sessions 10-12 readings (12/5 and 12/7)

[Anonymous]

I was very intrigued by the memorial service of Mao and the image that was edited in the papers. It is interesting how censorship has been around for many years, and I would like to talk to my students about censorship not only in language, but also in images. I think this would be a good hook to have students think about the two images and the purpose of censorship in these scenarios. What would lead PEOPLE to be censored out of an image?

[Anonymous]

The article "Chinese Migrants: Refreshing Reporting About a Longtime Trend" had an interesting point that reminded me of the migrant workers here in the US, their poor labor conditions are hardly every reported. This article could be used in comparison to the migrant workers here in the US compared to the migrant workers in China. We ask questions related to the type of people that was migrating, who was taking advantage of them, why was their poor conditions not reported/improved, when did those conditions start to improve? who helped the migrants? and so on....

[Anonymous]

The article "Korean County Achieves Its Goal: Less Birth Control, More Babies" Sheds light into what is happening in any East Asian countries, lack of babies and a older population. At first countries did not want their citizens to have babies so that they could control poverty but now they are starting to realize that babies are important in order to keep services available to those that can't take care of themselves anymore. With China lifting their "One Child" policy it is evident that China is also realizing that now that they need more babies so they can take care of the aging population. It also important to note that these countries have reached a point in their economies where babies are no longer going to suffer through starvation.

[Anonymous]

The article "Japan to Accept Foreigners for Housekeeping Services to Spur Economic Growth" was a surprising article to read, given how Japanese has had anti-foreigner sentiments in the past. While this program sounds like an ideal way to spur economic growth and get women job opportunities, I would want to know more about the logistics and how the women are treated. Is the wage fair? Are their living conditions safe? The article mentions guidelines, but with new programs, there are always loopholes and caveats they have to be aware of. Again, this would be a great article to share with students, and have them debate this questions about the ethics of this program and whether it is sustainable or not.

Other articles in this Japan PDF that were intriguing were the ones focusing on Japan's "greying population" and push for immigration. Despite its cultural beliefs, given the stats from these two articles, Japan has no choice but to be inviting to immigrants in order to be able to support their elderly populations. Whether this will follow through is the question. I would definitely be more interested in reading more articles regarding how Japan is dealing with their declining population.

[Anonymous]

The news article "Korean Country Achieves its Goal: Less Birth Control, More Babies" shows the common thread that is occurring in China and Japan as well, which is an aging population and a lack of youth/adults to support the elderly. The efforts and propaganda to discourage women and families from having babies 15-20 years ago proved to be successful, in that the article states how the fertility rate decreased dramatically in these years. It is quite ironic though that now within the last five years the opposite message has been given to Korea, Japan and now currently China. My wondering is how the people in these societies feel about these mixed messages over the last few decades, and if there have been any public outcries regarding the fertility issues/pressures.

[Anonymous]

It was quite fascinating to actually read some of the posters that were written during the protests at Tiananmen Square. They really illustrated the voice and sentiments of the protestors and students. There was especially a quote from one of the posters that resonated with me, which stated, "But none of this will come [widespread democracy and flexible economic policies] to us: we must reach out and struggle for it." This quote definitely represents the student protests and struggles they went through in 1989. It was also interesting to read in this passage how although Deng condemned the protests, they still intensified and spread to other cities in China. Again, this connects back to the quote I mentioned above, in that the students were not willing to give up on the ideas they believed in.

[Anonymous]

As we sat and we went through this last lecture in our series, the dynamic that stood out to me the most was the role of women. Despite the fact that China became less democratic, it seems that their power increased. This reminds me a bit about the shifting roles of women in colonial Korea. It seems that despite the fact that Koreans were disenfranchised under Japanese rule, women gained more power. This is an interesting dynamic to observe because it is usually the case that when human rights are violated, disenfranchised groups like minorities and women tend to feel the effects of this on a more pronounced level. There seems to be a very special exception to this rule in China and Korea. It seems that with the dismantling of traditional structures, women experienced a higher level of autonomy.
edited by nramon on 1/10/2016

[Anonymous]

This piece presents an alternative point of view to the student protests of Tiananmen Square, as it tells a perspective that aims to undermine the efforts of the student protesters. There are several details included in this account which aims to expose students. For example, it calls out reports that says police squads caused the bloodshed at the square, instead reporting that it was the students who caused a lot of the havoc. It also aims to undermine the idea that students were interested in dialogue with government officials, as it reveals that any meetings were canceled by students with an intent to provoke the hunger strike they had preventively planned. I can see myself using this piece on a primary source based assignment that asks students their opinions on what might have happened at Tiananmen Square. I would excerpts of this piece in conjunction with student accounts of the protest and the accounts of the American journalists who reported on the event.
edited by nramon on 1/11/2016

[Anonymous]

I was not aware that China had a "household registration" system that establishes two classes, one city and one country. Moreover there were millions of citizens born during the one-child policy years that had no status at all since they were unregistered. Granting unregistered citizens hukou is a step in a good direction, however the inherit problems in creating a city and country class are not addressed.

