Sun Yat-sens The International Development of China - Essay Example

Chinese Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Essay plan This paper addresses various historical issues. It is divided into two sections. The first section compares and contrasts Sun Yat-sen’s The International Development of China and the policies of the People’s Republic of China since Deng Xiaoping. The other section addresses the past humiliation suffered by China, Japan and Germany. In the first section, it is noted that Sun Yat-sen was the first transitional president of the Republic of China 1912. He aimed at transforming the administration of China and employed what was referred to as the Three Principles of the People. When China experienced wars in the first half of the 20th century, it was split into Kuomintang and the Communists. When the battle for supremacy ended, Deng Xiaoping took the charge of reforming the country. He was the supreme leader of the The People’s Republic of China, and during his regime, China made a lot of progress in terms of an increase in GDP. In the second part of the paper, the humiliation suffered by China, Japan and Germany is discussed. China went to war with Japan at a time the Qing Dynasty had divided the people into the poor and the rich, resulting in a rise in warlords. As a result, China was not militarily prepared and suffered great humiliation in the hands of Japan. On the other hand, Japan lost its war to Russia as the two countries fought over the Liaotung that belonged to China. Lastly, Germany suffered greatly when part of its military conspired with enemies to defeat Hitler during the Second World War. 4. Sun Yat-sen’s The International Development of China and the policies of the People’s Republic of China since Deng Xiaoping. Qing dynasty was the last imperial dynasty that governed China and October 1911 marked the end of the rule of imperial dynasty. Sun Yat-sen became the first transitional president of the Republic of China in January 1912. Several changes had to be made before the country could transformed to a republic and Sun Yat-sen as the president at that time had the responsibility of coming up with a system of governance that would lead to reforms that would make the country a republic. The philosophy that Sun Yat–sen employed was known as Three Principles of the People and although this policy is credited to him, he was not fully responsible for its design1. Before coming to power in 1912, Sun Yat-sen was a member of The Revolutionary Alliance and it is the intellects in this alliance that came up with the philosophy that Sun Yat-sen later employed and popularized when he took office.2 This political philosophy was based on three principles as the name suggests and these principles are nationalism, democracy and people’s livelihood. The first mention of Three Principles of the People was made by Sun in 1905 in a public speech that he made in Brussels.3 The three principles when broken down simply meant that the Chinese government was to be ‘of the people,’ and according to Sun the formation of a republic was the best option if the Chinese were to retain the freedom they had fought for. Secondly, the government was to be ‘by the people;’ this principle came by as a result of listening to a speech by Abraham Lincoln .Sun insisted that this democracy, although a western principle, was to be implemented in relation to the Chinese way of life for it to be effective. The last principle meant that the government was to be ‘for the people,’ implying that the government was to cater for the welfare of the Chinese people. This last principle has been a source of argument for people who have varying political views.4 At the time that Sun Yat-sen came to power the primary need of the country was to attain a sense of nationhood after the end of imperialism. It was also notable that if China were to make progress like Japan, then unity was going to play a big role and this could only be achieved if a proper system of government was in place. These are the reforms that were brought about by the implementation of the policies of Sun Yat-sen. The policies formed the foundation of governance in a country that was transforming its system of governance. It is the success of these policies, the fact that he was a uniting factor for his country, and his commitment to see his people enjoy freedom and equality that earned him the respect of being a reformist in his nation.5 Lack of unity and wars in the first half of the 20th century led to the split of China into two sections: the Kuomintang and the Communists. This battle for supremacy between the two camps came to an end in 1949 when the Communists claimed victory and founded The People’s Republic of China. Deng Xiaoping is given credit for the economic reforms that came about in China as a result of his policies. Notably, he never became president or held the highest position of power in The People’s Republic of China, which he sided with after the split of China in 1949. Deng is responsible for the economic system in The People’s Republic of China known as a socialist market economy. The reforms were made when he was the supreme leader of The People’s Republic of China. 6 This structure has led to the expansion of China’s GDP over the years. When Deng Xiaoping came to power the economy of China was centralized, had very little foreign influence in terms of foreign investors and the private sector of the economy was frail with little influence. Deng Xiaoping suggested that reforms be made to decentralize the economy and plan for it.7 Some of the reforms that he suggested were considered by his opponents as a return to capitalism that China was against. Deng refuted the claims and said his reforms were based on socialism with Chinese characteristics. The reforms were in agriculture, where households were given permission to contract land, till it and give the government a fixed amount of their harvest and dispose their surplus as they wished. In industry, the power to make decisions was given to managers and foreign trade and investment was permitted. Deng encouraged people to enter into joint business ventures with foreign investors. This opened China to foreign influence. Unlike his predecessors, he visited foreign countries and wanted China to develop a good relationship with the west.8 Deng insisted that the only influence China needed from the