Human Interest

This is a very interesting article...one can make too much of a country's history as a casual factors, and yet make too little of historical patterns at your own peril.  "To understand China's approach today to trade, foreign policy or censorship, consider its history."  This article considers a few of  China's current policies that may seem peculiar today but that make much more sense with a longer and deeper history.  Some of the topics considered include:

• trade
• trouble with neighbors
• Information flow
• Religious freedoms
• Technology

Tags: China, East Asia, historical.

Mega city to Meta city...

 Yes, Tibatan will be very upset.

I think we should preserve every culture, not only chinese culture.

Tibetan is their mother tongue.  As every culture has its own special characteristic.

"And public schools had dropped true bilingual education in Chinese and Tibetan" this quote shows Tibetan cannot learn both language.

  The officials cannot forced them to learn chinese, and should give Tibetan a bilingual education just like Singapore.

This will result that Tibatan's children do not know their mother tongue and lost that culture gradually.

Although this can assimilate Tibetan to become Chinese in future but I think the offcials can give TIbetan some choices to choose.

As a student who someday wants to teach social studies at the high school level, this article brought to light one of the hardest concepts to teach. There are always two sides to every story. While the victors get to write history, the victims are often silenced over time. One man's violent rebellion is another man's treasonous operations. Honestly, the Chinese have done an excellent job of keeping this out of the western media. The only real struggle we ever hear about in China that of Tibet and Taiwan.

This is really disturbing to know that China is attacking their ethnic minority who is just protesting for what they believing in. To make things worst, the Chinese government controls the media and they basically can say whatever they want. For example, referring to these ethnic minority as foreign terrorist. That changes the perspective on how people view and perceive the situation happening in Xinjiang.

Already this image is showing a clear impact that the massive increase in population is having on the landscape. The delata has narrowed and so has the major rivers. As population grows in mega cities like this so doesnt the increase for resources such as water, also when it increases this quickly sanitation practices decrease. One can only imagine the inpact on water quality this is also having.

It is amazing how fast a modern city can come about when there is no historical city to base the subsequent growth on.

It is astounding the amount of growth this one city has had in one decade and reminds me of some of the rapid development within the Middle East since the 70s which transformed cities like Dubai. Ecologically like most of what China does it is a disaster but fascinating from a development  one. Unfortunately the article doesn't offer a population so that it could be compared to Tokyo's since a size comparison was done in terms of land use. Hopefully China will find a sustainable method of growth because if city continue to grow like this it will be surprising if they could maintain stability. I personally thing this rapid growth is dangerous and like India they likely won't be able to keep up. Additionally since China's economy is very reliant on this type of growth it is concerning to think of what may happen to many of these cities when the growth they rely on stops.

The nation that controls the seas, controls the world. Throughout history the leading Naval powers have always been the worlds most dominate nations. The greatest land forces, are no match for the supremacy of the seas. Not even Napoleon could beet back the power of a supreme navy( The British Royal Navy). Since the end of the Second World War, The United States navy has dominated the seas. That domination has made the U.S the worlds greatest nation over the course of the past 75 years. For China to displace the U.S atop the nations hierarchy, they most out due us on the seas. China is ware of this history, and that is why they are heavily investing in their naval technology. The key to the future, as it has been in the past, will be what nation can dominate the worlds seas.

the growing strength of the Chinese navy is worrying from a military perspective, as during the cold war one of the main reasons they were not considered as big a threat as the Russians was because of their inability to project force beyond mainland china. with their navel improvements this is no longer the case. what this will hold for the future, we can only wait and see.

Major cities in the world should take a deeper look into controlling pollution problems in their cities.  At some point, these places will no longer attract people to live in these areas, thus lowering the impact that these industries may have.  But as long as people are still living here by the millions and there is tourism, and buisness is booming, nothing will be done about the issue.

Summer reading KQ4: pollution, smog, megacity, sustainability

Pollution is a huge issue facing both Hong Kong, and the rest of China in general. So far the government  has done little to actually combat the problem. The Chinese governments response has been to pretend that the problem does not really exist. A fake skyline can just erase the problem. In reality dealing with the pollution issue would actually help the Chinese economy. When people seek to go on a vacation, they are seeking a destination that is clean and safe. Who wants to visit a place were, you have to ware a mask to prevent the breathing in of armful chemicals. A cleaner less polluted china would lead to an expanded tourism industry.

it seems that this a a recurring theme with china. disputed lands surround this country inside and out, they claim to own all of it as well. but when the people that live their claim to be independent and choose not to associate themselves with you than it creates and interesting dynamic.

