Sessions 3&4 - April 10

[Sean Lobberecht]

I found the All Roads Lead to China article very interesting and it made me think deeply about how I teach the topic of the Silk Roads to my 7th grade historians in training. As I was reading this article I kept thinking back to what professor Dube said at the beginning of this seminar, "China can play a part in many different curriculums and we want you to start making these connections more often." While it made me think deeply about my own practice I kept thinking of many differemt curriculums that could benefit from a discussion of the BRI.

For my own curriculum it made me think about how do I teach the more important aspects of the Silk Roads? Of course there was trade and the roads connected the different spheres of the world in what is my opinion the first era of globalization. I think more important questions to answer for my students though is what traveled along the Silk Roads besides just goods? The Silk Roads enabled ideas, technologies, and people to traverse the massive swaths of land that are Asia, Africa, and Europe. I think a good way to get this idea across students is to examine the Silk Roads and the BRI together. Asking students why would China invest in this infastructure? Why do you think they are investing a lot in developing countries? What do they hope to gain from this massive investment? I feel examining both could help students understand how goods are not the most important part of these trade routes. Technology and ideas travel as well. I think China is benefiting greatly from this initiative. By pairing with future scientists and investing in new technology China is helping other countries solve problems while at the same time increasing the scientific knowledge for themselves. I also think that China is hoping their philosophy of government will follow as well. I also believe that the way global politics are playing out the U.s and China are in a new form of cold war. A cold war that has less to do with nuclear armaments and arms races and more to do with trade and economics. I believe China's goal through the BRI is to bring more countries into their sphere of influence and ultimately control. 

As I mentioned earlier, I kept thinking of many ways that the BRI could be brought into a multitude of curriculums. The BRI could be a great conversation in 

1. High school History classes - What historical connections can be made? How does the BRI impact China's relations around the world? How does the BRI fall into conversations about Globalization and Colonization? And many many more.

2. Science classes - What effect has the BRI had on endangered habitats and species? 

3. Economic Classes - How is the BRI going to benefit China? Other countries?

4. Literature - How does the blending of cultures impact the literature and arts of the countries that Chnia is investing in? 

After reading this article I can deffinitely see why professor Dube said that "China can not only be input everywhere in the curriculum but it should."

[Sean Lobberecht]

Reading this article raised a large number of questions for me regarding China's relationship to Muslim populations and the vast amount of Muslims that are located in South east Asia. China's BRI initiative aims to increase infastructure in every direction with the hope that all roads will lead to China. Some concerns I have are what comes after the BRI infastructure is in place? With unstable governments in countries like Myanmar and Thailand will a time come where China needs to "protect their investment" and use this as a reason to take over. Complicating this issue even more is the issue of the South China Sea. It seems to me that the BRI is going into countries with the promise of investment and stability but what happens once this created stability is interupted? China could lend its technologies to other crack downs on Muslims in the regions. It could also lead to an expansion of territory. They could use the guise of helping combat terrorism to take de facto control of weaker countries. 

I think if you teach a higher level class having to do with global politics looking at the world's relationship with radical Islam would be a great place to talk about China. Since 9/11 much has been done to not only turn populations against the religion of Islam but a lot of horrific things have been done in the name of combatting this "threat." 

For my own curriculum, 7th grade ancient civilizations, it makes me think about the way in which I teach religion and brings me back to our last seminar. I know religion is a touchy topic but discussing the role religon plays in politics, governments, and economy is crucial. I just got done teaching West African civilizations and the role Islam played n putting empires like Mali on the map is very important. The spread of Buddhism was significant in ancient Inida and the debate we had last week between Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism and Legalists is essential to understanding ancient China. I feel teaching the role of religion is esssential but many may steer away from the conversation or not play it out to its fullest due to the stigma of talking about religon in school but this conversation is essential to understanding the history in every region.

[Camie Fleet]

I found the articles on Islam in China very interesting. I think the impact of Religion on politics and economics is very interesting, especailly considering how it plays out differently throughout history. 

We currently teach the Holocaust in our 10th grade cirriculum. This year we started the conversation by talking about Genocide in general. I had a student request to talk about the Genocide currently happening in China towards the muslim population. 

