Is China Turning Capitalist - Assignment Example

China Customer Inserts His/her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 14/06/ 2011 Part A Is China Turning Capitalist In the current world, almost all countries have turned to capitalism which is a social system in which majority of the people are living in. Capitalism has been seen to be in existence ever since with human history. Under capitalism, only minority of people own wealth and distribute to the rest through employment. China can be said to be turning capitalist. These is because, China has been regarded as one of the countries that has a large pool of labor. This is to mean that only a few people who are private individuals own the production and distribution of goods. This small group of people is termed as the “capitalist class”. The capitalist class employs other people to offer their energy for a wage or a salary (Perry et al 2008). Usually, this is usually cheap labor since the wages are too low. The prime purpose of a capitalism society is to earn profits rather than satisfying people’s needs. In China, capitalism is seen where its political and economic systems do not display a democratic environment. China has been seen to be more capitalist since it displays certain elements that characterize capitalism. These include: monetary system for producing bank-credit money, market exchange and private enterprise production of commodities (Ingham 2008). In a place like China where capitalism has continued to take a rise, the market is influenced by supply and demand forces. They minority group of people, the capitalist class, will usually dictate what to produce, quantity, distribution and price of the commodities. The capitalist class exploits the working class because they utilize a lot of their energy for low wages. This group is more concerned about making high profits which they equally use to invest in other viable business. Consequently, China displays a country with two different kinds of people. On the other hand, these private sectors have full support from the government of China. How might an understanding of China’s history and culture help explain its China’s underlying security concerns? The history and culture of any society can help explain and understand more the underlying security concerns. The history of China describes men of great and brave character that played a key role in ensuring that security is sustained in China. For example, a great man such as Hua Guofeng was highly credited for the arrest of the “Gang of Four”. The “Gang of Four” was a group of people from China who were alleged of organizing a coup d’état. Another great man was Deng Xiaoping who was the head of the military in China. Deng made major contribution in ensuring that economic and modernization were prioritizing. This means that China was secured in terms of economic well- being and hence provides an understanding on its security. These parts of history explain and provide an understanding of China’s security concerns as displayed by various personalities that appeared during the past. On the other hand, culture is another aspect that can help explain China’s underlying security concerns. In order to understand security based on culture, it is important to understand the different methodologies that a country like China used during fights or battles, more so during First and Second World War. China is well known for a fight referred to as “Kung fu”. According to Ollhoff (2008 p5) this kind of fight was created by individuals from China which was essentially a defense mechanism. China has frequently employed force against foreign powers. Security during much of China’s history did not require unambiguous military dominance. On the other hand, China preferred to make political arrangements so as to provide measures for security purposes. The history and culture of China provided for communities making up China or other states to enter into a treaty. These treaties were usually used to provide for security measures in all aspects of a state or a community (Swaine and Tellis 2000). What do you think are the major threats to continued China-ASEAN Relations? The relationship between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) came into existence back in the 1990’s. Since then there are major threats surrounding this relationship. One threat is that the ASEAN member states are raising great suspicions and a concern regarding China’s growing power and intentions toward Southeast Asia. In addition, China’s diplomacy in increasing its influence and concerns raised by ASEAN member states on its strategy provides a security threat. For example, in the current world China is categorized among the developed countries together with Japan and United States among others. This poses a threat since the ASEAN member states are less developed compared to China and fear that China may go overboard and become the controller (Yuan 2006). Another major threat is on how to sustain security in the region since one of the aims of this relationship was to promote security in the Asian community. A threat is posed due to the United States interest in the region and how to still engage it in this arrangement. Another threat is on how to resolve the underlying territorial disputes that surround the region. As long as China and the ASEAN community strive to achieve economic independence, they have to put effort in resolving some of these key issues. Another threat is on the military deployed and the implications of this China and ASEAN relationship on the future of United States and its interests. Part B China’s peaceful rise In his book released in 1996 Samuel P. Huntington talks about, “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order” he says that the Cold War will be followed by major wars resulting from fault lines in civilization. He figured out that competition between the communist east and the capitalist west caused the Cold War. Regardless of the truth in Huntington’s sentiments, the biggest question on international relations in this generation and beyond will be the criteria in