CHINA TODAY a Research Project of Fairleigh Dickinson University by Amer Al-Hajri Eiman Al-Ishaq Arline Diaz Clotilde Ferry Faridun Kul Gabriela Garcia Jose Manuel Mendoza Abdelghani Merabet Alice Mungwa Isabelle Rakotoarivelo Coumba Santana Ashley Toth Fabrizio Trezza Sharif Ahmad Wahidi Yang Ningning Mohammad Fahim Yarzai Mohammad Younus Zaidullah Zaid Editor Ahmad Kamal 1 Published by: Fairleigh Dickinson University 1000 River Road Teaneck, NJ 07666 USA August 2011 ISBN: 978-1-4507-9043-7 The opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors alone, and should not be taken as necessarily reflecting the views of Fairleigh Dickinson University, or of any other institution or entity. © All rights reserved by the authors No part of the material in this book may be reproduced without due attribution to its specific author. 2 THE AUTHORS Amer Al-Hajri, a Diplomat from Oman Eiman Al-Ishaq, an Internal Auditor from Qatar Arline Diaz, a Diplomat from Venezuela Clotilde Ferry, a Graduate Student from Monaco Ahmad Kamal, a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Faridun Kul, a Graduate Student from Afghanistan Gabriela Garcia, a Diplomat from Ecuador Jose Manuel Mendoza, a Graduate Student from Honduras Abdelghani Merabet, a Graduate Student from Algeria Alice Mungwa, a Graduate Student from Cameroon Isabelle Rakotoarivelo, a UN Civil Servant from Madagascar Coumba Santana, a Graduate Student from Mali Ashley Toth, a Graduate Student from the USA Fabrizio Trezza, a Graduate Student from Italy Sharif Ahmad Wahidi, a Graduate Student from Afghanistan Yang Ningning, a UN Consultant from China Mohammad Fahim Yarzai, a Diplomat from Afghanistan Mohammad Younus, a Graduate Student from Afghanistan Zaidullah Zaid, a Graduate Student from Afghanistan 3 INDEX OF CONTENTS Title Page INTRODUCTION by Ahmad Kamal 01 POLITICAL REFORMS by Yang Ningning 03 ECONOMIC REFORMS by Zaidullah Zaid 17 TERRITORIAL COHESION by Sharif Ahmad Wahidi 25 MACROECONOMIC GROWTH by Amer Al-Hajri 39 POVERTY ALLEVIATION by Ashley Toth 49 TRADE GROWTH by Abdelghani Merabet 59 WTO ACCESSION by Mohammad Yuonus 73 INVESTMENT REGIME by Eiman Al-Ishaq 85 ENERGY by Alice Mungwa 97 HUMAN RIGHTS by Isabelle Rakotoarivelo 107 EDUCATION by Fabrizio Trezza 115 ENVIRONMENT by Gabriela Garcia 127 DEFENCE by Jose Manuel Mendoza 143 RELATIONS WITH USA by Faridun Kul 155 RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA by Clotilde Ferry 165 RELATIONS WITH DPRK by Mohammad Fahim Yarzai 175 RELATIONS WITH AFRICA by Coumba Santana 185 RELATIONS WITH LATIN AMERICA by Arline Diaz 193 4 Introduction Ahmad Kamal INTRODUCTION By now, everybody has finally understood that China is slowly re-emerging as a political and economic giant in the world, thus recapturing the position that it occupied over the centuries. It occupied that position due to the extraordinary Confucian ethic of its population, and the learning and scientific innovation that was consequently generated. It was only in the recent 200 years that external powers managed to drive it into the ground through aggression, exploitation, concessions, and an immoral drugging of the entire population with opium. A magnificent civilization was thus suppressed, and pushed into its ―period of humiliation‖. This attempt conspicuously failed. The country embarked on its new phase of history, first in 1949 with the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China, and then in 1978 with the revolutionary political and economic reforms that have completely transformed the country. An imperial and feudal society which had been all so easily subdued by external force, was replaced by a new social ethic, brimming with confidence, and motivated by a refreshing commitment to rebuilding the country back to its erstwhile status. Obviously, the re-emergence of this new super-power sets off deep concerns in a post-war world, in which others had become accustomed to a status quo in which the gap between them and others had assumed comfortable proportions. Any change in their elegant style of life could not but be seen as a threat with political, economic, social, and military proportions. So, the concern about the threat from China is quite natural, as is the tendency to point fingers at any and all short-comings that are perceived in that country, or the schaden-freude with which most of its tragedies are portrayed. But China is unstoppable. The political and economic reforms that it has undertaken, coupled with the mobilization of its 1 Introduction Ahmad Kamal entire national effort, has produced results that are the envy of the world today, and an example that is likely to endure. No amount of external pressure can now divert the country from the path of self- sufficiency and greatness on which it is embarked. Rather than criticizing China for it centralized power structures, would it not be better to acknowledge that it is these very structures that have enabled China to maintain its growth rates even during the current global