plateau and continue to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long—the 11th-longest in the world—and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.
The nation of China has had numerous historical incarnations. The ancient Chinese civilization—one of the world's earliest—flourished in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain.[18] China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies, known as dynasties, beginning with the semi-mythological Xia of the Yellow River basin (approx. 2000 BC) and ending with the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Since 221 BC, when the Qin Dynasty first conquered several states to form a Chinese empire, the country has expanded, fractured and been reformed numerous times. The Republic of China, founded in 1911 after the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949. In 1945, the ROC acquired Taiwan from Japan following World War II.
In the 1946–1949 phase of the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Communist Party defeated the nationalist Kuomintang in mainland China and established the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949. The Kuomintang relocated the ROC government to Taiwan, establishing its capital in Taipei. The ROC's jurisdiction is now limited to Taiwan and several outlying islands, including Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. Since 1949, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (now widely known as "Taiwan") have remained in dispute over the sovereignty of China and the political status of Taiwan, mutually claiming each other's territory and competing for international diplomatic recognition. In 1971, the PRC gained admission to the United Nations and took the Chinese seat as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the BCIM and the G-20. As of September 2011, all but 23 countries have recognized the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China.
Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become the world's fastest-growing major economy.[19] As of 2012, it is the world's second-largest economy, after the United States, by both nominal GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP),[20] and is also the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. In per capita terms, China ranked 90th by nominal GDP and 91st by GDP (PPP) in 2011, according to the IMF. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army, with the second-largest defense budget. In 2003, China became the third nation in the world, after the former Soviet Union and the United States, to independently launch a successful manned space mission. China has been characterized as a potential superpower by a number of academics,[21] military analysts,[22] and public policy and economics analysts.[23]
Contents |
Etymology[link]
Main article: Names of China
| China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese: | 中国 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese: | 中國 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning: | Middle Kingdom[24][25] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| People's Republic of China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese: | 中华人民共和国 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese: | 中華人民共和國 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tibetan: | ཀྲུང་ཧྭ་མི་དམངས་སྤྱི མཐུན་རྒྱལ་ཁབ |
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| Uyghur: | جۇڭخۇا خەلق جۇمھۇرىيىت | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Zhuang: | Cunghvaz Yinzminz Gunghozgoz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. |
The word "China" is derived from Cin (چین), a Persian name for China popularized in medieval Europe by the account of the 13th-century Venetian explorer Marco Polo.[26][27] The first recorded use in English dates from 1555.[28] The Persian word is, in turn, derived from the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन),[29] which was used as a name for China as early as AD 150.[30] There are various scholarly theories regarding the origin of this word. The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martino Martini, is that "China" is derived from "Qin" (秦), the westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou Dynasty, or from the succeeding Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC).[31] The word Cīna is used in two Hindu scriptures – the Mahābhārata of the 5th century BC and the Laws of Manu of the 2nd century BC – to refer to a country located in the Tibetan-Burman borderlands east of India.[32][33]
In China, common names for the country include Zhōngguó (Chinese: 中国; literally "the Central State(s)") and Zhōnghuá (Chinese: 中华), although the country's official name has been changed numerous times by successive dynasties and modern governments. The term Zhongguo appeared in various ancient texts, such as the Classic of History of the 6th century BC,[34] and in pre-imperial times it was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish the Huaxia from the barbarians. The term, which can be either singular or plural, referred to the group of states in the central plain. It was only in the nineteenth century that the term emerged as the formal name of the country. The Chinese were not unique in regarding their country as "central", since other civilizations had the same view.[35]
History[link]
Main articles: History of China and Timeline of Chinese history
Prehistory[link]
Main article: Chinese prehistory
Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China between 250,000 and 2.24 million years ago.[36] A cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-day Beijing) exhibits fossils dated at between 300,000 and 780,000 BC.[37][38][39] The fossils are of Peking Man, an example of Homo erectus who used fire. There are also remains of Homo sapiens dating back to 18,000–11,000 BC found at the Peking Man site.[40]
Early dynastic rule[link]
See also: Dynasties in Chinese history
Chinese tradition names the first dynasty Xia, but it was considered mythical until scientific excavations found early Bronze Age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province in 1959.[41] Archaeologists have since uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs in locations cited as Xia's in ancient historical texts, but it is impossible to verify that these remains are of the Xia without written records from the period.
The first Chinese dynasty that left historical records, the loosely feudal Shang (Yin), settled along the Yellow River in eastern China from the 17th to the 11th century BC. The oracle bone script of the Shang Dynasty represent the oldest forms of Chinese writing found and the direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters used throughout East Asia. The Shang were invaded from the west by the Zhou, who ruled from the 12th to the 5th century BC, until their centralized authority was slowly eroded by feudal warlords. Many independent states eventually emerged out of the weakened Zhou state, and continually waged war with each other in the Spring and Autumn Period, only occasionally deferring to the Zhou king. By the time of the Warring States Period, there were seven powerful sovereign states, each with its own king, ministry and army.
Imperial China[link]
The first unified Chinese state was established by Qin Shi Huang of the Qin state in 221 BC. Qin Shi Huang proclaimed himself the "First Emperor" (始皇帝), and imposed many reforms throughout China, notably the forced standardization of the Chinese language, measurements, length of cart axles, and currency. The Qin Dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after Qin Shi Huang's death, as its harsh legalist and authoritarian policies led to widespread rebellion.[42][43]
The subsequent Han Dynasty ruled China between 206 BC and 220 AD, and created a lasting Han cultural identity among its populace that extends to the present day.[42][43] The Han Dynasty expanded the empire's territory considerably with military campaigns reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Central Asia, and also helped establish the Silk Road in Central Asia. China was for a large part of the last two millennia the world's largest economy.[44] However, in the later part of the Qing Dynasty, China's economic development began to slow and Europe's rapid development during and after the Industrial Revolution enabled it to surpass China.
After the collapse of Han, another period of disunion followed, including the highly chivalric period of the Three Kingdoms.[45] Independent Chinese states of this period such as Wu opened diplomatic relations with Japan,[46] introducing the Chinese writing system there. In 580 AD, China was reunited under the Sui.[47] However, the Sui Dynasty was short-lived after a failure in the Goguryeo-Sui Wars (598–614) weakened it.[48][49]
Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese technology and culture reached its zenith.[50] The Tang Empire was at its height of power until the middle of the 8th century, when the An Shi Rebellion destroyed the prosperity of the empire.[51] The Song Dynasty was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing navy.[52] Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the population of China doubled in size. This growth came about through expanded rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses.
Within its borders, the Northern Song Dynasty had a population of some 100 million people. The Song Dynasty was a culturally rich period for philosophy and the arts. Landscape art and portrait painting were brought to new levels of maturity and complexity after the Tang Dynasty, and social elites gathered to view art, share their own, and trade precious artworks. Philosophers such as Cheng Yi and Chu Hsi reinvigorated Confucianism with new commentary, infused Buddhist ideals, and emphasized a new organization of classic texts that brought about the core doctrine of Neo-Confucianism.
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In 1271, the Mongol leader and fifth Khagan of the Mongol Empire Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, with the last remnant of the Song Dynasty falling to the Yuan in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, Chinese dynasties reportedly had approximately 120 million inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60 million people.[53]
Late dynastic rule[link]
A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty.[54] Ming Dynasty thinkers such as Wang Yangming would further critique and expand Neo-Confucianism with ideas of individualism and innate morality that would have tremendous impact on later Japanese thought. Chosun Korea also became a nominal vassal state of Ming China and adopted much of its Neo-Confucian bureaucratic structure.
Under the Ming Dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that Zheng He led explorations throughout the world, possibly reaching America. During the early Ming Dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. In 1644, Beijing was sacked by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, a minor Ming official turned leader of the peasant revolt. The last Ming Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing Dynasty then allied with Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui and overthrew Li's short-lived Shun Dynasty, and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing Dynasty.
The Qing Dynasty, which lasted until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China. In the 19th century, the Qing Dynasty adopted a defensive posture towards European imperialism, even though it engaged in an imperialistic expansion of its own into Central Asia. At this time, China awoke to the significance of the rest of the world, the West in particular. As China opened up to foreign trade and missionary activity, opium produced by British India was forced onto Qing China. Two Opium Wars with Britain weakened the Emperor's control. European imperialism proved to be disastrous for China:
The Arrow War (1856–1860) [2nd Opium War] saw another disastrous defeat for China. The subsequent passing of the humiliating Treaty of Tianjin in 1856 and the Beijing Conventions of 1860 opened up more of the country to foreign penetrations and more ports for their vessels. Hong Kong was ceded over to the British. Thus, the "unequal treaties system" was established. Heavy indemnities had to be paid by China, and more territory and control were taken over by the foreigners.[55]
The weakening of the Qing regime, and the apparent humiliation of the unequal treaties in the eyes of the Chinese people had several consequences. One consequence[according to whom?] was the Taiping Rebellion, a civil war which lasted from 1851 to 1862. The rebellion was led by Hong Xiuquan, who was partly influenced by an idiosyncratic interpretation of Christianity. Hong believed himself to be the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the Qing forces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history, costing at least 20 million lives (more than the total number of fatalities in World War I), with some estimates of up to two hundred million. Other costly rebellions followed the Taiping Rebellion, such as the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855–67), Nien Rebellion (1851–1868), Miao Rebellion (1854–73), Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873) and the Dungan revolt (1862–1877).[56][57]
These rebellions resulted in an estimated loss of several million lives each and led to disastrous results for the economy and the countryside.[58][59][60] The flow of British opium hastened the empire's decline. In the 19th century, the age of colonialism was at its height and the great Chinese Diaspora began; today, about 35 million overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asia.[61] Emigration rates were strengthened by domestic catastrophes such as the famine of 1876–79, which claimed between 9 and 13 million lives in northern China.[62] From 108 BC to 1911 AD, China experienced 1,828 famines,[63] or one per year, somewhere in the empire.[64]
While China was wracked by continuous war, Meiji Japan succeeded in rapidly modernizing its military, and set its sights on the conquest of Korea and Manchuria. At the request of the Korean emperor, the Qing government sent troops to aid in suppressing the Tonghak Rebellion in 1894. However, Japan also sent troops to Korea, leading to the First Sino-Japanese War, which resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula as well as the cession of Taiwan (including the Pescadores) to Japan.
Following this series of defeats, a reform plan for the empire to become a modern Meiji-style constitutional monarchy was drafted by the Guangxu Emperor in 1898, but was opposed and stopped by the Empress Dowager Cixi, who placed Emperor Guangxu under house arrest in a coup d'état. Further destruction followed the ill-fated 1900 Boxer Rebellion against westerners in Beijing.
By the early 20th century, mass civil disorder had begun, and calls for reform and revolution were heard across the country. The 38-year-old Emperor Guangxu died under house arrest on 14 November 1908, suspiciously just a day before Cixi's own death. With the throne empty, he was succeeded by Cixi's handpicked heir, his two year old nephew Puyi, who became the Xuantong Emperor. Guangxu's consort became the Empress Dowager Longyu. In another coup de'tat, Yuan Shikai overthrew the last Qing emperor, and forced empress Dowager Longyu to sign the abdication decree as regent in 1912, ending two thousand years of imperial rule in China. She died, childless, in 1913.
Republic of China (1912–1949)[link]
Main articles: Republic of China (1912–1949) and History of the Republic of China
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On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, heralding the end of Imperial China. Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (the KMT or Nationalist Party) was proclaimed provisional president of the republic. However, the presidency was later given to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general, who had ensured the defection of the entire Beiyang Army from the Qing Empire to the revolution. In 1915, Yuan proclaimed himself Emperor of China, but was forced to abdicate and reestablish the republic in the face of popular condemnation, not only from the general population but also from among his own Beiyang Army and its commanders.
After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented, with an internationally recognized but virtually powerless national government seated in Beijing. Regional warlords exercised actual control over their respective territories. In the late 1920s, the nationalist Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political maneuverings, known collectively as the Northern Expedition. The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to Nanjing and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's San-min program for transforming China into a modern democratic state. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party rule by the Kuomintang, but the party was politically divided into competing cliques. This political division made it difficult for Chiang to battle the Communists, which the Kuomintang had been warring against since 1927 in the Chinese Civil War. This war continued successfully for the Kuomintang, especially after the Communists were forced to retreat in the Long March, until the Xi'an Incident and Japanese aggression forced Chiang to confront Imperial Japan.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), a part of World War II, forced an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communists. The Japanese "three-all policy" in northern China—"kill all, burn all and destroy all"—led to numerous war atrocities being committed against the civilian population; in all, as many as 20 million Chinese civilians were killed.[65][66] An estimated 200,000 Chinese were massacred in the city of Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation.[67] Japan unconditionally surrendered to China in 1945. Taiwan, including the Pescadores, was retroceded. China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between the Kuomintang and the Communists led to the resumption of the Chinese Civil War. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing Civil War many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China.[citation needed]
People's Republic of China (1949–present)[link]
Main article: History of the People's Republic of China
Major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the Communist Party in control of mainland China, and the Kuomintang retreating offshore, reducing the ROC's territory to only Taiwan, Hainan, and their surrounding islands. On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China,[68] which was commonly known in the West as "Communist China" or "Red China" during the Cold War.[69] In 1950, the People's Liberation Army succeeded in capturing Hainan from the ROC, occupying Tibet, and defeating the majority of the remaining Kuomintang forces in Yunnan and Xinjiang provinces, though some Kuomintang holdouts survived until much later.
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Mao encouraged population growth, and under his leadership the Chinese population almost doubled from around 550 million to over 900 million.[70] However, Mao's Great Leap Forward, a large-scale economic and social reform project, resulted in an estimated 45 million deaths between 1958 and 1961, mostly from starvation.[71] In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, which would last until Mao's death a decade later. The Cultural Revolution, motivated by power struggles within the Party and a fear of the Soviet Union, led to a major upheaval in Chinese society. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. In that same year, for the first time, the number of countries recognizing the PRC surpassed those recognizing the ROC in Taipei as the government of China.[72] In February 1972, at the peak of the Sino-Soviet split, Mao and Zhou Enlai met Richard Nixon in Beijing. However, the U.S. did not officially recognise the PRC as China's sole legitimate government until 1 January 1979.
After Mao's death in 1976 and the arrest of the Gang of Four, who were blamed for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping quickly wrested power from Mao's anointed successor Hua Guofeng. Although he never became the head of the party or state himself, Deng was in fact the Paramount Leader of China at that time, his influence within the Party led the country to significant economic reforms. The Communist Party subsequently loosened governmental control over citizens' personal lives and the communes were disbanded with many peasants receiving multiple land leases, which greatly increased incentives and agricultural production. This turn of events marked China's transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy with an increasingly open market environment, a system termed by some "market socialism";[73] the Communist Party of China officially describes it as "socialism with Chinese characteristics". China adopted its current constitution on 4 December 1982.
The death of pro-reform official Hu Yaobang helped to spark the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, during which students and others campaigned for several months, speaking out against corruption and in favour of greater political reform, including democratic rights and freedom of speech. However, they were eventually put down on 4 June when PLA troops and vehicles entered and forcibly cleared the square, resulting in numerous casualties. This event was widely reported and brought worldwide condemnation and sanctions against the government.[74][75] The "Tank Man" incident in particular became famous.
President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, both former mayors of Shanghai, led the nation in the 1990s. Under Jiang and Zhu's ten years of administration, China's economic performance pulled an estimated 150 million peasants out of poverty and sustained an average annual gross domestic product growth rate of 11.2%.[76][77] The country formally joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Although rapid economic growth has made the Chinese economy the world's second-largest, this growth has also severely impacted the country's resources and environment.[78] Another concern is that the benefits of economic development has not been distributed evenly, resulting in a wide development gap between urban and rural areas. As a result, under President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, the Chinese government initiated policies to address these issues of equitable distribution of resources, though the outcome remains to be seen.[79] More than 40 million farmers have been displaced from their land,[80] usually for economic development, contributing to the 87,000 demonstrations and riots across China in 2005.[81] Living standards have improved significantly but political controls remain tight.[82]
Geography[link]
Main article: Geography of the People's Republic of China
See also: Geography of Taiwan
A composite satellite image showing the topography of China.
Longsheng Rice Terrace in Guangxi.
The Li River in Guangxi.
Political geography[link]
The People's Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by land area after Russia[13] and is either the third- or fourth-largest by total area, after Russia, Canada and, depending on the definition of total area, the United States.[83] China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi).[84] Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopædia Britannica,[85] 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook,[86] to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook,[87] and 9,640,011 km2 (3,722,029 sq mi) including Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract, which are controlled by China and claimed by India.[88] None of these figures include the 1,000 square kilometres (386.1 sq mi) of territory ceded to China by Tajikistan following the ratification of a Sino-Tajik border agreement in January 2011.[89]
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the total area of the United States, at 9,522,055 km2 (3,676,486 sq mi), is slightly smaller than that of China. Meanwhile, the CIA World Factbook states that China's total area was greater than that of the United States until the coastal waters of the Great Lakes was added to the United States' total area in 1996.[90]
China has the longest combined land border in the world, measuring 22,117 km (13,743 mi) from the mouth of the Yalu River to the Gulf of Tonkin. China borders 14 nations, more than any other country except Russia, which also borders 14. China extends across much of East Asia, bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Burma in Southeast Asia; India, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan[91] in South Asia; Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; a small section of Russian Altai and Mongolia in Inner Asia; and the Russian Far East and North Korea in Northeast Asia.
Additionally, China shares maritime boundaries with South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. The PRC and the Republic of China (Taiwan) make mutual claims over each other's territory and the frontier between areas under their respective control is closest near the islands of Kinmen and Matsu, off the Fujian coast, but otherwise run through the Taiwan Strait. The PRC and ROC assert identical claims over the entirety of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, and the southern-most extent of these claims reach Zengmu Ansha (James Shoal), which would form a maritime frontier with Malaysia.
Landscape and climate[link]
Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, in Tibet.
The South China Sea coast at Hainan.
The territory of China lies between latitudes 18° and 54° N, and longitudes 73° and 135° E. China's landscapes vary significantly across its vast width. In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains, while on the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, broad grasslands predominate. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the central-east hosts the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Other major rivers include the Xi, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. To the west, major mountain ranges, most notably the Himalayas, and high plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes of the north, such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert. China's highest point, Mt. Everest (8848m), lies on the Sino-Nepalese border. The country's lowest point is the dried lake bed of Ayding Lake (−154m) in the Turpan Depression.
A major environmental issue in China is the continued expansion of its deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert, which is currently the world's fifth-largest desert.[92][93] Although barrier tree lines planted since the 1970s have reduced the frequency of sandstorms, prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices have resulted in dust storms plaguing northern China each spring, which then spread to other parts of East Asia, including Korea and Japan. According to China's environmental watchdog, Sepa, China is losing a million acres (4,000 km²) per year to desertification.[94] Water quality, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could potentially lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people.[95]
China's climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons, which lead to a pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas at lower latitudes are warm and moist. The climate in China differs from region to region because of the country's extensive and complex topography.
Biodiversity[link]
Main article: Wildlife of China
China is one of 17 megadiverse countries,[96] lying in two of the world's major ecozones: the Palearctic and the Indomalaya. In the Palearctic zone, mammals such as the horse, camel, tapir, and jerboa can be found. Among the species found in the Indomalaya region are the Leopard Cat, bamboo rat, treeshrew, and various monkey and ape species. Some overlap exists between the two regions due to natural dispersal and migration; deer, antelope, bears, wolves, pigs, and numerous rodent species can all be found in China's diverse climatic and geological environments. The famous giant panda is found only in a limited area along the Yangtze River. China suffers from a continuing problem with trade in endangered species, although there are now laws to prohibit such activities.
China also hosts a variety of forest types. Cold coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such as moose and the Asian black bear, along with over 120 bird species. Moist conifer forests can have thickets of bamboo as an understorey, replaced by rhododendrons in higher montane stands of juniper and yew. Subtropical forests, which dominate central and southern China, support as many as 146,000 species of flora. Tropical and seasonal rainforests, though confined to Yunnan and Hainan Island, contain a quarter of all the plant and animal species found in China.
Environmental issues[link]
Main article: Environment in the People's Republic of China
In recent decades, China has suffered from severe environmental deterioration and pollution.[97] While regulations such as the 1979 Environmental Protection Law are fairly stringent, enforcement of them is poor, as they are frequently disregarded by local communities and government officials in favour of rapid economic development.
Environmental campaigners such as Ma Jun have warned of the danger that water pollution poses to Chinese society.[98] According to the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, roughly 300 million Chinese do not have access to safe drinking water, and 40% of China’s rivers have been polluted by industrial and agricultural waste as of late 2011.[99] This crisis is compounded by the perennial problem of water shortages, with 400 out of 600 surveyed Chinese cities reportedly short of drinking water.[100][101]
However, China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy technologies, with $34.6 billion invested in 2009 alone.[102][103] China produces more wind turbines and solar panels than any other country,[104] and renewable energy projects, such as solar water heating, are widely pursued at the local level.[105] By 2009, over 17% of China's energy was derived from renewable sources – most notably hydroelectric power plants, of which China has a total installed capacity of 197 GW.[106] In 2011, the Chinese government announced plans to invest four trillion yuan (US$618.55 billion) in water infrastructure projects over a ten-year period, and to complete construction of a flood prevention and anti-drought system by 2020.[107]
Politics[link]
Main article: Politics of the People's Republic of China
See also: Politics of the Republic of China
The People's Republic of China, along with Vietnam, North Korea, Laos, and Cuba, is one of the five remaining official Communist states in the world.[108][109] but simple characterizations of China's political structure since the 1980s are no longer possible.[10] The Chinese government has been variously described as communist and socialist, but also as authoritarian, with heavy restrictions remaining in many areas, most notably on the Internet, the press, freedom of assembly, reproductive rights, and freedom of religion.[110] Its current political/economic system has been termed by its leaders as "Socialism with Chinese characteristics".
Compared to its closed-door policies until the mid-1970s, the liberalization of China has resulted in the administrative climate being less restrictive than before. China is far different from liberal democracy or social democracy that exists in most of Europe or North America, and the National People's Congress (highest state body) has been described as a "rubber stamp" body.[111] China's incumbent President is Hu Jintao, who is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, and its Premier is Wen Jiabao, who is also a senior member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee.
The country is ruled by the Communist Party of China (CPC), whose power is enshrined in China's constitution.[112] The Chinese electoral system is hierarchical, whereby local People's Congresses are directly elected, and all higher levels of People's Congresses up to the National People's Congress (NPC) are indirectly elected by the People's Congress of the level immediately below.[113] The political system is partly decentralized,[114] with limited democratic processes internal to the party and at local village levels, although these experiments have been marred by corruption. There are other political parties in China, referred to in China as democratic parties, which participate in the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
There have been some moves toward political liberalization, in that open contested elections are now held at the village and town levels,[115][116] and that legislatures have shown some assertiveness from time to time. However, the Party retains effective control over government appointments: in the absence of meaningful opposition, the CPC wins by default most of the time. Political concerns in China include lessening the growing gap between rich and poor and fighting corruption within the government leadership.[117]
The level of support to the government action and the management of the nation is among the highest in the world, with 86% of people who express satisfaction with the way things are going in their country and with their nation's economy according to a 2008 Pew Research Center survey.[118]
Administrative divisions[link]
Main articles: Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China, Districts of Hong Kong, and Municipalities of Macau
The People's Republic of China has administrative control over 22 provinces, and considers Taiwan to be its 23rd province, although Taiwan is currently governed by the Republic of China, which disputes the PRC's claim.[119] China also has five subdivisions officially termed autonomous regions, each with a designated minority group; four municipalities; and two Special Administrative Regions (SARs), which enjoy a degree of political autonomy. These 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, and four municipalities can be collectively referred to as "mainland China", a term which usually excludes the SARs of Hong Kong and Macau.
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Foreign relations[link]
Main article: Foreign relations of the People's Republic of China
China has diplomatic relations with 171 countries and maintains embassies in 162.[120] Its legitimacy is disputed by the Republic of China and a few other countries; it is thus the largest and most populous state with limited recognition. Sweden was the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic on 9 May 1950.[121] In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China as the sole representative of China in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.[122] China was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, and still considers itself an advocate for developing countries.[123]
Under its interpretation of the One-China policy, China has made it a precondition to establishing diplomatic relations that the other country acknowledges its claim to Taiwan and severs official ties with the government of the Republic of China. Chinese officials have protested on numerous occasions when foreign countries have made diplomatic overtures to Taiwan,[124] especially in the matter of armament sales.[125] Political meetings between foreign government officials and the 14th Dalai Lama are also opposed by China, as it considers Tibet to be formally part of China.[126]
Much of China's current foreign policy is reportedly based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence of Zhou Enlai—non-interference in other states' affairs, non-aggression, peaceful coexistence, equality and mutual benefits. China's foreign policy is also driven by the concept of "harmony without uniformity", which encourages diplomatic relations between states despite ideological differences. This policy has led China to support states that are regarded as dangerous or repressive by Western nations, such as Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Iran.[127] Conflicts with foreign countries have occurred at times in China's recent history, particularly with the United States; for example, the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo conflict in May 1999 and the US-China spy plane incident in April 2001. China's foreign relations with many Western nations suffered for a time following the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, although in recent years China has improved its diplomatic links with the West.[128][129]
Trade relations[link]
In recent decades, China has played an increasing role in calling for free trade areas and security pacts amongst its Asia-Pacific neighbors. In 2004, China proposed an entirely new East Asia Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues, pointedly excluding the United States.[130] The EAS, which includes ASEAN Plus Three, India, Australia and New Zealand, held its inaugural summit in 2005. China is also a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), along with Russia and the Central Asian republics.
In 2000, the U.S. Congress approved "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) with China, allowing Chinese exports in at the same low tariffs as goods from most other countries.[131] Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush asserted that free trade would gradually open China to democratic reform.[132] Bush was furthermore an advocate of China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).[133] China has a significant trade surplus with the United States, its most important export market.[134] In the early 2010s, U.S. politicians argued that the Chinese yuan was significantly undervalued, giving China an unfair trade advantage.[135]
Sinophobic attitudes often target Chinese minorities and nationals living outside of China. Sometimes, such anti-Chinese attitudes turn violent, as occurred during the 13 May Incident in Malaysia in 1969 and the Jakarta riots of May 1998 in Indonesia, in which more than 2,000 people died.[136] In recent years, a number of anti-Chinese riots and incidents have also occurred in Africa and Oceania.[137][138] Anti-Chinese sentiment is often rooted in socio-economics.[139]
Territorial disputes[link]
Main article: Foreign relations of the People's Republic of China#International territorial disputes
China has been involved in a number of international territorial disputes, mostly resulting from the legacy of unequal treaties imposed on China during the historical period of New Imperialism. Since the 1990s, China has been entering negotiations to resolve its disputed land borders, usually by offering concessions and accepting less than half of the disputed territory with each party. China's only remaining land border disputes are a disputed border with India and an undefined border with Bhutan. China is additionally involved in more minor multilateral disputes over the ownership of several small islands in the East and South China Seas.[140][141]
Sino-Japanese relations[link]
Main article: Sino-Japanese relations
The relationship between China and Japan has been strained at times by Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime past to the satisfaction of China. Revisionist comments made by prominent Japanese officials and some Japanese history textbooks regarding the 1937 Nanjing Massacre have been a focus of particular controversy. Sino-Japanese relations warmed considerably after Shinzo Abe became the Prime Minister of Japan in September 2006, and a joint historical study conducted by China and Japan released a report in 2010 which pointed toward a new consensus on the issue of World War 2-era atrocities.[142] However, in the early 2010s, relations cooled once more, with Japan accusing China of withholding its reserves of valuable rare earth elements.[143]
China and the developing world[link]
China is heavily engaged, both politically and economically, with numerous nations in the developing world. Most notably, they have followed a policy of engaging with African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation.[144][145] Xinhua, China's official news agency, states that there are no less than 750,000 Chinese nationals working or living in Africa.[146] China has furthermore strengthened its ties with major South American economies, becoming the largest trading partner of Brazil and building strategic links with Argentina.[147][148] Along with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, China is a member of the BRICS group of emerging major economies, and hosted the group's third official summit at Sanya in Hainan Province in April 2011.[149]
Emerging superpower status[link]
China is regularly hailed as a potential new superpower, with certain commentators citing its rapid economic progress, growing military might, very large population, and increasing international influence as signs that it will play a prominent global role in the 21st century. Others, however, warn that economic bubbles and demographic imbalances could slow or even halt China's growth as the century progresses.[150][151][152][153][154]
Sociopolitical issues and reform[link]
See also: Human rights in the People's Republic of China, Hukou system, Social welfare in China, Elections in the People's Republic of China, and Feminism in the People's Republic of China
The Chinese democracy movement, social activists, and some members of the Communist Party of China have all identified the need for social and political reform. While economic and social controls have been greatly relaxed in China since the 1970s, political freedom is still tightly restricted. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China states that the "fundamental rights" of citizens include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, universal suffrage, and property rights. However, in practice, these provisions do not afford significant protection against criminal prosecution by the State.[155][156][157]
As the Chinese economy expanded following Deng Xiaoping's 1978 reforms, tens of millions of rural Chinese who have moved to the cities[158] find themselves treated as second-class citizens by China's hukou household registration system, which controls state benefits.[159] Property rights are often poorly protected, and eminent domain land seizures have had a disproportionate effect on poorer peasants.[158] In 2003, the average Chinese farmer paid three times more taxes than the average urban dweller, despite having one-sixth of the annual income.[159] However, a number of rural taxes have since been reduced or abolished, and additional social services provided to rural dwellers.[160][161][162]
Censorship of political speech and information, most notably on the Internet,[163] is openly and routinely used in China to silence criticism of the government and the ruling Communist Party.[164][165] In 2005, Reporters Without Borders ranked China 159th out of 167 states in its Annual World Press Freedom Index, indicating a very low level of perceived press freedom.[166] The government has suppressed demonstrations by organizations that it considers a potential threat to "social stability", as was the case with the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The Communist Party has had mixed success in controlling information: a powerful and pervasive media control system faces equally strong market forces, an increasingly educated citizenry, and technological and cultural changes that are making China more open to the wider world, especially on environmental issues.[167][168] However, attempts are still made by the Chinese government to control public access to outside information, with online searches for politically sensitive material being blocked by the so-called Great Firewall.[169]
A number of foreign governments and NGOs routinely criticize China's human rights record, alleging widespread civil rights violations, including systematic use of lengthy detention without trial, forced confessions, torture, mistreatment of prisoners, and restrictions of freedom of speech, assembly, association, religion, the press, and labor rights.[110] China executes more people than any other country, accounting for 72% of the world's total in 2009, though it is not the largest executioner per capita.[170] This high execution rate is partly due to the fact that numerous white-collar crimes, such as fraud, are punishable by death in China. However, in the early 2010s, China began restricting the application of capital punishment for some such crimes.[171]
The Chinese government has responded to foreign criticism by arguing that the notion of human rights should take into account a country's present level of economic development, and focus more on the people's rights to subsistence and development in poorer countries.[172] The rise in the standard of living, literacy, and life expectancy for the average Chinese since the 1970s is seen by the government as tangible progress made in human rights.[173] Improvements in workplace safety, and efforts to combat natural disasters such as the perennial Yangtze River floods, are also portrayed in China as progress in human rights for a still largely poor country.[172][174]
Some Chinese politicians have spoken out in favor of reforms, while others remain more conservative. In 2010, Premier Wen Jiabao stated that China needs "to gradually improve the democratic election system so that state power will truly belong to the people and state power will be used to serve the people." Despite his status, Wen's comments were later censored by the government.[175]
As the social, cultural and political consequences of economic growth and reform become increasingly manifest, tensions between the conservatives and reformists in the Communist Party are sharpening. Zhou Tianyong, the vice director of research of the Central Party School, argues that gradual political reform as well as repression of those pushing for overly rapid change over the next thirty years will be essential if China is to avoid an overly turbulent transition to a democratic, middle-class-dominated polity.[176][177]
Military[link]
Main article: People's Liberation Army
With 2.3 million active troops, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the largest standing military force in the world, commanded by the Central Military Commission (CMC).[178] The PLA consists of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF), the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), and a strategic nuclear force, the Second Artillery Corps. According to SIPRI, China's military expenditure in 2011 totalled US$129.2 billion (923 billion yuan), constituting the world's second-largest military budget.[179] However, other nations, such as the United States, have claimed that China does not report its real level of military spending, which is allegedly much higher than the official budget.[180]
As a recognised nuclear weapons state, China is considered both a major regional military power and a potential military superpower.[181] As of August 2011, China's Second Artillery Corps is believed to maintain at least 195 nuclear missiles, including 75 ICBMs.[182] Nonetheless, China is the only member of the UN Security Council to have relatively limited power projection capabilities.[183] To offset this, it has begun developing power projection assets, such as aircraft carriers, and has established a network of foreign military relationships that has been compared to a string of pearls.