[Anonymous]

It was intriguing to read about the private life of Mao. Although I would have expected Mao to be more frugal given his ideologies, the news does not surprise me. Historically, our leaders do not practice what they preach. With that being said, I do not really want to learn more about his private life. I do not think that is too relevant to me.

[Anonymous]

In reading the article "Korean County Achieves Its Goal: Less Birth Control, More Babies", there are a few things that jumped out to me. My first reaction to this article was to think that it's great that the Korean government is stopping its attempts to limit the amount of children that women have. They are even providing support in the form of food, clothing, and monthly allowances to families. The article continues to praise the efforts of the county in celebrating births and supporting new families. Overall the article takes on a very positive attitude towards the new policies that are encouraging child birth. But upon thinking about this a little more, I am somewhat skeptical. I understand the motives of the government, but my concern is that the government in Korea is still playing an active role in steering families to make decisions about how many children to have. It would be one thing if they simply stopped discouraging families, but I find is somewhat concerning that they are so motivated to encourage people to become parents. I mostly wonder what will happen in a few years if they find that they can no longer sustain an economy with this increase in child births.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing these readings to prepare us for the discussions surrounding the Tiananmen Massacre. That was all I really knew about this incident-- the final moments when everything blew up. I really had no idea what led to the protests and eventual extermination of these students who were not protesting communism so much as the loss of a dissenting voice to make communism more palatable in their country. The nuanced angles and motivations are what escaped me and what I feel is our job as educators to focus upon when teaching students about events in their entirety. Teaching the Declaration of Independence without explaining all the conflicting grievances that had built up over decades would not hep students better understand the cogency of Jefferson's arguments nor the parallels to modern conflicts whereby all people are not enjoying the rights endowed by their creator.

[Anonymous]

I read the BBC article. Thank you for sharing. It was very interesting, and hopefully the changes will be a great relief for many people.

[Anonymous]

The documentary you created with Mike Chinoy was fascinating to watch. I had been in Tiananmen Square during the summer of 1988, as a college student studying for the summer throughout China. The film brought back memories and recollections I had of the juxtaposing philosophies of China both being open to the West, while also being very wary of Westerners. The people I met were sweet and wonderful, but there were a couple of instances where I was worried. I wish I could say that I kept in contact with those that gave me their addresses to write to, but at twenty years old, I came back to America and just moved forward into graduation, marriage and babies. Three babies often prevent one from being a good pen pal.

[clay dube]

These are readings for the Tiananmen session on 12/5 as well as for the closing session on Monday, 12/7. First, here's an expanded version of the handout we passed out on Saturday (additions: chronology, more from Deng Xiaoping, and a letter an American professor wrote to the New York Times about the violence in Chengdu, published 6/10/1989). The Chengdu demonstrations weren't unknown - they have not been remembered.

dube-tiananmen-handout.pdf

Tiananmen
1) dube-democracy-wall--b[1].pdf --- collection of quotations from the 1979 movement in Xidan, Beijing
2) talking-points-20140603-remembering tiananmen square.pdf -- 6 page overview of the movement and its legacy
3) han - documents circulated by protestors
4) [optional] Deng Xiaoping speaking to the leaders of the troops that suppressed the demonstrations: https://dengxiaopingworks.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/address-to-officers-at-the-rank-of-general-and-above-in-command-of-the-troops-enforcing-martial-law-in-beijing/
5) Che Muqi -- a government narrative on what happened and why

Contemporary China
1) magstad-chang-meyer.pdf -- migrants and making a living
2) [optional] Liebold on ethnic policy in China (2013) http://www.eastwestcenter.org/sites/default/files/private/ps068.pdf
3) [optional] China Government White Paper on China's Ethnic Policy (2009) http://china.usc.edu/prc-state-council-white-paper-chinas-ethnic-policy-and-common-prosperity-and-development-all-ethnic

Contemporary Japan and South Korea
1) japan-labor-war-2014-15.pdf -- immigation, labor, marking the 2015 anniversary of 1945 defeat
2) choe-2015-korean-county-more-babies.pdf -- demographic trends
3) [optional] 20151107-econ-japanese-economy.pdf -- Japan needs inflation, how can it get it?

Taiwan
1) [optional] Christensen -- American policy on Taiwan http://china.usc.edu/us-deputy-asst-sec-christensen-%E2%80%9C-strong-and-moderate-taiwan%E2%80%9D-september-11-2007
2) [optional] Richard Bush - on the meeting between Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2015/11/09-ma-xi-meeting-singapore-bush
edited by Clay Dube on 12/5/2015

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