west was in science, technology and economics because in politics they had all the experience and knowledge in their party - the Communist Party of China. Though economic freedom had prevailed, freedom in politics was yet to be seen in his reforms. Huge generation of income came with these reforms but so did inflation and corruption that was mainly associated with Deng’s party. Deng is responsible for the eradication of poverty amongst most Chinese families. The economic growth and freedom enjoyed by the China’s economy is as a result of these reforms and the ability of China to interact with the rest of the world can also be credited to Deng’ efforts. .9 Both Sun Yat- sen and Deng Xiaoping brought freedom to their country and were passionate about the welfare of the people of China. While Sun believed that political freedom would be the path to take to achieve this quest, Deng pursued economic freedom. In the end, both led their country to reforms that transformed China into a better country. 2. Past humiliation suffered by China, Japan and Germany The humiliation suffered by China China, Japan and Germany suffered humiliation at certain times in their histories. This took place at different times and in dissimilar ways. In the ancient world, China was the wealthiest and most populated nation compared to all the European nations.10 As a result, many countries wanted a sphere of influence there. The Yellow River and Yangze Rivers in China ensured that agriculture was common and profitable, which normally sustained its large population. Most of the Chinese in the drier parts of the country were pastoralists and some worked in industries such as the textile industry. In addition, the Chinese a developed a system of writing that enabled them to be far above the rest of the countries in Asia. The Qing Dynasty had a system of government that segregated the rich and the poor and later the country fell into control of regional warlords who treated the Chinese people, quite literally, as dogs because of the hard work and heavy taxes imposed on them. This sparked the emergence of nationalism under Sun Yat-sen. 11 The Nationalist Party went to war with the Japanese and as a result, exploitation and corruption was evident. The Communist Party under Mao Zedong took power and distributed land to the people and the warlords were punished and put to labour. However, disadvantage of communism was slow economic growth and the inability to fairly balance demand and supply of goods and services. Humiliation in Japan took a different approach. Many authors are of the opinion that Japan was not an important state in Asia as China because the Japanese lacked the civilization that the Chinese had.12 The Japanese were under the rule of an emperor whose kingdom was largely influenced by the Chinese empire. Religion played a major role in the Japanese empire in that the people believed that the emperor was influenced by certain gods. When Russia allied with China and later established a base at Manchuria, the Japanese were unable to stop them. In turn Japan went into war with Russia and the move by Japan was driven by the importance of the Manchurian market. China could not offer military support and Japan warned them to stay out of it because they would become a liability instead of an asset. The conflict between China, Russia and Japan was over the Liaotung region, which Japan had occupied and was forced by international pressure to return it to China. However, Russia herself occupied it thereafter.13 Japan suffered undoubted humiliation under the hands of Russia, and beginning 1897, there was a major conflict between the two nations. Germany was considered one of the world superpowers in the 19th century during the colonial expansion and conquest. During their conquests, Germany always emerged victorious but this changed when they invaded Russia. The German government declared a state of emergency so as to deal with the issues facing the nation such as loss of labour that women were encouraged to join the industries and work. Russia and its allies surrounded and attacked the Germans at Stalingrad, and in turn, the Germans conceded defeat. Later, the British and Americans were able to take over Paris that belonged to the French who were German allies. Some Germans especially those in the military conspired with the enemy to defeat Germany. Hitler, the then leader of the German troops was physically and emotionally strained and as a result, he and his wife, according to committed suicide by cyanide poisoning and a gunshot.14 This marked the humiliation of Germany. Discussion Countries will always seek a solution to sort out their differences. In times when tension and unfairness has been experienced and dialogue does not have a voice, other nations help the distressed nations to engage in talks and sign treaties which will restore peace and harmony in the region after the humiliation. This is what happened between China and Japan. The Chinese were not militarily adequate as the Japanese or the superpowers of the time and this caused them the humiliation that they suffered. They could not defend their borders adequately from any of the external influences or countries that wanted their wealth. When the Terauchi cabinet of Japan became a government, they sought the friendly relationship that Japan once had with China. With the help of the nine powerful nations and a treaty signed in 1922 at Washington DC, Japan decided to grant freedom to China in essence that Japan would no longer interfere in her affairs and also respect her as a nation. In addition, the government gave loans to China so as to facilitate the growth of the Chinese economy15. Later, in 1922, the territory leased to Germany was returned and the Japanese sent their engineers to construct the Chinese Railway that they had destroyed. Germany was more powerful than the two nations combined but people lost trust in their leadership and the unity that the other superpowers formed to fight them could not be contested. References Bergere, M. & Lloyd , J. (2000), Sun Yat-sen. California: Stanford University Press Gerwarth, R. (2007). Twisted Paths: Europe, 1914-1945. Oxford: Routledge Press, p. 358. Giblin, J. (2002). The life and death of Adolf Hitler. Harcourt: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Howe, C. (1996). China and Japan. 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