When reading I thought that these articles would be a good way to introduce how conflicts around religion have occured throughout history and throughout the world. The question in the 3rd article that stood out to me was. "Seeking to understand the logic of religious violence, he asks how seemingly good people can commit terrorist acts against others “in the name of religion.” Jessica Stern (2003). I think this would be a very good introduction question to get students to start thinking about how ethnic and religionus difference influence political and economic motivations in both postive and negative ways. 

[Bin He]

The Belt and Road Initiative is a product of a new trend in world diplomacy.

On the one hand, it is undeniable that military power is still an important factor in diplomatic relations. But at the same time, contemporary regional peace is based more on economic interests than on conquest or colonization.

In China's country governance strategy, the practice of "not interfering in each other's internal affairs and seeking common interests" has been a principle of China's diplomacy for centuries. This is in line with current trends. For example, when China and ASEAN launched free trade negotiations in 2002, then Premier Zhu Rongji stated that China did not seek an exclusive status in Southeast Asia. He added that if the agreement leads to an imbalance in China's favor, the terms should be changed. At the African Leaders Summit in South Africa in December, President Xi Jinping promised to provide US$60 billion in aid to African countries and emphasized that China will not interfere in Africa’s domestic politics.

For modern China, the One Belt One Road is just one of the means to establish its own trade network system, rather than relying on the World Bank or the World Trade Organization. Specifically, the country itself hopes to establish its own internal operating system. Participants accept higher agreements (such as trade rules, property rights, dispute settlement), allowing economic exchanges to proceed. Of course, this is not just China's strategy. All countries are striving to establish a self-led regional trading system. This is why we will see the continuous emergence, reorganization and collapse of regional trade organizations outside the WTO.

Extra reading news:

What’s Next for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp

 

[Jennifer Macchiarella]

I was most intrigued by this line from the reading on Muslims in China :"It is important to note that the Uyghur protests and subsequent crackdowns of the 1990s and mid-2000s have rarely been connected to freedomof-religion issues, but rather to a range of indigenous rights issues, of which religion has been only one concern."  When examining the relationship between the Chinese ethnic majority and the various minority groups, I find it interesting that religion is used as an identifying factor, but respect, or lack thereof, of religious rights is not the only issue.  This reminds me of other parts of history, especially in Europe, where cultural practices and economic opportunities were just as important as religious differences.  

[Jennifer Macchiarella]

I was also curious about labor costs. When we discuss the Industrial Revolution in England we look at the relative cost of British labor to that in India and China.  High labor costs spurred mechanization. I wonder how labor costs in China affects the interest in building these infrastructure projects.  How much of the construction is "labor" as opposed to engineering?  Is there a "free market" in terms of labor, or are workers encouraged to apply for work in areas deemed important by the central government?

[Martha Pao]

Thank you, Todd, for sharing these videos with all.

The term “propaganda” brings up visions of manipulation and devious intent.  The videos, on the other hand, are lighthearted and fun.  And they bring, albeit superficially, they bring the Chinese people in to participate in the BRI as part of a good project for China and the world at large.  

A few questions for younger students:

1. Is this propaganda?  Why and why not?
2. Where do you see propaganda in the USA?
3. Where does civic education end and propaganda starts?  What are the implications, goals, consequences of each?

[Melina Melgoza]

Hi Johnny and Todd,

I am glad that this will be helpful. I truly do think that Critical Media Literacy is a great way to introduce students to rigorous, yet understandable and applicable media literacy frameworks. Some questions that came to mind from Todd's response and your response are:

1. How do we unpack our own biases in unpacking the biases in the media we are trying to understand? The reality is that the media no longer shapes our culture...it really is our culture. 

Some of the conceptual understandings that CML covers are:

- Social Constructivism: All information is co-constructed by individuals and/or groups of people who make choices within social contexts.

- Languages/Semiotics: Each medium has its own language with specific grammar and semantics.

- Audience/Positionality: Individuals and groups understand media messages similarly and/or differently depending on multiple contextual factors.

- Politics of Representations: Media messages and the medium through which they travel always have a bias and/or support challenge dominant hierarchies of power, privilege, and pleasure. 

- Production/Institutions: All media texts have a purpose (often commercial or governmental) that is shaped by the creators and/or systems within which they operate. 

