Modern-Day China

Paper Summary:

The pace of economic and political change in China has been very rapid, for both have shifted into what seems to be an ongoing expansion into a capitalist system. This paper shows that, since the early reforms, a new class of wealthy and prosperous Chinese has emerged, not to mention the great growth of the Chinese middle class, which is now comparable to that in the United States. By exploring some aspects of its long and violent past, especially those that took place in the later years of the 20th century, the paper shows how China has also changed from a socialist society that restricted private lives and affairs to a consumer society with increased economic freedom and individual participation.

From the Paper:

"Beginning in 1964, China secretly initiated a crash industrialization program that was originally intended as a backup for any kind of military strike by the United States or the Soviet Union. Because much of China's industry was then concentrated on the Pacific coast, the leaders endorsed a highly-centralized investment plan to erect new industrial facilities in remote regions of the country. By 1971, this military-industrial program absorbed the majority of China's investments and eventually relocated existing factories from the coast and created a heavy industrial system that was able to produce every conceivable piece of military equipment. Surprisingly, the turmoil associated with the Cultural Revolution did not highly affect this industrial program, for in reality, it surged ahead by starting "many projects before the planning was complete and scattering many new facilities in remote valleys to protect them from air attack" (Hsu 184)."

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