China has made significant progress in modernizing its military since the early 2000s. It has purchased advanced Russian fighter jets, such as the Sukhoi Su-30, and has also produced its own modern fighters, most notably the Chengdu J-10 and Shenyang J-11.[184] China is furthermore engaged in developing an indigenous stealth aircraft, the Chengdu J-20.[185][186][187] China's ground forces have also undergone significant modernisations, replacing its ageing Soviet-derived tank inventory with numerous variants of the modern Type 99 tank, and upgrading its battlefield C3I systems to enhance its network-centric warfare capabilities.[188] China has furthermore acquired and improved upon the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile system.[189] Russia later produced the next-generation S-400 Triumf system, with China reportedly having spent $500 million on a downgraded export version of it.[190] A number of indigenous missile technologies have also been developed – in 2007, China conducted a successful test of an anti-satellite missile,[191] and its first indigenous land-attack cruise missile, the CJ-10, entered service in 2009. In 2011, the Pentagon reported that China was believed to be testing the JL-2 missile, a submarine-launched nuclear ICBM with multiple-warhead delivery capabilities.[182]
In recent years, much attention has been focused on enhancing the blue-water capabilities of the People's Liberation Army Navy.[192] In August 2011, China's first aircraft carrier, the refurbished Soviet vessel Varyag, began sea trials.[193] China furthermore maintains a substantial fleet of submarines, including several nuclear-powered attack and ballistic missile submarines.[194] On 13 March 2011, the PLAN missile frigate Xuzhou was spotted off the coast of Libya, marking the first time in history a Chinese warship sailed into the Mediterranean. The ship's entrance into the Mediterranean was officially part of a humanitarian mission to rescue Chinese nationals from the 2011 Libyan civil war, though analysts such as Fareed Zakaria viewed the mission as also being an attempt to increase China's global military presence.[195]
Little information is available regarding the motivations supporting China's military modernization. A 2007 report by the US Secretary of Defense noted that "China's actions in certain areas increasingly appear inconsistent with its declaratory policies".[196] For its part, China claims it maintains an army purely for defensive purposes.[197]
Economy[link]
Main articles: Economy of the People's Republic of China and List of Chinese administrative divisions by GDP
As of 2012, China has the world's second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, totalling approximately US$7.298 trillion according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).[6] However, China's 2011 nominal GDP per capita of US$5,184 puts it behind around ninety countries (out of 183 countries on the IMF list) in global GDP per capita rankings.[6] If PPP is taken into account in total GDP figures, China is again second only to the United States—in 2011, its PPP GDP reached $11.316 trillion, corresponding to $8,394 per capita.[6] In 2009, China's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries contributed 10.6%, 46.8%, and 42.6% respectively to its total GDP.
From its founding in 1949 until late 1978, the People's Republic of China was a Soviet-style centrally planned economy, without private businesses or capitalism. To propel the country towards a modern, industrialized communist society, Mao Zedong instituted the Great Leap Forward in the early 1960s, although this had decidedly mixed economic results.[199] Following Mao's death in 1976 and the consequent end of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping and the new Chinese leadership began to reform the economy and move towards a more market-oriented mixed economy under one-party rule. Collectivization of the agriculture was dismantled and farmlands were privatized to increase productivity. Modern-day China is mainly characterized as having a market economy based on private property ownership,[200][201] and is one of the leading examples of state capitalism.[202][203]
Under the post-Mao market reforms, a wide variety of small-scale private enterprises were encouraged, while the government relaxed price controls and promoted foreign investment. Foreign trade was focused upon as a major vehicle of growth, leading to the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), first in Shenzhen and then in other Chinese cities. Inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were restructured by introducing western-style management systems, with unprofitable ones being closed outright, resulting in massive job losses. By the latter part of 2010, China was reversing some of its economic liberalization initiatives, with state-owned companies buying up independent businesses in the steel, auto and energy industries.[204]
Since economic liberalization began in 1978, China's investment- and export-led[205] economy has grown almost a hundredfold[206] and is the fastest-growing major economy in the world.[207] According to the IMF, China's annual average GDP growth between 2001 and 2010 was 10.5%, and the Chinese economy is predicted to grow at an average annual rate of 9.5% between 2011 and 2015. Between 2007 and 2011, China's economic growth rate was equivalent to all of the G7 countries' growth combined.[208] According to the Global Growth Generators index announced by Citigroup in February 2011, China has a very high 3G growth rating.[209]
China is the third-most-visited country in the world, with 55.7 million inbound international visitors in 2010.[210] It is a member of the WTO and is the world's second-largest trading power behind the US, with a total international trade value of US$3.64 trillion in 2011.[211] Its foreign exchange reserves reached US$2.85 trillion by the end of 2010, an increase of 18.7% over the previous year, making its reserves by far the world's largest.[212][213] China owns an estimated $1.6 trillion of US securities.[214] China, holding US$1.16 trillion in US Treasury bonds,[215] is the largest foreign holder of US public debt.[216][217] China is the world's third-largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting $115 billion in 2011 alone, marking a 9% increase over 2010.[218][219] China also increasingly invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $68 billion in 2010.[220]
| <timeline>
ImageSize = width:300 height:140 PlotArea = left:60 bottom:20 top:10 right:0 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:16000 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal Colors = id:gray value:gray(0.5) id:line1 value:gray(0.9) id:line2 value:gray(0.7) ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5000 start:0 gridcolor:line2 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1000 start:0 gridcolor:line1 BarData = bar:USA text:USA bar:China text:China bar:Japan text:Japan bar:Germany text:Germany bar:France text:France PlotData= color:tan1 width:10 bar:USA from:start till:15094 text:15,094 color:yellow width:10 bar:China from:start till:7298 text:7,298 color:tan1 width:10 bar:Japan from:start till:5869 text:5,869 bar:Germany from:start till:3577 text:3,577 bar:France from:start till:2776 text:2,776 TextData = pos:(5,1) textcolor:gray fontsize:S text:US$ bn </timeline> |
| A graph comparing the 2011 nominal GDPs of major economies in US$ billions, according to IMF data.[221] |
China's success has been primarily due to manufacturing as a low-cost producer. This is attributed to a combination of cheap labor, good infrastructure, relatively high productivity, favorable government policy, and a possibly undervalued exchange rate. The latter has been sometimes blamed for China's huge trade surplus (US$262.7 billion in 2007)[222] and has become a major source of dispute between China and its major trading partners—the US, EU, and Japan—despite the yuan having been de-pegged and having risen in value by 20% against the US dollar since 2005.[223] China is moreover widely criticised for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods—in 2005, the Asia Business Council alleged that the counterfeiting industry accounted for 8% of China's GDP at the time.[224][225]
The state still dominates in strategic "pillar" industries (such as energy and heavy industries), but private enterprise (composed of around 30 million private businesses)[226] has expanded enormously; in 2005, it accounted for anywhere between 33%[227] to 70%[228] of national GDP, while the OECD estimate for that year was over 50%[229] of China's national output, up from 1% in 1978.[230] The Shanghai Stock Exchange has raised record amounts of IPOs, and its benchmark Shanghai Composite index has doubled since 2005. SSE's market capitalization reached US$3 trillion in 2007, making it the world's fifth-largest stock exchange.
China now ranks 29th in the Global Competitiveness Index,[231] although it is only ranked 135th among the 179 countries measured in the Index of Economic Freedom.[232] 46 Chinese companies made the list in the 2010 Fortune Global 500 (Beijing alone with 30).[233] Measured using market capitalization, four of the world's top ten most valuable companies are Chinese. Some of these include first-ranked PetroChina, third-ranked Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (the world's most valuable bank), fifth-ranked China Mobile (the world's most valuable telecommunications company) and seventh-ranked China Construction Bank.[234]
Although a middle-income country by Western standards, China's rapid growth has pulled hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty since 1978. Today, about 10% of the Chinese population live below the poverty line of US$1 per day (down from 64% in 1978), while life expectancy has increased to 73 years. More than 93% of the population is literate,[235] compared to only 20% in 1950.[236] Urban unemployment in China reportedly declined to 4% by the end of 2007, although true overall unemployment may be as high as 10%.[237]
China's middle-class population (defined as those with annual income of at least US$17,000) has reached more than 100 million as of 2011,[238] while the number of super-rich individuals worth more than 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) is estimated to be 825,000, according to Hurun Report.[239] Based on the Hurun rich list, the number of US dollar billionaires in China doubled from 130 in 2009 to 271 in 2010, giving China the world's second-highest number of billionaires.[240] China's retail market was worth RMB 8.9 trillion (US$1.302 trillion) in 2007, and is growing at 16.8% annually.[241] China is also now the world's second-largest consumer of luxury goods behind Japan, with 27.5% of the global share.[242]
In recent years, China's rapid economic growth has contributed to severe consumer inflation,[243] causing the prices of basic goods to rise steeply. Food prices in China increased by over 21% in the first four months of 2008 alone.[244] To curb inflation and moderate rising property prices, the Chinese government has instituted a number of fiscal regulations and amendments, raising interest rates and imposing limits on bank loans. In September 2011, consumer prices rose by 6.1% compared to a year earlier, marking a reduction in inflation from the peak of 6.5% in July 2011.[245] A side-effect of increased economic regulation was a slowdown in overall growth – China's quarterly GDP growth fell to 9.1% in October 2011, down from 9.5% in the previous quarter,[245] and sank to 8.1% in April 2012.[246]
The Chinese economy is highly energy-intensive and inefficient—on average, industrial processes in China between 20% and 100% more energy than similar ones in OECD countries.[247] China became the world's largest energy consumer in 2010,[248] but still relies on coal to supply about 70% of its energy needs.[249] Coupled with lax environmental regulations, this has led to massive water and air pollution, leaving China with 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities.[247] Consequently, the government has promised to use more renewable energy, planning to make renewables constitute 30% of China's total energy production by 2050.[250] In 2010, China became the largest wind energy provider in the world, with a total installed wind power capacity of 41.8 GW.[251] In January 2011, Russia began scheduled oil shipments to China, pumping 300,000 barrels of oil per day via the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline.[252]
Science and technology[link]
Main article: Science and technology in the People's Republic of China
 |
| History of science and technology in China |
|---|
| Inventions |
| Discoveries |
| By era |
| Han Dynasty |
| Tang Dynasty |
| Song Dynasty |
| People's Republic of China |
| Present-day China |
China was a world leader in science and technology until the Ming Dynasty. Ancient Chinese discoveries and inventions, such as papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder (the Four Great Inventions), contributed to the economic development of Asia and Europe. However, Chinese scientific activity entered a prolonged decline in the fourteenth century. Unlike European scientists, medieval Chinese thinkers did not attempt to reduce observations of nature to mathematical laws, and they did not form a scholarly community offering peer review and progressive research. There was an increasing concentration on literature, the arts, and public administration, while science and technology were seen as trivial or restricted to limited practical applications.[253] The causes of this Great Divergence continue to be debated.
After repeated military defeats by Western nations in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science and technology as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement. After the Communist victory in 1949, efforts were made to organize science and technology based on the model of the Soviet Union. However, Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 had a catastrophic effect on Chinese research, as academics were persecuted and the training of scientists and engineers was severely curtailed for nearly a decade. After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology was established as one of the Four Modernizations, and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed.[253]
In modern China, science and technology are seen as vital for achieving economic and political goals, and are held as a source of national pride to a degree sometimes described as "techno-nationalism".[254] Almost all of the members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China have engineering degrees.[255] Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has become one of the world's leading technological powers, spending over US$100 billion on scientific research and development in 2011 alone.[256] China is also rapidly developing its education system with an emphasis on science, mathematics and engineering; in 2009, it produced over 10,000 Ph.D. engineering graduates, and as many as 500,000 BSc graduates, more than any other country.[257] China is also the world's second-largest publisher of scientific papers, producing 121,500 in 2010 alone, including 5,200 in leading international scientific journals.[258]
The Chinese space program is one of the world's most active, and is a major source of national pride.[259] In 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong I. In 2003, China became the third country to independently send humans into space, with Yang Liwei's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5. In 2008, China conducted its first spacewalk with the Shenzhou 7 mission. In 2011, China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, was launched, marking the first step in a project to assemble a large manned station by 2020.[260] The active Chinese Lunar Exploration Program includes a planned lunar rover launch in 2013, and possibly a manned lunar landing in 2025.[261] Experience gained from the lunar program may be used for future programs such as the exploration of Mars and Venus.[262]
Infrastructure[link]
Communications[link]
Main article: Telecommunications in the People's Republic of China
China currently has the most cellphone users of any country in the world, with over 1 billion users as of May 2012.[263][264] It also has the world's largest number of internet and broadband users.[265] By December 2010, China had around 457 million internet users, an increase of 19% over the previous year, and by the end of 2011 the number of internet users had exceeded 500 million.[266][267][268] According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), China's average internet connection speed is 100.9 kbit/s, less than half of the global average of 212.5 kbit/s.[269]
China Telecom and China Unicom, the country's two largest broadband providers, accounted for 20% of global broadband subscribers, whereas the world's ten largest broadband service providers combined accounted for 39% of the world's broadband customers. China Telecom alone serves 55 million broadband subscribers, while China Unicom serves more than 40 million. The massive rise in internet use in China continues to fuel rapid broadband growth, whereas the world's other major broadband ISPs operate in the mature markets of the developed world, with high levels of broadband penetration and rapidly slowing subscriber growth.[270]
Transport[link]
Main article: Transport in the People's Republic of China
Transportation in mainland China has undergone intense state-led development since the late 1990s. The national road network has been significantly expanded through the creation of a network of expressways, known as the National Trunk Highway System (NTHS). By the end of 2011, China's expressways had reached a total length of 85,000 km (53,000 mi), second only to the network of the United States.[271] Private car ownership is growing rapidly in China, which surpassed the United States as the world's largest automobile market in 2009, with total car sales of over 13.6 million.[272] Analysts predict that annual car sales in China may rise as high as 40 million by 2020.[273]
China also possesses the world's longest high-speed rail network, with over 9,676 km (6,012 mi) of service routes. Of these, 3,515 km (2,184 mi) serve trains with top speeds of 300 km/h (190 mph).[274] In 2011, China unveiled a prototype train capable of reaching speeds of 310 mph (500 km/h), the first ultra-high-speed train developed solely by its domestic railway industry.[275] China intends to operate approximately 16,000 km (9,900 mi) of high-speed rail lines by 2020.[276]
As of 2012, China is the world's largest constructor of new airports, and the Chinese government has begun a US$250 billion five-year project to expand and modernize domestic air travel.[277] However, long-distance transportation remains dominated by railways and charter bus systems. Railways are the vital carrier in China; they are monopolized by the state, divided into various railway bureaux in different regions. Due to huge demand, the system is regularly subject to overcrowding, particularly during holiday seasons, such as Chunyun during the Chinese New Year. The Chinese rail network carried an estimated 1.68 billion total passengers in 2010 alone.[276]
Rapid transit systems are also rapidly developing in China's major cities, in the form of networks of underground or light rail systems. Hong Kong has one of the most developed transport systems in the world, while Shanghai has a high-speed maglev rail line connecting the city to its main international airport, Pudong International Airport. China is additionally developing its own satellite navigation system, dubbed Beidou, which began offering commercial navigation services in mainland China in 2011, and is planned to offer global coverage by 2020.[278]
Demographics[link]
Main article: Demographics of the People's Republic of China
As of July 2010, the People's Republic of China has an estimated total population of 1,338,612,968. About 21% of the population (145,461,833 males; 128,445,739 females) are 14 years old or younger, 71% (482,439,115 males; 455,960,489 females) are between 15 and 64 years old, and 8% (48,562,635 males; 53,103,902 females) are over 65 years old. The population growth rate for 2006 was 0.6%.[279]
By end of 2010, the proportion of mainland Chinese people aged 14 or younger was 16.60%, while the number aged 60 or older grew to 13.26%, giving a total proportion of 29.86% dependents. The proportion of the population of workable age was thus around 70%.[280]
With a population of over 1.3 billion and dwindling natural resources, China is very concerned about its population growth and has attempted, with mixed results,[281] to implement a strict family planning policy. The government's goal is one child per family, with exceptions for ethnic minorities and a degree of flexibility in rural areas. It is hoped that population growth in China will stabilize in the early decades of the 21st century, though some projections estimate a population of anywhere between 1.4 billion and 1.6 billion by 2025. China's family planning minister has indicated that the one-child policy will be maintained until at least 2020.[282]
The one-child policy is resisted, particularly in rural areas, because of the need for agricultural labour and a traditional preference for boys (who can later serve as male heirs). Families who breach the policy often lie during the census.[283] Official government policy opposes forced sterilization or abortion, but allegations of coercion continue as local officials, who are faced with penalties for failing to curb population growth, may resort to forcible measures, or manipulation of census figures.[citation needed]
The decreasing reliability of China population statistics since family planning began in the late 1970s has made evaluating the effectiveness of the policy difficult.[283] Data from the 2010 census implies that the total fertility rate may now be around 1.4.[284] The government is particularly concerned with the large imbalance in the sex ratio at birth, apparently the result of a combination of traditional preference for boys and family planning pressure, which led to a ban on using ultrasound devices in an attempt to prevent sex-selective abortion.
According to the 2010 census, there were 118.06 boys born for every 100 girls, which is 0.53 points lower than the ratio obtained from a population sample survey carried out in 2005.[285] However, the gender ratio of 118.06 is still beyond the normal range of around 105 percent, and experts warn of increased social instability should this trend continue.[286] For the population born between the years 1900 and 2000, it is estimated that there could be 35.59 million fewer females than males.[287] Other demographers argue that perceived gender imbalances may arise from the underreporting of female births.[288][289][290][291] A recent study suggests that as many as three million Chinese babies are hidden by their parents every year.[291] According to the 2010 census, males accounted for 51.27 percent of the total population, while females made up 48.73 percent of the total.[285]
Ethnic groups[link]
Main articles: List of ethnic groups in China, Ethnic minorities in China, and Ethnic groups in Chinese history
| Ethnic composition (2000)[292] | |
|---|---|
| Han | 91.59% |
| Zhuang | 1.28% |
| Manchu | 0.84% |
| Hui | 0.78% |
| Miao | 0.71% |
| Uyghur | 0.66% |
| Tujia | 0.63% |
| Other | 3.51% |
China officially recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Han Chinese, who constitute about 91.51% of the total population.[293] The Han Chinese—the world's largest single ethnic group—outnumber other ethnic groups in every province, municipality and autonomous region except Tibet and Xinjiang, and are descended from ancient Huaxia tribes living along the Yellow River.
Ethnic minorities account for about 8.49% of the population of China, according to the 2010 census.[293] Compared with the 2000 population census, the Han population increased by 66,537,177 persons, or 5.74%, while the population of the 55 national minorities combined increased by 7,362,627 persons, or 6.92%.[293]
The 2010 census recorded a total of 593,832 foreign citizens living in China. The largest such groups were from South Korea (120,750), the United States (71,493) and Japan (66,159).[294]
Languages[link]
Main articles: Languages of China and List of endangered languages in China
The languages most spoken in China belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family. There are also several major linguistic groups within the Chinese language itself. The most spoken varieties are Mandarin (spoken by over 70% of the population), Wu (includes Shanghainese), Yue (includes Cantonese and Taishanese), Min (includes Hokkien and Teochew), Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic minorities include Zhuang, Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Hmong and Korean.[295] Standard Mandarin, a variety of Mandarin based on the Beijing dialect, is the official national language of China and is used as a lingua franca between people of different linguistic backgrounds.
Classical Chinese was the written standard in China for thousands of years, and allowed for written communication between speakers of various unintelligible languages and dialects in China. Written vernacular Chinese, or baihua, is the written standard, based on the Mandarin dialect and first popularized in Ming Dynasty novels. It was adopted, with significant modifications, during the early 20th century as the national standard. Classical Chinese is still part of the high school curriculum, and is thus intelligible to some degree to many Chinese. Since their promulgation by the government in 1956, Simplified Chinese characters have become the official standardized written script used to write the Chinese language within mainland China, supplanting the use of the earlier Traditional Chinese characters.
Urbanization[link]
See also: List of cities in the People's Republic of China, List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population, and Metropolitan regions of China
Since 2000, China's cities have expanded at an average rate of 10% annually. It is estimated that China will add 400 million people to its urban population by 2025.[296] The country's urbanization rate increased from 17.4% to 46.8% between 1978 and 2009, a scale unprecedented in human history.[297] Between 150 and 200 million migrant workers work part-time in the major cities, returning home to the countryside periodically with their earnings.[298][299]
Today, the People's Republic of China has dozens of cities with one million or more long-term residents, including the three global cities of Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. The figures in the table below are from the 2008 census, and are only estimates of the urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists when considering the total municipal populations (which includes suburban and rural populations). The large "floating populations" of migrant workers make conducting censuses in urban areas difficult;[300] the figures below do not include the floating population, only long-term residents.
|
Largest cities or towns of the People's Republic of China Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (2010) |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City name | Province | Pop. | Rank | City name | Province | Pop. | ||
 Shanghai |
1 | Shanghai | Shanghai | 22,315,426 | 11 | Shenyang | Liaoning | 5,743,718 |  Tianjin |
| 2 | Beijing | Beijing | 18,827,000 | 12 | Hangzhou | Zhejiang | 5,695,313 | ||
| 3 | Tianjin | Tianjin | 11,090,314 | 13 | Chongqing | Chongqing | 5,402,721 | ||
| 4 | Guangzhou | Guangdong | 11,070,654 | 14 | Harbin | Heilongjiang | 4,517,549 | ||
| 5 | Shenzhen | Guangdong | 10,357,938 | 15 | Suzhou | Jiangsu | 4,074,000 | ||
| 6 | Dongguan | Guangdong | 8,220,937 | 16 | Jinan | Shandong | 3,922,180 | ||
| 7 | Chengdu | Sichuan | 7,123,697 | 17 | Xi'an | Shaanxi | 3,890,098 | ||
| 8 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 7,055,071 | 18 | Wuxi | Jiangsu | 3,542,319 | ||
| 9 | Nanjing | Jiangsu | 6,852,984 | 19 | Hefei | Anhui | 3,352,076 | ||
| 10 | Wuhan | Hubei | 6,434,373 | 20 | Changchun | Jilin | 3,341,700 | ||
Education[link]
Main article: Education in the People's Republic of China
In 1986, China set the long-term goal of providing compulsory nine-year basic education to every child. As of 2007, there were 396,567 primary schools, 94,116 secondary schools, and 2,236 higher education institutions in China.[301] In February 2006, the government advanced its basic education goal by pledging to provide completely free nine-year education, including textbooks and fees.[302] Free compulsory education in China consists of elementary school and middle school, which lasts for 9 years (ages 6–15); almost all children in urban areas continue with three years of high school.
As of 2007[update], 93.3% of the population over age 15 are literate.[279] In 2000, China's literacy rate among 15-to-24-year-olds was 98.9% (99.2% for males and 98.5% for females).[303] In March 2007, the Chinese government declared education a national "strategic priority"; the central budget for national scholarships was tripled between 2007 and 2009, and 223.5 billion yuan (US$28.65 billion) of extra state funding was allocated between 2007 and 2012 to improve compulsory education in rural areas.[304]
In 2009, Chinese students from Shanghai achieved the world's best results in mathematics, science and literacy, as tested by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide evaluation of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance.[305]
The quality of Chinese colleges and universities varies considerably across the country. The consistently top-ranked universities in mainland China are:[306][307]
- Beijing: Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University
- Shanghai: Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University, East China Normal University
- Harbin: Harbin Institute of Technology
- Tianjin: Nankai University, Tianjin University
- Xi'an: Xi'an Jiaotong University
- Nanjing: Nanjing University
- Hefei: University of Science and Technology of China
- Hangzhou: Zhejiang University
- Wuhan: Wuhan University
- Guangzhou: Sun Yat-sen University (aka Zhongshan University)
Health[link]
Main article: Public health in the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Health, together with its counterparts in the provincial health bureaux, oversees the health needs of the Chinese population.[308] An emphasis on public health and preventive medicine has characterized health policy since the early 1950s. At that time, the Communist Party started the Patriotic Health Campaign, which was aimed at improving sanitation and hygiene, as well as treating and preventing several diseases. Diseases such as cholera, typhoid and scarlet fever, which were previously rife in China, were nearly eradicated by the campaign.
After Deng Xiaoping began instituting economic reforms in 1978, the health of the Chinese public improved rapidly due to better nutrition, although many of the free public health services provided in the countryside disappeared along with the People's Communes. Healthcare in China became mostly privatised, and experienced a significant rise in quality. The national life expectancy at birth rose from about 35 years in 1949 to 73.18 years in 2008,[309][310] and infant mortality decreased from 300 per thousand in the 1950s to around 23 per thousand in 2006.[39][311] Malnutrition as of 2002[update] stood at 12% of the population, according to United Nations FAO sources.[312] In 2009, the government began a large-scale healthcare provision initiative worth US$124 billion, which is expected to eventually cover 90% of China's population.[313]
Despite significant improvements in health and the construction of advanced medical facilities, China has several emerging public health problems, such as respiratory illnesses caused by widespread air pollution[314] and hundreds of millions of cigarette smokers,[315][316] a possible future HIV/AIDS epidemic, and an increase in obesity among urban youths.[317][318] China's large population and densely populated cities have led to serious disease outbreaks in recent years, such as the 2003 outbreak of SARS, although this has since been largely contained.[319]
Estimates of excess deaths in China from environmental pollution (apart from smoking) are placed at 760,000 people per annum from air and water pollution (including indoor air pollution).[320] In 2007, China overtook the United States as the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide.[321] Some 90% of China's cities suffer from some degree of water pollution,[322] and nearly 500 million people lacked access to safe drinking water in 2005.[323] Reports by the World Bank and the New York Times have claimed industrial pollution, particularly of the air, to be a significant health hazard in China.[324]
Religion[link]
Main article: Religion in China
In mainland China, the government allows a degree of religious freedom to members of state-approved religious organizations. An accurate number of religious adherents is hard to obtain because of a lack of official data, but there is a general consensus that religion has been enjoying a resurgence in China since the late 1980s.[325] A 1998 survey by Adherents.com found that 59% (over 700 million) of the population was irreligious.[326] A later survey, conducted in 2007, found that there were 300 million religious believers in China, constituting 23% of the population, as distinct from an official figure of 100 million.[325]
Despite the surveys' varying results, most agree that China's traditional religions—Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religions—are the dominant faiths. According to various sources, Buddhism in China accounts for between 660 million (~50% of the population) and over 1 billion (~80%),[327][328][329][330] while Taoists number as many as 400 million (~30%).[331][332] However, because of the fact that one person may subscribe to two or more of these traditional beliefs simultaneously, and the difficulty in clearly differentiating Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religions, there is likely a strong degree of overlap in the number of adherents of these religions. In addition, some who subscribe to Buddhism and Taoism follow their philosophies in principle but stop short of believing in any kind of deity or divinity.[333][334][335]
Most Chinese Buddhists are merely nominal adherents, because only a small proportion of the population (around 8% or 100 million)[337][338] may have taken the formal step of going for refuge.[339][340] Even then, it is still difficult to estimate accurately the number of Buddhists, because they do not have congregational memberships and often do not participate in public ceremonies.[341] Mahayana Buddhism (大乘, Dacheng) and its subsets Pure Land (Amidism), Tiantai and Chán (better known in English by its Japanese pronunciation Zen) are the most widely practiced denominations of Buddhism. Other forms, such as Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism, are practiced largely by ethnic minorities along the geographic fringes of the Chinese mainland.[342]
Christianity was first introduced to China during the Tang Dynasty, with the arrival of Nestorian Christianity in 635 AD. This was followed by Franciscan missionaries in the 13th century, Jesuits in the 16th century, and finally Protestants in the 19th century. Of China's minority religions, Christianity is one of the fastest-growing. The total number of Christians is difficult to determine, as many belong to unauthorized house churches, but estimates of their number have ranged from 40 million (3% of the total population)[325][343] to 54 million (4%)[344] to as many as 130 million (10%).[345] Official government statistics put the number of Christians at 25 million, but these count only members of officially sanctioned church bodies.[346] China is believed to now have the world's second-largest evangelical Christian population—behind only the United States—and is also experiencing a surge in mainstream Christian publishing.[347][348] In 2011, it was reported that more people attended Sunday church services in China than in all of Europe.[346]
Islam in China dates to a mission in 651, only 18 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims initially came to China for trade, becoming prominent in the trading ports of the Song Dynasty.[349][350] Later, Muslims such as Zheng He, Lan Yu and Yeheidie'erding became influential in government circles, and Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study.[351] Accurate statistics on China's Muslim population are hard to find; most estimates give a figure of between 20 and 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the total population).[352][353][354][355][356]
China also plays host to numerous minority religions, including Hinduism, Dongbaism, Bön, and a number of more modern religions and sects (particularly Xiantianism). In July 1999, the Falun Gong spiritual practice was officially banned by the authorities,[357] and many international organizations have criticized the government's treatment of Falun Gong that has occurred since then.[358] There are no reliable estimates of the number of Falun Gong practitioners in China,[359] although informal estimates have given figures as high as 70 million.[360][361]
Culture[link]
Main articles: Culture of the People's Republic of China and Chinese culture
A traditional Beijing opera being performed.[362]
Beijing's Forbidden City, showing its classical Chinese architectural style.
Since ancient times, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism and conservative philosophies. For centuries, opportunities for social advancement could be provided by high performance in the prestigious Imperial examinations, which were instituted in 605 AD to help the Emperor select skilful bureaucrats. The literary emphasis of the exams affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, such as the belief that calligraphy and literati painting were higher forms of art than dancing or drama.
A number of more authoritarian and rational strains of thought were also influential, with Legalism being a prominent example. There was often conflict between the philosophies – for instance, the individualistic Song Dynasty neo-Confucians believed that Legalism departed from the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of New Confucians have claimed that modern democratic ideals and human rights are compatible with traditional Confucian values.[363]
The first leaders of the People's Republic of China were born into the traditional imperial order, but were influenced by the May Fourth Movement and reformist ideals. They sought to change some traditional aspects of Chinese culture, such as rural land tenure, sexism, and the Confucian system of education, while preserving others, such as the family structure and culture of obedience to the state.