Due to urban migration, this village of Nagoro is said to be one of 10,000 small towns that will disappear in Japan.  I've been to some small towns in Japan and can say there is so much more culture in these villages than there is in the big cities.  I got a totally different feeling in my sole than when I ended my trip in Tokyo.  While both parts of the country have its pros and cons, it is terrible to think that these villages will be defeated to the rise of urbanism.   

It has been estimated that in the coming years 80% of people will live within mega cities. This is that statistic unraveling before our eyes. It is really sad to me because these within these small villages is a culture that is almost like an art in its own right. It is clear to see the impacts it has on the remaining villagers.

A depressing but also fascinating situation in Japan. Their Urban migration coupled by an aging population is wiping out their villages around the country. One women has even apparently been filling the village with dolls to make it seem more populated. How she got her neighbors to approve and where all the resources and money came from to pull that off who knows. However what is being witness now is a change in demographic but also one in geography since the village in 30 or so years could be reclaimed by the wilderness while the cities expand and have to cope with the influx taking away more wild land. Hopefully Japan gets this straightened out for they currently seem to be having the exact opposite demographic problem of China and India.

APHG- HW Option 7

Pearl river delta

Cities in this region have experienced spectacular growth; they are at the heart of China's manufacturing and exporting boom.  For example, Shenzen was a small city with about 10,000 residents in 1980 but is now a megacity with over 10 million people.  China's SEZs (Special Economic Zones).  Cities that were once separate entities have coalesced into a large conurbation and if they are counted as one, it's now the largest metropolitan area.  Cities like London and New York become global cities over hundreds of years--this happened in one generation.  Click here for 5 infographics showing East Asia's massive urban growth.      

Tags: APHG, urban, industry, manufacturing, economic, unit 7 cities, megacities, China, East Asia.

There will always be problems with every country. China needs to focus on their new issues and deal with them properly.

As China grows more aggressive in its territorial claims, Japan and South Korea are both adjusting their militaries to fit the situation. Both countries are expanding their military presence throughout the disputed region as they worry about China's expansion. The article states that China may be attempting to push American presence further away from their shores, and explains the increasing tensions between the two.

I understand that the united states has been the most powerful country in the world for the last 100 or so years and that china was not so powerful. But now china thinks it is time to grow and can do so because of its great economic situation and its building of military. China has rapidly moved up the ranks in these two titles and finally they want to show the world how powerful it got. i don't know what happens in the future but china knows it got America nervous though we would never admit it. 

Preliminary HSc - Global challenges: Population

The article headline is quite click-baity, but there is some real substance to this article.  The graphs are especially useful to teach concepts such as population momentum and the age-dependency ratio. These were the key parts of the article that caught my eye:

• An aging population will mean higher costs for the government, a shortage of pension and social security-type funds, a shortage of people to care for the very aged, slow economic growth, and a shortage of young workers.
• Following feminism's slow build in Japan since the 1970s, today's workers strive for equality between the sexes, something Japan's pyramid-style corporate structure just isn't built for. That's because institutional knowledge is viewed as a big deal in Japan.
• The elderly now make up 27% of Japan's population. In the US, the rate is only 15%. Experts predict the ratio in Japan could rise to 40% by 2050. With that comes rising social-security costs, which the shrinking younger generations are expected to bear.
• To make up for an aging population and aversion toward immigrant work, Japan's tech sector has stepped up its efforts in robotics and artificial intelligence.

Tags: culture, gender, labor, population, migration, Japan, East Asia.

unit 2 article 1              2

This interactive page gives relevant information about islands that are disputed over in southeast Asia.  I liked it because you could see the information in context with the map.

This is like a game of Monopoly when people try and get all the houses or businesses. Except this is real life and real isles. Whose is whose? How does Asia decide where and how the EEZ's should be divided.

considering that half of the nations involved are island nations, this is hardly surprising. every nation has issues with their neighbors. even the us and Canada dispute some territory. but these disputes can hardly end as well, when half of these nations have fought wars with each other for most of their histories.

Some truly amazing images in this collection from The Atlantic.

The impact of the Three Gorges Dam on the residents upstream is amazing. I cannot imagine anything like this happening in the US, mostly because of the impact on the people both upstream and downstream. Ecological damage from this dam may not phase the Chinese government, but I think any North American or European government would shudder at the thought of the backlash among their citizens this would create.

