Well, this was one interesting talk, for sure. Read on to find out.
All of you may be familiar with the theme, but, I mention it here anyway.
This topic was handled ably by Huaqing Cao (Frank), whose impressive profile I had provided in the previous post.
The introductory part of the talk was devoted to understanding the basic aspects about China: its area, population, GDP, geography, and essentially the fundamental knowledge about a country that anyone should have. China is a pretty big country in terms of its population and area. More so, because of the recent spiral in its economic growth. China's GDP is 8.2 trillion USD!
Frank then took us through the political system of China (a topic which is a bit dry - yet, he managed to keep it interesting). The system follows the idea of scientific socialism, or a socialist market economy. As is known, the most prominent political party in China is the Communist Party of China (CPC). There are eight other minor parties, all of which are "decorations, but important decorations in the political system", according to Frank. There are other organisations like the National People's Congress, which is constitutional in nature.
The centralised political superpower rules using a variety of tools:
> The political ranking system: Apparently, every single institution in the Chinese economy has a political ranking - even universities!
> Elections - Though they are present, all people do not vote, because they either think their vote will not make a difference, or they don't much care about the political system.
> A structured legislature and a legal system
> Military - China has the second largest defence budget following the U.S.!
> Culture and Education - An interesting piece of information: cultural events are funded by the government.
> All of these, of course, lead to the shaping of the economy which is posited to be one of the biggest economies, or even the biggest economy in the world in the near future.
Is China a country of despotism? (despotism: the act of showing absolute power or authority)
Well, here are the facts, from which you can make your inferences -
> China has a tremendous need for a strong, united nation - this has been like a norm for the people since ancient days.
> Frank used the quote "Distance makes the heart grow fonder" (true, that :P), to explain the concept that the people of China view the Central Government as a "patient, gentle" entity while they blame the local governments for eveything.
He then asked the million dollar question (oh, wait, rhetorical question ;)) - "What are the top leaders thinking about?". We can guess the answer (actually, also a rhetorical question). "Who the hell knows?", is what Frank said. Good one, Frank. *Thumbs up*.
> There are other facts like the self-anti despotic size of the CPC, the unseparable past achievements and success, the improving reality and the promising future, and of course, the role of globalisation and media.
We, of course. had picture representations of the path of the Chinese economy through the years (graphs :P) which showed the steady rise in GDP, and the maintenance of a stable inflation rate by China in the past few years.
There are a few political reforms which can be associated with a boost for the Chinese economy: for example, the opening up of the economy to foreign trade in 1982, and the four trillion yuan Stimulus programme in the wake of the 2008 recession.
China's economy (in the future) is characterised by many challenges, the most worrisome of which is the aging population. The One-Child Policy introduced by the country is partly the reason for it. The government is very strict in this respect, charging parents who have a second child a heavy fine.
"What if you are a rich Chinese citizen and you can afford to have a second child?", asked a person in the audience.
"Pay a fine, have a baby", was the answer, given by Andy, another Chinese student present at the talk. Now that is a catchphrase which is bound to become more popular than 'Gangnam Style'. :P
Frank ended his talk by asking opinions of others about the Chinese economy, and of course, with a question-answer session. Nice strategy!
All the attendees had a good time participating in the talk, and the drinks and snacks session after that. Leslie (who gave the talk last time) gave a positive review for Frank's talk - "I didn't realise that there was so much about China that I didn't know". Those of you who missed the talk, hope you got the message - be there next time!
All of you may be familiar with the theme, but, I mention it here anyway.
"Modern China: A Comparitive Political and Economic Perspective"
This topic was handled ably by Huaqing Cao (Frank), whose impressive profile I had provided in the previous post.
The introductory part of the talk was devoted to understanding the basic aspects about China: its area, population, GDP, geography, and essentially the fundamental knowledge about a country that anyone should have. China is a pretty big country in terms of its population and area. More so, because of the recent spiral in its economic growth. China's GDP is 8.2 trillion USD!
Frank then took us through the political system of China (a topic which is a bit dry - yet, he managed to keep it interesting). The system follows the idea of scientific socialism, or a socialist market economy. As is known, the most prominent political party in China is the Communist Party of China (CPC). There are eight other minor parties, all of which are "decorations, but important decorations in the political system", according to Frank. There are other organisations like the National People's Congress, which is constitutional in nature.
The centralised political superpower rules using a variety of tools:
> The political ranking system: Apparently, every single institution in the Chinese economy has a political ranking - even universities!
> Elections - Though they are present, all people do not vote, because they either think their vote will not make a difference, or they don't much care about the political system.
> A structured legislature and a legal system
> Military - China has the second largest defence budget following the U.S.!
> Culture and Education - An interesting piece of information: cultural events are funded by the government.
> All of these, of course, lead to the shaping of the economy which is posited to be one of the biggest economies, or even the biggest economy in the world in the near future.
Is China a country of despotism? (despotism: the act of showing absolute power or authority)
Well, here are the facts, from which you can make your inferences -
> China has a tremendous need for a strong, united nation - this has been like a norm for the people since ancient days.
> Frank used the quote "Distance makes the heart grow fonder" (true, that :P), to explain the concept that the people of China view the Central Government as a "patient, gentle" entity while they blame the local governments for eveything.
He then asked the million dollar question (oh, wait, rhetorical question ;)) - "What are the top leaders thinking about?". We can guess the answer (actually, also a rhetorical question). "Who the hell knows?", is what Frank said. Good one, Frank. *Thumbs up*.
> There are other facts like the self-anti despotic size of the CPC, the unseparable past achievements and success, the improving reality and the promising future, and of course, the role of globalisation and media.
We, of course. had picture representations of the path of the Chinese economy through the years (graphs :P) which showed the steady rise in GDP, and the maintenance of a stable inflation rate by China in the past few years.
There are a few political reforms which can be associated with a boost for the Chinese economy: for example, the opening up of the economy to foreign trade in 1982, and the four trillion yuan Stimulus programme in the wake of the 2008 recession.
China's economy (in the future) is characterised by many challenges, the most worrisome of which is the aging population. The One-Child Policy introduced by the country is partly the reason for it. The government is very strict in this respect, charging parents who have a second child a heavy fine.
"What if you are a rich Chinese citizen and you can afford to have a second child?", asked a person in the audience.
"Pay a fine, have a baby", was the answer, given by Andy, another Chinese student present at the talk. Now that is a catchphrase which is bound to become more popular than 'Gangnam Style'. :P
Frank ended his talk by asking opinions of others about the Chinese economy, and of course, with a question-answer session. Nice strategy!
All the attendees had a good time participating in the talk, and the drinks and snacks session after that. Leslie (who gave the talk last time) gave a positive review for Frank's talk - "I didn't realise that there was so much about China that I didn't know". Those of you who missed the talk, hope you got the message - be there next time!
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