Some observers see the period following the establishment of the PRC in 1949 as a continuation of traditional Chinese dynastic history, while others claim that the Communist Party's rule has damaged the foundations of Chinese culture, especially through political movements such as the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, where many aspects of traditional culture were destroyed, having been denounced as 'regressive and harmful' or 'vestiges of feudalism'. Many important aspects of traditional Chinese morals and culture, such as Confucianism, Chinese art, literature, and performing arts like Peking opera, were altered to conform to government policies and propaganda at the time.
Today, the Chinese government has accepted numerous elements of traditional Chinese culture as being integral to Chinese society. With the rise of Chinese nationalism and the end of the Cultural Revolution, various forms of traditional Chinese art, literature, music, film, fashion and architecture have seen a vigorous revival,[364][365] and folk and variety art in particular have sparked interest nationally and even worldwide.[366]
Prior to the beginning of maritime Sino-European trade in the 16th century, medieval China and the European West were linked by the Silk Road, which was a key route of cultural as well as economic exchange. Artifacts from the history of the Road, as well as from the natural history of the Gobi desert, are displayed in the Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan.[367]
Cuisine[link]
![[icon]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121030235311/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} |
This section requires expansion. |
Main article: Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is highly diverse, drawing on several millennia of culinary history. The dynastic emperors of ancient China were known to host banquets with over 100 dishes served at a time,[368] employing countless imperial kitchen staff and concubines to prepare the food. Such royal dishes gradually became a part of wider Chinese culture. China's staple food is rice, but the country is also well known for its meat dishes. Spices are endemic to Chinese cuisine.
Numerous foreign offshoots of Chinese food, such as Hong Kong cuisine and American Chinese food, have emerged in the various nations which play host to the Chinese diaspora.
Sports[link]
Main article: Sport in the People's Republic of China
China has one of the oldest sporting cultures in the world. There is evidence that a form of association football was played in China around 1000 AD.[369] Today, some of the most popular sports in the country include martial arts, basketball, football, table tennis, badminton, swimming and snooker. Board games such as go (weiqi), xiangqi, and more recently chess, are also played at a professional level.[370]
Physical fitness is widely emphasized in Chinese culture. Morning exercises are a common activity, with elderly citizens encouraged to practice qigong and t'ai chi ch'uan. Young people in China are also keen on basketball, especially in urban centers with limited space and grass areas. The American National Basketball Association has a huge following among Chinese youths, with Chinese players such as Yao Ming being held in high esteem.[371]
Many more traditional sports are also played in China. Dragon boat racing occurs during the annual nationwide Dragon Boat Festival, and has since gained popularity abroad. In Inner Mongolia, sports such as Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery and equestrianism are a part of traditional festivals.[372]
China has participated at the Olympic Games since 1932, although it has only participated as the PRC since 1952. China hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and received 51 gold medals – the highest number of gold medals of any participating nation that year.[373] China will host the 2013 East Asian Games in Tianjin and the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.
See also[link]
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- Outline of China
- Index of China-related articles
- International rankings of the People's Republic of China
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- ^ Kahn, Joseph (26 August 2007). "As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes". The New York Times (China). http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "Air Pollution in Yixian". Air Pollution in Yixian. 1900-1-0. http://7ride.com/rides/cycling-china-2009/day-6-fangshan-to-yixian.aspx. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
- ^ a b c "Asia-Pacific | Survey finds 300 m (980 ft) China believers". BBC News. 7 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6337627.stm. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "Nonreligious, continued...". Adherents.com. http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_473.html. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "China Beliefs". Justchina.org. http://www.justchina.org/china/china-beliefs.asp. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ Buddhism in China. ForeignerCN.com, 22 April 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
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- ^ "How Now Tao?". Asia Sentinel. 27 April 2007. http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=468&Itemid=34. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC)" (PDF). http://www.arcworld.org/downloads/SCMP%20Daoism%2030%20April%202007.pdf. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
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- ^ "Memories of Dr. Wu Lien-teh, plague fighter". Yu-lin Wu (1995). World Scientific. p.68. ISBN 981-02-2287-4
- ^ "Buddhism". Adherents.com. http://adherents.com/largecom/com_buddhist.html. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
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- ^ "US Department of States – International Religious Freedom Report 2006: China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau)". State.gov. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71338.htm. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ Macintosh, R. Scott. China's prosperity inspires rising spirituality (9 March 2006). Retrieved 15 April 2006.
- ^ Watts, Jonathan (7 February 2007). "Christian population in China". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2007690,00.html. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
- ^ "China Survey Reveals Fewer Christians than Some Evangelicals Want to Believe". Assistnews.net. 1 October 2007. http://www.assistnews.net/STORIES/2007/s07100011.htm. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "Sons of heaven". The Economist. 2 October 2008. http://www.economist.com/node/12342509.
- ^ a b "Christians in China: Is the country in spiritual crisis?" BBC News, 12 September 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
- ^ God and Caesar in China: policy implications of church-state tensions. Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=5jfVmF6MX7IC&pg=PA2&dq=China+now+has+the+world's+second-+largest+evangelical+Christian+population+%E2%80%94+behind+only+the+Unired+Stares+%E2%80%94+and+if+current+growth+rates+continue,+China+will+become+a+global+center+of+evangelical+Christianity+in+coming+decades&hl=en&ei=vfJrTfXYF8at8AP9sK3yBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=China%20now%20has%20the%20world's%20second-%20largest%20evangelical%20Christian%20population%20%E2%80%94%20behind%20only%20the%20Unired%20Stares%20%E2%80%94%20and%20if%20current%20growth%20rates%20continue%2C%20China%20will%20become%20a%20global%20center%20of%20evangelical%20Christianity%20in%20coming%20decades&f=false. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "Discipling the Dragon: Christian Publishing Finds Success in China". Christianity Today, 20 January 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
- ^ "BBC Islam in China (650–present)". BBC News. 2 October 2002. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/china_1.shtml. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ Islamic culture in China – amended 1958 text. Religion-Online.org. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "Looking East: The challenges and opportunities of Chinese Islam". http://www.hsais.org/2essay0405_4.htm. [dead link]
- ^ Counting up the number of people of traditionally Muslim nationalities who were enumerated in the 1990 census gives a total of 17.6 million, 96% of whom belong to just three nationalities: Hui 8.6 million, Uyghurs 7.2 million, and Kazakhs 1.1 million. Other nationalities that are traditionally Muslim include Kyrghyz, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Tatars, Salar, Bonan, and Dongxiang. See Dru C. Gladney, "Islam in China: Accommodation or Separatism?", Paper presented at Symposium on Islam in Southeast Asia and China, Hong Kong, 2002. Available at islamsymposium.cityu.edu.hk. The 2000 census reported a total of 20.3 million members of Muslim nationalities, of which again 96% belonged to just three groups: Hui 9.8 million, Uyghurs 8.4 million, and Kazakhs 1.25 million.
- ^ "CIA – The World Factbook – China". Cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "China (includes Hong Kong, Macau, and Tibet)". State.gov. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71338.htm. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ "NW China region eyes global Muslim market". China Daily. 9 July 2008. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-07/09/content_6831389.htm. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ "Muslim Media Network". Muslim Media Network. 24 March 2008. http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=1922. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ Xinhua, China Bans Falun Gong, People's Daily, 22 July 1999
- ^ Mary-Anne Toy, Underground existence for Falun Gong faithful, The Age, 26 July 2008.
"The US State Department, US Congress, the United Nations and human rights groups such as Amnesty say persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China is a continuing abuse of human rights." - ^ Xu Jiatun, Cultural Revolution revisited in crackdown, Taipai Times, 8 September 1999.
- ^ Seth Faison, "In Beijing: A Roar of Silent Protestors," New York Times, 27 April 1999
- ^ "Falun Gong said to total tens of millions". United Press International, 24 April 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
- ^ "Tour Guidebook: Beijing". China National Tourism Administration. http://en.cnta.gov.cn.
- ^ Bary, Theodore de. "Constructive Engagement with Asian Values".[dead link] Columbia University.
- ^ ""China: Traditional arts". Library of Congress – Country Studies". Lcweb2.loc.gov. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cn0133). Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "China: Cultural life: The arts". Britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-258942/China. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ ""China: Folk and Variety Arts". Library of Congress – Country Studies". Lcweb2.loc.gov. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cn0138). Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "Silk Route Museum". Silk Route Museum. http://www.silkroutemuseum.com. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ Kong, Foong, Ling. [2002]. The Food of Asia. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-7946-0146-4
- ^ "Origins of the Great Game". Athleticscholarships.net. http://athleticscholarships.net/history-of-soccer.htm. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "Chinese players dominate at Malaysia open chess championship". TheStar.com, 2 September 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ Beech, Hannah (28 April 2003). "Yao Ming". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/heroes/yao_ming.html. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
- ^ Qinfa, Ye. Sports History of China. About.com. Retrieved 21 April 2006.
- ^ "China targets more golds in 2012". BBC Sport, 27 August 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
Further reading[link]
- Chang, Jung (1992). Wild Swans. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-42547-3.
- Meng, Fanhua (2011). Phenomenon of Chinese Culture at the Turn of the 21st century. Singapore: Silkroad Press. ISBN 978-981-4332-35-4.
- Farah, Paolo, Five Years of China’s WTO Membership. EU and US Perspectives on China’s Compliance with Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review Mechanism, Legal Issues of Economic Integration, Kluwer Law International, Volume 33, Number 3, pp. 263–304, 2006. Abstract.
- Heilig, Gerhard K., China Bibliography – Online. 2006, 2007.
- Lynch, Michael (1998). People’s Republic of China 1949–90. Trafalgar Square Publishing. ISBN 0-340-68853-X.
- Murphey, Rhoads (1996). East Asia: A New History. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-321-07801-2.
- Sang Ye (2006). China Candid: The People on the People's Republic. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24514-8.
- Selden, Mark (1979). The People's Republic of China: Documentary History of Revolutionary Change. New York: Monthly Review Press. ISBN 0-85345-532-5.
- Terrill, Ross (2003). The New Chinese Empire, And What It Means For The United States. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-08412-5.
- Thurston, Anne F. (1994). China Bound: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC. Washington: National Academies Press. ISBN 0-309-04932-6.
External links[link]
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- Studies
- Assertive Pragmatism: China's Economic Rise and Its Impact on Chinese Foreign Policy Minxin Pei, IFRI Proliferation Papers n°15, 2006
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is about the country. For other uses, see Taiwan (disambiguation).
"Republic of China" redirects here. For other uses, see Republic of China (disambiguation).
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Taiwan (i/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ TY-WAHN; Chinese: 臺灣 or 台灣; pinyin: Táiwān; see below), officially the Republic of China (ROC; Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó), is a state in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China now governs the island of Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa), which forms over 99% of its current territory,[f] as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands. Neighboring states include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east and northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taipei is the capital city and economic and cultural centre of the country,[1] and New Taipei is the most populous city.
The earliest evidence of inhabitation of Taiwan dates back to the late Paleolithic era. The island of Taiwan was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before being colonized in the 17th century by the Dutch and the Spanish Empire. The first Han Chinese polity on Taiwan began when Koxinga's troops defeated Dutch forces and established the Kingdom of Tungning. The island was subsequently ruled by the Qing Dynasty after the kingdom's defeat in the Battle of Penghu in 1683, a period that lasted for over 200 years. Following Japan's victory over the Qing Dynasty in the first Sino-Japanese war, Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.
The Republic of China was established in mainland China in 1912 and governed varying amounts of the mainland until 1949. At the end of World War II, Japan surrendered Taiwan and associated islands to ROC forces. When Communist forces took control of mainland China and founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the ROC government moved to Taiwan. Since the founding of the PRC, international recognition of the ROC has gradually eroded as most countries switched recognition to the PRC. In 1971, the PRC assumed China's seat at the United Nations. Only 23 states now recognize the ROC as a sovereign state and maintain formal diplomatic relations with it.
Officially, the ROC government still claims sovereignty over all of "China", in a definition that includes mainland China and Mongolia, as well as Taiwan, via the ROC Constitution[21] but has not made retaking the mainland a political goal since 1992.[22] However, the government's stance on whether "retaking" or "reuniting" with China is desired or whether Taiwan and China are separate countries or are regions of one country depends on the which administration is in power (See Politics below). Meanwhile, the PRC also officially asserts itself to be the sole legal representation of China and actively claims Taiwan to be under its sovereignty, denying the status and existence of ROC as a sovereign state. It has not renounced the use of force as a response to any formal declaration of Taiwanese independence, or if it deems peaceful reunification no longer possible.[23] Cross-strait relations between Taiwan and China as well as issues of national identity within the country are important factors in Taiwanese politics and a cause of social and political division among political parties and their respective supporters.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Taiwan evolved into a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage. Building on the infrastructure and education improvements initiated during the Japanese era, Taiwan has experienced rapid economic growth and industrialization during the latter half of the 20th century and is now an advanced industrial economy. It is one of the Four Asian Tigers and a member of the WTO and APEC. The 19th-largest economy in the world,[24][25] its advanced technology industry plays a key role in the global economy. Taiwan is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care,[26] public education, economic freedom, and human development.[e][19][27]
Contents |
[edit] Names
Main article: Names of the Republic of China
See also: Chinese Taipei
There are various names of the island of Taiwan in use today, derived from explorers or rulers by each particular period. The former name "Formosa" dates from 1544, when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means "Beautiful Island".[28] In the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company established a commercial post at Fort Zeelandia (modern Anping, Tainan) on a coastal islet called "Tayouan" in the local Siraya language; the name was later extended to the whole island as "Taiwan".[29] Historically, "Taiwan" has also been written as 大灣, 臺員, 大員, 臺圓, 大圓 and 臺窩灣. Historically, the Japanese called Taiwan 高砂国 (State of Takasago) or 高砂 (Takasago).
The official name of the state is the "Republic of China"; it has also been known under various names throughout its existence. Shortly after the ROC's establishment in 1912, while it was still located on the Asian mainland, the government used the abbreviation "China" ("Zhongguó") to refer to itself. During the 1950s and 1960s, it was common to refer to it as "Nationalist China" to differentiate it from "Communist China" (or "Red China").[30] It was present at the UN under the name "China" until 1971, when it lost its seat to the People's Republic of China. Since then, the name "China" has been commonly used internationally to refer only to the People's Republic of China.[31] Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become commonly known as "Taiwan", after the island that composes most of its territory. The Republic of China participates in most international forums and organizations under the name "Chinese Taipei" due to diplomatic pressure from the PRC. For instance, it is the name under which it has competed at the Olympic Games since 1979, and its name as an observer at the World Health Organization. Additionally, the PRC refers to Taiwan as "Taiwan, China" in pursuit of its sovereignty claim.
History[link]
Main article: History of Taiwan
Evidence of inhabitation on Taiwan dates back to the late Paleolithic era. Organized control of parts of Taiwan was first established by the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century and from 1683, Taiwan was placed under Qing rule until its cession to Japan in 1895, in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War.
On mainland China, the rule of Qing Dynasty ended when the Republic of China was formally established in 1912. The early years of the nation were rife with fights for power among factions. From the latter half of the 1920s, rivalry intensified between the ruling Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China, eventually leading to the Chinese Civil War.
In 1945, after the end of World War II, Taiwan was surrendered to ROC forces. In 1949, the central government of the ROC evacuated to Taiwan after it lost the civil war to the communists. The government on Taiwan was authoritarian until gradual liberalization from the mid-1980s onwards.
Aboriginal Taiwan[link]
Main article: Prehistory of Taiwan
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Taiwan was joined to the Asian mainland in the Late Pleistocene, until sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago. Fragmentary human remains have been found on the island, dated 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, as well as later artifacts of a Paleolithic culture.[32][33][34]
More than 4,000 years ago farmers from mainland China, believed to be the ancestors of current Taiwanese aborigines, settled on Taiwan. Their languages belong to the Austronesian language family, which also includes the Malayo-Polynesian languages spanning a huge area from Madagascar to Easter Island. The aboriginal languages on Taiwan show much greater diversity than the rest of Austronesian put together, leading linguists to propose Taiwan as the Urheimat of the family, from which sea-faring peoples dispersed across southeast Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans.[35][36]
Han Chinese began settling in the Penghu islands in the 13th century, but Taiwan's hostile tribes and its lack of trade resources valued in that era rendered it unattractive to all but "occasional adventurers or fishermen engaging in barter" until the 16th century.[37]
Opening in the 17th century[link]
The Dutch East India Company attempted to establish a trading outpost on the Penghu Islands (Pescadores) in 1622, but were driven off by the Ming authorities.[38] In 1624, the Company established a stronghold called Fort Zeelandia on an coastal islet of Tayouan, which is now part of the main island at Anping, Tainan.[29] David Wright, a Scottish agent of the Company who lived on the island in the 1650s, described the lowland areas of the island as being divided among 11 chiefdoms ranging in size from two settlements to 72. Some of these fell under Dutch control while others remained independent.[29][39] The Company began to import laborers from Fujian and Penghu (Pescadores), many of whom settled.[38]
In 1626, the Spanish landed on and occupied northern Taiwan, at the ports of Keelung and Tamsui, as a base to extend their trading. This colonial period lasted sixteen years until 1642, when the last Spanish fortress fell to Dutch forces.
Following the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong), a self-styled Ming loyalist, arrived on the island and captured Fort Zeelandia in 1662, expelling the Dutch government and military from the island. Koxinga established the Kingdom of Tungning (1662–1683), with his capital at Tainan. He and his heirs, Zheng Jing, who ruled from 1662 to 1682, and Zheng Keshuang, who ruled less than a year, continued to launch raids on the south-east coast of mainland China well into the Qing Dynasty.[38]
Qing rule[link]
Main article: Taiwan under Qing Dynasty rule
In 1683, following the defeat of Koxinga's grandson by an armada led by Admiral Shi Lang of southern Fujian, the Qing formally annexed Taiwan, placing it under the jurisdiction of Fujian province. The Qing imperial government tried to reduce piracy and vagrancy in the area, issuing a series of edicts to manage immigration and respect aboriginal land rights. Immigrants mostly from southern Fujian continued to enter Taiwan. The border between taxpaying lands and "savage" lands shifted eastward, with some aborigines becoming Sinicized while others retreated into the mountains. During this time, there were a number of conflicts between Chinese from different regions of southern Fujian, and between southern Fujian Chinese and aborigines.[28]
Northern Taiwan and the Penghu Islands were the scene of subsidiary campaigns in the Sino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885). The French occupied Keelung on 1 October 1884, but were repulsed from Tamsui a few days later. The French won some tactical victories but were unable to exploit them and the Keelung Campaign ended in stalemate. The Pescadores Campaign, beginning on 31 March 1885, was a French victory, but had no long-term consequences. The French evacuated both Keelung and the Penghu archipelago after the end of the war.
In 1885, the Qing redesignated Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian as Taiwan Province, the twentieth in the empire, with its capital at Taipei.[28] This was accompanied by a modernization drive that included building Taiwan's first railroad and starting a postal service.[40]
Japanese rule[link]
Main articles: Taiwan under Japanese rule and Republic of Formosa
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The Qing Dynasty was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and Taiwan and Penghu were ceded in full sovereignty to the Empire of Japan. Inhabitants wishing to remain Qing subjects were given a two-year grace period to sell their property and move to mainland China. Very few Taiwanese saw this as feasible.[41] On 25 May 1895, a group of pro-Qing high officials proclaimed the Republic of Formosa to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital at Tainan and quelled this resistance on 21 October 1895.[42]
Japanese rule was instrumental in the industrialization of the island, extending the railroads and other transportation networks, building an extensive sanitation system and establishing a formal education system.[43] Japanese rule ended the practice of headhunting.[44] During this period, both rice and sugarcane production greatly increased. By 1939, Taiwan was the seventh greatest sugar producer in the world.[45] Still, the Taiwanese and aborigines were classified as second- and third-class citizens. After supressing Chinese guerillas in the first decade of their rule, Japanese authorites engaged in a series of bloody campaigns against the mountain aboriginals, culminating in the Wushe Incident of 1930.[46]
Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire and people were taught to see themselves as Japanese. During World War II, tens of thousands of Taiwanese served in the Japanese military.[47] For example, former ROC President Lee Teng-hui's elder brother served in the Japanese navy and died while on duty in the Philippines in February 1945. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated heavily out of Taiwanese ports. The "South Strike Group" was based at the Taihoku Imperial University in Taipei. Many of the Japanese forces participating in the Aerial Battle of Taiwan-Okinawa were based in Taiwan. Important Japanese military bases and industrial centers throughout Taiwan, like Kaohsiung, were targets of heavy American bombing.[48]
In 1938 there were 309,000 Japanese settlers in Taiwan.[49] After World War II, most of the Japanese were repatriated to Japan.
After World War II[link]
Further information: Taiwan after World War II and Taiwan Strait Crisis
On 25 October 1945, the US Navy ferried ROC troops to Taiwan in order to accept the formal surrender of Japanese military forces in Taipei (then called "Taihoku"). General Rikichi Andō, governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed the instrument of surrender and handed it over to General Chen Yi of the ROC military to complete the official turnover. Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be "Retrocession Day of Taiwan," but the Allies considered Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to be under military occupation but still under Japanese sovereignty until 1952.[50][51]
The ROC administration of Taiwan under Chen Yi was strained by increasing tensions between Taiwanese and mainlanders, which were compounded by economic woes, such as hyperinflation. Furthermore, cultural and linguistic conflicts between Taiwanese and the mainland Chinese quickly led to the loss of popular support for the new government.[52] The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered island-wide unrest, which was suppressed with military force in what is now called the 228 Incident. Mainstream estimates of the number killed range from 18,000 to 30,000, mainly Taiwanese elites.[53][54]
Chinese Nationalist one-party rule[link]
Main articles: Republic of China (1912–1949) and Nationalist Government
After the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed between the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang), led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the Chinese Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong. By 1949, a series of Chinese Communist offensives led to the defeat of the Nationalist army, and the Communists founded the People's Republic of China on 1 October.[55]
In December 1949, Chiang evacuated his government to Taiwan and made Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC (also called the "wartime capital" by Chiang Kai-shek).[56] Some 2 million people, consisting mainly of soldiers, members of the ruling Kuomintang party and the intellectual and business elites, were evacuated from mainland China to Taiwan at that time, adding to the earlier population of approximately six million. In addition, the ROC government took to Taipei many national treasures including China's gold reserves and foreign currency reserves.[57][58][59]
From this point onwards, the Kuomintang was reduced to control of Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu Islands, and two major islands of Dongsha Islands and Nansha Islands. The Kuomintang continued to claim sovereignty over all "China", which it defined to include mainland China, Taiwan, Outer Mongolia and other areas. On mainland China, the victorious Communists claimed they ruled the sole and only China (which they claimed included Taiwan) and that the Republic of China no longer existed.[60]
Martial law, declared on Taiwan in May 1949,[61] continued to be in effect after the central government relocated to Taiwan. It was not repealed until 1987,[61] and was used as a way to suppress the political opposition in the intervening years.[62] During the White Terror, as the period is known, 140,000 people were imprisoned or executed for being perceived as anti-KMT or pro-Communist.[63] Many citizens were arrested, tortured, imprisoned and executed for their real or perceived opposition to the Kuomintang. Since these people were mainly from the intellectual and social elite, an entire generation of political and social leaders was decimated. It was not until 2008 that a public apology was made for those actions. No form of restitution or compensation has been made as of 2010.[64]
From this period through the 1980s, Taiwan was governed under the "Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion". During this period of one-party rule, little distinction was made between the government and the Kuomintang, with public property, government property, and party property being largely interchangeable. Government workers and party members were mostly indistinguishable, with many government workers required to become KMT members, and party workers paid salaries and promised retirement benefits along the lines of government employees. In addition, the creation of other parties was outlawed, and many political opponents were persecuted and incarcerated.[citation needed]
Initially, the United States abandoned the KMT and expected that Taiwan would fall to the Communists. However, in 1950 the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, which had been ongoing since the Japanese withdrawal in 1945, escalated into full-blown war, and in the context of the Cold War, US President Harry S. Truman intervened again and dispatched the 7th Fleet into the Taiwan Straits to prevent hostilities between Taiwan and mainland China.[65] In the Treaty of San Francisco and the Treaty of Taipei, which came into force respectively on 28 April 1952 and 5 August 1952, Japan formally renounced all right, claim and title to Taiwan and Penghu, and renounced all treaties signed with China before 1942. Neither treaty specified to whom sovereignty over the islands should be transferred, because the United States and the United Kingdom disagreed on whether the ROC or the PRC was the legitimate government of China.[66] Continuing conflict of the Chinese Civil War through the 1950s, and intervention by the United States notably resulted in legislation such as the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty and the Formosa Resolution of 1955.
As the Chinese Civil War continued without truce, the government built up military fortifications throughout Taiwan. Within this effort, former KMT soldiers built the now famous Central Cross-Island Highway through the Taroko Gorge in the 1950s. The two sides would continue to engage in sporadic military clashes with seldom publicized details well into the 1960s on the nearby islands with an unknown number of night raids. During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in September 1958, Taiwan's landscape saw Nike-Hercules missile batteries added, with the formation of the 1st Missile Battalion Chinese Army that would not be deactivated until 1997. Newer generations of missile batteries have since replaced the Nike Hercules systems throughout the island.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the ROC maintained an authoritarian, single-party government while its economy became industrialized and technology oriented. This rapid economical growth, known as the Taiwan Miracle, was the result of a fiscal regime independent from mainland China and backed up, among others, by the support of US funds and demand for Taiwanese products.[67][68] In the 1970s, Taiwan was economically the second fastest growing state in Asia after Japan.[69] Taiwan, along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, became known as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s. Later, especially after the termination of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, most nations switched diplomatic recognition to the PRC (see United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758).
Up until the 1970s, the government was regarded by Western critics as undemocratic for upholding martial law, for severely repressing any political opposition and for controlling media. The KMT did not allow the creation of new parties and those that existed did not seriously compete with the KMT. Thus, competitive democratic elections did not exist.[70][71][72][73][74] From the late 1970s to the 1990s, however, Taiwan went through reforms and social changes that transformed it from an authoritarian state to a democracy. In 1979, a pro-democracy protest known as the Kaohsiung Incident took place in Kaohsiung to celebrate Human Rights Day. Although the protest was rapidly crushed by the authorities, it is today considered as the main event that united Taiwan's opposition.[75]
Democratization[link]
Main article: Democratic reforms
Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son and successor as the president, began to liberalize the political system in the mid-1980s. In 1984, the younger Chiang selected Lee Teng-hui, an ethnically Taiwanese and U.S.-educated technocrat, to be his vice president. In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was formed and inaugurated as the first opposition party in Taiwan to counter the KMT. A year later Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law. With the advent of democratization, the issue of the political status of Taiwan has resurfaced as a controversial issue (previously, discussion of anything other than unification under the ROC was taboo).
After the death of Chiang Ching-kuo in January 1988, Lee Teng-hui succeeded him and became the first ethnically Taiwanese president of the ROC. Lee continued to democratize the government and decrease the concentration of government authority in the hands of mainland Chinese. Under Lee, Taiwan underwent a process of localization in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint in contrast to earlier KMT policies which had promoted a Chinese identity. Lee's reforms included printing banknotes from the Central Bank rather than the Provincial Bank of Taiwan, and streamlining the Taiwan Provincial Government with most of its functions transferred to the Executive Yuan. Under Lee, the original members of the Legislative Yuan and National Assembly, elected in 1947 to represent mainland Chinese constituencies and having held the seats without re-election for more than four decades, were forced to resign in 1991. The previously nominal representation in the Legislative Yuan was brought to an end, reflecting the reality that the ROC had no jurisdiction over mainland China, and vice versa. Restrictions on the use of Taiwanese Hokkien in the broadcast media and in schools were also lifted.
Democratic reforms continued in the 1990s, with Lee Teng-hui re-elected in 1996, in the first direct presidential election in the history of the ROC.[76] During the later years of Lee's administration, he was involved in corruption controversies relating to government release of land and weapons purchase, although no legal proceedings commenced. In 2000, Chen Shui-bian of the DPP was elected as the first non-KMT President and was re-elected to serve his second and last term since 2004. Polarized politics has emerged in Taiwan with the formation of the Pan-Blue Coalition of parties led by the KMT, favoring eventual Chinese reunification, and the Pan-Green Coalition of parties led by the DPP, favoring an eventual and official declaration of Taiwan independence.
On 30 September 2007, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party approved a resolution asserting a separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It also called for general use of "Taiwan" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the Republic of China.[77] The Chen administration also pushed for referendums on national defense and UN entry in the 2004 and 2008 elections, which failed due to voter turnout below the required legal threshold of 50% of all registered voters.[78] The Chen administration was dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock due to a pan-blue, opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan and corruption involving the First Family as well as government officials.[79][80]
The KMT increased its majority in the Legislative Yuan in the January 2008 legislative elections, while its nominee Ma Ying-jeou went on to win the presidency in March of the same year, campaigning on a platform of increased economic growth, and better ties with the PRC under a policy of "mutual nondenial".[78] Ma took office on 20 May 2008. Part of the rationale for campaigning for closer economic ties with the PRC stem from the strong economic growth China attained since joining the World Trade Organization. However, some analysts say that despite the election of Ma Ying-jeou, the diplomatic and military tensions with the PRC have not been reduced.[81]
Geography[link]
Main article: Geography of Taiwan
The island of Taiwan lies some 180 kilometers off the southeastern coast of China, across the Taiwan Strait, and has an area of 35,883 km2 (13,855 sq mi).[16] The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest.[82] The shape of the main island of Taiwan is similar to a sweet potato seen in a south-to-north direction, and therefore, Taiwanese, especially the Min-nan division, often call themselves "children of the Sweet Potato."[83]
The island is characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling Chianan Plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's highest point is Yu Shan (Jade Mountain) at 3,952 meters, and there are five other peaks over 3,500 meters.[82] This makes it the world's fourth-highest island.[84]
Taiwan lies on the Tropic of Cancer, and its climate is marine tropical.[85] The northern part of the island has a rainy season that lasts from January through late March during the northeast monsoon, and experiences meiyu in May.[86] The entire island experiences hot, humid weather from June through September. The middle and southern parts of the island do not have an extended monsoon season during the winter months. Typhoons are common between July and October.[82][87]
The Penghu Islands, 50 km west of the main island, have an area of 126.9 km2 (49.0 sq mi). More distant islands controlled by the Republic of China are the Kinmen, Wuchiu and Matsu Islands off the coast of Fujian, with a total area of 180.5 km2 (69.7 sq mi), and the Pratas Islands and Taiping Island in the South China Sea, with a total area of 2.9 km2 (1.1 sq mi) and no permanent inhabitants.[16]
Geology[link]
Main article: Geology of Taiwan
The island of Taiwan lies in a complex tectonic area between the Yangtze Plate to the west and north, the Okinawa Plate on the north-east, and the Philippine Mobile Belt on the east and south. The upper part of the crust on the island is primarily made up of a series of terranes, mostly old island arcs which have been forced together by the collision of the forerunners of the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. These have been further uplifted as a result of the detachment of a portion of the Eurasian Plate as it was subducted beneath remnants of the Philippine Sea Plate, a process which left the crust under Taiwan more buoyant.[88]
The east and south of Taiwan are a complex system of belts formed by, and part of the zone of, active collision between the North Luzon Trough portion of the Luzon Volcanic Arc and South China, where accreted portions of the Luzon Arc and Luzon forearc form the eastern Coastal Range and parallel inland Longitudinal Valley of Taiwan respectively.[89]
The major seismic faults in Taiwan correspond to the various suture zones between the various terranes. These have produced major quakes throughout the history of the island. On 21 September 1999, a 7.3 quake known as the "921 earthquake" killed more than 2,400 people. The seismic hazard map for Taiwan by the USGS shows 9/10 of the island as the highest rating (most hazardous).[90]
Political and legal status[link]
Main articles: Political status of Taiwan and Legal status of Taiwan
The political and legal status of Taiwan is a contentious issue. The People's Republic of China (PRC) claims that the Republic of China government is illegitimate, referring to it as the "Taiwan Authority". The ROC, however, with its own constitution, independently elected president and a large army, continues to view itself as an independent sovereign state. The territory of Taiwan has never been controlled by the PRC.[91][92] Internationally, there is controversy on whether the ROC still exists as a state or a defunct state per international law due to the loss of membership / recognition in the United Nations and lack of wide diplomatic recognition. According to a poll taken by the TVBS in 2010, the majority of Taiwanese residents—64%—opt for the status quo (i.e. no independence, no unification with mainland China), while 19% favor independence and 5% unification.[93]
Relations with the PRC[link]
See also: Cross-Strait relations
The political environment is complicated by the potential for military conflict should overt actions toward independence or reunification be taken. It is the official PRC policy to use force to ensure reunification if peaceful reunification is no longer possible, as stated in its anti-secession law, and for this reason there are substantial military installations on the Fujian coast.[94][95] Although more recently the PRC has conducted to promote peaceful relation with the current ROC government and aimed at gradual reunification.
