• draley said on Jul 02, 2006....

  With all the news about China, your insight into the matter is interesting. Your words paint an interesting picture, and it makes a person wonder what life looked like during the economic rise of the United States. Parts of the country benefitted from the Industrial Revolution before other parts of the country saw so much as a single complex machine. Many BBC radio broadcasts mention that rural areas still haven't recieved the full benefits of China's economic book. If this is true, what are your thoughts on the matter?

• visigoth said on Jul 02, 2006....

  Well, the rich areas are in the East, and everyone gets poorer as you move West. in later posts I'll discuss my travels to rural ares around Nanjing and Guilin (in Guanxi, near Canton province) and there are rural areas that are quite wealthy as well. But, I haven't made it out West just yet, but I have planned a trip out that way. I'll let you know what I see. Additonally, there's still the issue with the migrant workers. At this point, I wasn't so aware of them (notice the year is 2005). But, all the menial labor: trash collection, street sweeping, lawn mowing (which is done by hand), construction, and factory labor, is all done by poor migrants from poor rural regions. They typically live in small, temporary shacks, usally walled with nothing more than burlab sheets and work for a fraction of what the permanent residence earn (they are the equivelent of America's illegal immigrants from South America). So yes, the benifits of change are very uneven, and its reaching the point this warning that even the Communist Party itself is warning that stratification is reaching critical levels (and they hardly ever admit anything is going wrong). So it will be interesting to see how things work out. And this July I'll be visiting the Western provinces, so I'll be able to get a better first hand impression of the source land of the migrant workers

• draley said on Jul 02, 2006....

  Thanks for clarifying that. The changes in China seem to dominate certain parts of the American airwaves, but it's nice to hear about the changes in China from a different perspective. It puts flesh on the bones of a story in desperate need of a human face.

• anonymous said on Jul 02, 2006....

  I wonder what china will be like in 25 years. Will it be the #2 or #1 economy in the world? What about it's military?

• draley said on Jul 03, 2006....

  China has begun efforts to mordernize it's military. During the Clinton administration, the scandals about China stealing technology from nuclear labratories at Los Alamos were part of an effort by China to make some short cuts in updating their missle programs. (according to U.S. intelligence estimates and Time magazine) At that time, China had a single missle submarine capable of launching a grand total of ten nuclear missles. That one nuclear submarine had spent the better part of a year and a half in dry dock, by the way. A U.S. missle sub can launch as many as forty, depending on the model. Chinese land based missles from that period could hit the west coast of the U.S., but that doesn't match the launch capabilities of the former Soviet Union. The Department of Defense (DOD) has expressed concerns about more recent efforts by China to modernize their military, but those efforts could stem from a desire to gain the respect that goes with super power status. China wants to deal with the U. S. as an equal or superior rather than as an inferior state.

• visigoth said on Jul 03, 2006....

  It will still be 30-50 years before China's economy catches up with the US, and thier military is mondernizing, but still at a slow pace. For example, many Army posts are still required to be self-suficent, and the daily duties of soldiers includes farming and raising animals (but most soldiers are farmers anyway). Additionally, not all soldiers can be issued boots, and some wear "combat shoes" for their training. However, China is slowly developing a more modern core based on US tactics and technology. However, this is still a very very small inner core, perhaps 3-5,000 soldiers of the 2 million active duty soldiers are in "modern" units. This is rapidly expanding, but it will still be a while before its near an equal footing with the US.

• anonymous said on Jul 03, 2006....

  visigoth, "most soldiers are farmers" are not true. Chinese military has different structure from US. Some of soldiers are from farmers and do some farming, that is because of the special need. That is also what some of the soldiers do in Mao's time, do farming while do the trainning. And chinese military still defeated the US in North Korean war. So when comparing the military power, the material equipement is only part of it, the inspiration and the justice affect a lot in a war to determine who is going to win.

• visigoth said on Jul 03, 2006....

  I went back and reread my source. You're right, not nearly as much of the PLA soldier's duties involves farming anymore, though many do still farm their vegtables and raise thier own animals. you can read the article at: http://news3.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/05/content_3733739.htm But, from what I've learned talking to Chinese, most soldiers are farmers, in that before they joined the military, they were farmers. This is because Military service actually is compulsory in China, but those attending college are exempt (though they still have one month of basic drill and training). Thus, those who do not attend college are mostly from poor farming areas.... On antoher note, while service is mandatory, very few Chinese actually serve becasue physical standards are so high. China has an active duty force about as larrge as the US, but with over 4 times the population, allowing them to be very strict in entry requirments. Also, I would never underestimate the Chinese military, nor the will and dedication of the Chinese Army. While I was stationed in South Korea (back in my Army days) I knew a fellow soldier who's father had been the Sergeant Major of the Air Force (the highest enlisted rank). He apperently brought home declassified millitary reports to read in his free time (military folk do this kind of thing). One report he brough home was a scenerio analysis from the 1960 (when China was still very poor, and America was at its pre-Veitnam peak of strength) of a possible full scale war against China. In this hypothetical scenerio, China was said to be able to march its soldier through Siberia, cross into Alaska (being fought and bombed the whole way), through Canada, through the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, and they would still reach the Mississippi river before they could be stopped. And that was 40 years ago, when some PLA soldiers were still issued swords. More recently, some estimate that if fully mobalized, China could raise and support a 200 million man army, and that could potentialy be raised to 400 million (larger than the current population of the US). That would mean, that if every single American soldier killed 100 Chinese soldiers, America would lose. And every single American soldier would have to kill 200 CHinese soldiers just for a tie....

• anonymous said on Jul 05, 2006....

  What happens about the humanitarian aspect of the way in which things happen in China? They are becoming powerful and moving into other countries, they are already here in New Zealand. They come in here for education purposes. Now it is envisaged that trading will be boosted from here. Look out! Rice may become one of our highest yields in the near future. We could be planting rice instead of kumara. With the weather we've had for the last few weeks with plenty of water who knows rice may just spring up all over the country. I myself prefer the sweet potatoe, (kumera).

• anonymous said on Jul 11, 2006....

  let me tell you the last anonymous, China is not less humanitarian than any other countries.

• anonymous said on Aug 07, 2006....

  Through searching for blogs I have come across some interesting things but yours is very compelling to read. I also have an interest in China as I am now teaching in South Korea so I guess that fuels the fire so to speak. I can't imagine being so rural or at least close to it as Korea is pretty developed. I would have emailed you about this but this is my first time on this site and I am not sure how to do that. As the title indicates I have my own website which I am trying to promote through geniune inquiries to people. I am not the everyday spammer but I guess a spammer nonetheless. I know it will take a long time but in the process I get to find out about the interesting lives and cultures surrounding ESL in different countries. I would be delighted if you would add your blog to my listing. It's free and any revenue that I should make in the future I hope to put to a good cause of some sort, although like many passions there isn't really money as of yet. Anyway >> The ESL/EFL Blog List Check us out, we're new!! Travis

• anonymous said on Aug 07, 2006....

  as I said new to this site so >> www.eflblogs.com Hope to see your add sometime

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