Modernization in the Peoples Republic of China - Research Paper Example

Supervisor’s due: Impact of Modernization in China Table of Contents Works Cited 16 China is known to be thesecond greatest economy globally with 1.2 billion people in the population. The rapid economic growth in the country is highly enhanced by the modernization process profoundly influenced by the geographical location, resources, the people and the environment. The essay discusses the effects of modernization on the above themes and evaluates the research question. The study also evaluates the hypothesis on the weather modernization has affected the China’ economy negatively based on the environment, the people, the boundaries and the environment. The report concludes by giving the evaluation of the research question and the research’s thesis. Introduction The people’s republic of China was established officially in 1949 and had its capital in Beijing city. At the time of its establishment, the Chinese people have reference to a coalition of social classes, which was comprised of the peasants, the capitalists, the workers and the petite bourgeoisie. The four categories of the Chinese people are led by the CPP, which is the guide to the working class. The country’s people during the time of its establishment were approximately five million, of which ninety percent comprises the peasant farmers. It is also clear that the most of the Chinese were rural residents regardless of the fast modernization, and urban migration is taking place in the neighboring countries such Korea and Japan (Kai 32). The people’s republic of China was adversely affected by decades of war hence the need for its management to establish a framework for efficient economic growth. Mao leads the CPP party, which is the original ruling party in the country, while the state’s leadership comprised of Zhou Enlai. Regardless of the fact that the people’s republic of china has establishment early in 1949, The Soviet Union currently referred to as Russia recognized China as an independent nation in October 1049. The two nations had an agreement in the year 1950 in which the Soviet Union they would benefit mutually in terms of economic growth. The agreement encouraged friendship, mutual assistance and alliance between the Soviet Union and the people’s republic of China (Zhao 424). The argument slowed the countrys initial economic growth that the state had division into classes where the individuals of the various types carried out their activities discriminatory of the individuals from the other types. The division of the people into classes implicates highly on the economic development, which required the cooperation and handwork of all the Chinese. The Chinese government under was highly disciplined because of the experience gained from the decades of war. The leadership was determined to implement different political and economic policies geared towards establishing a modern China in terms of industrialization and political stability (Xianghai 6). A state of the China People’s Republic initiated many reforms geared towards integrating all the people’s classes effectively for efficient economic development (Kai 24). The government encouraged the Chinese to procreate efficiently to increase the country’s labor force. The country’s population, however, increases tremendously which led to the establishment of laws meant to control the high growth in the country’s population in 1970. The country was slowly gaining industrialization in 1970s through to 1990s. The development of various power plants utilizing coal for fueling has highly affected the environment in china because of production of greenhouse gases, which are the primary pollutants in the world. China has also established various manufacturing and processing industries, which also contribute a lot in pollution as well as destruction of the environment (Xianghai 6). The country’s environment had the characteristics from quite a large portion of forestland resulting from the agricultural activities of the peasants. However, urbanization because of economic development and industrialization has led to encroachment of the forestland and the agricultural land, which enhances pollution since there is no enough plant cover to consume the large volumes of carbon produced by the companies (Zhao 431). Modernization in the People’s Republic of China issues from an economic as well as the social integration reforms established by the central governments of the country. The various Chinese governments have embarked on implementing different policies, which promotes economic growth and the country’s political stability. The result of the different state policies reflects in the rapid economic growth experienced in China in the last decade (Xianghai 6). The economic growth results from industrialization initiatives and the establishment of adequate power plants, which enhance a twenty-four hour economy. China currently has its ranking as the second world largest economy following United States and might soon become the largest in the world because of the various trade initiatives in developing countries (Piao 45). The development of companies in the country encourages movement of peasants to the city in search of employment and better living standards. The young generation growing in the rural areas is also moving to several cities in the country in search education and modern lifestyles. Modernization in the People’s Republic of China has description in terms of migration of the peasants to the cities, establishment of modern structures such as roads, railways and buildings and the development of various industries. The geographic area of the country affects its economic growth and its modernization in different