The PRC supports a version of the One-China policy, which states that Taiwan and mainland China are both part of China, and that the PRC is the only legitimate government of China. It uses this policy to prevent the international recognition of the ROC as an independent sovereign state. For its part, the People's Republic of China appears to find the retention of the name "Republic of China" more acceptable than an official declaration of an independent Taiwan. With the rise of the Taiwanese independence movement, the name "Taiwan" has been employed increasingly often on the island.[96]
Foreign relations[link]
Main article: Foreign relations of the Republic of China
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Before 1928, the foreign policy of Republican China was complicated by a lack of internal unity—competing centers of power all claimed legitimacy. This situation changed after the defeat of the Peiyang Government by the Kuomintang, which led to widespread diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China.[97]
After the KMT's retreat to Taiwan, most countries, notably the countries in the Western Bloc, continued to maintain relations with the ROC. Due to diplomatic pressure, recognition gradually eroded and many countries switched recognition to the PRC in the 1970s.
The PRC refuses to have diplomatic relations with any nation that recognizes the ROC, and requires all nations with which it has diplomatic relations to make a statement recognizing its claims to Taiwan.[98] As a result, there are only 23 states that have official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. In practice, most countries view the ROC as an independent state and as such maintain unofficial relations with it.[99]
The ROC maintains unofficial relations with most countries via de facto embassies and consulates called Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices (TECRO), with branch offices called "Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices" (TECO). Both TECRO and TECO are "unofficial commercial entities" of the ROC in charge of maintaining diplomatic relations, providing consular services (i.e. visa applications), and serving the national interests of the ROC in other countries.[100]
File:Taiwanarmspic1.jpg
F-16 fighters sold to the ROC by the United States
The United States is one of the main allies of the ROC and, since the Taiwan Relations Act passed in 1979, the United States has sold arms and provided military training to the Republic of China Armed Forces.[101] This situation continues to be an issue for the People's Republic of China which considers US involvement disruptive to the stability of the region. In January 2010, the Obama administration announced its intention to sell $6.4 billion worth of military hardware to Taiwan. As a consequence, the PRC threatened the US with economic sanctions and warned that their cooperation on international and regional issues could suffer.[102]
The official position of the United States is that the PRC is expected to "use no force or threat[en] to use force against Taiwan" and the ROC is to "exercise prudence in managing all aspects of Cross-Strait relations." Both are to refrain from performing actions or espousing statements "that would unilaterally alter Taiwan's status."[103]
Participation in international events and organizations[link]
The ROC was a founding member of the United Nations and held the seat of China on the Security Council and other UN bodies until 1971, when it was expelled by General Assembly Resolution 2758 and replaced in all UN organs with the PRC. Each year since 1992, the ROC has petitioned the UN for entry but its applications have not made it past committee.[104]
Due to its limited international recognition, the Republic of China is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, represented by a government-funded organization, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) under the name "Taiwan".[105][106]
Also due to its One China policy, the PRC only participates in international organizations where the ROC is not recognized as a sovereign country. Most member states, including the United States, do not wish to discuss the issue of the ROC's political status for fear of souring diplomatic ties with the PRC.[107] However, both the US and Japan publicly support the ROC's bid for membership in the World Health Organization as an observer.[108] However, though the ROC has applied for WHO membership every year since 1997 under various denominations, their efforts have consistently been blocked by PRC.
Due to PRC pressure, the ROC is forced to use the name "Chinese Taipei" in international events such as the Olympic Games where the PRC is also a party.[109] The ROC is typically barred from using its national anthem and national flag in international events due to PRC pressure; ROC spectators attending events such as the Olympics are often barred from bringing ROC flags into venues.[110] The ROC is able to participate as "China" in organizations that the PRC does not participate in, such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
Opinions within Taiwan[link]
See also: Taiwan independence and Chinese reunification
Within Taiwan, opinions are polarized between those supporting unification, represented by the Pan-Blue Coalition of parties, and those supporting independence, represented by the Pan-Green Coalition.
The KMT, the largest Pan-Blue party, supports the status quo for the indefinite future with a stated ultimate goal of unification. However, it does not support unification in the short term with the PRC as such a prospect would be unacceptable to most of its members and the public.[111] Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of the KMT and the incumbent president of the ROC, has set out democracy, economic development to a level near that of Taiwan, and equitable wealth distribution as the conditions that the PRC must fulfill for reunification to occur.[112]
The DPP, the largest Pan-Green party, officially seeks independence, but in practice also supports the status quo because its members and the public would not accept the risk of provoking the PRC.[113][114]
Former President Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party stated during his years of administration that any decision should be decided through a public referendum of the people of the ROC. Both parties' current foreign policy positions support actively advocating ROC participation in international organizations, but while the KMT accepts the One-China principle, the DPP encourages the participation of Taiwan as a sovereign state.
On 2 September 2008, El Sol de México asked President Ma about his views on the subject of "two Chinas" and if there was a solution for the sovereignty issues between the two. The president replied that the relations are neither between two Chinas nor two states. It is a special relationship. Further, he stated that the sovereignty issues between the two cannot be resolved at present, but he quoted the "1992 Consensus", currently accepted by both the Kuomingtang and the Communist Party of China, as a temporary measure until a solution becomes available.[115]
The relationship with the PRC and the related issues of Taiwanese independence and Chinese reunification continue to dominate politics.[116] For any particular resolution, public favor shifts greatly with small changes in wording, illustrating the complexity of public opinion on the topic.[citation needed]
Government[link]
Main article: Government of the Republic of China
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The government of the Republic of China was founded on the Constitution of the ROC and its Three Principles of the People, which states that the ROC "shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people."[117] The government is divided into five administrative branches (Yuan): the Executive Yuan (cabinet), the Legislative Yuan, the Judicial Yuan, the Control Yuan (audit agency), and the Examination Yuan (civil service examination agency). The Pan-Blue Coalition and Pan-Green Coalition are presently the dominant political blocs in the Republic of China.
The head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the president, who is elected by popular vote for a maximum of 2 four-year terms on the same ticket as the vice-president. The president has authority over the Yuan. The president appoints the members of the Executive Yuan as his cabinet, including a premier, who is officially the President of the Executive Yuan; members are responsible for policy and administration.[117]
The main legislative body is the unicameral Legislative Yuan with 113 seats. Seventy-three are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies; thirty-four are elected based on the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties in a separate party list ballot; and six are elected from two three-member aboriginal constituencies. Members serve four-year terms. Originally the unicameral National Assembly, as a standing constitutional convention and electoral college, held some parliamentary functions, but the National Assembly was abolished in 2005 with the power of constitutional amendments handed over to the Legislative Yuan and all eligible voters of the Republic via referendums.[117]
The premier is selected by the president without the need for approval from the legislature, but the legislature can pass laws without regard for the president, as neither he nor the Premier wields veto power.[117] Thus, there is little incentive for the president and the legislature to negotiate on legislation if they are of opposing parties. After the election of the pan-Green's Chen Shui-bian as President in 2000, legislation repeatedly stalled because of deadlock with the Legislative Yuan, which was controlled by a pan-Blue majority.[118] Historically, the ROC has been dominated by strongman single party politics. This legacy has resulted in executive powers currently being concentrated in the office of the president rather than the premier, even though the constitution does not explicitly state the extent of the president's executive power.[119]
The Judicial Yuan is the highest judicial organ. It interprets the constitution and other laws and decrees, judges administrative suits, and disciplines public functionaries. The president and vice-president of the Judicial Yuan and additional thirteen justices form the Council of Grand Justices.[120] They are nominated and appointed by the president, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan. The highest court, the Supreme Court, consists of a number of civil and criminal divisions, each of which is formed by a presiding judge and four associate judges, all appointed for life. In 1993, a separate constitutional court was established to resolve constitutional disputes, regulate the activities of political parties and accelerate the democratization process. There is no trial by jury but the right to a fair public trial is protected by law and respected in practice; many cases are presided over by multiple judges.[117]
Like most Asian democracies, Taiwan still allows for capital punishment. Efforts have been made by the government to reduce the number of executions, although they have not been able to completely abolish the punishment. As of 2006, about 80% of Taiwanese want to keep the death penalty.[121]
The Control Yuan is a watchdog agency that monitors (controls) the actions of the executive. It can be considered a standing commission for administrative inquiry and can be compared to the Court of Auditors of the European Union or the Government Accountability Office of the United States.[117] The Control Yuan is sometimes also compared to an ombudsman or national human rights institution.[citation needed] The Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants. It is based on the old imperial examination system used in pre-modern China. It can be compared to the European Personnel Selection Office of the European Union or the Office of Personnel Management of the United States.[117]
Politics[link]
Main article: Politics of the Republic of China
See also: Elections in the Republic of China and Human rights in Taiwan
The constitution of the Republic of China was drafted before the fall of mainland China to the Communists. It was created by the KMT for the purpose of all of its claimed territory, including Taiwan, even though the Chinese Communist party boycotted the drafting of the constitution. The constitution went into effect on 25 December 1947.[122]
The ROC remained under martial law from 1948 until 1987 and much of the constitution was not in effect. Political reforms beginning in the late 1970s and continuing through the early 1990s liberalized the country and transformed into a multiparty democracy. Since the lifting of martial law, the Republic of China has democratized and reformed, suspending constitutional components that were originally meant for the whole of China. This process of amendment continues. In 2000, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency, ending KMT's continuous control of the government. In May 2005, a new National Assembly was elected to reduce the number of parliamentary seats and implement several constitutional reforms. These reforms have been passed; the National Assembly has essentially voted to abolish itself and transfer the power of constitutional reform to the popular ballot.[123]
Major camps[link]
Emblem of the Democratic Progressive Party, the main Pan-Green Coalition party.
Emblem of the Kuomintang, the main Pan-Blue Coalition party.
The tension between the PRC and Taiwan colors most of the political life, and any government move towards "Taiwan independence" is met by threat of military attack from the PRC.[124] The PRC's official policy is to reunify Taiwan and mainland China under the formula of "one country, two systems" and refuses to renounce the use of military force, especially should Taiwan seek a declaration of independence.[125]
The political scene is generally divided into two major camps in terms of views on how Taiwan should relate to China or the PRC, referred to as Cross-Strait relations. It is the main political difference between two camps: the Pan-Blue Coalition, composed of the pro-unification Kuomintang, People First Party (PFP), and New Party, who believe that the ROC is the sole legitimate government of "China" (including Taiwan) and supports eventual Chinese reunification. The opposition Pan-Green Coalition is composed of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU). It regards Taiwan as an independent, sovereign state synonymous with the ROC, opposes the definition that Taiwan is part of "China", and seeks wide diplomatic recognition and an eventual declaration of formal Taiwan independence.[126] The Pan-Green camp tends to favor emphasizing the Republic of China as being a distinct country from the People's Republic of China. Thus, in September 2007, the then ruling Democratic Progressive Party approved a resolution asserting separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It called also for general use of "Taiwan" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the "Republic of China".[127] Some members of the coalition, such as former President Chen Shui-bian, argue that it is unnecessary to proclaim independence because "Taiwan is already an independent, sovereign country" and the Republic of China is the same as Taiwan.[128] Despite being a member of KMT prior to and during his presidency, Lee Teng-hui also held a similar view and was a supporter of the Taiwanization movement.[129]
Pan-Blue members generally support the concept of the One-China policy, which states that there is only one China and that its only government is the ROC. They favor eventual re-unification of China.[130] The more mainstream Pan-Blue position is to lift investment restrictions and pursue negotiations with the PRC to immediately open direct transportation links. Regarding independence, the mainstream Pan-Blue position is to maintain the status quo, while refusing immediate reunification.[111] President Ma Ying-jeou stated that there will be no unification nor declaration of independence during his presidency.[131][132] As of 2009, Pan-Blue members usually seek to improve relationships with mainland China, with a current focus on improving economic ties.[133]
Current political issues[link]
The dominant political issue in Taiwan is its relationship with the PRC. For almost 60 years, there were no direct transportation links, including direct flights, between Taiwan and mainland China. This was a problem for many Taiwanese businesses that had opened factories or branches in mainland China. The former DPP administration feared that such links would lead to tighter economic and political integration with mainland China, and in the 2006 Lunar New Year Speech, President Chen Shui-bian called for managed opening of links. Direct weekend charter flights between Taiwan and mainland China began in July 2008 under the current KMT government, and the first direct daily charter flights took off in December 2008.[134]
Other major political issues include the passage of an arms procurement bill that the United States authorized in 2001.[135] In 2008, however, the United States were reluctant to send over more arms to Taiwan out of fear that it would hinder the recent improvement of ties between the PRC and the ROC.[136] Another major political issue is the establishment of a National Communications Commission to take over from the Government Information Office, whose advertising budget exercised great control over the media.[137]
The politicians and their parties have themselves become major political issues. Corruption among some DPP administration officials has been exposed. In early 2006, President Chen Shui-bian was linked to possible corruption. The political effect on President Chen Shui-bian was great, causing a divide in the DPP leadership and supporters alike. It eventually led to the creation of a political camp led by ex-DPP leader Shih Ming-teh which believes the president should resign. The KMT assets continue to be another major issue, as it was once the richest political party in the world.[138] Nearing the end of 2006, KMT's chairman Ma Ying-jeou was also hit by corruption controversies, although he has since then been cleared of any wrong-doings by the courts.[139] Since completing his second term as President, Chen Shui-bian has been charged with corruption and money laundering.[140]
The merger of the KMT and People First Party (PFP) was thought to be certain, but a string of defections from the PFP to the KMT have increased tensions within the Pan-Blue camp.[141][142]
National identity[link]
Main articles: Taiwanese identity and Chinese nationalism
Roughly 84% of Taiwan's population descends from Han Chinese who migrated from mainland China between 1661 and 1895. Another significant fraction descends from Han Chinese who immigrated from mainland China in the 1940s and 1950s. But between 1895 and the present, Taiwan and mainland China have shared a common government for only 4 years. The shared cultural origin combined with several hundred years of geographical separation, some hundred years of political separation and foreign influences, as well as hostility between the rival ROC and PRC have resulted in national identity being a contentious issue with political overtones. Since democratization and the lifting of martial law, a distinct Taiwanese identity (as opposed to Taiwanese identity as a subset of a Chinese identity) is often at the heart of political debates. Its acceptance makes the island distinct from mainland China, and therefore may be seen as a step towards forming a consensus for de jure Taiwan independence.[143] The pan-green camp supports a distinct Taiwanese identity, while the pan-blue camp supports a Chinese identity only.[130] The KMT has downplayed this stance in the recent years and now supports a Taiwanese identity as part of a Chinese identity.[144][145]
According to a survey conducted in March 2009, 49% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese only, and 44% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese and Chinese. 3% consider themselves as only Chinese.[93] Another survey, conducted in Taiwan in July 2009, showed that 82.8% of respondents consider that the ROC and the PRC are two separate countries developing each on its own.[146] A recent survey conducted in December 2009 showed that 62% of the respondents consider themselves as Taiwanese only, and 22% of the respondents consider themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese. 8% consider themselves as only Chinese. The survey also shows that among 18–29 year old respondents, 75% consider themselves as Taiwanese only.[147]
| Survey | Taiwanese | Chinese | Taiwanese and Chinese |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission, Executive Yuan (April 2008)[148] | 67.1% | 13.6% | 15.2% |
| TVBS Poll Center (June 2008)[148] | 45% | 4% | 45% |
| Common Wealth Magazine (December 2009)[147] | 62% | 8% | 22% |
| National Chengchi University (June 2010)[149] | 51.6% | 3.8% | 40.4% |
| TVBS Poll Center (March 2009)[93][150] | 72% | 16% | (not an option for this question) |
| TVBS Poll Center (March 2009)[93][151] | 49% | 3% | 44% |
Military[link]
Main article: Republic of China Armed Forces
See also: Republic of China Military Academy
The Republic of China Army takes its roots in the National Revolutionary Army, which was established by Sun Yat-sen in 1925 in Guangdong with a goal of reunifying China under the Kuomintang. When the People's Liberation Army won the Chinese Civil War, much of the National Revolutionary Army retreated to Taiwan along with the government. It was later reformed into the Republic of China Army. Units which surrendered and remained in mainland China were either disbanded or incorporated into the People's Liberation Army.
Today, the Republic of China maintains a large and technologically advanced military, mainly as defense against the constant threat of invasion by the PRC under the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China.[95] From 1949 to the 1970s, the primary mission of the military was to "retake the mainland" through the Project National Glory. As this mission has shifted to defense, the ROC military has begun to shift emphasis from the traditionally dominant Army to the air force and navy. Control of the armed forces has also passed into the hands of the civilian government.[152] As the ROC military shares historical roots with the KMT, the older generation of high ranking officers tends to have Pan-Blue sympathies. However, many have retired and there are many more non-mainlanders enlisting in the armed forces in the younger generations, so the political leanings of the military have moved closer to the public norm in Taiwan.[153]
The ROC began a force reduction program to scale down its military from a level of 450,000 in 1997 to 380,000 in 2001.[154] As of 2009, the armed forces of the ROC number approximately 300,000,[155] with nominal reserves totaling 3.6 million as of 2005.[156] Conscription remains universal for qualified males reaching age eighteen, but as a part of the reduction effort many are given the opportunity to fulfill their draft requirement through alternative service and are redirected to government agencies or defense related industries.[157] Current plans call for a transition to a predominantly professional army over the next decade.[158][159] Conscription periods are planned to decrease from 14 months to 12.[160] In the last months of the Bush administration, Taipei took the decision to reverse the secular trend of declining defense spending, at a time when most Asian countries kept on reducing their military expenditures. It also decided to modernize both defensive and offensive capabilities. Taipei still keeps a large military apparatus relative to the island’s population: defense expenditures for 2008 were NTD 334 billion (approximately U.S. $10.5 billion), which accounted for 2.94% of GDP.
The armed forces' primary concern at this time is the possibility of an attack by the PRC, consisting of a naval blockade, airborne assault and/or missile bombardment. Four upgraded Kidd class destroyers were recently purchased from the United States, significantly upgrading Taiwan's air defense and submarine hunting abilities.[161] The Ministry of National Defense planned to purchase diesel-powered submarines and Patriot anti-missile batteries from the United States, but its budget has been stalled repeatedly by the opposition-Pan-Blue Coalition controlled legislature. The defense package was stalled from 2001–2007 where it was finally passed through the legislature and the US responded on 3 October 2008, with a $6.5 billion arms package including PAC III Anti-Air defense systems, AH-64D Apache Attack helicopters and other arms and parts.[162] A significant amount of military hardware has been bought from the United States, and, as of 2009, continues to be legally guaranteed by the Taiwan Relations Act.[101] In the past, France and the Netherlands have also sold military weapons and hardware to the ROC, but they almost entirely stopped in the 1990s under pressure of the PRC.[163][164]
The first line of defense against invasion by the PRC is the ROC's own armed forces. Current ROC military doctrine is to hold out against an invasion or blockade until the US military responds.[165] There is, however, no guarantee in the Taiwan Relations Act or any other treaty that the United States will defend Taiwan, even in the event of invasion.[166] The joint declaration on security between the US and Japan signed in 1996 may imply that Japan would be involved in any response. However, Japan has refused to stipulate whether the "area surrounding Japan" mentioned in the pact includes Taiwan, and the precise purpose of the pact is unclear.[167] The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS Treaty) may mean that other US allies, such as Australia, could theoretically be involved.[168] In practice, the risk of losing economic ties with China may prevent Australia from taking action.[169] The United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Chile, and Peru conduct maritime exercises in the Pacific Ocean every 2 years called RIMPAC. They are conducted to promote stability and to be able to respond in case of an armed conflict in the region – that includes an invasion of Taiwan by China.[170]
Administrative divisions[link]
Main article: Administrative divisions of the Republic of China
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According to the 1947 constitution, written and promulgated whilst the ROC government still controlled mainland China, the territory of the ROC consisted of provinces, special municipalities, as well as Mongolia[171] and Tibet. Accordingly, when the ROC retreated to Taiwan in 1949, its claimed territory consisted of 35 provinces, 12 special municipalities, 1 special administrative region, as well as Mongolia[171] and Tibet. However, since its retreat, the ROC has controlled only Taiwan Province and some islands of Fujian Province. The ROC also controls the Pratas Islands (Dong-Sha) and Taiping Island in the Spratly Islands, which are part of the disputed South China Sea Islands. They were placed under Kaohsiung administration after the retreat to Taiwan.[172]
Since 1949, the government has made some changes in the area under its control. Taipei became a special municipality in 1967 and Kaohsiung in 1979. The two provincial governments were "streamlined", with their functions transferred to the central government (Fujian in 1956 and Taiwan in 1998).[173] In 2010, New Taipei, Taichung and Tainan were upgraded to special municipalities. This brought the top-level divisions of the ROC to their current state:[174]
| Level | Division type | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Special municipality (直轄市 zhíxiáshì) (5) |
Province (省 shěng) (2) (Streamlined) | 22 | |||
| 2nd | Provincial city (市 shì) (3) |
County (縣 xiàn) (14) | ||||
| 3rd | District (區 qū) (157) | County-controlled city (縣轄市 xiànxiáshì) (17) |
Urban Township (鎮 zhèn) (41) |
Rural Township (鄉 xiāng) (153) |
368 | |
| 4th | Village (里 lǐ) | Village (村 cūn) | 7,835 | |||
| 5th | Neighborhood (鄰 lín) | 147,877 | ||||
According to Article 4 of the Local Government Act, laws pertaining to special municipalities also apply to counties with a population exceeding 2 million. This provision is currently applied only to Taoyuan County.[175]
Economy[link]
Main articles: Economy of Taiwan and Economic history of Taiwan
The quick industrialization and rapid growth of Taiwan during the latter half of the 20th century has been called the "Taiwan Miracle". Taiwan is one of the "Four Asian Tigers" alongside Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore.
Japanese rule prior to and during World War II brought changes in the public and private sectors, most notably in the area of public works, which enabled rapid communications and facilitated transport throughout much of the island. The Japanese also improved public education and made it compulsory for all Taiwanese citizens.
By 1945, hyperinflation was in progress in mainland China and Taiwan as a result of the war with Japan. To isolate Taiwan from it, the Nationalist government created a new currency area for the island, and started a price stabilization program. These efforts helped significantly slow the inflation.
When the KMT government fled to Taiwan it brought millions of taels of gold and the foreign currency reserve of mainland China to the island, which, according to the KMT stabilized prices and reduced hyperinflation.[176] Perhaps more importantly, as part of its retreat to Taiwan, the KMT brought the intellectual and business elites from Mainland China.[177] The KMT government instituted many laws and land reforms that it had never effectively enacted on mainland China. The government also implemented a policy of import-substitution, attempting to produce imported goods domestically. Much of this was made possible through US economic aid, subsidizing the higher cost of domestic production.
In 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, the US began an aid program which resulted in fully stabilized prices by 1952.[178] The KMT government instituted many laws and land reforms that it had never effectively enacted on mainland China; it implemented a policy of import-substitution, and it attempted to produce imported goods domestically. Much of this was made possible through US economic aid, subsidizing the higher cost of domestic production.
In 1962, Taiwan had a per-capita gross national product (GNP) of $170, placing its economy on a par with those of Zaire and Congo. By 2011 per-capita GNP, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), had risen to $37,000, contributing to a Human Development Index equivalent to that of other developed countries. Taiwan's HDI in 2007 is 0.943 (25th, very high),[179] and stands at 0.868 in 2010 (18th, very high), according to the UN's new calculating method ("Inequality-adjusted HDI").
Today Taiwan has a dynamic, capitalist, export-driven economy with gradually decreasing state involvement in investment and foreign trade. In keeping with this trend, some large government-owned banks and industrial firms are being privatized.[180] Real growth in GDP has averaged about 8% during the past three decades. Exports have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. The trade surplus is substantial, and foreign reserves are the world's fifth largest.[181] The Republic of China has its own currency, the New Taiwan dollar.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the economic ties between Taiwan and Mainland China have been very prolific. As of 2008, more than US$150 billion[182] have been invested in the PRC by Taiwanese companies, and about 10% of the Taiwanese labour force works in the PRC, often to run their own businesses.[183] Although the economy of Taiwan benefits from this situation, some have expressed the view that the island has become increasingly dependent on the Mainland Chinese economy. A 2008 white paper by the Department of Industrial Technology states that "Taiwan should seek to maintain stable relation with China while continuing to protect national security, and avoiding excessive 'Sinicization' of Taiwanese economy."[184] Others argue that close economic ties between Taiwan and Mainland China would make any military intervention by the PLA against Taiwan very costly, and therefore less probable.[185]
Taiwan’s total trade in 2010 reached an all-time high of US$526.04 billion, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Finance. Both exports and imports for the year reached record levels, totaling US$274.64 billion and US$251.4 billion, respectively.[186]
In 2001, agriculture constituted only 2% of GDP, down from 35% in 1952.[187] Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being moved offshore and with more capital and technology-intensive industries replacing them. High-technology industrial parks have sprung up in every region in Taiwan. The ROC has become a major foreign investor in the PRC, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It is estimated that some 50,000 Taiwanese businesses and 1,000,000 businesspeople and their dependents are established in the PRC.[188]
Because of its conservative financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Unlike its neighbors, South Korea and Japan, the Taiwanese economy is dominated by small and medium sized businesses, rather than the large business groups. The global economic downturn, however, combined with poor policy coordination by the new administration and increasing bad debts in the banking system, pushed Taiwan into recession in 2001, the first whole year of negative growth since 1947. Due to the relocation of many manufacturing and labor intensive industries to the PRC, unemployment also reached a level not seen since the 1970s oil crisis. This became a major issue in the 2004 presidential election. Growth averaged more than 4% in the 2002–2006 period and the unemployment rate fell below 4%.[189]
Since the global financial crisis starting with United States in 2007, the unemployment rate has risen to over 5.9% and Economic Growth fallen to –2.9%.[citation needed] However, Taiwan managed to emerge from the crisis in very good shape. In 2010, economic growth reached 10%, the highest rate in almost 30 years, international trade jumped more than 39% to US$526.04 billion, and the job market rose with most businesses set to recruit. As a result, the IMF estimated Taiwan's 2010 GDP-PPP per capita at over US$34,700, surpassing those of Finland, France and Japan.
The ROC often joins international organizations under a politically neutral name. The ROC is a member of governmental trade organizations such as the World Trade Organization under the name Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei) since 2002.[190]
Education[link]
Main article: Education in Taiwan
The higher education system was established in Taiwan by Japan during the colonial period. However, after the Republic of China took over Taiwan from Japan in 1945, the system was promptly replaced by the same system as in mainland China which mixed with features of the Chinese and American educational systems.[191]
The educational system includes six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, three years of high school, and four years of university.[192] The system has been successful in that pupils in Taiwan boast some of the highest test scores in the world, especially in mathematics and science;[193] However, it has also been criticized for placing excessive pressure on students and eschewing creativity in favor of rote memorization.[194][195]
Many Taiwanese students attend cram schools, or bushiban, to improve skills and knowledge on problem solving against exams of subjects like mathematics, nature science, history and many others. Courses are available for most popular subjects. Lessons are organized in lectures, reviews, private tutorial sessions, and recitations.[196][197]
As of 2003, the literacy rate in Taiwan is 96.1%.[5]
Demographics[link]
Main article: Demographics of Taiwan
Taiwan's population was estimated in 2012 at 23,239,268, most of whom are on the island of Taiwan. The remainder live on Penghu (97,268), Kinmen (105,434) and the Matsu Islands (10,135).[16]
Ethnic groups[link]
Main articles: Taiwanese aborigines and Taiwanese people
About 98% of Taiwan's population is of Han Chinese ethnicity.[5] Of these, 86% are descendants of early Han Chinese immigrants known as the "benshengren" (Chinese: 本省人; pinyin: Běnshěng rén; literally "home-province person") in Chinese.[5] This group is often referred to "native Taiwanese" in English, but the term is also frequently used for the Taiwanese aborigines. The benshengren group contains two subgroups: the Hoklo people (70% of the total population), whose ancestors migrated from the coastal southern Fujian (Min-nan) region in the southeast of mainland China starting in the 17th century, and the Hakka (15% of the total population), whose ancestors originally migrated south to Guangdong, its surrounding areas and Taiwan.[5]
About 12% of the population are known as waishengren (Chinese: 外省人; pinyin: Wàishěng rén; literally "out-of-province person"), composed of people who (or whose ancestors) emigrated from mainland China after the Chinese Civil War with the KMT government.[5]
The other 2% of the population are about 521,000 Taiwanese aborigines, divided into 14 major groups. The Ami, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Sediq, Thao, Truku and Tsou live mostly in the eastern half of the island, while the Yami inhabit Orchid Island.[5][198][199]
Languages[link]
Main article: Languages of Taiwan
Mandarin is the official national language and is spoken by the vast majority of the population of Taiwan. It has been the primary language of instruction in schools since the Japanese were forced out in the 1940s. Like Hong Kong and Macau, the ROC uses Traditional Chinese characters.[200] However, a small number of characters differ from those used in Hong Kong and Macau.
Most Waishengren speak primarily Mandarin. The 70% of the population belonging to the Hoklo ethnic group speak Taiwanese (a variant of the Min Nan speech of Fujian province) as their mother tongue, in addition to Mandarin, and many others have some degree of understanding. The Hakka ethnic group (15% of the population) use the Hakka language.[201] Although Mandarin is the language of instruction in schools and dominates television and radio, non-Mandarin languages or dialects have undergone a revival in public life in Taiwan, particularly since restrictions on their use were lifted in the 1990s.[200]
People educated during the period of Japanese rule (1895–1945) were taught using Japanese as the medium of instruction. A declining number of people in the older generations understand little or no Mandarin, speaking only the Japanese they learned in school and the Taiwanese or Hakka they spoke at home.