Three Gorges damn in China is the largest dam ever constructed. This was created to save on power by creating hydroelectric power for the people of the land. One of the issues with this was the the flooding of the land up streams displacing millions of people. It created a larger up stream area and very small down stream. A lot of the people that lived up stream had to be relocated further inland and faced changing climatif weather. The banks of the river are carved out between what seems like mountainous regions so as you move more uphill the weather and temperature will be a whole new category of life (Depending on how far you relocated).

A big portion of China's economic boom the last few decades has been linked to the transformation of what used to be a predominantly agrarian civilization to an economic engine fueled by rapid urbanization.  This 2011 video from the Economist is still highly relevant today.   

@Céline

Une courte vidéo de la revue The Economist

By doing so, China is not only digging land, but also preparing futur heavy discord. It's so strange : China critisize US hegemony and try to balance it. As result, China is having the same agressive attitude that US Bush era. Of course, not using bombs, but "pacifically" invading south China Sea.

I was wondering with the world being 80% ocean how much ocean can be transformed into land with these man made islands. Once again creating military strategic posts.

China is a powerful country with a population of 1.357 billion people. China as a regional hegemony, the more land means expansion of territorial control on the region and projecting sea power on international waters. However the main reason why China, the Philippines, and other countries are trying to claim these islands is due to the oil and natural gas exploitation in the South China Sea. Even when geopolitical conflicts between Philippines and other countries arise, any of these countries will have to form powerful armies in order to fight against China. The U.S. would be the only country that could pursue different strategies and mediate agreements between China’s neighbors. However, through military intimidation, China would overpower any country that tried to claim these islands as part of their territory. 

China has its hopes on securing the land that is rich in oil to bring prosperity to the country.  China is building a great wall of sand and seems as though they are not fearful of others stopping it even though China has been warned that these actions create tension from Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.  

In addition to the original BBC article, here is another article from the Telegraph with some aerial imagery showing the extent of this geo-engineering project.  This has plenty of geopolitical implications and the United States government is on record saying that it is "concerned."

Pumping in sand to cover coral reef and create more land is a very inventive way to make new territory, using concrete and placing bulldozers and other machinery is helping China gain more land and gain more access in the South China Sea yet this who pumping is making people question and causing places such as the Philippines to  file complaints saying they will not be associated with the whole plan that China has. Why is China exactly pumping sand and spreading concrete over the live coral reefs? Does China know they are killing live animals and plants underneath the sea? 

While looking into the matter I found that China believed the whole act of reclaiming land to be "entirely within China's sovereignty and are totally justifiable". Now people all over the world are focused on land and power, not about other social matters. This land pumping is not only causing conflict but it is creating more opportunity to better work and living conditions.

China is a large and powerful nation that is not afraid of flexing military muscle to its smaller neighbors.  The developments of China building artificial land to strengthen its claim in the region shows how determined the country is to have its claims honored.  It also shows that China will stop at nothing to have regions were resources could be to aid in the countries economic growth.  However, China is causing a great deal of controversy through its actions.  Also, China's neighbors are becoming increasingly frustrated with the large nation, yet they are all much smaller nations that really can't prevent the Chinese from doing what they want, especially with China declaring it won't listen to what the UN has to say.  China is a country that is not afraid of strongman politics to get what it wants.

This art seems like a logical extension of the government’s use of power although I personally don’t agree with their abuse of power. In China the government will uses its authority to monitor the personal activities of its citizens as demonstrated by the pictures dictating what people should and shouldn’t wear. When the citizens don’t follow through with China’s rule, violence typically happens. In fact, a fair deal of the paintings showed violence (i.e. the tank running people over). I actually find those depictions more offensive and disturbing than any of the other pictures because the end result is clearly that of dath rather than disapproval. Now, I understand that some places need to be ruled with an iron fist (i.e. Iraq), however I don’t really see how threatening people with more violence solves the issue of extremism. If anything, doesn’t this just give the extremist more of a reason to dislike the government? As such, is the government just creating more resentment that will lead to demonstrations in the future? I say this because eventually when a local population is subject to such horrible treatment, there isn't much else to lose and very little reason no to fight back. 

This article has great insight on the way government influences popular belief. We have seen these many times in American society also when government was afraid of communism during the cold war for instance. Often we have prejudgements or beliefs and we are not sure where they even stem from. Pushed Propaganda can be very influential over the mass population, in instilling certain beliefs.