ways such trade and political stability, which has direct effects from its neighboring countries. However, the current crisis in Korea affects the Chinese economy in that, trade has reduced, as a result, of the clashes between the North and Southern Korea (Zhao 435). The migration of quite a large community of the Chinese to the city results in congestions hence the need by the government to establish more housing structures to cater for the housing demands in the country. The displacement of the peasants from the agricultural lands because of the establishment of modern structures and industrialization contributes to an increase in crisis between the peasants and the state since most of them wants compensation. The government has to establish housing, as well as efficient transport system to the workers and the displaced citizens in different parts of the country. Modernization in the People’s Republic of China issues from adoption of efficient education system, which mainly focuses on technology, and development of talents. The Chinese education system has seen a change from the original conservative nature to a more modern system adopted from the United Kingdom. In addition, the current education system in the country focuses on developing entrepreneurial activities in the country, which limits over dependence on the formal work, which has the limitation because of the large group (Xianghai 6). The people’s republic of China depends mainly on natural resources such as fishing, agricultural, mining in addition to other resources from industrialization. Thesis Statement The project seeks to unveil the impact of modernization on the people, environment and the boundaries in China. Research question What are the impacts of China’s modernization on the people, boundary, resources and the environment? Hypothesis Modernization has affected the China’ economy negatively based on the environment, the people, the boundaries and the environment. Modernization and Bounderies The location of China is the Eastern Asia, and it borders the East China Sea, the Bay of Korea, Yellow Sea, South China Sea and lies between Vietnam and North Korea. The country has its location on the 35 00 N, 105 00 E geographic coordinates. The People’s Republic of China covers an approximately 9,596,960 sq km in which 9,326,410 sq km is comprised of area while water bodies comprise 270,550 sq km. China is slightly smaller as compared to America on the basis of the country size and experiences extremely diverse tropical climate in the south Asian continent margin (Zhao 431). Geographically, china mainly comprises of high plateaus, mountains, deserts in the western parts of the country and the eastern part is mainly composed of mountains, deltas and hills. China has different countries which include: Afghanistan, Russia, India, Bhutan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Burma, Mongolia, North Korea, Nepal, Tajikistan, Vietnam and regionally it is borders Hong Kong 30 km and Macau with 0.34 km (Zhao 420). The geographical area of the People’s Republic of China enhances modernization in the People’s Republic of China in many ways, which ranges from trade, employment, military support and production of power. The first agreement made between China and its geographical neighbors was in 1950 when Russia and China signed a friendship, alliance and mutual assistance treaty. The treaty results in an increase, in trade activities between China and Russia as well military support. China had come out of a civil war when the treaty was signed implying that, Russia would play a great role in enhancing integration and economic development in China (Zhao 423). Russia was also modernized because of the impact from other European countries, therefore, China benefits by borrowing economic strategies from Russia. At the time of the treaty, Russia boasted of the most equipped and trained army in the world. This suggests that most of the political enemies of China experience a threat from the Russian power in China. The development of businesses and infrastructure in China is highly influenced by the Russian architecture and culture as compared to other countries in Europe. Scholars, argue that, in terms of civilization and modernization in Asia, China is the most influenced by European culture (Shen 280). Regardless of the benefits brought about by economic agreements between China and its neighbors, there are negative influences brought about by the country’s neighbors such as North Korea. North Korea’s negative impact on the economic as well the political stability in China traces back to 1980s during the civil war in Korea in which China assisted the North Koreans regardless of the United Nations effort in preventing external interference in the war. This slows the rapid growth of the country’s economy, therefore, hindering modernization (Zhao 429). Presently, modernization in China is highly influenced by the geographical neighbors such as India, Kazakhstan and Burma. India is quite an industrialized country and is high advance in terms of education especial science and technology. The current modernization in China obtains much power from India form of Industrialization. The effective education system in India attracts several students from China who after completing their training go back to the mother country with new ideas hence the high rates of innovation in the electrical and electronic industry in China. Most of the Chinese researchers obtain materials for reference from the large number of Indian writers on different sectors of the economic and the knowledge obtained has its use in implementing different policies in the country, which enhances modernization in many ways (Zhao 420). China has a view as a conservative country