Taiwan's indigenous languages, the Formosan languages, do not belong to the Chinese or Sino-Tibetan language family, but rather to the Austronesian language family. Their use among Taiwan's aboriginal minority groups has been in decline as usage of Mandarin has risen.[200]
Religion[link]
Main article: Religion in Taiwan
The Constitution of the Republic of China protects people's freedom of religion and the practices of belief.[202] There are approximately 18,718,600 religious followers in Taiwan as of 2005 (81.3% of total population) and 14–18% are non-religious. According to the 2005 census, of the 26 religions recognized by the ROC government, the five largest are: Buddhism (8,086,000 or 35.1%), Taoism (7,600,000 or 33%), I-Kuan Tao (810,000 or 3.5%), Protestantism (605,000 or 2.6%), and Roman Catholicism (298,000 or 1.3%).[203] But according to the CIA World Factbook and other latest sources from US State Department or the Religious Affairs Section of the MOI, over 93% of Taiwanese are adherents of a combination of the polytheistic ancient Chinese religion, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism; 4.5% are adherents of Christianity, which includes Protestants, Catholics, and other, non-denominational, Christian groups; and less than 2.5% are adherents of other religions, such as Islam.[5][204] Taiwanese aborigines comprise a notable subgroup among professing Christians: "...over 64 percent identify as Christian... Church buildings are the most obvious markers of Aboriginal villages, distinguishing them from Taiwanese or Hakka villages."[205]
Confucianism is a philosophy that deals with secular moral ethics, and serves as the foundation of both Chinese and Taiwanese culture. The majority of Taiwanese people usually combine the secular moral teachings of Confucianism with whatever religions they are affiliated with.
As of 2009, there are 14,993 temples in Taiwan, approximately one place of worship per 1,500 residents. 9,202 of those temples were dedicated to Taoism. In 2008, Taiwan had 3,262 Churches, an increase of 145.[206]
Largest cities[link]
Main article: List of cities in Taiwan
The figures below are the 2011 estimates for the twenty largest urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists when considering the total metropolitan area populations (in such rankings the Taipei-Keelung metro area is by far the largest agglomeration).
|
Largest cities or towns of Taiwan http://www.geonames.org/TW/largest-cities-in-taiwan.html |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City name | Division | Pop. | ||||||
 New Taipei |
1 | New Taipei | New Taipei City | 3,913,595 |  Taichung |
||||
| 2 | Kaohsiung | Kaohsiung City | 2,773,855 | ||||||
| 3 | Taichung | Taichung City | 2,662,770 | ||||||
| 4 | Taipei | Taipei City | 2,647,122 | ||||||
| 5 | Tainan | Tainan City | 1,876,706 | ||||||
| 6 | Hsinchu | Hsinchu City | 419,384 | ||||||
| 7 | Taoyuan | Taoyuan County | 409,796 | ||||||
| 8 | Keelung | Keelung City | 380,281 | ||||||
| 9 | Zhongli | Taoyuan County | 372,117 | ||||||
| 10 | Chiayi | Chiayi City | 271,594 | ||||||
Public health[link]
Main article: Healthcare in Taiwan
Health care in Taiwan is managed by the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI).[207]
The current program was implemented in 1995, and is considered social insurance. The government health insurance program maintains compulsory insurance for citizens who are employed, impoverished, unemployed, or victims of natural disasters with fees that correlate to the individual and/or family income; it also maintains protection for non-citizens working in Taiwan. A standardized method of calculation applies to all persons and can optionally be paid by an employer or by individual contributions.[208]
BNHI insurance coverage requires co-payment at the time of service for most services unless it is a preventative health service, for low-income families, veterans, children under three years old, or in the case of catastrophic diseases. Low income households maintain 100% premium coverage by the BNHI and co-pays are reduced for disabled or certain elderly peoples.
According to a recently published survey, out of 3,360 patients surveyed at a randomly chosen hospital, 75.1% of the patients said they are "very satisfied" with the hospital service; 20.5% said they are "okay" with the service. Only 4.4% of the patients said they are either "not satisfied" or "very not satisfied" with the service or care provided.[209]
Taiwan has its own Center for Disease Control, and during the SARS outbreak in March of 2003 there were 347 confirmed cases. During the outbreak the CDC and local governments set up monitored stations throughout public transportation, recreational sites and other public areas. With full containment in July 2003, there has not been a case of SARS since.[210]
As of 2006, the BNHI Facility Contract Distribution facilities total 17,259, including:[211]
| Number | Subject |
|---|---|
| 16,174 | outpatient-only facilities |
| 5,701 | dental clinics |
| 2,422 | Chinese medicine clinics |
| 1,085 | inpatient/outpatient facilities |
| 437 | local community hospitals |
| 35 | Chinese medicine hospitals |
| 123 | academic medical centers |
Basic coverage areas of the insurance include:
|
|
|
In 2004, the infant mortality rate was 5.3 with 15 physicians and 63 hospital beds per 10,000 people. The life expectancy for males was 73.5 years and 79.7 years for females according to the World Health Report.
Other health related programs in Taiwan are the Centers for Disease Control[212] and the Department of Health.[213]
Culture[link]
Main article: Culture of Taiwan
The cultures of Taiwan are a hybrid blend of various sources, incorporating elements of traditional Chinese culture, attributable to the historical and ancestry origin of the majority of its current residents, Japanese culture, traditional Confucianist beliefs, and increasingly Western values.
After their move to Taiwan, the Kuomintang imposed an official interpretation of traditional Chinese culture over Taiwan. The government launched a program promoting Chinese calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, folk art, and Chinese opera.
The status of Taiwanese culture is debated.[214] It is disputed whether Taiwanese culture is a regional form of Chinese culture or a distinct culture. Reflecting the continuing controversy surrounding the political status of Taiwan, politics continues to play a role in the conception and development of a Taiwanese cultural identity, especially in the prior dominant frame of a Taiwanese and Chinese dualism. In recent years, the concept of Taiwanese multiculturalism has been proposed as a relatively apolitical alternative view, which has allowed for the inclusion of mainlanders and other minority groups into the continuing re-definition of Taiwanese culture as collectively held systems of meaning and customary patterns of thought and behavior shared by the people of Taiwan.[215] Identity politics, along with the over one hundred years of political separation from mainland China, has led to distinct traditions in many areas, including cuisine and music.
One of Taiwan's greatest attractions is the National Palace Museum, which houses more than 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting and porcelain, and is considered one of the greatest collections of Chinese art and objects in the world.[216] The KMT moved this collection from the Forbidden City in Beijing in 1949 when it fled to Taiwan. The collection, estimated to be one-tenth of China's cultural treasures, is so extensive that only 1% is on display at any time. The PRC had said that the collection was stolen and that it legitimately belongs in China, but Taiwan has long defended its collection as a necessary act to protect the pieces from destruction, especially during the Cultural Revolution. Relations regarding this treasure have warmed recently as each side has agreed to lend relics to the other; Beijing Palace Museum Curator Zheng Xinmiao said that artifacts in both Chinese and Taiwanese museums are "China's cultural heritage jointly owned by people across the Taiwan Strait."[217]
Karaoke, drawn from contemporary Japanese culture, is extremely popular in Taiwan, where it is known as KTV. KTV businesses operate in a hotel-like style, renting out small rooms and ballrooms varying on the number of guests in a group. Many KTV establishments partner with restaurants and buffets to form all-encompassing elaborate evening affairs for families, friends, or businessmen. Tour buses that travel around Taiwan have several TV's, equipped not for watching movies, but primarily for singing Karaoke. The entertainment counterpart of a KTV is an MTV, being found much less frequently out of the city. There, movies out on DVD can be selected and played in a private theater room. However MTV, more so than KTV, has a growing reputation for being a place that young couples will go to be alone and intimate.
Taiwan has a high density of 24-hour convenience stores, which, in addition to the usual services, provide services on behalf of financial institutions or government agencies such as collection of parking fees, utility bills, traffic violation fines, and credit card payments.[218] They also provide a service for mailing packages.
Taiwanese culture has also influenced other cultures. Bubble tea and milk tea are available in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Europe and North America. Taiwan television shows are popular in Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian countries. Taiwanese films have won various international awards at film festivals around the world. Ang Lee, a Taiwanese director, has directed critically acclaimed films such as: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Eat Drink Man Woman; Sense and Sensibility; Brokeback Mountain; and Lust, Caution. Other famous Taiwanese directors include Tsai Ming-Liang, Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Sports[link]
Main article: Sport in Taiwan
Baseball is Taiwan's national sport and it is a popular spectator sport. One of the most famous Taiwanese baseball pitchers is Chien-Ming Wang, who is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Other notable players playing in the United States include Chin-hui Tsao who played for the Colorado Rockies (2003–2005) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2007), Hong-Chih Kuo, Fu-Te Ni, and Chin-lung Hu. The Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan was established in 1989,[219] and eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2003. As of 2008[update], the CPBL has four teams with average attendance of approximately 3,000 per game.
_cropped.jpg)
Besides baseball, basketball is Taiwan's major sport.[220] The national team's forth place at the 1959 FIBA World Championship remains the second best finish ever of an Asian nation to this date.
Taekwondo has also become a rather mature and successful sport in recent years. In the 2004 Olympics, Mu Yen Chu and Shih Hsin Chen proudly won the first two gold medals in men's flyweight event and women's flyweight event, respectively. Ever since the 2004 Olympics, Taiwan's taekwondo potential has become extremely prominent. Subsequent taekwondo competitors such as Shu Chun Yang successfully consolidated Taiwan's taekwondo culture.
The ROC participates in international sporting organizations and events under the name of "Chinese Taipei" due to the ambiguity of the political status of Taiwan. In 2009, Taiwan hosted two international sporting events on the island. The World Games 2009 were held in Kaohsiung between 16 and 26 July 2009. Taipei hosted the 21st Summer Deaflympics in September of the same year. Furthermore, Taipei will host the Summer Universiade in 2017.[221]
Taiwan is also a major Asian country for Korfball. In 2008, Taiwan hosted the World Youth Korfball Championship and took the silver medal.[222] In 2009, Taiwan's korfball team won a bronze medal at the World Game.[223]
Yani Tseng is the most famous Taiwanese professional golfer currently playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five major championships and has been ranked number 1 in the Women's World Golf Rankings since February 2011.
Calendar[link]
Main article: Minguo calendar
See also: Chinese calendar and Public holidays in Taiwan
Taiwan uses two official calendars: the Gregorian calendar, and the Minguo calendar. The latter numbers years starting from 1911, the year of the founding of the Republic of China. For example, 2007 is the "96th year of the Republic",[224] while its months and days are numbered according to the Gregorian calendar.
Usually, year numbering may use the Gregorian system as well as the ROC era system. For example, 3 May 2004, may be written 2004-05-03 or 93–05–03. The use of two different calendar systems in Taiwan may be confusing, in particular for foreigners. For instance, products for export marked using the Minguo calendar can be misunderstood as having an expiration date 11 years earlier than intended.[225]
Taiwan also uses the lunar calendar for traditional festivals such as the Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival.[226]
See also[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ See Names of the Republic of China.
- ^ Waishengren usually refers to people who moved from mainland China to Taiwan after 1949 when the KMT retreated to Taiwan due to the Chinese Civil War, and to their descendants born in Taiwan. It usually does not include citizens of the People's Republic of China who more recently moved to Taiwan.
- ^ Taiwanese aborigines are officially categorised into 14 separate ethnic groups by the Republic of China.
- ^ Although the territories controlled by the ROC imply that the demonym is "Taiwanese", some consider that it is "Chinese" due to the claims of the ROC over all of China. Taiwanese people have various opinions regarding their own national identity.
- ^ a b The UN has not calculated an HDI for the ROC, which is not a member nation. The ROC government calculated its HDI for 2010 to be 0.868, which would rank it 18th among countries.
- ^ The island of Taiwan covers an area of 36,008 km2 (13,902.8 sq mi), while the total area under the jurisdiction of the ROC (Free Area) covers around 36,191 km2 (13,973.4 sq mi).[16]
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- ^ BBC News, "Taiwan Flashpoint", "But Taiwan's leaders say it is clearly much more than a province, arguing that it is a sovereign state. It has its own constitution, democratically elected leaders, and 400,000 troops in its armed forces."
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- ^ Quote: "Table 12: In Taiwan, some people identify themselves as Chinese, some identify themselves as Taiwan (sic). Do you identify yourself as Taiwanese or Chinese? (Do not prompt both Taiwanese and Chinese)"
- ^ Quote: "Table 13: In Taiwan, some people identify themselves as Chinese, some identify themselves as Taiwan (sic). Do you identify yourself as Taiwanese, Chinese or both Taiwanese and Chinese?"
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- ^ As calculated by Taiwan's Ministry of Budget, National Accountancy and Statistics, based on the following figures (2007): life expectancy / 78.4 years ; literacy rate / 97.6% ; gross combined schooling rate / 101.9% ; per capita GDP-PPP / US$30,352
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- ^ "Taiwan to loan art to China amid warming ties". Agence France-Presse. 22 September 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5tLc0bqi3.
- ^ American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei. "Convenience Stores Aim at Differentiation" ( – Scholar search). Taiwan Business Topics 34 (11). http://www.amcham.com.tw/publication_topics_view.php?volume=34&vol_num=11&topics_id=558. [dead link]
- ^ "Intro of CPBL". Cpbl.com.tw. http://www.cpbl.com.tw/html/english/cpbl.asp. Retrieved 1 August 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Wang, Audrey (2008-06-01). "A Passion for Hoops". The Taiwan Review (Taiwan Review). http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=43967&CtNode=128. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ Yeh, Joseph (2011-12-01). "Taipei to host 2017 Summer Universiade". The China Post (The China Post.). http://www.chinapost.com.tw/sports/other/2011/12/01/324608/Taipei-to.htm. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "Netherlands Retains World Youth Korfball Champion; Taiwan is On the Way to the World...". Reuters Newswire. Sat 8 November 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/11/08/idUS82890+08-Nov-2008+BW20081108. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
- ^ Hazeldine, Richard (22 July 2009). "Jujitsu, korfball put Taiwan back on winning track". Taipei Times. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/07/22/2003449286. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
- ^ Lotta Danielsson-Murphy. "Taiwan Calendar and Holidays". US-Taiwan Business Council. http://www.us-taiwan.org/taiwan_holidays.html. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ "Taiwan may drop idiosyncratic Republican calendar". Taipei Times. 2006-02-25. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2006/02/25/2003294523. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ "Holidays and Festivals in Taiwan". Government Information Office, ROC. http://www.gio.gov.tw/info/festival_c/index_e.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
Works cited[link]
- Fenby, Jonathan (2009). The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850–2009. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-7139-9832-6.
- "2008 White Paper On Taiwan Industrial Technology". Department of Industrial Technology. 2008. http://doit.moea.gov.tw/itech/data/2008_1_1_EN.pdf. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
- Fung, Edmund S. K. (2000). In search of Chinese democracy: civil opposition in Nationalist China, 1929–1949. Cambridge modern China series. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77124-5.
- Makinen, Gail E.; Woodward, G. Thomas (1989). "The Taiwanese hyperinflation and stabilization of 1945–1952". Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 21 (1): 90–105. JSTOR 1992580.
- Makeham, John; Hsiau, A-chin, eds. (2005). Cultural, Ethnic, and Political Nationalism in Contemporary Taiwan: Bentuhua. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-7020-6.
Further reading[link]
- "Taiwan Flashpoint". BBC News. 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/04/taiwan_flashpoint/html/introduction.stm.
- Bush, R.; O'Hanlon, M. (2007). A War Like No Other: The Truth About China's Challenge to America. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-98677-1.
- Bush, R. (2006). Untying the Knot: Making Peace in the Taiwan Strait. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0-8157-1290-1.
- Carpenter, T. (2006). America's Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-6841-1.
- Cole, B. (2006). Taiwan's Security: History and Prospects. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-36581-3.
- Copper, J. (2006). Playing with Fire: The Looming War with China over Taiwan. Praeger Security International General Interest. ISBN 0-275-98888-0.
- Federation of American Scientists et al. (2006). "Chinese Nuclear Forces and US Nuclear War Planning". http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/Book2006.pdf.
- Feuerwerker, Albert (1968). The Chinese Economy, 1912–1949. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- Gill, B. (2007). Rising Star: China's New Security Diplomacy. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0-8157-3146-9.
- Shirk, S. (2007). China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-530609-0.
- Tsang, S. (2006). If China Attacks Taiwan: Military Strategy, Politics and Economics. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-40785-0.
- Tucker, N.B. (2005). Dangerous Strait: the US-Taiwan-China Crisis. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-13564-5.
External links[link]
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Overviews and data[link]
- Taiwan entry at The World Factbook
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Government agencies[link]
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Coordinates: 22°57′N 120°12′E / 22.95°N 120.2°E / 22.95; 120.2
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"Mao" redirects here. For other uses, see Mao (disambiguation).
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Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung 
listen (help·info), and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution. He was the architect and founding father of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949, and held authoritarian control over the nation until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism–Leninism, along with his military strategies and brand of policies, are collectively known as Maoism.
Mao rose to power by commanding the Long March, forming a Second United Front with Kuomintang (KMT) during the Second Sino-Japanese War to repel a Japanese invasion,[1] and leading the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War. After solidifying the reunification of China through his Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries, Mao enacted sweeping land reform, by using violence and terror to overthrow the feudal landlords before seizing their large estates and dividing the land into people's communes.[2][3] During the years when Mao was China’s 'Great Helmsman', a range of positive changes came to China. These included promoting the status of women, improving popular literacy, doubling the school population, providing universal housing, abolishing unemployment and inflation, increasing health care access, and dramatically raising life expectancy.[4][5] In addition, China's population almost doubled during the period of Mao's leadership[6] (from around 550 to over 900 million).[3][5] As a result, Mao is still officially held in high regard by many in China as a great political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of the nation. Maoists further promote his role as a theorist, statesman, poet, and visionary,[7] while anti-revisionists continue to defend most of his policies.
However, Mao remains a controversial figure to this day, with a contentious legacy that is subject to continuing revision and fierce debate. Nationwide political campaigns led by Mao, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, are often considered catastrophic failures; while his rule is believed to have caused the deaths of 40 to 70 million people.[8][9] Severe starvation during the Great Chinese Famine, mass suicide as a result of the Three-anti/five-anti campaigns, and political persecution during both the Anti-Rightist Movement and struggle sessions all resulted from these programs. His campaigns and their varying disastrous consequences are further blamed for damaging the culture and society of China, as historical relics were destroyed and religious sites were ransacked.
Although Mao's stated goals of combating bureaucracy, encouraging popular participation, and stressing China’s self-reliance are generally seen as laudable—and the rapid industrialization that began during Mao’s reign is credited for laying a foundation for China’s development in the late 20th century—the harsh methods he used to pursue them, including torture and executions, have been widely rebuked as being ruthless and self-defeating.[3] Mao is still regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history,[10] and was named one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time magazine.[11]
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Early life[link]
Mao was born on December 26, 1893, in Shaoshan, Hunan Province, China. His father was a poor peasant who became a prosperous farmer and grain dealer. At age 8 he began studying at the village primary school, but left school at 13 to work on the family farm. He later left the farm to continue his studies at a secondary school in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. When the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing Dynasty broke out in 1911 he joined the Revolutionary Army in Hunan. In the spring of 1912 the war ended, the Republic of China was founded and Mao left the army. He eventually returned to school,[12] and in 1918 graduated from the First Provincial Normal School of Hunan.
Following his graduation, Mao travelled to Beijing, where he lived with Yang Changji, his college teacher and future father-in-law, who had taken a position at Peking University. Yang recommended him highly: "These two people [ Mao and Cai Hesen ] are rare talents in China and will have a great future." At his recommendation, Mao worked as an assistant librarian at the University Library under the curator-ship of Li Dazhao, who would come to greatly influence Mao's future thought. Mao registered as a part-time student at Beijing University and attended a few lectures and seminars by intellectuals, such as Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, and Qian Xuantong. After moving back to Changsha, he became headmaster of a school and was involved in provincial cultural and educational agitation. He renewed his friendship with Yang Kaihui, Professor Yang's daughter, eight years younger than he, and the two became lovers, then married despite Mao's earlier marriage with Luo Yixiu arranged by his father at home, which Mao never acknowledged. (In October 1930, the Kuomintang (KMT) captured Yang Kaihui as well as her son, Mao Anying). A number of his friends and future colleagues took advantage of the Mouvement Travail-Études to study in France, but Mao, perhaps because of a lack of ability to learn languages and the requirement to learn French, turned down the opportunity.[13]
On July 23, 1921, Mao, now age 27, attended the first session of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai. Two years later, he was elected as one of the five commissars of the Central Committee of the Party during the third Congress session. Later that year, Mao returned to Hunan at the instruction of the CPC Central Committee to organize the Hunan branch of the Kuomintang after KMT premier Sun Yat-sen began a policy of active cooperation with the Chinese Communists.[14]
In 1924, he was a delegate to the first National Conference of the Kuomintang, where he was elected an Alternate Executive of the Central Committee. That year he became an Executive of the Shanghai branch of the Kuomintang and Secretary of the Organization Department.
For a while, Mao remained in Shanghai, an important city that the CPC emphasized for the Revolution. However, the Party encountered major difficulties organizing labor union movements and building a relationship with its nationalist ally, the KMT. The Party had become poor, and Mao was disillusioned with the revolution and moved back to Shaoshan. During his stay at home, Mao's interest in the revolution was rekindled after hearing of the 1925 uprisings in Shanghai and Guangzhou. His political ambitions returned, and he then went to Guangdong, the base of the Kuomintang, to take part in the preparations for the second session of the National Congress of Kuomintang. In October 1925, Mao became acting Propaganda Director of the Kuomintang.
In early 1927, Mao returned to Hunan where, in an urgent meeting held by the Communist Party, he made a report based on his investigations of the peasant uprisings in the wake of the Northern Expedition. His "Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan" is considered the initial and decisive step towards the successful application of Mao's revolutionary theories.[15]
Political ideas[link]
Main article: Maoism
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After graduating from the First Provincial Normal School of Hunan, the highest level of schooling available in his province, Mao spent six months studying independently. Mao was first introduced to communism while working at Peking University as a library assistant, and in 1921 he attended the organizational meeting of the Communist Party of China (or CPC). Important influences on Mao were the Russian revolution and, according to some scholars, the Chinese literary works: Outlaws of the Marsh and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Mao sought to subvert the alliance of imperialism and feudalism in China. He thought the KMT to be both economically and politically vulnerable and thus that the revolution could not be steered by Nationalists.
Throughout the 1920s, Mao led several labour struggles based upon his studies of the propagation and organization of the contemporary labour movements.[16] However, these struggles were successfully subdued by the government, and Mao fled from Changsha, Hunan after he was labelled a radical activist. He pondered these failures and finally realized that industrial workers were unable to lead the revolution because they made up only a small portion of China's population, and unarmed labour struggles could not resolve the problems of imperial and feudal suppression. Mao began to depend on Chinese peasants who later became staunch supporters of his theory of violent revolution. This dependence on the rural rather than the urban proletariat to instigate violent revolution distinguished Mao from his predecessors and contemporaries. Mao himself was from a peasant family, and thus he cultivated his reputation among the farmers and peasants and introduced them to Marxism.[15][17]
His two 1937 essays, On Practice[18] and On Contradiction,[19] are concerned with the practical strategies of a revolutionary movement and stress the importance of practical, grass-roots knowledge obtained through experience. Both essays reflect the guerrilla roots of Maoism in the need to build up support in the countryside against a Japanese occupying force and emphasise the need to win over hearts and minds through 'education'. The essays, excerpts of which appear in the 'Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong', warn against the behaviour of the blindfolded man trying to catch sparrows, and the 'Imperial envoy' descending from his carriage to 'spout opinions' .
War[link]
Main articles: Long March, Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, and Chinese Revolution (1949)
"Revolution is not a dinner party, nor an essay, nor a painting, nor a piece of embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another."
In 1927, after a large-scale purge of Communists from the Kuomintang in Shanghai that ended their alliance during the Northern Expedition, Mao conducted the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Changsha as commander-in-chief. Mao led an army, called the "Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants", which was defeated by the KMT forces and scattered after fierce battles. Afterwards, the exhausted troops were forced to leave Hunan for Sanwan, Jiangxi, where Mao re-organized the scattered soldiers, rearranging the military division into smaller regiments. Mao also ordered that each company must have a party branch office with a commissar as its leader who would give political instructions based upon superior mandates. This military rearrangement in Sanwan, Jiangxi initiated the CPC's absolute control over its military force and is considered to have had a fundamental and profound impact upon the Chinese revolution. Later, the army moved to the Jinggang Mountains, Jiangxi. In the Jinggang Mountains, Mao persuaded two local insurgent leaders to pledge their allegiance to him. There, Mao joined his army with that of Zhu De, creating the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China, Red Army in short. Mao's tactics were based on that of the Spanish Guerrillas during the Napoleonic Wars.[citation needed]
From 1931 to 1934, Mao helped establish the Soviet Republic of China and was elected Chairman of this small republic in the mountainous areas in Jiangxi. Here, Mao was married to He Zizhen. His previous wife, Yang Kaihui, had been arrested and executed in 1930, just three years after their departure. In Jiangxi, Mao's authoritative domination, especially that of the military force, was challenged by the Jiangxi branch of the CPC and military officers. Mao's opponents, among whom the most prominent was Li Wenlin, the founder of the CPC's branch and Red Army in Jiangxi, were against Mao's land policies and proposals to reform the local party branch and army leadership. Mao reacted first by accusing the opponents of opportunism and kulakism and then set off a series of systematic suppressions of them.[22]
It is reported that horrible methods of torture were employed under Mao's direction,[23] and given names such as 'sitting in a sedan chair', 'airplane ride', 'toad-drinking water', and 'monkey pulling reins.' The wives of several suspects that defied him had their breasts cut open and their genitals burned.[23] It estimated that tens of thousands of suspected enemies,[24] perhaps as many as 186,000,[25] were killed during this purge. Critics accuse Mao's authority in Jiangxi of being secured and reassured through the revolutionary terrorism, or red terrorism.[26]
Mao, with the help of Zhu De, built a modest but effective army, undertook experiments in rural reform and government, and provided refuge for Communists fleeing the KMT purges in the cities. Mao's methods are normally referred to as guerrilla warfare; but he himself made a distinction between guerrilla warfare (youji zhan) and mobile warfare (yundong zhan). Mao's doctrines of guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare were based upon the fact of the poor armament and military training of the Red Army which consisted mainly of impoverished peasants, who, however, were fired by revolutionary passions and the aspiration for a communist utopia.
Around 1930, there had been more than ten regions, usually entitled "soviet areas", under control of the CPC.[27] The relative prosperity of "soviet areas" startled and worried Chiang Kai-shek, chairman of the Kuomintang government, who waged five waves of besieging campaigns against the "central soviet area." More than one million Kuomintang soldiers were involved in these five campaigns, four of which were defeated by the Red Army led by Mao. By June 1932 (the height of its power), the Red Army had no less than 45,000 soldiers, with a further 200,000 local militia acting as a subsidiary force.[28]
Under increasing pressure from the KMT Encirclement Campaigns, there was a struggle for power within the Communist leadership. Mao was removed from his important positions and replaced by individuals (including Zhou Enlai) who appeared loyal to the orthodox line advocated by Moscow and represented within the CPC by a group known as the 28 Bolsheviks. Chiang, who had earlier assumed nominal control of China due in part to the Northern Expedition, was determined to eliminate the Communists. By October 1934, he had them surrounded, prompting them to engage in the "Long March", a retreat from Jiangxi in the southeast to Shaanxi in the north west of China. It was during this 9,600-kilometer (6,000 mi), year-long journey that Mao emerged as the top Communist leader, aided by the Zunyi Conference and the defection of Zhou Enlai to Mao's side. At this Conference, Mao entered the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China.
In 1936 Manchurian warlord and Chiang's former ally Zhang Xueliang decided to conspire with the CPC and kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek in Xi'an to force an end to the conflict between KMT and CPC. To secure the release of Chiang, the KMT was forced to agree to a temporary end to the Chinese Civil War and the forming of a United Front between the CPC and KMT against Japan. The alliance took place with salutary effects for the beleaguered CPC after relentless attacks by Chiang's forces. CPC agreed to form the New Fourth Army and the 8th Route Army which were nominally under the command of the National Revolutionary Army.
During the Sino-Japanese War, Mao advocated a strategy of avoiding open confrontations with the Japanese army and concentrating on guerrilla warfare from his base in Yan'an, while leaving the KMT to take on the brunt of the fighting and suffer tremendous casualties.[29] Instead Mao directed the CPC forces to concentrate on absorbing, and eliminating if necessary, Chinese militia behind enemy lines. This led to intensified conflicts between KMT and CPC forces, and the fragile alliance broke down after the New Fourth Army incident in January 1941. Mao further consolidated power over the Communist Party in 1942 by launching the Shu Fan movement, or "Rectification" campaign against rival CPC members such as Wang Ming, Wang Shiwei, and Ding Ling. Also while in Yan'an, Mao divorced He Zizhen[citation needed] and married the actress Lan Ping, who would become known as Jiang Qing.
Mao also greatly expanded CPC's sphere of influence in areas outside of Japanese control, mainly through rural mass organizations, administrative, land and tax reform measures favouring poor peasants; while the Nationalists attempted to neutralize the spread of Communist influence by military blockade of areas controlled by CPC and fighting the Japanese at the same time.[31]
In 1944, the Americans sent a special diplomatic envoy, called the Dixie Mission, to the Communist Party of China. According to Edwin Moise, in Modern China: A History 2nd Edition:
- Most of the Americans were favourably impressed. The CPC seemed less corrupt, more unified, and more vigorous in its resistance to Japan than the KMT. United States fliers shot down over North China...confirmed to their superiors that the CPC was both strong and popular over a broad area. In the end, the contacts with the USA developed with the CPC led to very little.
File:Marshallmao.jpg
General George Marshall and Mao Zedong in Yan'an
After the end of World War II, the U.S. continued their military assistance to Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT government forces against the People's Liberation Army (PLA) led by Mao Zedong in the civil war for control of China. Likewise, the Soviet Union gave quasi-covert support to Mao by their occupation of north east China, which allowed the PLA to move in en masse and took large supplies of arms left by the Japanese's Kwantung Army.
In 1948, under direct orders from Mao, the People’s Liberation Army starved out the Kuomintang forces occupying the city of Changchun. At least 160,000 civilians are believed to have perished during the siege, which lasted from June until October. PLA lieutenant colonel Zhang Zhenglu, who documented the siege in his book White Snow, Red Blood, compared it to Hiroshima: “The casualties were about the same. Hiroshima took nine seconds; Changchun took five months.”[32] On January 21, 1949, Kuomintang forces suffered great losses in battles against Mao's forces. In the early morning of December 10, 1949, PLA troops laid siege to Chengdu, the last KMT-held city in mainland China, and Chiang Kai-shek evacuated from the mainland to Taiwan.
Leadership of China[link]
The People's Republic of China was established on October 1, 1949. It was the culmination of over two decades of civil and international wars. From 1943 to 1976, Mao was the Chairman of the Communist Party of China. During this period, Mao was called Chairman Mao (毛主席) or the Great Leader Chairman Mao (伟大领袖毛主席). Mao famously announced: "The Chinese people have stood up." [33]
Mao took up residence in Zhongnanhai, a compound next to the Forbidden City in Beijing, and there he ordered the construction of an indoor swimming pool and other buildings. Mao often did his work either in bed or by the side of the pool, preferring not to wear formal clothes unless absolutely necessary, according to Dr. Li Zhisui, his personal physician. (Li's book, The Private Life of Chairman Mao, is regarded as controversial, especially by those sympathetic to Mao.)