which a new power has a peaceful rise so that there is no clash with the declining power. Currently it’s between America and China, but in future, it could be between any two civilizations or nation states. If history is anything to go by, these wars are normally brutal, especially with the awesome technologies in use today, nobody is likely to be spared and there will be no place to hide. China sees the US directly in front of her. If China does not believe in a clash, then little about “peaceful rise” could be heard from the government of china in her relations internationally. As China continues growing, she deepens and broadens her world relations. Building trust demands China to state what her vision is concerning the world in connection with her rise. This will foster other countries correlating the vision with her actions. Trust is built by greater correlation as opposed to hypocrisy which builds distrust. Opposing hegemony has been stated in the Constitution of China and that of the Communist Party of China. There is a Probability that no other political party or big country in the world has done this. Beijing claims that this “peaceful rise” will be without wars. The president of China Hu Jintao highlighted the need for a “harmonious world” which was characterized by peace. China has never stood for this before. Time and again, the Communist China has been at war with almost all of its 15 immediate neighbors. As china becomes wealthier, the more assertive she becomes. Many states view China as a competitor that is unfair in trade by keeping its currency too cheap. Beijing gives warning to other countries to not trade arms with Taiwan. Should we be bothered by China’s quest for prestige and power? What, does America crave for? The answer to this question depends on the kind of China that will emerge. It’s great if it is moving towards democracy. On the contrary China could become wealthy but not free, a single party Communist system that has designs that are expansionist and aggressive. If things turn to be bad, China could choose an aggressive and nationalistic direction. We should not that America’s participation in the East of Asia has been characterized by tragedies, misunderstandings and misperceptions. There is need for America to put into consideration respect for china. China could as well be the twenty first’s century most important problem. Moving in a democratic direction will make things go well for china. In a bid to avoid hurting the economy, the US is likely to subdue Beijing’s moves. The informal coalition that is opposed to china is not appreciated by china since it will make china to be isolated strategically. Currently Vietnam is seeking U.S. support for the small Southeast Asian Countries’ rights to be stood for in the South China Sea. Washington has never been clear on its interests in the seas of China. Precisely, the lakes do not belong to America, but are they completely Chinese lakes? Some argue that the U.S. is present to make the region stable, not to own but to balance. Beijing acknowledges that without U.S. forces in the south Korea and Taiwan Strait, china’s economic growth would be hurt by tensions built. These constitute two sides of one coin. The first side has the path of peaceful rise which is a Chinese characteristic that is intrinsic to socialism. The capitalist’s innate greed and capital characterized the rise of powers in the West which was accompanied by expansion and aggression, full of violence and blood. In short, peaceful rise represents the primary nature, content of, features and means to attain socialism in external relations with Chinese characteristics. This kind of move is not welcome in the west hence opposition and challenges to the peaceful rise are likely to occur. At the wake of this year, U.S. weapons sale to Taiwan caused a spar on the two sides. China had the military-to-military contacts with the United States frozen in response to these arms sales. Beijing was particularly annoyed over Washington’s association with the nations of Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam—and Hillary Clinton’s claims that the United States has a portion these countries’ territorial wars with Beijing.   Officers serving in the People’s Liberation Army have had their criticism grow over the West and Japan, sentiments that are connected with the rise in nationalism. The weathering of the world financial crisis by china has also increased the government’s willingness to call for a greater voice in institutions that are international. China overtook Japan this year as the second biggest world economy after a blistering three decades of growth that put the United States within reach of overtaking. The United States will never permit China to put a challenge to its leadership and thus will try by all means to contain China’s peaceful rise. References Charles Freeman and Nicholas R. Lardy, 2009, China's Rise: Challenges and Opportunities, Peterson Institute, Sydney. Pg 46 Huhua c. and Vivienne p, 2011, The China Challenge: Sino Canadian Relations in the 21st century, University of Ottawa Press, Ottawa. 116 Ingham, GK 2008, Capitalism, Polity. Joseph, Y.S, 2007, Challenges and policy programmes of China's new leadership, City University of HK Press, Hong Kong. Pg 26 Sujian, G, 2006, China's peaceful rise" in the 21st century: domestic and international, Ashgate Publishing, Perth. Ltd. pg 25 Swaine, MD & Tellis AJ 2000, Interpreting China’s Grand Strategy: Past, Present and Future, Rand Corporation. Perry, M., Chase, M., Jacob, MC & Jacob, JR 2008, Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Cengage Learning. Quanshen Z, 2008, managing the China challenge: global perspectives, Taylor & Francis, Beijing. pg 10 Guoguang, W, 2008, China turns to multilateralism: foreign policy and regional security, Routledge, New York. pg 222 Yufan, Y.S, 2007, Sino- American Relations: Challenges Ahead, Ashgate Publishing, Perth. Ltd. Pg 84 Ollhoff, J,v 2008, Kung Fu, ABDO. Yuan, JD., 2006, China-ASEAN Relations: Perspectives, Prospects and Implications for U.S Interests, Strategic Studies Institute. Read More