in terms of cultural practices, which hinders the government’s efforts of modernizing the economy. However, a recent result from European countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan, which are less conservative regardless of their economic status. The inter-country trade between China and its neighbors influences the Chinese peasant’s view of urbanization in many ways. The Chinese peasant farmers are able to interact with foreigners from the neighboring countries as they purchase different farm products. They benefit economically and socially since they tend to emulate the current practices of the foreigners. The traditional style of dressing among the peasant farmers in China is slowly being having a replacement by the modern designs, which find its origins Russia and Burma. The power of the China’s neighboring countries in its modernization is in the large number of Chinese peasant farmers moving to the city in search of better employment opportunities due to massive investments by foreign countries in China (Shen 280). The Chinese military has modernization in terms of equipments and other war artilleries because of the Russian power. Russia has a legacy as one of the worlds advanced countries in terms of equipping their military. The results of the Russia’s approach of equipping and training of the military reflects in the approach being used China. Initially, China used to train its military personnel based on the traditional set up initiated by various dynasties. The implication of this method of practice is in a war that affected the Chinese economy for almost two decades. However, since the signing of the mutual assistance and friendship with Russia, China has modernized its military operations in terms of training and equipments. The current economic growth in China results to advancement in the innovation of military equipments and artillery, which contributes in enhancing the effectiveness of the Chinese military. The current advancement in science and technology in China, as a result, of economic growth has enhanced innovation in the military department, which promotes both political and economic stability. The interaction between the Chinese authorities and its neighbors enhances modernization because of the social impact, the political and economic power. Initially, the Chinese were not involved in business transactions but currently ranks among the highest investors both internally and externally (Zhao 433). Modernization and Environment The process of modernization in China goes alongside economic activities such as industrialization and waste management. The previous leadership in China emulates economic activities that encouraged depletion of the natural resources as well as the environment. The country’s former dynasties supported construction of infrastructures by use of wood, which was from the forests. There were no set policies set to control the application of natural resources by the society (Piao 45). This led to the high rate of deforestation and destruction of water resources because of economic development geared towards establishing a modern China contributes profoundly to destruction of the natural resources such as water resulting from the disposal of industrial effluent in rivers and lakes. The process of urbanization also increases the rates of contamination of the water supplies since most of the waste from the households in the urban areas has direction to the ocean and the rivers (Zhao 427). This suggests that, in terms of modernization, urbanization effects to high levels of pollution of water as well as the contamination of the composition of soil. Water pollution resulting from industrialization and the migration of peasants in the city affects the native Chinese who are mainly farmers in many ways such as reduction in agricultural production because of the interference of the soil structure by chemicals from industries (Xianghai 6). The process of modernization results in the establishment of various power generation techniques, which includes the use of coal, hydropower and the nuclear. The hydropower generation plants act as an environmentally safe power generation method in the world alongside wind and solar energy power generation. Hydropower production plants produce a minimal amount of carbon in the environment since it uses minimal amounts of fuel (Piao 45). Moreover, production of power by use of solar and wind power is the cleanest mode of generating but the quantity of power generated through such methods is limited to internal use only. In the process to support the economy growth because of modernization, there is a need for production of large amounts of power. The Chinese government has established many power generating plants which use coal as the dominant form of fuel. Other stations use radioactive materials in the nuclear plants. Generation of power by use of nuclear power is regarded the unsafe mode of generating power in the world at it requires the full attention and resources to ensure security of the citizens (Piao 45). There is currently no mechanism developed to cater for the waste product of the nuclear processes in power production. The elements used in the nuclear reactors are highly radioactive which affects the environment once disposed underground. The wastes are usually indecomposable which implies that their results in the soil are long lasting and have long term results in the soil structure as well as other resources such as water. The destruction of the soil composition results to a decrease in food production, in the country, therefore, the state depends on business revenues to implement economic objectives. The use of coal in industries and power production is another source of environmental degradation