In October 1950, Mao made the decision to send the People's Volunteer Army into Korea and fight against the United Nations forces led by the U.S. Historical records showed that Mao directed the PVA campaigns in the Korean War to the minute details.[34]
Along with land reform, during which significant numbers of landlords and well-to-do peasants were beaten to death at mass meetings organized by the Communist Party as land was taken from them and given to poorer peasants,[35] there was also the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries,[36] which involved public executions targeting mainly former Kuomintang officials, businessmen accused of "disturbing" the market, former employees of Western companies and intellectuals whose loyalty was suspect.[37] The U.S. State department in 1976 estimated that there may have been a million killed in the land reform, and 800,000 killed in the counterrevolutionary campaign.[38]
Mao himself claimed that a total of 700,000 people were executed during the years 1949–53.[39] However, because there was a policy to select "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution",[40] the number of deaths range between 2 million[40][41] and 5 million.[42][43] In addition, at least 1.5 million people,[44] perhaps as many as 4 to 6 million,[45] were sent to "reform through labour" camps where many perished.[45] Mao played a personal role in organizing the mass repressions and established a system of execution quotas,[46] which were often exceeded.[36] He defended these killings as necessary for the securing of power.[47]
Starting in 1951, Mao initiated two successive movements in an effort to rid urban areas of corruption by targeting wealthy capitalists and political opponents, known as the three-anti/five-anti campaigns. A climate of raw terror developed as workers denounced their bosses, spouses turned on their spouses, and children informed on their parents; the victims often were humiliated at struggle sessions, a method designed to intimidate and terrify people to the maximum. Mao insisted that minor offenders be criticized and reformed or sent to labor camps, "while the worst among them should be shot." These campaigns took several hundred thousand additional lives, the vast majority via suicide.[48]
In Shanghai, suicide by jumping from tall buildings became so commonplace that residents avoided walking on the pavement near skyscrapers for fear that suicides might land on them.[49] Some biographers have pointed out that driving those perceived as enemies to suicide was a common tactic during the Mao-era. For example, in his biography of Mao, Philip Short notes that in the Yan'an Rectification Movement, Mao gave explicit instructions that "no cadre is to be killed," but in practice allowed security chief Kang Sheng to drive opponents to suicide and that "this pattern was repeated throughout his leadership of the People's Republic."[50]
Following the consolidation of power, Mao launched the First Five-Year Plan (1953–58). The plan aimed to end Chinese dependence upon agriculture in order to become a world power. With the Soviet Union's assistance, new industrial plants were built and agricultural production eventually fell to a point where industry was beginning to produce enough capital that China no longer needed the USSR's support. The success of the First-Five Year Plan was to encourage Mao to instigate the Second Five-Year Plan, the Great Leap Forward, in 1958. Mao also launched a phase of rapid collectivization. The CPC introduced price controls as well as a Chinese character simplification aimed at increasing literacy. Large-scale industrialization projects were also undertaken.
Programs pursued during this time include the Hundred Flowers Campaign, in which Mao indicated his supposed willingness to consider different opinions about how China should be governed. Given the freedom to express themselves, liberal and intellectual Chinese began opposing the Communist Party and questioning its leadership. This was initially tolerated and encouraged. After a few months, Mao's government reversed its policy and persecuted those, totalling perhaps 500,000, who criticized, as well as those who were merely alleged to have criticized, the party in what is called the Anti-Rightist Movement. Authors such as Jung Chang have alleged that the Hundred Flowers Campaign was merely a ruse to root out "dangerous" thinking.[51]
Others such as Dr Li Zhisui have suggested that Mao had initially seen the policy as a way of weakening those within his party who opposed him, but was surprised by the extent of criticism and the fact that it began to be directed at his own leadership.[52] It was only then that he used it as a method of identifying and subsequently persecuting those critical of his government. The Hundred Flowers movement led to the condemnation, silencing, and death of many citizens, also linked to Mao's Anti-Rightist Movement, with death tolls possibly in the millions.[citation needed]
Great Leap Forward[link]
In January 1958, Mao Zedong launched the second Five-Year Plan, known as the Great Leap Forward, a plan intended as an alternative model for economic growth to the Soviet model focusing on heavy industry that was advocated by others in the party. Under this economic program, the relatively small agricultural collectives which had been formed to date were rapidly merged into far larger people's communes, and many of the peasants were ordered to work on massive infrastructure projects and on the production of iron and steel. Some private food production was banned; livestock and farm implements were brought under collective ownership.
Under the Great Leap Forward, Mao and other party leaders ordered the implementation of a variety of unproven and unscientific new agricultural techniques by the new communes. Combined with the diversion of labor to steel production and infrastructure projects, these projects combined with cyclical natural disasters led to an approximately 15% drop in grain production in 1959 followed by a further 10% reduction in 1960 and no recovery in 1961 (Spence, 553).
In an effort to win favor with their superiors and avoid being purged, each layer in the party hierarchy exaggerated the amount of grain produced under them. Based on the fabricated success, party cadres were ordered to requisition a disproportionately high amount of the true harvest for state use, primarily in the cities and urban areas but also for export. The net result, which was compounded in some areas by drought and in others by floods, left rural peasants with little food for themselves and many millions starved to death in the largest famine known as the Great Chinese Famine. This famine was a direct cause of the death of some 30 million Chinese peasants between 1959 and 1962 and about the same number of births were lost or postponed.[53] Further, many children who became emaciated and malnourished during years of hardship and struggle for survival died shortly after the Great Leap Forward came to an end in 1962 (Spence, 553).
The extent of Mao's knowledge of the severity of the situation has been disputed. According to some, most notably Dr. Li Zhisui, Mao was not aware that the situation amounted to more than a slight shortage of food and general supplies until late 1959.[citation needed]
"But I do not think that when he spoke on July 2, 1959, he knew how bad the disaster had become, and he believed the party was doing everything it could to manage the situation."
Hong Kong-based historian Frank Dikötter, who has sifted through well over a thousand documents in recently opened (2005–2009)[54] Chinese local and regional party archives, challenges the notion that Mao did not know about the famine until it was too late:
"The idea that the state mistakenly took too much grain from the countryside because it assumed that the harvest was much larger than it was is largely a myth – at most partially true for the autumn of 1958 only. In most cases the party knew very well that it was starving its own people to death. At a secret meeting in the Jinjiang Hotel in Shanghai dated March 25, 1959, Mao specifically ordered the party to procure up to one third of all the grain, much more than had ever been the case. At the meeting he announced that 'When there is not enough to eat, people starve to death. It is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill.'" [55]
In Hungry Ghosts, Jasper Becker notes that Mao was dismissive of reports he received of food shortages in the countryside and refused to change course, believing that peasants were lying and that rightists and kulaks were hoarding grain. He refused to open state granaries,[56] and instead launched a series of "anti-grain concealment" drives that resulted in numerous purges and suicides.[57] Other violent campaigns followed in which party leaders went from village to village in search of hidden food reserves, and not only grain, as Mao issued quotas for pigs, chickens, ducks and eggs. Many peasants accused of hiding food were tortured and beaten to death.[58]
In contrast, journals such as the Monthly Review have disputed the reliability of the figures commonly cited, the qualitative evidence of a "massive death toll", and Mao's complicity in those deaths which occurred.[59]
Whatever the case, the Great Leap Forward caused Mao to lose esteem among many of the top party cadres and was eventually forced to abandon the policy in 1962, while losing some political power to moderate leaders, notably Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping in the process. However, Mao, supported by national propaganda, claimed that he was only partly to blame. As a result, he was able to remain Chairman of the Communist Party, with the Presidency transferred to Liu Shaoqi.
The Great Leap Forward was a disaster for China. Although the steel quotas were officially reached, almost all of the supposed steel made in the countryside was iron, as it had been made from assorted scrap metal in home-made furnaces with no reliable source of fuel such as coal. This meant that proper smelting conditions could not be achieved. According to Zhang Rongmei, a geometry teacher in rural Shanghai during the Great Leap Forward:
"We took all the furniture, pots, and pans we had in our house, and all our neighbors did likewise. We put everything in a big fire and melted down all the metal."
The worst of the famine was steered towards enemies of the state.[60] As Jasper Becker explains:
"The most vulnerable section of China's population, around five per cent, were those whom Mao called 'enemies of the people'. Anyone who had in previous campaigns of repression been labeled a 'black element' was given the lowest priority in the allocation of food. Landlords, rich peasants, former members of the nationalist regime, religious leaders, rightists, counter-revolutionaries and the families of such individuals died in the greatest numbers."[61]
Consequences[link]
At the Lushan Conference in July/August 1959, several leaders expressed concern that the Great Leap Forward had not proved as successful as planned. The most direct of these was Minister of Defence and Korean War General Peng Dehuai. Mao, fearing loss of his position, orchestrated a purge of Peng and his supporters, stifling criticism of the Great Leap policies. Senior officials who reported the truth of the famine to Mao were branded as "right opportunists."[62] A campaign against right opportunism was launched and resulted in party members and ordinary peasants being sent to camps where many would subsequently die in the famine. Years later the CPC would conclude that 6 million people were wrongly punished in the campaign.[63]
The number of deaths by starvation during the Great Leap Forward is deeply controversial. Until the mid 1980s, when official census figures were finally published by the Chinese Government, little was known about the scale of the disaster in the Chinese countryside, as the handful of Western observers allowed access during this time had been restricted to model villages where they were deceived into believing that the Great Leap Forward had been a great success. There was also an assumption that the flow of individual reports of starvation that had been reaching the West, primarily through Hong Kong and Taiwan, must be localized or exaggerated as China was continuing to claim record harvests and was a net exporter of grain through the period. Because Mao wanted to pay back early to the Soviets debts totaling 1.973 billion yuan from 1960 to 1962,[64] exports increased by 50%, and fellow Communist regimes in North Korea, North Vietnam and Albania were provided grain free of charge.[56]
Censuses were carried out in China in 1953, 1964 and 1982. The first attempt to analyse this data in order to estimate the number of famine deaths was carried out by American demographer Dr. Judith Banister and published in 1984. Given the lengthy gaps between the censuses and doubts over the reliability of the data, an accurate figure is difficult to ascertain. Nevertheless, Banister concluded that the official data implied that around 15 million excess deaths incurred in China during 1958–61, and that based on her modelling of Chinese demographics during the period and taking account of assumed under-reporting during the famine years, the figure was around 30 million. The official statistic is 20 million deaths, as given by Hu Yaobang.[65] Yang Jisheng, a former Xinhua News Agency reporter who had privileged access and connections available to no other scholars, estimates a death toll of 36 million.[64] Frank Dikötter estimates that there were at least 45 million premature deaths attributable to the Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1962.[66][67] Various other sources have put the figure at between 20 and 46 million.[68]
On the international front, the period was dominated by the further isolation of China. The Sino-Soviet split resulted in Nikita Khrushchev's withdrawal of all Soviet technical experts and aid from the country. The split was triggered by arguments over the control and direction of world communism and other disputes pertaining to foreign policy.[citation needed] Most of the problems regarding communist unity resulted from the death of Stalin in March 1953 and his replacement by Khrushchev. Only Albania under the leadership of Enver Hoxha openly sided with China against the Soviets, which began an alliance between the two countries which would last until the Sino-Albanian split after Mao's death in 1976.
Stalin had established himself as the successor of "correct" Marxist thought well before Mao controlled the Communist Party of China, and therefore Mao never challenged the suitability of any Stalinist doctrine (at least while Stalin was alive). Upon the death of Stalin, Mao believed (perhaps because of seniority) that the leadership of the "correct" Marxist doctrine would fall to him. The resulting tension between Khrushchev (at the head of a politically and militarily superior government), and Mao (believing he had a superior understanding of Marxist ideology) eroded the previous patron-client relationship between the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the CPC.[citation needed] In China, the formerly favorable Soviets were now denounced as "revisionists" and listed alongside "American imperialism" as movements to oppose.[citation needed]
Partly surrounded by hostile American military bases (in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan), China was now confronted with a new Soviet threat from the north and west. Both the internal crisis and the external threat called for extraordinary statesmanship from Mao, but as China entered the new decade the statesmen of the People's Republic were in hostile confrontation with each other.
At a large Communist Party conference in Beijing in January 1962, called the "Conference of the Seven Thousand," State Chairman Liu Shaoqi denounced the Great Leap Forward as responsible for widespread famine.[69] The overwhelming majority of delegates expressed agreement, but Defense Minister Lin Biao staunchly defended Mao.[69] A brief period of liberalization followed while Mao and Lin plotted a comeback.[69] Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping rescued the economy by disbanding the people's communes, introducing elements of private control of peasant smallholdings and importing grain from Canada and Australia to mitigate the worst effects of famine.[citation needed]
Cultural Revolution[link]
Main article: Cultural Revolution
File:Destroy the old world Cultural Revolution poster.png
Chinese propaganda poster from the Cultural Revolution: "Destroy the old world. Forge the new world." A worker (or possibly Red Guard) crushes the crucifix, Buddha, and classical Chinese texts with a hammer; 1967.
Mao was concerned with the nature of post-1959 China. He saw that the revolution had replaced an old elite with a new one. He was concerned that those in power were becoming estranged from the people they were supposed to serve.
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Mao believed that a revolution of culture would unseat and unsettle the "ruling class" and keep China in a state of "perpetual revolution" that served the interests of the majority, not a tiny elite.[70] Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, then the State Chairman and General Secretary, respectively, had favored the idea that Mao should be removed from actual power but maintain his ceremonial and symbolic role, with the party upholding all of his positive contributions to the revolution. They attempted to marginalize Mao by taking control of economic policy and asserting themselves politically as well. Many[who?] claim that Mao responded to Liu and Deng's movements by launching the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Some scholars, such as Mobo Gao, claim the case for this is perhaps overstated.[71] Others, such as Frank Dikötter, hold that Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to wreak revenge on those who had dared to challenge him over the Great Leap Forward.[72]
Believing that certain liberal bourgeois elements of society continued to threaten the socialist framework, groups of young people known as the Red Guards struggled against authorities at all levels of society and even set up their own tribunals. Chaos reigned in many parts of the country, and millions were persecuted, including a famous philosopher, Chen Yuen. During the Cultural Revolution, the schools in China were closed and the young intellectuals living in cities were ordered to the countryside to be "re-educated" by the peasants, where they performed hard manual labor and other work.
The Revolution led to the destruction of much of China's traditional cultural heritage and the imprisonment of a huge number of Chinese citizens, as well as creating general economic and social chaos in the country. Millions of lives were ruined during this period, as the Cultural Revolution pierced into every part of Chinese life, depicted by such Chinese films as To Live, The Blue Kite and Farewell My Concubine. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, perished in the violence of the Cultural Revolution.[68]
When Mao was informed of such losses, particularly that people had been driven to suicide, he is alleged to have commented: "People who try to commit suicide — don't attempt to save them! . . . China is such a populous nation, it is not as if we cannot do without a few people."[73] The authorities allowed the Red Guards to abuse and kill opponents of the regime. Said Xie Fuzhi, national police chief: "Don't say it is wrong of them to beat up bad persons: if in anger they beat someone to death, then so be it."[74] As a result, in August and September 1966, there were 1,772 people murdered in Beijing alone.[75]
It was during this period that Mao chose Lin Biao, who seemed to echo all of Mao's ideas, to become his successor. Lin was later officially named as Mao's successor. By 1971, however, a divide between the two men became apparent. Official history in China states that Lin was planning a military coup or an assassination attempt on Mao. Lin Biao died in a plane crash over the air space of Mongolia, presumably on his way to flee China, probably anticipating his arrest. The CPC declared that Lin was planning to depose Mao, and posthumously expelled Lin from the party. At this time, Mao lost trust in many of the top CPC figures. The highest-ranking Soviet Bloc intelligence defector, Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa described his conversation with Nicolae Ceauşescu who told him about a plot to kill Mao Zedong with the help of Lin Biao organized by the KGB.[76]
In 1969, Mao declared the Cultural Revolution to be over, although the official history of the People's Republic of China marks the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 with Mao's death. In the last years of his life, Mao was faced with declining health due to either Parkinson's disease or, according to Li Zhisui, motor neuron disease, as well as lung ailments due to smoking and heart trouble. Some also attributed Mao's decline in health to the betrayal of Lin Biao. Mao remained passive as various factions within the Communist Party mobilized for the power struggle anticipated after his death.
This period is often looked at in official circles in China and in the West as a great stagnation or even of reversal for China. While many——an estimated 100 million——did suffer,[77] some scholars, such as Lee Feigon and Mobo Gao, claim there were many great advances, and in some sectors the Chinese economy continued to outperform the west.[78] They actually go so far as to conclude that the Cultural Revolution period actually laid the foundation for the spectacular growth that continues in China. During the Cultural Revolution, China exploded its first H-Bomb (1967), launched the Dong Fang Hong satellite (January 30, 1970), commissioned its first nuclear submarines and made various advances in science and technology. Healthcare was free, and living standards in the countryside continued to improve.[78]
Death[link]
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Mao had been in poorer health for several years and had declined visibly for at least six months prior to his death and there are unconfirmed reports that he possibly had A.L.S. or Lou Gehrig's disease.[79] Mao's last public appearance was in April 1976, where he met the visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto during the latter's one-day visit to Beijing.
At around 5:00 p.m. on September 2, 1976, Mao suffered a heart attack, far more severe than his previous two and affecting a much larger area of his heart. X-rays indicated that his current lung infection had worsened, and his urine output dropped to less than 300 cc a day.[citation needed] Mao was awake and alert throughout the crisis and asked his team of doctors, several times, whether he was in danger. His condition continued to fluctuate and his life hung in the balance. Three days later, on September 5, Mao's condition was still critical, and Hua Guofeng called Jiang Qing back from her trip.[which?] She spent only a few minutes visiting him in Building 202 (where Mao was staying) before returning to her own residence in the Spring Lotus Chamber.[citation needed] On the afternoon of September 7, Mao's condition took a turn for the worse. Jiang Qing went to Building 202 where she learned the news. Mao had just fallen asleep and needed the rest, but she insisted on rubbing his back and moving his limbs, and she sprinkled powder on his body. The medical team protested that the dust from the powder was not good for his lungs, but she instructed the nurses on duty to follow her example later. The next morning, September 8, she went again. She demanded the medical staff to change Mao's sleeping position, claiming that he had been lying too long on his left side.[citation needed] The doctor on duty objected, knowing that he could breathe only on his left side, but she had him moved nonetheless.[citation needed] Mao's breathing stopped and his face turned blue.[citation needed] Jiang Qing left the room while the medical staff put him on a respirator and performed emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Mao barely revived and Hua Guofeng urged Jiang Qing not to interfere further with the doctors' work, as her actions were detrimental to Mao's health and helped cause his death faster.[citation needed] Mao's organs failed quickly and he fell into a coma shortly before noon where he was put on life support machines. He was taken off life support over 12 hours later at midnight and was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. on September 9, 1976. September 9 was chosen to let Mao die on because it was an easy day to remember, being the ninth day of the ninth month of the calendar.[citation needed]
His body lay in state at the Great Hall of the People. A memorial service was held in Tiananmen Square on September 18, 1976. There was a three-minute silence observed during this service. His body was later placed into the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, even though he had wished to be cremated and had been one of the first high-ranking officials to sign the "Proposal that all Central Leaders be Cremated after Death" in November 1956.[80]
As anticipated after Mao’s death, there was a power struggle for control of China. On one side was the left wing led by the Gang of Four, who wanted to continue the policy of revolutionary mass mobilization. On the other side was the right wing opposing these policies. Among the latter group, the right wing restorationists, led by Chairman Hua Guofeng, advocated a return to central planning along the Soviet model, whereas the right wing reformers, led by Deng Xiaoping, wanted to overhaul the Chinese economy based on market-oriented policies and to de-emphasize the role of Maoist ideology in determining economic and political policy. Eventually, the reformers won control of the government. Deng Xiaoping, with clear seniority over Hua Guofeng, defeated Hua in a bloodless power struggle a few years later.
Legacy[link]
"[Mao] turned China from a feudal backwater into one of the most powerful countries in the World ... The Chinese system he overthrew was backward and corrupt; few would argue the fact that he dragged China into the 20th century. But at a cost in human lives that is staggering."
Mao remains a controversial figure and there is little agreement over his legacy. He is generally credited with having unified China and ending the previous decades of civil war. He is also credited with having improved the status women in China and improving literacy. His policies caused the deaths of tens of millions of people, more than any other Twentieth Century leader, however supporters point out that in spite of this life expectancy improved during his reign. Supporters claim that he rapidly industrialized China, but detractors claim that his policies, particularly the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, were impediments to industrialization and modernization. Supporters claim that his policies laid the groundwork for China’s later rise to become an economic superpower, while detractors claim that his policies delayed economic development and that China’s economy only underwent its rapid growth after Mao’s policies had been widely abandoned. Mao’s revolutionary tactics continue to be used by insurgents, and his political ideology continues to be embraced by many communist organizations around the world.
In mainland China, Mao is still revered by many supporters of the Communist Party and respected by a majority of the general population as the "Founding Father of modern China", credited for giving "the Chinese people dignity and self-respect."[2] Mobo Gao in his 2008 book The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution, credits Mao for raising the average life expectancy from 35 in 1949 to 63 by 1975, bringing "unity and stability to a country that had been plagued by civil wars and foreign invasions", and laying the foundation for China to "become the equal of the great global powers".[4] Gao also lauds Mao for carrying out massive land reform, promoting the status of women, improving popular literacy, and positively "transform(ing) Chinese society beyond recognition."[4]
However, Mao has many Chinese critics, both those who live inside and outside China. Opposition to Mao is subject to restriction in mainland China, but is especially strong elsewhere, where he is often reviled as a brutish ideologue. In the West, his name is generally associated with tyranny and his economic theories widely discredited – though to some political activists he remains a symbol against capitalism, imperialism and western influence. Even in China, key pillars of his economic theory have been largely dismantled by market reformers like Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang, who succeeded him as leaders of the Communist Party.
Though the Chinese Communist Party, which Mao led to power, has rejected in practice the economic fundamentals of much of Mao's ideology, it retains for itself many of the powers established under Mao's reign: it controls the Chinese army, police, courts and media and does not permit multi-party elections at the national or local level, except in Hong Kong. Thus it is difficult to gauge the true extent of support for the Chinese Communist Party and Mao's legacy within mainland China. For their part, the Chinese government continues to officially regard Mao as a national hero. In 2008, China opened the Mao Zedong Square to visitors in his hometown of central Hunan Province to mark the 115th anniversary of his birth.[81][82]
There continue to be disagreements on Mao's legacy. Former Party official Su Shachi, has opined that "he was a great historical criminal, but he was also a great force for good."[2] In a similar vein, journalist Liu Bin Yan has described Mao as "both monster and a genius."[2] Some historians claim that Mao Zedong was "one of the great tyrants of the twentieth century",[83] and a dictator comparable to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin,[83][84] with a death toll surpassing both.[8][9] In The Black Book of Communism, Jean Louis Margolin writes that "Mao Zedong was so powerful that he was often known as the Red Emperor... the violence he erected into a whole system far exceeds any national tradition of violence that we might find in China."[85] Mao was also frequently compared to China's First Emperor Qin Shi Huang, notorious for burying alive hundreds of scholars, and liked the comparison.[86] During a speech to party cadre in 1958, Mao said he had far outdone Qin Shi Huang in his policy against intellectuals: "He buried 460 scholars alive; we have buried forty-six thousand scholars alive.... You [intellectuals] revile us for being Qin Shi Huangs. You are wrong. We have surpassed Qin Shi Huang a hundredfold."[87] As a result of such tactics, critics have pointed out that:
The People’s Republic of China under Mao exhibited the oppressive tendencies that were discernible in all the major absolutist regimes of the twentieth century. There are obvious parallels between Mao’s China, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Each of these regimes witnessed deliberately ordered mass 'cleansing' and extermination.[84]
Mao's English interpreter Sidney Rittenberg wrote in his memoir The Man Who Stayed Behind that whilst Mao "was a great leader in history", he was also "a great criminal because, not that he wanted to, not that he intended to, but in fact, his wild fantasies led to the deaths of tens of millions of people."[88] Li Rui, Mao's personal secretary, goes further and claims he was dismissive of the suffering and death caused by his policies: "Mao's way of thinking and governing was terrifying. He put no value on human life. The deaths of others meant nothing to him."[89] Biographer Jung Chang goes further still and argues that Mao was well aware that his policies would be responsible for the deaths of millions. While discussing labor-intensive projects such as waterworks and making steel, Chang claims Mao said to his inner circle in November 1958: "Working like this, with all these projects, half of China may well have to die. If not half, one-third, or one-tenth – 50 million – die."[90] Thomas Bernstein of Columbia University argues that this quotation is taken out of context, claiming:
The Chinese original, however, is not quite as shocking. In the speech, Mao talks about massive earthmoving irrigation projects and numerous big industrial ones, all requiring huge numbers of people. If the projects, he said, are all undertaken simultaneously “half of China’s population unquestionably will die; and if it’s not half, it’ll be a third or ten percent, a death toll of 50 million people.” Mao then pointed to the example of Guangxi provincial Party secretary, Chen Manyuan (陈漫远) who had been dismissed in 1957 for failing to prevent famine in the previous year, adding: “If with a death toll of 50 million you didn’t lose your jobs, I at least should lose mine; whether I should lose my head would also be in question. Anhui wants to do so much, which is quite all right, but make it a principle to have no deaths.”[91]
Chang and Halliday take literally Mao’s penchant for talking about mass death in highly irresponsible, provocative, callous and reckless ways, exemplified by his famous remark that in a nuclear war, half of China’s population would perish but the rest would survive and rebuild. In 1958, when ruminating about the dialectics of life and death, he thought that deaths were beneficial, for without them, there could be no renewal. Imagine, he asked, what a disaster it would be if Confucius were still alive. “When people die there ought to be celebrations.” In December 1958 he remarked that “destruction (miewang 灭亡, also to dying out) [of people] has advantages. One can make fertilizer. You say you can’t, but actually you can, but you must be spiritually prepared.” As the authors rightly note, these kinds of remarks could well have justified the indifference of lower-level cadres to peasant deaths."
Jasper Becker and Frank Dikötter reach a similar conclusion. Becker notes that "archive material gathered by Dikötter... confirms that far from being ignorant or misled about the famine, the Chinese leadership were kept informed about it all the time. And he exposes the extent of the violence used against the peasants":[92]
Mass killings are not usually associated with Mao and the Great Leap Forward, and China continues to benefit from a more favourable comparison with Cambodia or the Soviet Union. But as fresh and abundant archival evidence shows, coercion, terror and systematic violence were the foundation of the Great Leap, and between 1958 to 1962, by a rough approximation, some 6 to 8 per cent of those who died were tortured to death or summarily killed — amounting to at least 3 million victims. Countless others were deliberately deprived of food and starved to death. Many more vanished because they were too old, weak or sick to work — and hence unable to earn their keep. People were killed selectively because they had the wrong class background, because they dragged their feet, because they spoke out or simply because they were not liked, for whatever reason, by the man who wielded the ladle in the canteen.
Dikötter argues that CPC leaders "glorified violence and were inured to massive loss of life. And all of them shared an ideology in which the end justified the means. In 1962, having lost millions of people in his province, Li Jingquan compared the Great Leap Forward to the Long March in which only one in ten had made it to the end: 'We are not weak, we are stronger, we have kept the backbone.'"[93]
Regarding the large-scale irrigation projects, Dikötter stresses that, in spite of Mao being in a good position to see the human cost, they continued unabated for several years, and ultimately claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of exhausted villagers. He also notes that "In a chilling precursor of Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, villagers in Qingshui and Gansu called these projects the 'killing fields'."[94]
The United States placed a trade embargo on the People's Republic as a result of its involvement in the Korean War, lasting until Richard Nixon decided that developing relations with the PRC would be useful in dealing with the Soviet Union.
Mao's military writings continue to have a large amount of influence both among those who seek to create an insurgency and those who seek to crush one, especially in manners of guerrilla warfare, at which Mao is popularly regarded as a genius.[citation needed] As an example, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) followed Mao's examples of guerrilla warfare to considerable political and military success even in the 21st century.[citation needed] Mao's major contribution to the military science is his theory of People's War, with not only guerrilla warfare but more importantly, Mobile Warfare methodologies. Mao had successfully applied Mobile Warfare in the Korean War, and was able to encircle, push back and then halt the UN forces in Korea, despite the clear superiority of UN firepower.[citation needed] Mao also gave the impression that he might even welcome a nuclear war.[95] Soviet historians have written that Mao believed his country could survive a nuclear war, even if it lost 300 million people.[96]
"Let us imagine how many people would die if war breaks out. There are 2.7 billion people in the world, and a third could be lost. If it is a little higher it could be half ... I say that if the worst came to the worst and one-half dies, there will still be one-half left, but imperialism would be razed to the ground and the whole world would become socialist. After a few years there would be 2.7 billion people again"[97]
But historians dispute the sincerity of Mao's words. Robert Service says that Mao "was deadly serious,"[98] while Frank Dikötter claims that "He was bluffing... the sabre-rattling was to show that he, not Khrushchev, was the more determined revolutionary."[97]
Mao's poems and writings are frequently cited by both Chinese and non-Chinese. The official Chinese translation of President Barack Obama's inauguration speech used a famous line from one of Mao's poems.[99] John McCain misattributed a campaign quote to Mao several times during his 2008 presidential election bid, saying "Remember the words of Chairman Mao: 'It's always darkest before it's totally black.'"
The ideology of Maoism has influenced many communists, mainly in the Third World, including revolutionary movements such as Cambodia's Khmer Rouge,[100][101] Peru's Shining Path, and the Nepalese revolutionary movement. Under the influence of Mao's agrarian socialism and Cultural Revolution, Cambodia's Pol Pot conceived of his disastrous Year Zero policies which purged the nation of its teachers, artists and intellectuals and emptied its cities, resulting in the Cambodian Genocide.[102]
The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA also claims Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as its ideology, as do other Communist Parties around the world which are part of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. China itself has moved sharply away from Maoism since Mao's death, and most people outside of China who describe themselves as Maoist regard the Deng Xiaoping reforms to be a betrayal of Maoism, in line with Mao's view of "Capitalist roaders" within the Communist Party.[citation needed]
As the Chinese government instituted free market economic reforms starting in the late 1970s and as later Chinese leaders took power, less recognition was given to the status of Mao. This accompanied a decline in state recognition of Mao in later years in contrast to previous years when the state organized numerous events and seminars commemorating Mao's 100th birthday. Nevertheless, the Chinese government has never officially repudiated the tactics of Mao. Deng Xiaoping, who was opposed to the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, has to a certain extent rejected Mao's legacy, famously saying that Mao was "70% right and 30% wrong".