- Social and Environmental Justice: Media culture is a terrain of struggle that perpectues or challenges positive and/or negative ideas about people, groups, and issues; it is never neutral.

What is neutral when we all have internal biases?

[Martha Pao]

Johnny, great post!  I agree with you that it would be interesting to explore the current US push on infrastructure improvement and compare and contrast with the BRI efforts from China.  I am starting to formulate a lesson plan in my mind.

In general terms, infrastructure brings stability, increased economic power and commerce development.  China has been vigorously developing infrastructure in countries where the international community has little incentive for these kinds of projects. And although some of the practices might be questionable (see the readings for examples), in many cases China is building up both the infrastructure and the good will of the people of poor countries, generating an incredible amount of soft power.

You are right that it might feel intimidating or threatening to have a new country rise to power.  It is disruptive to the world order (although one might question if the current world order is in need of change).  It could feel particularly unsettling if the new superpower has a political and cultural system that appears so dissimilar to our own.  But as China learned from its own history as well as from the efforts of the European Union, it is best to export growth to neighboring countries, because it will result in an increase of stability in the whole region.

[Todd Rutley]

Why Is China Successful in High Speed Rail?

Political Reasons

1. China’s one-party political system promotes long-term planning
2. China seeks to be a global leader in rail technology. See “Made in China 2025” plan  
3. China’s top politicians are typically engineers, not lawyers
4. Politicians are rewarded for faster GDP growth, a top CCP priority
5. CCP understands that HSR is a “public good” (like education) that has benefits for users and non-users (less traffic, less urban space devoted to cars, cleaner air, better economy) 
6. The CCP understands how HSR helps economic development by promoting personal mobility and connectivity
7. China has always relied on trains for most inter-city travel because personal cars were rare, air travel was very limited, and buses were slow & uncomfortable. So the conventional rail network was always preserved (US shut most passenger rail in decades after WWII)
8. The HSR network is an example to China’s people and the world that the “China Model” of political governance and economic development can be superior to the US model     

The last attached PDF (at bottom) has far more information and references 

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Martha Pao]

Saturday’s seminar was informative and entertaining.  One of the presenters touched upon the idea of cultural genocide (as opposed to general genocide) when talking about Uyghurs in Xinjiang.   The parallels with the situation in Hong Kong might indicate a general approach of the Chinese central government.

1. Desire for greater independence and self-determination
   1. Hong Kong: One country and two systems arrangement
   2. Xinjiang: autonomous region within the People’s Republic of China
2. Deprivation of the right to be a distinct peoples
   1. Hong Kong:  school language was changed to Mandarin from Cantonese.  As a result children and young adults are losing their cultural heritage and see Cantonese as a language of elderly with no usefulness to the young.  Similar approaches happened elsewhere (see Spain under Franco rule and elimination of regional dialects).
   2. Xinjiang: re-education camps

In both cases dissidents are fiercely silenced and there is an attempt to control the media, especially within their own borders, with the effect that a great majority of China is not fully aware of the situation.  What does the Chinese central government fear?  Is it loss of control?  After all, 1.5 billion people are hard to govern.  Is it loss of territory?  Independence movements broke down the Soviet Union.  Could this happen in China? Might it be just the grand vision for China of President Xi and necessary steps are being taken?

I dont' know

[Todd Rutley]

The attached PDF has a detailed explanation.  It is based on research I did for my adult education class.  

1. Fear of Rising Ethnic Population Share
2. Fear of Ethnic Separatism
3. Fear of USSR Style Breakup 
4. Fear of Losing National Prestige (Face)
5. Loss of International Win-Win Narrative
6. Belief in Han Nationalism and Han Supremacy

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Miguel Diaz]

I think of my nearly two decades in China whenever I see Amtrak’s “Pacific Surfliner” slowly making its way through my neighborhood in Camarillo, California. The China of my arrival in 2001 didn’t have a single high-speed bullet train. Most trains were old and rickety, and nearly all train stations were old and dilapidated. Back in those days, I once took an overnight train from Shanghai to Guiling. On another occasion, I took a train from Shanghai to a city in Xinjiang called Kashgar. At least that was the plan. My trip started in Shanghai at the beginning of Chinese New Year, and all I could get my hands on was a standing ticket. In China, it was possible in those days to buy “standing room only” tickets on trains. I only managed to stand up until we arrived in Xian. There, I got off and took planes the rest of the way…

 

I enjoyed David Lampton’s presentation on China’s efforts to create an inter-country railway system. It is clear that China’s efforts to build railway networks involve more than just railways. These efforts also involve the building of other infrastructure such as dams, highway networks, supply chains, internet infrastructure, and scientific cooperation.

