[Jonathan Alami]

• After taking this seminar, I have many different ideas for how I can incorporate contemporary China into my curriculum. I teach 7th grade World History and while that curriculum focuses on the world from the years 500 to 1500 CE, there are still many ways I can make issues related to contemporary China relevant to my content standards. For example, the 7th grade standards cover the Silk Road, so a major connection I can make between the past and present is with the Belt and Road Initiative of the 21st Century. The lesson plan I developed for my curriculum project has students compare the ancient Silk Road to the proposed Belt and Road Initiative, a Silk Road for the Contemporary Age. 

 

• Another topic that was covered in this seminar that I can use for the 7th grade curriculum is geography. The plethora of maps that were covered in the lectures will make for excellent teaching tools to help students visualize the geography of China and the role geography plays in the development of civilizations. For example, there was an excellent map comparing the relative size and location of China to the United States that I will use to help students understand the geography of China. Similarly, the statistics and charts showing the environmental challenges faced by China will be particularly useful when teaching human interaction with the landscape in a unit on geography. Environmental issues are very important to students and are also relevant to the study of geography. 

 

• Discussing these issues of the Belt and Road Initiative, geography, and the environment related to contemporary China will be most relevant to the 7th grade curriculum. 

 

[Jonathan Alami]

Mossy, I agree that China’s Marxist ideology contradicts its economic openness with the rest of the world. Although I have learned in this seminar that much of the Chinese economy remains centrally planned and within state control, there is also significant entrepreneurship and free trade that has powered China’s economic growth in the past 40 years. How China will reconcile its newfound economic prosperity with its political ideology is an interesting question indeed. I think that it would be a great exercise with students to have them compare and contrast Communist principles with China’s current economic realities to help them draw conclusions about the interconnectedness of China to the rest of the world and how that has brought about massive change for the nation. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Johnny, I agree that there is an awareness and deep concern among students about issues related to the environment and climate change. I also agree that these lectures and charts that illustrate the environmental impact of economic development could lead to some interesting discussions about the consequences of industrial development as well as the role of the government to mitigate these consequences. As difficult as it may seem to be to overcome these challenges, the last few slides demonstrating China’s response to climate change with the development of alternative energy sources and electric cars would also be good to show students. A good prompt would be for students to write and reflect about would be ways that individuals and societies can reduce their impact on the environment and how nations can work together to reverse the effects of climate change. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Ray, I’m glad you brought up fast food chains such as McDonald’s and Starbucks in China. The rapid growth of the fast food industry in China since the 1990s is remarkable and is yet another example of China’s transformation from a state controlled economy to a free market system. I think showing students the statistics about the number of locations of KFC, McDonalds, and Starbucks in China in 1990 and 2017 will definitely be a great way to start a discussion about globalization and international relations between the United States and China. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Thanks for sharing the resource of the PBS Newshour Videos about the Belt and Road Initiative. These will be great to share with students as they highlight the similarities with the ancient Silk Road, which we cover in 7th grade history. Making the connection with the historical Silk Road and China’s present day Belt and Road Initiative would definitely help students understand the relevance of learning about Chinese history as the country is looking to its past for a model to exert influence on a global stage today. I also agree that the propaganda song would be amusing for students and would make a great engagement piece at the beginning of a lesson.

[Jonathan Alami]

Jeanine, I agree that the map comparing the size and location within the Northern Hemisphere of China and the United States is incredibly useful. I will definitely use this map with my students to give them a sense of the geography of China. It is really interesting to note that while both the United States and China are roughly the same size, only about half of the land area of China is habitable due to the large Gobi Desert in the west and the Himalayas in the southwest. I think that emphasizing this point to students would lead to some excellent discussions about landforms and land use. It is amazing that China has about 4 times as many people than the United States living within a much smaller area. That is truly a testament to the need and ability of China over the course of history to manage its natural resources of land and water to support the world’s largest population. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Johnny, I also have had some of my prior conceptions about China changed as a result of this course. I did not that there were policies allowing for some entrepeneurship in rural areas. This does give the impression that the Chinese government has loosened its authoritarian grip over its people since 1978. However, as you pointed out the One Child Policy did not come about until the 1980s. This policy remains a sobering reminder that although China relaxed some control over its people, it still dictated a basic social construct such as family size.