recession. Rather than criticizing the human rights of individuals in China, would it not be better to appreciate the successful effort that it has made to pull hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty. Rather than criticizing China for what are seen as its low wage structures (which seem to be quite adequate for its own living conditions), would it not be better to examine the unjustifiably high wage structures that exist elsewhere in the affluent West, and the physical and mental obesity that these have engendered. Could we not humbly appreciate the fact that it is the savings of the Chinese population that are paying for the enormous and profligate gap between Western production and consumption. Could we not appreciate the fact that it is the highly competitive prices of Chinese goods that enable the entire world to benefit from these items at such low cost. Could we not highlight the fact that Chinese investments are slowly changing the face of Africa and Latin America. Since we all believe in democracy, could we not acknowledge and respect the verdict of the vast majority of the populations of the world that see China as a beacon of hope, and an example for our emulation. Let us finally remember that China has always been an inward looking and defensive civilization, with no history of foreign aggressions, and thus no threat to anybody else. All this may then perhaps enable us to come to terms with the positive global force that is the China of today and tomorrow. 2 Political Reforms Yang Ningning POLITICAL REFORMS Editors Note: While all attention is being devoted to the envious example of the economic growth and performance of China, most observers have a tendency to decry its political growth as stunted. Few have understood that the economic growth is the direct result of the political reforms which have been slowly but surely executed over the past three decades. The following paper by an insider walks us through these political reforms, and their impact on the economic growth of the country. Introduction Evolution of the Chinese Political System: Following the Opium War of 1840, China gradually became a semi-colonial and semi- feudal society, with foreign powers stepping up their aggression against China. The feudal rule had been increasingly corrupt and the country was devastated by incessant wars and turbulence, and the Chinese people suffered from hunger, cold, and oppression. In those dark years, in order to change the destiny of the nation, the Chinese people launched one struggle after another, such as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Reform Movement of 1898, and the Yihetuan Movement, but all those struggles ended in failure. The Revolution of 1911 led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen put an end to the autocratic rule that had existed in China for several thousand years. This revolution greatly boosted China's social progress, but it did not change the country's nature as a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The Chinese people kept on looking for a suitable political system. After the last feudal dynasty in China was overthrown in 1911 revolution, the Chinese people began a heated debate on whether to adopt the republican system or the constitutional monarchy system. The Chinese people experimented with different political systems, but none of them were successful. The Chinese people were actually eager to learn from the western political systems. But the "teachers" only hoped that China should best remain semi-colonial and semi-feudal so that they can possess 3 Political Reforms Yang Ningning China's market and resources for ever. The economic crisis of 1920s, the fast development of Soviet socialist system, the invasion of the Japanese imperialists and suppressions of foreign powers denied China the choice for capitalism. Under such historical circumstances, whoever could help the Chinese people stand up and become prosperous would obviously be supported by the Chinese people. The People‘s Republic of China was established in 1949 led by the Communist Party of China (CPC). Since then, the unequal treaties imposed on China by western powers, and all the privileges they had arrogated to themselves in China were abolished, and the history of the old Chinese semi-colonial and semi-feudal society was brought to an end. The core content and basic framework of China's socialist political system is the People's Congress System, the multi-party cooperation and political consultative system led by the Chinese Communist Party, the regional ethnic autonomy system, and grassroots democratic autonomy system. Mr. Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China's reform, once identified three standards for judging a political system1: First, whether it can guarantee the political stability of a country; Second, whether it can enhance people's unity and raise people's living standards; Third, whether it can ensure the sustainable growth of productivity.