 

Jessica Liao’s presentation on China green mercantilism was also interesting. It is clear that the world’s superpowers, and all the developing nations of the world, still have a long way to go in order to move away from coal powered power plants. I was not surprised to learn (though I like to pretend not to know) that most of the world still derives its power from coal (or oil).

 

Finally, I really liked Dru Gladney’s presentation because it reminded me of the weeks that I spent in Xinjiang nearly twenty years ago. The highlights of my trip were long bus rides through places like the Taklamakan Desert and along the Karakoram Highway. The artifacts and evidence that Dru Gladney presented, which show the early presence of Eurasian people’s in the area, was interesting.

[Johnny Walker]

The seminar was an incredible experience to hear such generous, informed, and dedicated academics share their understandings related to the BRI with us. I wanted to comment about their discussion at the end of the conference about the role of the Chinese and Muslim diasporas, and their relationship to China's foreign and domestic policies. In my 10th grade World History classes, we often speak about push and pull factors that encourage migrations as well as assimilation, marginalization, and nativism within the host nations to which they immigrate.

 

I was struck by the vulnerability that Chinese immigrant communities have experienced throughout the world throughout time, and how their identification as an "other" even after generations of working and living within other countries and holding citizenship still does not protect them from "anti-Chinese" violence. Until this discussion, I had not thought about the potential role that China has in protecting "Chinese" people in other countries who may not be Chinese nationals, but whose Chinese ethnicity makes them targets and increases their vulnerability. Should the Chinese government and military have a role in protecting those communities?

 

For example, one of the speakers mentioned that over 500,000 Chinese were killed in 1965 in Indonesia. That is a shocking statistic. While many may not have been Chinese citizens, but Indonesian citizens of Chinese ancestry, their self-identification as "Chinese" as well as nativist xenophobes within the host country who violently targeted them because of this identity, doomed them to slaughter. Did China have a right or duty to militarily intervene? In thinking of government action against immigrant populations, I also think of the American government's persecution of Japanese Americans during World War 2 when they were targeted, their property was seized and they were placed in internment camps. How widely was this policy known in Japan at the time, and how did it affect wartime Japan's perceptions of the United States?

 

One of the speakers explained that "China worries about protecting its people overseas and while they are powerful economic leverage, the Chinese populations in other nations reflect a small percentage of the local population." The speaker continued that, "The overseas Chinese are usually not loved by their nations where they live. They operate through different organizations, and many of China’s companies use the overseas Chinese as intermediaries and can cause problems that those minority populations have in their host countries."

 

What a difficult bind to be a person of Chinese descent in other nations who not only feels alienated and resented by the local population, but may also expected by the Chinese government and corporations to act as an intermediary in a potentially dangerous or volatile local situation.

 

However, it is also confounding to look at the Muslim diaspora from over a millenium ago, that has in the past, allowed Muslims to be the intermediaries between Middle East and China. However, they are now targeted by the Chinese government and ignored by Muslim majority nations. As Professor Gladney explained, "Middle Eastern governments have not been critical of Chinese treatment of their own muslim citizens.  Many depend on China for trade and investment." He continued that, "The repressive policies of the re-education camps may hurt their relationships and future generations and opportunities to connect with neighbors." While much of world outrage toward the treatment of Uighers and Muslims in Xianjiang is rightly directed toward the Chinese government, there should be opportunities and greater political courage on the part of Middle Eastern nations to press for an end to this "cultural" genocide.

 

While I usually associate the rise of nationalism as having mostly negative effects on minority rights and the rise of war, perhaps nationalism can be harnessed or leveraged to inspire more connections between diasporic peoples and their ancestral nations in order to advocate for greater humanitarian treatment and increase awareness about our global interconnectedness.

[Todd Rutley]

The videos are online for Sessions 3&4 - April 10

https://china.usc.edu/video-panel-discussion-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-action

https://www.youtube.com/c/USChinaInstitute/videos

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