In the mid-1990s, Mao Zedong's picture began to appear on all new renminbi currency from the People’s Republic of China. This was officially instituted as an anti-counterfeiting measure as Mao's face is widely recognized in contrast to the generic figures that appear in older currency. On March 13, 2006, a story in the People's Daily reported that a proposal had been made to print the portraits of Sun Yat-sen and Deng Xiaoping.[103]
In 2006, the government in Shanghai issued a new set of high school history textbooks which omit Mao, with the exception of a single mention in a section on etiquette. Students in Shanghai now only learn about Mao in junior high school.[104]
Public image[link]
Mao gave contradicting statements on the subject of personality cults. In 1955, as a response to the Khrushchev Report that criticized Joseph Stalin, Mao stated that personality cults are "poisonous ideological survivals of the old society", and reaffirmed China's commitment to collective leadership.[105] But at the 1958 Party congress in Chengdu, Mao expressed support for the personality cults of genuinely worthy figures; not those that expressed "blind worship".[106]
In 1962, Mao proposed the Socialist Education Movement (SEM) in an attempt to educate the peasants to resist the "temptations" of feudalism and the sprouts of capitalism that he saw re-emerging in the countryside from Liu's economic reforms[citation needed]. Large quantities of politicized art were produced and circulated — with Mao at the center. Numerous posters, badges and musical compositions referenced Mao in the phrase "Chairman Mao is the red sun in our hearts" (毛主席是我们心中的红太阳)[107] and a "Savior of the people" (人民的大救星).[107][108]
In October 1966, Mao's Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, which was known as the Little Red Book was published. Party members were encouraged to carry a copy with them and possession was almost mandatory as a criterion for membership. Over the years, Mao's image became displayed almost everywhere, present in homes, offices and shops. His quotations were typographically emphasized by putting them in boldface or red type in even the most obscure writings. Music from the period emphasized Mao's stature, as did children's rhymes. The phrase "Long Live Chairman Mao for ten thousand years" was commonly heard during the era.[109]
Mao also has a presence in China and around the world in popular culture, where his face adorns everything from t-shirts to coffee cups. Mao's granddaughter, Kong Dongmei, defended the phenomenon, stating that "it shows his influence, that he exists in people's consciousness and has influenced several generations of Chinese people's way of life. Just like Che Guevara's image, his has become a symbol of revolutionary culture."[88] Since 1950, over 40 million people have visited Mao's birthplace in Shaoshan, Hunan.[110]
Genealogy[link]
Ancestors[link]
His ancestors were:
- Mao Yichang (毛贻昌, born Xiangtan October 15, 1870, died Shaoshan January 23, 1920), father, courtesy name Mao Shunsheng (毛顺生) or also known as Mao Jen-sheng
- Wen Qimei (文七妹, born Xiangxiang 1867, died October 5, 1919), mother. She was illiterate and a devout Buddhist. She was a descendant of Wen Tianxiang.
- Mao Empu (毛恩普, born May 22, 1846, died November 23, 1904), paternal grandfather
- Lady Luo (罗氏), paternal grandmother
- Mao Zuren (毛祖人), paternal great-grandfather
Wives[link]
Mao Zedong had several wives who contributed to a large family. These were:
- Luo Yixiu (罗一秀, October 20, 1889–1910) of Shaoshan: married 1907 to 1910
- Yang Kaihui (杨开慧, 1901–1930) of Changsha: married 1921 to 1927, executed by the KMT in 1930; mother to Mao Anying, Mao Anqing, and Mao Anlong
- He Zizhen (贺子珍, 1910–1984) of Jiangxi: married May 1928 to 1939; mother to Mao Anhong, Li Min, and four other children
- Jiang Qing: (江青, 1914–1991), married 1939 to Mao's death; mother to Li Na
Siblings[link]
He had several siblings:
- Mao Zemin (毛泽民, 1895–1943), younger brother, executed by a warlord
- Mao Zetan (毛泽覃, 1905–1935), younger brother, executed by the KMT
- Mao Zejian (毛泽建, 1905–1929), adopted sister, executed by the KMT
- Mao Zedong's parents altogether had five sons and two daughters. Two of the sons and both daughters died young, leaving the three brothers Mao Zedong, Mao Zemin, and Mao Zetan. Like all three of Mao Zedong's wives, Mao Zemin and Mao Zetan were communists. Like Yang Kaihui, both Zemin and Zetan were killed in warfare during Mao Zedong's lifetime.
Note that the character ze (泽) appears in all of the siblings' given names. This is a common Chinese naming convention.
From the next generation, Zemin's son, Mao Yuanxin, was raised by Mao Zedong's family. He became Mao Zedong's liaison with the Politburo in 1975. Sources like Li Zhisui (The Private Life of Chairman Mao) say that he played a role in the final power-struggles.[111]
Children[link]
Mao Zedong had a total of ten children,[112] including:
- Mao Anying (毛岸英, 1922–1950): son to Yang, married to Liu Siqi (刘思齐), who was born Liu Songlin (刘松林), killed in action during the Korean War
- Mao Anqing (毛岸青, 1923–2007): son to Yang, married to Shao Hua (邵华), grandson Mao Xinyu (毛新宇), great-grandson Mao Dongdong
- Mao Anlong (1927–1931): son to Yang, died during the Chinese Civil War
- Mao Anhong (b. 1932): son to He, left to Mao's younger brother Zetan and then to one of Zetan's guards when he went off to war, was never heard of again
- Li Min (李敏, b. 1936): daughter to He, married to Kong Linghua (孔令华), son Kong Ji'ning (孔继宁), daughter Kong Dongmei (孔冬梅)
- Li Na (李讷, Pinyin: Lĭ Nà, b. 1940): daughter to Jiang (whose birth given name was Li, a name also used by Mao while evading the KMT), married to Wang Jingqing (王景清), son Wang Xiaozhi (王效芝)
Mao's first and second daughters were left to local villagers because it was too dangerous to raise them while fighting the Kuomintang and later the Japanese. Their youngest daughter (born in early 1938 in Moscow after Mao separated) and one other child (born 1933) died in infancy. Two English researchers who retraced the entire Long March route in 2002–2003[113] located a woman whom they believe might well be one of the missing children abandoned by Mao to peasants in 1935. Ed Jocelyn and Andrew McEwen hope a member of the Mao family will respond to requests for a DNA test.[114]
Personal life[link]
There are few academic sources discussing Mao's private life, which was very secretive at the time of his rule. However, after Mao's death, his personal physician Li Zhisui published a memoir of unique insight into Mao's private life: The Private Life of Chairman Mao, which claims that Mao chain-smoked cigarettes, never bathed or brushed his teeth, rarely got out of bed, was addicted to sleeping pills and had a large number of sexual partners from whom he contracted venereal disease.[115]
Having grown up in Hunan, Mao spoke Mandarin with a heavy Xiang Chinese accent that is very pronounced on recordings of his speeches.[citation needed]
Writings and calligraphy[link]
Mao was a prolific writer of political and philosophical literature.[116] He is the attributed author of Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, known in the West as the "Little Red Book" and in Cultural Revolution China as the "Red Treasure Book" (红宝书): this is a collection of short extracts from his speeches and articles, edited by Lin Biao and ordered topically. Mao wrote several other philosophical treatises, both before and after he assumed power. These include:
- On Guerrilla Warfare (《游击战》); 1937
- On Practice (《实践论》); 1937
- On Contradiction (《矛盾论》); 1937
- On Protracted War (《论持久战》); 1938
- In Memory of Norman Bethune (《纪念白求恩》); 1939
- On New Democracy (《新民主主义论》); 1940
- Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art (《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》); 1942
- Serve the People (《为人民服务》); 1944
- The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains (《愚公移山》); 1945
- On the Correct Handling of the Contradictions Among the People (《正确处理人民内部矛盾问题》); 1957
Mao was also a skilled Chinese calligrapher with a highly personal style. In China, Mao was considered a master calligrapher during his lifetime.[117] His calligraphy can be seen today throughout mainland China.[118] His work gave rise to a new form of Chinese calligraphy called "Mao-style" or Maoti, which has gained increasing popularity since his death. There currently exist various competitions specializing in Mao-style calligraphy.[119]
Literary works[link]
Main article: Poetry of Mao Zedong
As did most Chinese intellectuals of his generation, Mao received rigorous education in Chinese classical literature.[citation needed] His style was deeply influenced by the great Tang Dynasty poets Li Bai and Li He.[citation needed] He is considered to be a romantic poet, in contrast to the realist poets represented by Du Fu.[according to whom?]
Many of Mao's poems are still popular in China and a few are taught as a mandatory part of the elementary school curriculum.[citation needed] Some of his most well-known poems are: Changsha (1925), The Double Ninth (1929.10), Loushan Pass (1935), The Long March (1935), Snow (1936), The PLA Captures Nanjing (1949), Reply to Li Shuyi (1957.05.11), and Ode to the Plum Blossom (1961.12).[citation needed]
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ Mao: A Biography, by Ross Terrill, Stanford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8047-2921-2, p. 167-185
- ^ a b c d e Biography (TV series)—Mao Tse Tung: China's Peasant Emperor, A&E Network, 2005, ASIN B000AABKXG
- ^ a b c Mao Zedong article at Encyclopedia Britannica
- ^ a b c The battle for China's past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution, by Mobo C. F. Gao, Pluto Press, 2008, ISBN 0-7453-2780-X, pg 81
- ^ a b The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, by Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Cambridge University Press, 2010, ISBN 0-521-12433-6, pp. 327
- ^ Atlas of World History, by Patrick Karl O'Brien, Oxford University Press US, 2002, ISBN 0-19-521921-X, pp 254
- ^ Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. p. 630. ISBN 0-8050-6638-1. http://books.google.com/books?visbn=0-8050-6638-1. "Mao had an extraordinary mix of talents: he was visionary, statesman, political and military strategist of cunning intellect, a philosopher and poet."
- ^ a b Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. p. 631. ISBN 0-8050-6638-1. http://books.google.com/?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA631&dq=mao+a+life+all+the+dead+of+the+second+world+war. ; Chang, Jung and Halliday, Jon. Mao: The Unknown Story. Jonathan Cape, London, 2005. ISBN 0-224-07126-2 p. 3; Rummel, R. J. China’s Bloody Century: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900 Transaction Publishers, 1991. ISBN 0-88738-417-X p. 205: In light of recent evidence, Rummel has increased Mao's democide toll to 77 million; Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity. PublicAffairs, 2009. ISBN 1-58648-769-8 p. 53: "...the Chinese communists' murdering of a mind-boggling number of people, perhaps between 50 million and 70 million Chinese, and an additional 1.2 million Tibetans."
- ^ a b Fenby, Jonathan. Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present. Ecco, 2008. ISBN 0-06-166116-3 p. 351 "Mao’s responsibility for the extinction of anywhere from 40 to 70 million lives brands him as a mass killer greater than Hitler or Stalin, his indifference to the suffering and the loss of humans breathtaking."
- ^ "Mao Zedong". The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World. http://www.oxfordreference.com/pages/samplep02. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ Time 100: Mao Zedong By Jonathan D. Spence, April 13, 1998.
- ^ Feigon, Lee (2002). Mao: A Reinterpretation. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee. p. 17. ISBN 1-56663-522-5.
- ^ Jung Chang and Jon Halliday. Mao: The Unknown Story. New York: Knopf, 2005 ISBN 0-679-42271-4), pp. 22-24, 15.
- ^ "毛泽东生平大事(1893–1976)". http://news.163.com/05/0908/11/1T4IGSAR00011246_2.html. (Major event chronology of Mao Zedong (1893–1976), People's Daily
- ^ a b "'Report on an investigation of the peasant movement in Hunan' Mao Zedong 1927". http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/classics/mao/sw1/mswv1_2.html.
- ^ Chunhou, Zhang. C (2002). Mao Zedong As Poet and Revolutionary Leader: Social and Historical Perspectives. ISBN 0-7391-0406-3. http://books.google.com/?id=EWtBMQgUGmEC.
- ^ "'Analysis of the classes in Chinese society' Mao Zedong 1927.". http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/classics/mao/sw1/mswv1_1.html.
- ^ Zedong, Mao. "On Practice". marxist.org. http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_16.htm. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ^ Zedong, Mao. "On Contrdiction". marxist.org. http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_17.htm. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ^ "Mao Zedong on War and Revolution". Quotations from Mao Zedong on War and Revolution. Columbia University. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1900_mao_war.htm. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ "Che Guevara: Revolutionary & Icon", by Trisha Ziff, Abrams Image, 2006, pg 66
- ^ Lynch, Michael J (2004). Mao. ISBN 0-415-21577-3. http://books.google.com/?id=fzVSkyaBIGEC.
- ^ a b Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. pp. 272–274. ISBN 0-8050-6638-1. http://books.google.com/?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA272&dq=mao+a+life+ab-tuan+torture.
- ^ Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. p. 279. ISBN 0-8050-6638-1. http://books.google.com/?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA279&dq=mao+a+life+%27tens+of+thousands%27+died.
- ^ Jean-Luc Domenach. Chine: L'archipel oublié. (China: The Forgotten Archipelago.) Fayard, 1992. ISBN 2-213-02581-9 pg 47
- ^ ao Zedong, communismonline.com
- ^ Fairbank, John K; Albert Feuerwerker (1986). The Cambridge History of China (vol. 13, pt. 2). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24338-6. http://books.google.com/?id=Fxs3ROaIhPMC.
- ^ Ying-kwong Wou, Odoric (1994). Mobilizing the Masses: Building Revolution in Henan. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2142-4. http://books.google.com/?id=1BN9dAqprX8C.
- ^ "Willy Lam: China's Own Historical Revisionism", History News Network, August 11, 2005. Retrieved May 15, 2006.
- ^ On Protracted War
- ^ "Crisis". Time. 13 November 1944. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801570-4,00.html.
- ^ Jacobs, Andrew (October 2, 2009). "China Is Wordless on Traumas of Communists’ Rise". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/world/asia/02anniversary.html. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
- ^ The phrase is often mistakenly said to have been delivered during the speech from the Gate of Heavenly Peace, but was first used on September 21, at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, then repeated on several occasions. Timothy Cheek, ed., Mao Zedong and China's Revolutions: A Brief History with Documents (NY: Palgrave, 2002) p. 125. Also [1]
- ^ Burkitt, Laurie; Scobell, Andrew; Wortzel, Larry M. (July 2003). The lessons of history: The Chinese people's Liberation Army at 75. Strategic Studies Institute. pp. 340–341. ISBN 1-58487-126-1. http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB52.pdf.
- ^ Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. pp. 436–437. ISBN 0-8050-6638-1. http://books.google.com/?id=HQwoTtJ43_AC&pg=PA436&dq=Mao+landlords+and+members+of+their+families+killed.
- ^ a b Yang Kuisong. Reconsidering the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries The China Quarterly, 193, March 2008, pp.102–121. PDF file.
- ^ Steven W. Mosher. China Misperceived: American Illusions and Chinese Reality. Basic Books, 1992. ISBN 0-465-09813-4 pp 72, 73
- ^ Stephen Rosskamm Shalom. Deaths in China Due to Communism. Center for Asian Studies Arizona State University, 1984. ISBN 0-939252-11-2 pg 24
- ^ Jung Chang and Jon Halliday. Mao: The Unknown Story. pg 337: "Mao claimed that the total number executed was 700,000 but this did not include those beaten or tortured to death in the post-1949 land reform, which would at the very least be as many again. Then there were suicides, which, based on several local inquiries, were very probably about equal to the number of those killed." Also cited in Mao Zedong, by Jonathan Spence, as cited [2]. Mao got this number from a report submitted by Xu Zirong, Deputy Public Security Minister, which stated 712,000 counterrevolutionaries were executed, 1,290,000 were imprisoned, and another 1,200,000 were "subjected to control.": Yang Kuisong. Reconsidering the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries The China Quarterly, 193, March 2008, pp.102–121. PDF file.
- ^ a b Twitchett, Denis; John K. Fairbank, Roderick MacFarquhar (June 26, 1987). The Cambridge history of China. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24336-X. http://books.google.com/?id=ioppEjkCkeEC&pg=PA87&dq=at+least+one+landlord,+and+usually+several,+in+virtually+every+village+for+public+execution. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ Maurice Meisner. Mao's China and After: A History of the People's Republic, Third Edition. Free,Press, 1999. ISBN 0-684-85635-2 p. 72: "...the estimate of many relatively impartial observers that there were 2,000,000 people executed during the first three years of the People's Republic is probably as accurate a guess as one can make on the basis of scanty information."
- ^ Steven W. Mosher. China Misperceived: American Illusions and Chinese Reality. Basic Books, 1992. ISBN 0-465-09813-4 pg 74: "...a figure that Fairbank has cited as the upper range of "sober" estimates."
- ^ Lee Feigon. Mao: A Reinterpretation. Ivan R. Dee, 2002. ISBN 1-56663-522-5 p. 96: "By 1952 they had extended land reform throughout the countryside, but in the process somewhere between two and five million landlords had been killed."
- ^ Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. p. 436. ISBN 0-8050-6638-1. http://books.google.com/?id=HQwoTtJ43_AC&pg=PA436&dq=%27%27At+least+a+million-and-a-half+more+disappeared+into+the+newly+established+%27reform+through+labour%27+camps,+purpose-built+to+accommodate+them.
- ^ a b Benjamin A. Valentino. Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century Cornell University Press, 2004. pp. 121–122. ISBN 0-8014-3965-5
- ^ Changyu, Li. "Mao's "Killing Quotas." Human Rights in China (HRIC). September 26, 2005, at Shandong University" (PDF). http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/CRF.4.2005/CRF-2005-4_Quota.pdf. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
- ^ Brown, Jeremy. "Terrible Honeymoon: Struggling with the Problem of Terror in Early 1950s China.". http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/chinesehistory/pgp/jeremy50sessay.htm.
- ^ Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. p. 437. ISBN 0-8050-6638-1. http://books.google.com/?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA437&dq=mao+while+the+worst+among+them+should+be+shot.
- ^ "High Tide of Terror". Time Magazine. March 5, 1956. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808241-5,00.html. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
- ^ Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. p. 631. ISBN 0-8050-6638-1. http://books.google.com/?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA631&dq=no+cadre+is+to+be+killed+kang+sheng.
- ^ Chang, Jung; Halliday, Jon. 2005. Mao: The Unknown Story. New York: Knopf. 410.
- ^ Li, Zhisui (1994). The Private Life of Chairman Mao: The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician. pp. 198, 200, 468-469. Random House.. ISBN 0-7011-4018-6.
- ^ "China's great famine: 40 years later". British Medical Journal 1999;319:1619–1621 (December 18 )
- ^ Dikötter, Frank (15 December 15, 2010). "Mao's Great Leap to Famine". International Herald Tribune. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/opinion/16iht-eddikotter16.html.
- ^ Frank Dikötter, Mao’s Great Famine, Key Arguments
- ^ a b Jasper Becker. Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine. Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0-8050-5668-8 p. 81
- ^ Jasper Becker. Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine. Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0-8050-5668-8 p. 86
- ^ Jasper Becker. Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine. Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0-8050-5668-8 p. 93
- ^ Did Mao Really Kill Millions in the Great Leap Forward? by Joseph Ball, Monthly Review, September 21, 2006
- ^ Benjamin A. Valentino. Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century Cornell University Press, 2004. p. 128. ISBN 0-8014-3965-5
- ^ Jasper Becker. Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine. Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0-8050-5668-8 p. 103
- ^ Jasper Becker. Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine. Holt Paperbacks, 1998. ISBN 0-8050-5668-8 pp. 92–93
- ^ Benjamin A. Valentino. Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century Cornell University Press, 2004. p. 127. ISBN 0-8014-3965-5
- ^ a b Mark O'Neill. A hunger for the truth: A new book, banned on the mainland, is becoming the definitive account of the Great Famine. South China Morning Post, July 6, 2008.
- ^ Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. p. 761. ISBN 978-0-8050-6638-8. http://books.google.com/?id=4y6mACbLWGsC&pg=PA631&dq=mao+a+life+all+the+dead+of+the+second+world+war.
- ^ Akbar, Arifa (September 17, 2010). "Mao's Great Leap Forward 'killed 45 million in four years'". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/maos-great-leap-forward-killed-45-million-in-four-years-2081630.html. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
- ^ Dikötter, Frank. Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–62. Walker & Company, 2010. p. 333. ISBN 0-8027-7768-6
- ^ a b "Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm". Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century. http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm#Mao. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ a b c Chang, Jung and Jon Halliday, Mao: The Unknown Story (2006), pp. 568, 579.
- ^ Mao a Reinterpretation by Lee Feigon, page 140
- ^ For a full treatment of this idea see- Mobo Gao, "The Battle for China's Past", Pluto Press, London, 2008
- ^ Jonathan Mirsky. Livelihood Issues. Literary Review
- ^ MacFarquhar, Roderick; Schoenhals, Michael (2006). Mao's Last Revolution. Harvard University Press. p. 110. ISBN 0-674-02332-3.
- ^ MacFarquhar, Roderick and Schoenhals, Michael. Mao's Last Revolution. Harvard University Press, 2006. p. 125
- ^ MacFarquhar, Roderick and Schoenhals, Michael. Mao's Last Revolution. Harvard University Press, 2006. p. 124
- ^ Ion Mihai Pacepa (November 28, 2006). "The Kremlin’s Killing Ways". National Review Online. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzY4NWU2ZjY3YWYxMDllNWQ5MjQ3ZGJmMzg3MmQyNjQ=. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ Daniel Chirot. Modern tyrants: the power and prevalence of evil in our age. Princeton University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-691-02777-3 p. 198
- ^ a b Mobo Gao, "The Battle for China's Past", Pluto Press, London, 2008; Lee Feigon "Mao a Reinterpretation" 2002
- ^ Holcombe, Charles (2010). A history of East Asia : from the origins of civilization to the twenty-first century. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-521-73164-5.
- ^ "China After Mao's Death: Nation of Rumor and Uncertainty". New York Times. October 6, 1976. "Hong Kong, October 5, 1976. With no word on the fate of the body of Mao Zedong, almost a month after his death, rumors are beginning to percolate in China, much as they did following the death of Prime Minister Chou En-lai..."
- ^ Chairman Mao square opened on his 115th birth anniversary
- ^ Mao Zedong still draws crowds on 113th birth anniversary http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200612/27/eng20061227_336033.html
- ^ a b MacFarquhar, Roderick and Schoenhals, Michael. Mao's Last Revolution. Harvard University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-674-02332-3 p. 471: "Together with Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler, Mao appears destined to go down in history as one of the great tyrants of the twentieth century."
- ^ a b Michael Lynch. Mao (Routledge Historical Biographies). Routledge, 2004. p. 230
- ^ Stéphane Courtois, Jean-Louis Margolin, et al. The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression. Harvard University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-674-07608-7 p. 465-466
- ^ MacFarquhar, Roderick and Schoenhals, Michael. Mao's Last Revolution. Harvard University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-674-02332-3 p. 428
- ^ Mao Zedong sixiang wan sui! (1969), p. 195. Referenced in Governing China: From Revolution to Reform (Second Edition) by Kenneth Lieberthal. W.W. Norton & Co., 2003. ISBN 0-393-92492-0 p. 71.
- ^ a b Granddaughter Keeps Mao's Memory Alive in Bookshop by Maxim Duncan, Reuters, September 28, 2009
- ^ Jonathan Watts. "China must confront dark past, says Mao confidant" The Guardian, June 2, 2005
- ^ Chang, Jung and Halliday, Jon. Mao: The Unknown Story. Jonathan Cape, London, 2005. p 458 ISBN 0-224-07126-2 [Chang's source (p.725): *Mao CCRM, vol. 13, pp. 203–4 (E: MacFarquhar et al., pp. 494–5)].
- ^ Bernstein, Thomas III (Julu 2006). "Mao Zedong and the Famine of 1959–1960: A Study in Wilfulness". The China Quarterly 186: 421–445. DOI:10.1017/S0305741006000221.
- ^ Jasper Becker. Systematic genocide. The Spectator, September 25, 2010.
- ^ Dikötter, Frank. Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–62. Walker & Company, 2010. p. 299. ISBN 0-8027-7768-6
- ^ Dikötter, Frank. Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–62. Walker & Company, 2010. p. 33. ISBN 0-8027-7768-6
- ^ "Mao Tse-Tung: Father of Chinese Revolution". The New York Times. September 10, 1976
- ^ "Mao Reportedly Sought to A-Bomb U.S. Troops". Los Angeles Times. February 23, 1988.
- ^ a b Dikötter, Frank. Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–62. Walker & Company, 2010. p.13. ISBN 0-8027-7768-6
- ^ Robert Service. Comrades!: A History of World Communism. Harvard University Press, 2007. p. 321. ISBN 0-674-02530-X
- ^ "奥巴马就职演说 引毛泽东诗词". People's Daily Online. January 22, 2009. http://chinapressusa.com/newscenter/2009-01/22/content_186098.htm. Retrieved July 15, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Robert Jackson Alexander. International Maoism in the developing world. Praeger, 1999. p 200.
- ^ Jackson, Karl D (March 17, 1992). Cambodia, 1975–1978: Rendezvous with Death. Princeton University Press. p. 219. ISBN 0-691-02541-X. http://books.google.com/?id=h27D3EYGwzgC&pg=PA219&dq=Radical+Left-wing+Chinese+Communist+Underpinnings+of+Cambodian+Communism.
- ^ Biography of Pol Pot; A&E Television Network, 2003.
- ^ "Portraits of Sun Yat-sen, Deng Xiaoping proposed adding to RMB notes". People's Daily Online. March 13, 2006. http://english.people.com.cn/200603/13/eng20060313_250192.html. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ Kahn, Joseph (September 2, 2006). "Where’s Mao? Chinese Revise History Books". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/world/asia/01china.html?ex=1314763200&en=abf86c087b22be74&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
- ^ Meisner, Maurice (2007). Mao Zedong: A Political and Intellectual Portrait. Polity. p. 133.
- ^ "Cult of Mao". library.thinkquest.org. http://library.thinkquest.org/26469/cultural-revolution/cult.html. Retrieved August 23, 2008. "This remark of Mao seems to have elements of truth but it is false. He confuses the worship of truth with a personality cult, despite there being an essential difference between them. But this remark played a role in helping to promote the personality cult that gradually arose in the CCP."
- ^ a b Chapter 5: "Mao Badges – Visual Imagery and Inscriptions" in: Helen Wang: Chairman Mao badges: symbols and Slogans of the Cultural Revolution (British Museum Research Publication 169). The Trustees of the British Museum, 2008. ISBN 978-0-86159-169-5.
- ^ In "The East is Red" (东方红), an anthem that was popular during the Cultural Revolution. See lyrics and English translation at ChinaPoet.net or Sogou.net. Accessed August 24, 2009.
- ^ Lu, Xing (2004). Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: the impact on Chinese thought, Culture, and Communication. Univ of South Carolina Press. pp. 65. ISBN 1-57003-543-1. http://books.google.com/?id=GO5HrrJC_aMC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=Long+Live+Chairman+Mao+for+ten+thousand+years#v=onepage&q=Long%20Live%20Chairman%20Mao%20for%20ten%20thousand%20years&f=false.
- ^ 韶山升起永远不落的红太阳
- ^ Biographical Sketches in The Private Life of Chairman Mao
- ^ Jonathan Spence. Mao Zedong. Penguin Lives, 1999
- ^ "Stepping into history". China Daily. November 23, 2003. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-11/23/content_283948.htm. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ The Long March, by Ed Jocelyn and Andrew McEwen. Constable 2006
- ^ Li, Zhisui (1994). The Private Life of Chairman Mao: The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician. Random House.. ISBN 0-7011-4018-6.
- ^ "Mao Zedong Thought - Part 1". http://chineseposters.net/themes/mao-thought.php. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
- ^ "100 years<!- Bot generated title ->". http://www.asiawind.com/art/callig/modern.htm#Contemporary%20Chinese%20Calligraphy. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ Yen, Yuehping (2005). Calligraphy and Power in Contemporary Chinese Society. Routledge. p. 2. http://books.google.com/books?visbn=0415317533.
- ^ "首届毛体书法邀请赛精品纷呈" (in Chinese). People.com. September 11, 2006. http://art.people.com.cn/GB/41132/41137/4802132.html.
Further reading[link]
- Becker, Jasper (1998). Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine. Holt Paperbacks. ISBN 0-8050-5668-8.
- Chang, Jung; Halliday, Jon (2005). Mao: The Unknown Story. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-42271-4.
- Cheek, Timothy, ed. Mao Zedong and China's Revolutions: A Brief History with Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture. NY: Palgrave, 2002).
- Cheek, Timothy, ed.A Critical Introduction to Mao (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010 ISBN 978-0-521-88462-4).
- Dikötter, Frank. Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–62. Walker & Company, 2010. ISBN 0-8027-7768-6
- Feigon, Lee (2003). Mao: A Reinterpretation. Ivan R. Dee, Publisher. ISBN 1-56663-522-5.
- Li, Zhisui (1996). The Private Life of Chairman Mao. Random House. ISBN 0-679-76443-7.
- MacFarquhar, Roderick; Schoenhals, Michael (2006). Mao's Last Revolution. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-02332-3.
- Mobo, Gao (2008). The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution. Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-2780-X.
- Schram, Stuart R. (1967). Mao Tse-Tung. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-020840-2.
- Schwartz, Benjamin Isadore (1951). Chinese Communism and the Rise of Mao. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-12251-8.
- Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. p. 761. ISBN 0-8050-6638-1. http://books.google.com/?id=HQwoTtJ43_AC&dq=mao+a+life.
- Spence, Jonathan D. (1999). Mao Zedong. Viking. ISBN 0-670-88669-6.
- Terrill, Ross (1980). Mao: A Biography. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2921-2.
- Chinese Writers on Writing featuring Mao Zedong. Ed. Arthur Sze. (Trinity University Press, 2010).
Annotated writings[link]
- Serve the People, mouseover annotated version of Mao's 1944 speech
- Remembering Norman Bethune mouseover annotated version of Mao's 1935 eulogy for the famous Canadian doctor
External links[link]
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- General
- Asia Source biography
- ChineseMao.com: Extensive resources about Mao Zedong
- CNN profile
- Collected Works of Mao at the Maoist Internationalist Movement
- Mao quotations
- Mao Zedong Reference Archive at marxists.org
- Oxford Companion to World Politics: Mao Zedong
- Spartacus Educational biography
- Bio of Mao at the official Communist Party of China web site
- Commentary
- Discusses the life, military influence and writings of Chairman Mao ZeDong.
- What Maoism Has Contributed
- China must confront dark past, says Mao confidant
- Mao was cruel – but also laid the ground for today's China
- On the Role of Mao Zedong
- Propaganda paintings showing Mao as the great leader of China
- Remembering Mao's Victims
- Mao Tse Tung: Leader, Killer, Icon
- Mao's Great Leap to Famine
- Finding the Facts About Mao’s Victims
- Remembering China's Great Helmsman
- Did Mao Really Kill Millions in the Great Leap Forward?
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Communist Party of China | ||
| Preceded by Zhu De |
Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission 1936–1949 |
Succeeded by Himself as Post re-established |
| Preceded by Zhang Wentian as CPC General Secretary |
Chairman of the Communist Party of China 1943–1976 |
Succeeded by Hua Guofeng |
| Preceded by Deng Fa |
President of the CPC Central Party School 1943–1947 |
Succeeded by Liu Shaoqi |
| Preceded by Himself as Post re-established |
Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission 1954–1976 |
Succeeded by Hua Guofeng |
| Political offices | ||
| People's Republic of China | ||
| New title | Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic 1931–1937 |
Chinese Soviet Republic disbanded |
| Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Chinese Soviet Republic 1931–1934 |
Succeeded by Zhang Wentian |
|
| Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference 1949–1954 |
Succeeded by Zhou Enlai |
|
| Chairman of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China 1949–1954 |
Succeeded by Himself as Chairman of the People's Republic of China |
|
| Chairman of the People's Revolutionary Military Council of the Central People's Government 1949–1954 |
Post abolished | |
| Preceded by Himself as Chairman of the Central People's Government |
Chairman of the People's Republic of China 1954–1959 |
Succeeded by Liu Shaoqi |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Zedong, Mao |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | 毛泽东; 毛泽东; Máo Zédōng; Mao Tse-tung |
| Date of birth | December 26, 1893 |
| Place of birth | Hunan, China |
| Date of death | September 9, 1976 |
| Place of death | Beijing, China |
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Hu Jintao (Pinyin: Hú Jǐntāo, pronounced [xǔ tɕìntʰɑ́ʊ]; born 21 December 1942) is the current Paramount leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang Zemin as the chief of the fourth generation of leadership of the Communist Party of China.