[Jonathan Alami]

Ryan, I agree I too thought that China's current demographic situation of an aging population is largely a result of the One Child Policy. However, it does make sense that economic prosperity has contributed the most to this demographic shift, as has happened with other developed nations around the world. Even when the government lifted the restrictive one child policy in 2015, there was no significant increase in the birth rate. However an aging population now means a shrinking population in the future, and perhaps this will alleviate some of the environmental challenges China faces. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Jeanine, I was also suprised by the materialism in China as a result of its economic rise. I am wondering if this cultural trend is in part caused by rising economics but also in the form of cultural influence from the United States (i.e. the introduction of rock and roll in the 1980s and the proliferation of Hollywood movies in recent decades.) In addition, with so many Chinese students studying in the United States, is it possible that they are bringing this materialism that is prevelant in the United States back home with them? 

[Jonathan Alami]

Mossy, I agree that China's progress in reducing its impact on global climate change is reassuring. Environmental concerns such as a lack of clean water are and will continue to be a major challenge for China in the coming decades. The chart the showed the growth of electric vehicle production was eye opening to me because I wasn't aware that electric cars were being produced on a large scale as they are in China. I wonder if innovation in the enviornmental technology sector (solar power, wind power, electric cars, etc.) will help propel the Chinese economic miracle further along. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Ryan, I agree with you, I don't understand the angst over being number two either. I always imagined that it is inevitable that China will overtake the United States as the world's largest economy (given that they have 4 times as many people). As far as going from being the world leader, I think that the US may still have a significant cultural influence around the globe for a long time (similar to how the British have retained a significant cultural influence around the globe despite not being the global super power). For example, the growth of Hollywood movies in China in recent years may be one way the US still retains an influential role. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Jeanine, I agree that the US China interrelationship is exceedingly complex. China's recent attempts to increase its influence around the world through soft power and through involvement in global organizations has definitely made it a rival of the United States. But the two nations are also deeply interdependent, so it will be really interesting to see how both nations navigate their relations with one another in the coming years. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Johnny, I liked how you stated that China has an identity problem with its conflicting ideologies. I also think it is a really interesting contradiction that China has an authoritarian political system with open economic policies. I wonder as well how this contradiction will play out as China's economy continues to grow and China takes a greater role on the world stage. Will it continue in the direction of greater authoritarianism or will it adopt more liberal policies as it because intertwined with the rest of the world?

[Jonathan Alami]

Kimberly, I agree that the Belt and Road Initiative leads to the question of soft power. As the project will not result in any real economic gains for China, it seems that the motive behind is to establish political influence in neighboring countries. I wonder if the timing of China's projection of soft power as US soft power is in decline is deliberate, and how the US will respond as this soft power continues to increase. 

[Jonathan Alami]

• As China has grown to be the second largest economy in the world after the United States, it’s place in international order has changed as well. Prior to 1978, China saw itself as a revolutionary alternative to the established world order of western imperialism. Since policies favoring economic openness have been put in place however, China has steered away from this position and has become more interconnected with the rest of the world, especially the United States. 
• I wonder about what the real motives of both the US and China are as the two countries have become more interconnected. In my opinion, it seems that on the surface, the relationship is amicable but the reality is far more complex. I think the voices of ordinary Chinese in the WSJ article “The Chinese View of America”  provide valuable insight to the relationship between the US and China. One man said the relationship, “isn’t positive. The two countries are using each other based on their own interests.” Another woman said that, “America can’t stand China because it wants to maintain its world dominance.” I agree with these statements based on the readings. The article “The China Reckoning” explains how the United States was hoping that China would conform to the liberal world order through economic openness. The motive behind the US effort to open China in the 1970s seems to have been to mold China to US expectations so that it could be subdued as a global power and its Commuinst ideology could be weakened. However, as the article states, “diplomatic and commercial engagement have not brought political and economic openness.” I think that China’s continued political authorianism and censorship are clear indicators that interconnectedness in the global economy will not bring about political reforms in China. So, I think the US was hoping to overturn Communism through economic engagement with China but that has not happened. 
• China I think wants to assert itself as a global superpower. I think that the Belt and Road Initiative is a prime example of this geopolitical ambition. The economic gains from the project seem to be slim, the costs of projects in various countries (such as the Vietnam railway) are going over budget, and there are critics within China itself that the project is sending Chinese money to other countries when it could be spent in China. If the motive is clearly not economic, then I would argue that it is political. I think that China is trying to increase its international influence with the Belt and Road Initiative, by bringing state of the art engineering projects to other countries such as Pakistan and Laos. This project is intended, in my opinion, to spread Chinese soft power across the globe. 
• However, despite the US having somewhat self-serving motives for its policy in China, and China’s recent geopolitical power plays, the two are deeply intertwined. The US is China’s biggest customer and China has a significant investment that it will lose should relations falter. So, I think the saying, “Same bed, different dreams” sums up the relations between the US and China best. 

 

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