resulting from modernization of the People’s Republic of China (Bei 6). The use of coal generates large amounts of carbon in the environment, which enhances global warming and climate change. This is a clear indication that the modernization process in China has impacts the world in general rather than China. The need for energy in China has increased because of the country’s citizens to adopt modern lifestyles, therefore, there is no remedy for production of energy. However, there is a need to adopt safe modes of producing energy to conserve the environment and to minimize the effects of global warming. The effects of modernization and industrialization mostly lead to environmental degradation. Environmental degradation because of modernization may have long-term impacts on the economic growth since the government spends approximately nine percent of the gross national product in controlling environmental effects (Piao 49). Modernization and Resources Resources refer to both natural and artificial products available in a given commercial, which enhances economic development. The Chinese economy has its foundation on the natural resources in addition to ever-increasing resources from the companies, which contribute to economy’s fast growth rate. The natural resources in China are be classified as land resources, water resources, biological and minerals. The occurrence of such resources is mainly in the Eastern and Northern parts of the republic. China boasts of the availability of industrial minerals found in the world, which accounts to one hundred and fifty types of minerals of which China exploits one hundred and thirty-five types of minerals (JIANG 90). The water sources in China have classification as the runoff water resulting from rainfall, rivers, lakes and the ocean. China ranks sixthly in the world in terms of water resources with Brazil, Russia, Canada, United States and Indonesia leading. The water resources have been the primary facilitators of Chinese economic development based on agriculture and industrialization. The main governmental income source was agriculture before the industrialization era. The degradation of the environment because of industrialization and urbanization brought about by modernization affects the water resources in China, which leads to a reduction in agricultural production. Modernization affects the income generation because of export and sale of agricultural products by the peasants in the eastern parts of China (Cheung 50). Modernization results in exploitation of minerals such as coal and radioactive elements, which have adverse effects on the environment. Large amounts of carbon dioxide production in the atmosphere come from the use of coal in the industries and power generation plants. The disposal of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere contributes to global warming that enhances climate change (Shen 300). Modernization and the People China carries the worlds highest population with approximately 1.2 billion people. The population distribution of the country’s population is approximately one hundred and ten persons per square kilometer. This population distribution represents one third of the Japanese people and has the status to be less than the general population distribution in most of the European countries. The dominant population in China occupies only forty percent of the country’s land during others in urban areas. The population distribution is China is sparse because of the large size of the country. Initially, there were only a few ethnic groups recognized by the Chinese authorities, which include the Han, Manchu, Mongol, Turkish and the Tibet ethnicities. The current state recognizes fifty-six ethnic groups in China where the Han comprise the majority of the China’s population (Cheng 131). Majority of the China’s people are found in the rural areas while a small percentage of the population is occupies the urban areas. The people of China are mainly peasant farmers and a few ethnic groups in China practice fishing. Modernization in China enhances rural to urban migration in search for jobs and better life opportunities. Modernization has enhanced development of industries, mining and investment, therefore, creating employment. Majority of institutions of education in the country are mainly in the urban areas, therefore, the young generations in China are migrating to the urban areas in search of education. Urbanization, as a result, of modernization results in the development of the real estate sector implying that the lifestyles of the community improves, as a result, of the provision of good housing by both private organizations and the state (Xianghai 6). Conclusion China has the population count of approximately 1.2 billion. The country is bordered by Russia, India and others, which have impacted profoundly on the China’s modernization process. The Chinese see the impact o the geographical location, as well as the bordering countries, in terms of the adoption of alien cultures. For example, quite a large number of the Chinese have adopted European lifestyles. In addition, the impact of modernization on the Chinese environment is reflected on the increase in pollution, as a result, of industrialization. Emission of greenhouse gases has increased in China of which most of it originates from the manufacturing and processing industries in different parts of the country. Moreover, modernization has impacted profoundly on the people of China in many ways such as the introduction of new ethical groups, migration of people from rural areas to urban centres, introduction of education and alteration of the traditions and practices of the Chinese. Works Cited Bei, WANG. 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