Hu has been involved in the Communist party bureaucracy for most of his adult life, notably as Party secretary for Guizhou province and the Tibet Autonomous Region, and then later first Secretary of the CPC Secretariat and Vice-President under former leader Jiang Zemin. Hu is the first leader of the Communist Party without any significant revolutionary credentials. As such, his rise to the presidency represented China's transition of leadership from establishment communists to younger, more pragmatic technocrats.
During his term in office, Hu has reintroduced state control in some sectors of the economy that were relaxed by the previous administration, and has been conservative with political reforms.[1] Along with his colleague, Premier Wen Jiabao, Hu presided over nearly a decade of consistent economic growth and development that cemented China as a major world power. He sought to improve socio-economic equality domestically through the Scientific Development Concept, which aimed to build a "Harmonious Society" that was prosperous and free of social conflict.[2] Meanwhile, Hu kept a tight lid on China politically, cracking down on social disturbances, ethnic minority protests, and dissident figures. In foreign policy, Hu advocated for "China's peaceful development", pursuing soft power in international relations and a business-oriented approach to diplomacy. Through Hu's tenure, China's influence in Africa, Latin America, and other developing countries has increased.[3]
Hu possesses a low-key and reserved leadership style, and is reportedly a firm believer in consensus-based rule.[4] These traits have made Hu a rather bland figure in the public eye, embodying the focus in Chinese politics on technocratic competence rather than personality.[5]
Contents |
Early life[link]
Hu Jintao was born in Taizhou, Jiangsu province on 21 December 1942. He grew up in Taizhou and finished his high school education there. His branch of the family migrated from Jixi County of Anhui province to Jiangyan during his grandfather's generation. His mother was a native of Taixian in Jiangsu.[citation needed]
Though his father owned a small tea trading business in Taizhou, the family was relatively poor. His mother was a teacher and died when he was seven, and he was raised by an aunt. Hu's father was later denounced during the Cultural Revolution, an event that (together with his relatively humble origins) apparently had a deep effect upon Hu, who diligently tried to clear his father's name.[6]
Hu was a gifted student in Taizhou high school, excelling in activities such as singing and dancing.[citation needed] In 1964, while still a student at Beijing's Tsinghua University, Hu joined the Communist Party of China (CPC), before the Cultural Revolution. He was the chairman of Tsinghua Student Union at that time. He graduated in hydraulic engineering in 1965. At Tsinghua, Hu met a fellow student Liu Yongqing, now his wife. They have a son and a daughter named Hu Haifeng and Hu Haiqing respectively.
In 1968, Hu volunteered for his service in Gansu and worked on the construction of Liujiaxia Hydroelectric Station[7] while also managing Party affairs for the local branch of the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power. From 1969 to 1974, Hu worked for Sinohydro Engineering Bureau, as an engineer.[8]
Early political career[link]
In 1973, Hu was transferred to the Construction Department of Gansu as a secretary. The next year he was promoted to vice senior chief. In 1980, Deng Xiaoping implemented the "Four Transformations" program, which aimed to produce communist leaders who were "more revolutionary, younger, more knowledgeable, and more specialized." In response to this nation-wide search for young party members, Song Ping, the first secretary of CPC Gansu Committee (Gansu's governor) discovered Hu Jintao and promoted him several ranks to the position of deputy head of the commission.[9] Another protégé of Song, Wen Jiabao, also became prominent at the same time.
In 1982, Hu was promoted to the position of Communist Youth League Gansu Branch Secretary and was appointed as the director of the All-China Youth Federation.[10][11] His mentor Song Ping was transferred to Beijing as Minister of Organization of the Communist Party of China, and was in charge of senior cadres' recommendation, candidacy and promotion. With the support of Hu Yaobang and Deng Xiaoping, Hu was assured of a bright future in the party. At Song Ping's suggestion, in 1982 central Party authorities invited Hu to Beijing to study at the Central Party School.[12] Soon after, he was transferred to Beijing and appointed as secretariat of the Communist Youth League Central Committee ("CY Central"). Two years later Hu was promoted to First Secretary of CY Central, thus its actual leader. During his term in the Youth League, Hu escorted Hu Yaobang, who was General Secretary of CPC then, in visits around the country. Hu Yaobang, himself a veteran coming from the Youth League, could reminiscence his youth through Hu's company.
Party Committee Secretary of Guizhou[link]
In 1985, Hu Yaobang pushed for Hu Jintao to be transferred to Guizhou as the provincial Committee Secretary of Communist Party of China.[13] Hu attempted to improve the economy of the backwater province, and reputedly visited all of its eighty-six counties.[14] While in Guizhou, Hu was careful to follow Beijing's directives and had a reputation of being "airtight"; he rarely would offer his views on policy matters in public.[14] While Hu was generally seen as an official with integrity and honesty, some locals preferred his predecessor Zhu Houze. In 1987, Hu Jintao handled the local students protest parallel to the Democracy Wall carefully, whereas in Beijing similar protests resulted in Hu Yaobang's forced resignation.
Tenure in Tibet[link]
The exit of his patron Hu Yaobang from the political scene was initially seen as unfavourable towards Hu Jintao. He drew criticism from party elders for failing to criticize the ousted reformer.[15] In 1988, Hu was transferred to become Party Regional Committee Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, the restive area's number-one figure, while also taking on the role of Political Commissar of the local People's Liberation Army units. A number of Tibetans have long been opposed to government policy in the region and unrest and ethnic conflict were brewing, particularly anti-Han Chinese sentiments amongst local Tibetans. Minor clashes had been occurring since 1987, and when the scale of unrest grew, Hu responded with the deployment of some 1,700 People's Armed Police into Lhasa in February 1989 in an attempt to warn against further disturbance.[16] Increased clashes culminated in serious rioting in Lhasa's core on 5 March 1989, five days before the 30th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.[17] What occurred after is a matter of dispute: rioters accused the police of shooting them arbitrarily, and the police claiming that they had acted in self-defense. In addition, there was speculation that Hu delayed his orders to clamp down on the protesters until late into the evening, when the police chief was forced to act because the situation was spiraling out of control. The protesters were suppressed early into the next day, and Hu asked Beijing to declare martial law on 8 March.[18]
Hu's role in the demonstrations and rioting on March 5 was never made clear. While it is general protocol that Hu must have at least implicitly approved the use of force against protesters, whether he actually gave orders throughout March 5 is a matter of debate.[19] In addition, John Tkacik cites that Hu had been coordinating with the Chengdu Military Region for troops to be on full alert as the situation progressed.[16] Some diplomatic analysts linked what they saw as Hu's brutal use of force to the suppression of activists and students at in Tiananmen Square, which took place a mere three months later. Whether Hu provided "inspiration" for the PLA on June 4 is a matter of debate, but it was clear that Hu's actions in Lhasa earned him unprecedented attention in the upper echelons of party power, including paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. When tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square, Hu was one of the first regional leaders to declare his support for the central authorities.[16] Hu experienced high-altitude sickness in June 1990, and returned to Beijing, but remained in his position for another two years, during which Hu achieved little. But his departure to Beijing was seen as a means to return to the centrefold of Chinese politics, which led to some doubts as to whether or not he was as ill as he had claimed.[16]
Candidacy[link]
Before the opening of the 14th National Congress of the CPC in 1992, the Party's senior leaders, including Deng and Chen Yun, were to select candidates for the Politburo Standing Committee to ensure a smooth transition of power from the so-called second-generation leaders (Deng, Chen, Li Xiannian, Wang Zhen, etc.) to third-generation Communist Party of China leaders (Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Qiao Shi etc.). Deng also proposed that they should consider another candidate for a further future transition, preferably someone under fifty to represent the next generation of leaders.[20] Song, as the organization chief, recommended Hu as an ideal candidate for the prospect of a future leader. As a result, shortly before his 50th birthday, Hu Jintao became the youngest member of the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, and the second youngest Politburo Standing Committee member ever since the CPC took power in 1949.
In 1993, Hu took charge of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, which oversaw day-to-day operations of the Central Committee, and the Central Party School, which was convenient for him to bring up his own supporters among senior CPC cadres. Hu was also put in charge of the ideological work of the CPC. Although Hu was considered heir apparent to Jiang, he always took great care to ensure that Jiang be at the center of the spotlight. In late 1998, Hu promoted Jiang's unpopular movement of the "Three Stresses" – "stress study, stress politics, and stress healthy trends" – giving speeches to promote it. In 2001, he publicized Jiang's Three Represents theory, which Jiang hoped to place him on the same level as other Marxist theoreticians.[21] In 1998, Hu became Vice-President of China, and Jiang wanted Hu to play a more active role in foreign affairs. Hu became China's leading voice during the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999.[citation needed]
At the helm[link]
Since taking over as Party General Secretary at the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Hu and his premier, Wen Jiabao, proposed to set up a Harmonious Society which aims at lessening the inequality and changing the style of the "GDP first and Welfare Second" policies. They focused on sectors of the Chinese population that have been left behind by the economic reform, and have taken a number of high profile trips to the poorer areas of China with the stated goal of understanding these areas better. Hu and Wen Jiabao have also attempted to move China away from a policy of favouring economic growth at all costs and toward a more balanced view of growth that includes factors in social inequality and environmental damage, including the use of the green gross domestic product in personnel decisions. Jiang's clique, however, maintained control in most developing areas, therefore Hu and Wen's measures of macroeconomic regulation faced great resistance.[citation needed]
SARS crisis[link]
The first crisis of Hu's leadership happened during the outbreak of SARS in 2003. Following strong criticism of China for initially covering up and responding slowly to the crisis, he dismissed several party and government officials, including the health minister, who supported Jiang, and the Mayor of Beijing, Meng Xuenong, widely perceived as Hu's protégé.[citation needed]
Succession of Jiang Zemin[link]
On 15 November 2002, a new Hu Jintao-led Politburo nominally succeeded Jiang. Although Jiang, then 76, stepped down from the powerful General Secretary and the Politburo Standing Committee to make way for a younger fourth generation of leadership, there was speculation that Jiang would retain significant influence because Hu was not associated with Jiang's influential Shanghai clique, to which six out of the nine members of the all-powerful Standing Committee were believed to be linked. However, later developments show that many of its members have shifted their positions. Zeng Qinghong, for example, moved from a disciple of Jiang to serving as an intermediary between the two factions.[22] In 2003, Jiang was also re-elected to the post of Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the CPC, a post from which Deng Xiaoping was able to wield power from behind the scenes as 'paramount leader', thus retaining military power.
Western observers[who?] attribute a sense of caution to Hu's philosophies, citing China's recent history of fallen heirs.[citation needed] Deng Xiaoping appointed three party General Secretaries, all designed to be successors, and was instrumental in the ousting of two of them, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. His third and final selection, Jiang Zemin, won Deng's continued, although ambiguous backing and was the only General Secretary in Communist Chinese history to voluntarily leave his post when his term ended.
Although many[who?] believe Hu was originally hand-picked by Deng as the youngest member of China's top leadership and a leading candidate to succeed Jiang, he had exercised a great deal of political skills between 1992 and 2002 to consolidate his position, and eventually emerged as Jiang's heir apparent in his own right.[citation needed] Hu also benefited from the slow but progressive institutionalization of power succession within the Party, something his predecessors lacked entirely. Since the early 1980s, the People's Republic of China has been marked by progressive institutionalization and rule by consensus, and moved away from the Maoist authoritarian model. Although a western-style legal institution and rule of law remain to be put in place, Hu's power succession was conducted in a fairly orderly and civil manner, which was unprecedented in Communist China's history. This trend is expected[by whom?] to continue and an institutionalized mechanism of power transition is expected to emerge, first perhaps within the Party.[citation needed] In fact, it has been one of the Party's stated major goals to create an orderly system of succession and mechanism to prevent informal rule and a cult of personality.
The rivalry between Jiang and Hu after Jiang stepped down from his posts was, arguably, an inevitable product of China's tradition of succession. Some analysts argue that although Jiang has consolidated power by the time he retired, his ideological stature within the Communist Party remains shaky at best, thus Jiang had to buy time to ensure that his ideological legacy such as the Three Represents, is enshrined in China's socialism doctrine.[citation needed] Jiang resigned as Chairman of the Central Military Commission in September 2004, his last official post. Since then Hu has officially taken on the three institutions in the People's Republic of China where power lie, the party, the state, as well as the military, thus informally, has become the paramount leader.
Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao inherited a China wrought with internal social, political and environmental problems. One of the biggest challenges Hu faces is the large wealth disparity between the Chinese rich and poor, for which discontent and anger mounted to a degree which wreaked havoc on communist rule. Furthermore, the cronyism and corruption plaguing China's civil service, military, educational, judicial and medical systems sought to destroy the country bit by bit. In the beginning of 2006, however, Hu launched the "8 Honours and 8 Shames" movement in a bid to promote a more selfless and moral outlook amongst the population. China's increasingly fragile environment has caused massive urban pollution, sandstorms and the destruction of vast tracts of habitable land.[citation needed] Hu has been presiding over an unprecedented increase in Chinese nationalist sentiment.[citation needed]
At the 17th CPC National Congress, Hu was re-elected as General Secretary and Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission on 22 October 2007. At the 11th National People's Congress, Hu was re-elected as President on 15 March 2008. He was also re-elected as Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission.[23]
Newsweek named Hu the second most powerful person in the world referring to him as "the man behind the wheel of the world's most supercharged economy."[24] Forbes also named him the second most powerful person in the world.[25] Hu was named the 2010 World's Most Powerful Person by Forbes Magazine.[26] Hu has been listed four times (2008, 2007, 2005 & 2004) on the Time 100 annual list of most influential people.
Political positions[link]
Scientific Perspective and Harmonious Society[link]
Political observers indicate that Hu has distinguished himself from his predecessor in both domestic and foreign policy. Hu's political philosophy during his presidency is summarized by three slogans — a "Harmonious Society" domestically and "Peaceful Development" internationally, the former aided by the Scientific Development Concept, which seeks integrated sets of solutions to arrays of economic, environmental and social problems, and recognizes, in inner circles, a need for cautious and gradual political reforms.[2] The Scientific Development doctrine has been written into the Communist Party and State Constitutions in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The role of the Party has changed, as formulated by Deng Xiaoping and implemented by Jiang Zemin, from a revolutionary party to a ruling party. Hu continues the Party’s modernization, calling for both "Advancement" of the Party and its increasing transparency in governance.
What emerges from these philosophies, in the view of Hu, is a country with systematic approach to national structure and development that combines dynamic economic growth, a free market energized by a vigorous "nonpublic" (i.e., private) sector, heavy-handed political and media control, personal but not political freedoms, concern for the welfare of all citizens, cultural enlightenment, and a synergistic approach to diverse social issues (the Scientific Development Perspective) that lead, in Hu’s vision, to a "Harmonious Society". In the view of the Chinese government, these philosophies, which has created a new "China Model" of governance, serves as a legitimate alternative to the West's "Democracy Model", particularly for developing countries. In Hu’s words, "A harmonious society should feature democracy, the rule of law, equity, justice, sincerity, amity and vitality."[2] Such a society, he says, will give full scope to people's talent and creativity, enable all the people to share the social wealth brought by reform and development, and forge an ever closer relationship between the people and government. Hu has even emphasized the potential of religious communities to contribute to economic and social development under the banner of “Building a Harmonious Society.”[27]
Western criticism of Hu, particularly regarding human rights, exposes his hypersensitivity to social stability but does not lay as much emphasis on his fresh commitment to address China’s multi-faceted social problems.[2] Hu’s pragmatic, non-ideological agenda has two core values—maintaining social stability to further economic development and sustaining Chinese culture to enrich national sovereignty. In domestic policy, he seems to want more openness to the public on governmental functions and meetings. Recently, China's news agency published many Politburo Standing Committee meeting details. He also cancelled many events that are traditionally seen as communist extravagances, such as the lavish send-off and welcoming-back ceremonies of Chinese leaders when visiting foreign lands. Furthermore the Chinese leadership under Hu has also focused on such problems as the gap between rich and poor and uneven development between the interior and coastal regions. Both party and state seem to have moved away from a definition of development that focuses solely on GDP growth and toward a definition which includes social equality and environment effects.
In 2004, Hu gave an unprecedented showing and ordered all cadres from the five major power functions to stop the tradition of going to the Beidaihe seaside retreat for their annual summer meeting which, before, was commonly seen as a gathering of ruling elites from both current and elder cadres to decide China's destiny, and also an unnecessary waste of public funds. The move was seen by the Chinese public as symbolic of Hu's attitude towards corruption.
In June 2007, Hu gave an important speech at the Central Party School that was indicative of his position of power and his guiding philosophies. In the speech Hu used a very populist tone to appeal to ordinary Chinese, making serious note of the recent challenges China has been facing, especially with regards to income disparity. In addition, Hu noted the need for "increased democracy" in the country.[citation needed]
Media control[link]
Despite initial expectations that Hu was a "closet liberal", Hu has shown a fairly hard-line approach to liberalisation of the media.
The media has been given greater latitude in reporting many topics of popular concern, such as the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, as well as into malpractices at the local level. The government has also been responsive to criticism of its media policy, for example in response to the SARS epidemic, and in regard to public commemorations of popular, but deposed, former leader Zhao Ziyang.
Hu has been very cautious with regards to the Internet, choosing to censor politically sensitive material to a degree more strict than the Jiang era.[citation needed] In February 2007, Hu embarked on further domestic media controls that restricted primetime TV series to "morally correct" content—he objected to lowbrow programming including some reality shows—on all Chinese TV stations, and listed "20 forbidden areas" of coverage on news reporting.
Taiwan[link]
Early in his presidency, Hu faced an independence-supporting counterpart in then ROC president Chen Shui-bian. Chen called for talks without any preconditions, repudiating the 1992 consensus. Chen Shui-bian and his party had continued to express an ultimate goal of de jure Taiwanese independence, and made statements on the political status of Taiwan that the PRC considers provocative. Hu's initial response was a combination of "soft" and "hard" approaches. On the one hand, Hu expressed a flexibility to negotiate on many issues of concern to Taiwan. On the other hand, he continued to refuse talks without preconditions and remained committed to Chinese reunification as an ultimate goal. While Hu gave some signs of being more flexible with regard to political relationships with Taiwan as in his 17 May Statement, where he offered to address the issue of "international living space" for Taiwan, Hu's government remains firm in its position that the PRC will not tolerate any attempt by the Taiwanese government to declare de jure independence from China.
After the re-election of Chen Shui-bian in 2004, Hu's government changed tactics. Hu's government has conducted a no-contact policy with Taiwan due to Chen Shui-Bian and the DPP's independence leanings and repudiation of the 1992 consensus. The government maintained its military build-up against Taiwan, and pursued a vigorous policy of isolating Taiwan diplomatically. In March 2005, the Anti-Secession Law was passed by the National People's Congress, formalising "non-peaceful means" as an option of response to a declaration of independence in Taiwan.
Hu's government increased contacts with the Kuomintang (KMT), its erstwhile foe in the Chinese Civil War, and still a major party in Taiwan. The increased contacts culminated in the 2005 Pan-Blue visits to mainland China, including a historic meeting between Hu and then-KMT chairman Lien Chan in April 2005. This was the first meeting between the leaders of the two parties since the conclusion of World War II.[28][29]
On 20 March 2008, the Kuomintang under Ma Ying-jeou won the presidency in Taiwan, and a majority in the Legislative Yuan. Thereafter Hu immediately turned to a more 'soft' diplomatic approach and opened the way to a thaw in relations between the two sides.[30] A series of historic meetings between the CPC and KMT have followed. On 12 April 2008, Hu Jintao met with Taiwan's Vice President-elect Vincent Siew in the latter's role as chairman of the Cross-strait Common Market Foundation during the Boao Forum for Asia. On 28 May 2008, Hu met with KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung, the first meeting between the heads of the CPC and the KMT as ruling parties. During this meeting, Hu and Wu agreed that both sides should re-commence official dialogue under the 1992 consensus – that "both sides recognize there is only one China, but agree to differ on its definition.". Wu committed the new government in Taiwan against Taiwanese independence; Hu committed his government to addressing the concerns of the Taiwanese people in regard to security, dignity, and "international living space", with a priority given to allowing Taiwan to participate in the World Health Organization.
In addition to the party-to-party dialogue, de facto governmental dialogue took place via the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits in June 2008 on the basis of the 1992 Consensus, with the first meeting held in Beijing. Both Hu and his new counterpart Ma Ying-jeou agreed that the 1992 Consensus is the basis for negotiations between the two sides of the Taiwan strait. On 26 March 2008, Hu Jintao held a telephone talk with then US President George W. Bush, in which he became the first Chinese leader to officially recognize the 1992 Consensus.[31] After several months of negotiations, in December 2008, the two sides agreed on the resumption of the Three Links, i.e., a re-opening of mail, trade, and direct air links between the two sides. Relations have been cordial since between the two sides, and trade increased immensely, culminating in the signing of the preferential trade agreement ECFA in 2010.
Moral guidance[link]
In response to the great number of social problems in China, in March 2006, Hu Jintao released the "Eight Honors and Eight Shames" as a set of moral codes to be followed by the Chinese people, and emphasized the need to spread the message to youth.[32] Alternatively known as the "Eight Honors and Disgraces", it contained eight poetic lines which summarized what a good citizen should regard as an honor and what to regard as a shame. It has been widely regarded as one of Hu Jintao's ideological solutions to the perceived increasing lack of morality in China after Chinese economic reforms brought in a generation of Chinese predominantly concerned with earning money and power in an increasingly frail social fabric.[citation needed]
It has become a norm for Chinese communist leaders to make their own contributions to Marxist theory.[citation needed] Whether this is Hu's contribution to Marxist theory is debatable, but its general reception with the Chinese public has been moderate.[citation needed] Its promotion, however, is visible almost everywhere: in classroom posters, banners on the street, and electronic display boards for the preparation of the 2008 Olympics, and World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The codes differ from the ideologies of his predecessors, namely, Jiang's Three Represents, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and Mao Zedong Thought in that the focus, for the first time, has been shifted to codifying moral standards as opposed to setting social or economic goals.
Evaluation[link]
Most external observers agree that Hu presided over a decade of consistent economic growth, led China through the storm of the global financial crisis relatively unscathed, and increased China's international stature immensely.[33] The Hu Administration is also credited with modernizing China's infrastructure, the launch of China's first manned spaceprobe, and the success of two international events: the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai Expo.[33] In addition, Hu's "soft approach" to Taiwan, coinciding with the election of a Kuomintang government in Taipei, was credited for having improved relationship between mainland China and Taiwan. Trade and contact between the two sides increased significantly during Hu's tenure.
In addition, Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao's populist policies has resulted in the elimination of agricultural taxes for farmers, more flexible policies towards migrant workers living in cities, more balanced development between the coastal regions and the hinterlands, enforcing minimum wage in cities and the promotion of sustainable and affordable housing developments. Generally speaking, these policies have been well-received by the Chinese public.
In foreign policy, Hu's critics say that his government has been overly aggressive in asserting its new power, overestimated its reach, and raised the ire and apprehension of various neighbours, including Southeast Asian countries, India, and Japan. Such policies are also said to be provocative towards the United States.[34] Domestic critics, including the country's elites, intellectuals, and particularly dissidents, point to various shortcomings of the Hu administration and his failure in implementing his signature "Harmonious Society" policy. They cite, for example, that China's internal security budget has exceeded its military budget during Hu's tenure as protests and other 'mass incidents' continued to increase across the country. China's gini coefficient, for example, has climbed to 0.47 by 2010, indicating a potentially unsustainable wealth gap between the rich and the poor.[33] Corruption also has not been curbed significantly, with the downfall of Railways Minister Liu Zhijun being emblematic of the endemic level of graft that exists in the highest levels of government. In addition, the Hu Administration's continued insistence on censorship and the curtailing of freedom of speech has drawn many critics from human rights organizations and Western governments,[33] while artists and writers inside the country chided the Hu Administration's increased restrictions on cultural expressions.
Due to the increasingly consensus-based decision making process of the Chinese leadership, there is debate on how much power Hu held personally to effect change. Some credit Hu for being an effective mediator in a system increasingly affected by special interests and political factionalism.[33]
Personal life[link]
Hu is married to Liu Yongqing, whom he met at Tsinghua University. They have two children together, Hu Haifeng and Hu Haiqing. Unlike Wen Jiabao, the Premier, he has never granted a public one-on-one interview as of 2007.[35] He has been noted for his liking for table tennis and ballroom dancing.[citation needed] Hu is also said to possess a photographic memory that became evident in his high school days.[36][37]
Notes[link]
- ^ Luard, Tim (11 January 2005). "BBC:China's Leader shows his stripes. 11 January 2005". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4165209.stm. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Kuhn, Robert Lawrence: Hu's Political Philosophies". Esnips.com. http://www.esnips.com/doc/907de9f2-a212-46b3-9efe-d23813bc03f3/Kuhn-Media-Press-Hu-Jintao.pdf. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
- ^ World Savvy Monitor: China and the World - A foreign policy overview
- ^ Elegant, Simon (4 October 2007). "In China, Hu is the Man to See". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1668457,00.html. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
- ^ Brown, Kerry. "Chinese leadership: The challenge in 2012". http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2011/07/10/chinese-leadership-the-challenge-in-2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ Havely, Joe (19 October 2007). "Getting to know Hu". Al Jazeera. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2007/10/2008525172536374792.html. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ^ "临夏旅游" (Linxia Tourism), published by Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture Tourist Board, 2003. 146 pages. No ISBN. Pages 26-27.
- ^ Nathan, Andrew J.; Gilley, Bruce (March 2003). China's new rulers: the secret files. New York: The New York Review of Books. p. 79. ISBN I-59017-072-5.
- ^ Nathan & Gilley, p. 40
- ^ "Hu Jintao". People's Daily. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/people/hujintao.shtml. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
- ^ Ewing, Richard Daniel (20 March 2003). "Hu Jintao: The Making of a Chinese General Secretary". The China Quarterly (Cambridge University Press) 173: 17–34. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=145447#. Retrieved 16 April 2010. Full article
- ^ Nathan & Gilley, p. 42
- ^ Sisci, Francesco (9 November 2005). "Democracy with Chinese characteristics". Asia Times Online. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GK09Ad01.html.
- ^ a b Lam, Willy Wo-Lap (2006). Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era. ME Sharpe. p. 7. ISBN 0-7656-1773-0. http://books.google.com/?id=S4KMkzh3tckC.
- ^ Lam, 8
- ^ a b c d Tkacik, John (2002-04-29). "Who's Hu? Assessing China's Heir Apparent: Hu Jintao". The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Lecture/Whos-Hu#pgfId=1010147. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- ^ Lam, 9
- ^ Lam, p. 9
- ^ Willy Lam accounts for Hu's actions on March 5 as a potential case of his high-level political cunning and shrewdness, see Lam, p9.
- ^ Nathan & Gilley, pp.42-43
- ^ Nathan & Gilley, p. 84
- ^ Wu, Zhong (7 February 2007). "Power in China: Through a glass, darkly". Asia Times Online. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/IB07Ad01.html. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- ^ "Hu Jintao reelected Chinese president", Xinhua (China Daily), 15 March 2008.
- ^ "The NEWSWEEK 50: Chinese President Hu Jintao". Newsweek. 5 January 2009. http://www.newsweek.com/id/176298. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
- ^ Noer, Michael; Perlroth, Nicole (11 November 2009). "The World's Most Powerful People". Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/11/worlds-most-powerful-leadership-power-09-people_land.html. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
- ^ Perlroth, Nicole (2010-11-03). "The Most Powerful People On Earth". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/2010/11/01/obama-china-power-opinions-powerful-people-10-intro.html. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
- ^ "China". Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/china. Retrieved 2011-12-14. See drop-down essay on "An Era of Opening"
- ^ Sisci, Francesco (5 April 2005). "Strange cross-Taiwan Strait bedfellows". Asia Times Online. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GD05Ad08.html. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
- ^ Zhong, Wu (29 March 2005). "KMT makes China return in historic trip to ease tensions". The Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Front_Page/GC29Aa02.html. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- ^ Sisci, Francesco (28 June 2006). "Hu Jintao and the new China". Asia Times Online. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/HF28Ad01.html. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
- ^ "Chinese, U.S. presidents hold telephone talks on Taiwan, Tibet". Xinhuanet. 27 March 2008. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/27/content_7865209.htm. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
- ^ "Hu Jintao regarding "The eight honors and eight shames"" (in Chinese). sohu.com (千龙网). 20 March 2006. http://news.sohu.com/20060320/n242378439.shtml. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Li, Cheng; Eve Cary (20 December 2011). "The Last Year of Hu’s Leadership: Hu’s to Blame?". Jamestown Foundation: China Brief 11 (23). http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=38811&cHash=c0006cd99bfe551991fcf1924d37c0cf. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
- ^ "America in the Asia-Pacific: We’re back". The Economist. 19 November 2011. http://www.economist.com/node/21538803. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
- ^ The Australian: Hu's secret weapon: harmony
- ^ "Asia-Pacific | Profile: Hu Jintao". BBC News. 16 September 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2404129.stm. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
- ^ Willy Wo-Lap Lam. (2006). Chinese politics in the Hu Jintao era: new leaders, new challenges. M.E. Sharpe. p. 5.
References[link]
- Nathan, Andrew J.; Gilley, Bruce (March 2003). China's new rulers: the secret files. New York: The New York Review of Books. ISBN I-59017-072-5.
- "Taiwan." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. 12 Aug. 2008. APA style: Taiwan. (2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 12 August 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition
External links[link]
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hu Jintao |
- Hu Jintao (ChinaVitae.com)
- Hu Jintao calls for upholding Marxism (Xinhua)
- Hu Jintao's political philosophies and policies by Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn
- China's leader shows his stripes 2005 BBC article arguing Hu more hardline than he initially appeared
- Requiem for Reform? Zhao Ziyang's vision of political change in China dims as Hu Jintao hardens the Party line (Time Asia)
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Communist Party of China | ||
| Preceded by Wang Zhaoguo |
First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China 1984–1985 |
Succeeded by Song Defu |
| Preceded by Zhu Houze |
Provincial Committee Secretary of Guizhou 1985–1988 |
Succeeded by Liu Zhengwei |
| Preceded by Wu Jinghua |
Provincial Committee Secretary of Tibet 1988–1992 |
Succeeded by Chen Kuiyuan |
| Preceded by Hu Qili |
First Secretary of Secretariat of the Communist Party of China 1992–2002 |
Succeeded by Zeng Qinghong |
| Preceded by Jiang Zemin |
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China 2002–present |
Incumbent |
| Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China 2004–present |
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| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Qiao Shi |
President of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China 1993–2002 |
Succeeded by Zeng Qinghong |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Rong Yiren |
Vice President of the People's Republic of China 1998–2003 |
Succeeded by Zeng Qinghong |
| Preceded by Jiang Zemin |
President of the People's Republic of China 2003–present |
Incumbent |
| Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China 2005–present |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hu, Jintao |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Chinese politician |
| Date of birth | 21 December 1942 |
| Place of birth | Jiangyan, China |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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Socialism is Good (simplified Chinese: 社会主义好; traditional Chinese: 社會主義好; pinyin: shèhuìzhǔyì hǎo) is a famous song before the Chinese Cultural Revolution, composed in 1958 by Li Huanzhi, with lyrics written by Xi Yang[citation needed].
Lyrics[link]
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- The progressive '着' is the same for Simplified Chinese and the Hong Kong/Macau variant of Traditional Chinese, but is '著' in the Taiwanese variant of Traditional Chinese.
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http://wn.com/Socialism_is_Good
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_is_Good
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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