Milk Crisis

Recently, an increase in infant medical treatment has been on a rise for serious medical care which has been linked to the consumption of tainted milk formula. Sanlu Group, a dairy production company is said to have add ingredients to their baby formula such as melamine which can cause kidney and urinary malfunctions in young children. According to the China Daily, "about 53,000 children have fallen ill with various urinary problems including kidney stones after taking Sanlu milk food. About 13,000 infants are still being treated in hospitals as a result."

European media highly praises China's progress in space technology

On Monday European news channel Euronews praised China's progress in space technology when reporting China's successful landing of Shenzhou-7. China carried out its first successful space walk involving three astronauts in what marked a huge success in China's growing space program. China became the third country to accomplish a space walk, joining the United States and Russia.

According to Euronews, the astronauts were treated as heroes upon their landing. China's long-term goal is to establish a space station to have a presence in space. Coming off a successful hosting of the Olympics and having a sucessful space mission, nationalism and pride are running high in China as the nation continues to set high goals for itself and seeks to accomplish them.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/30/content_10135168.htm

China's Space Accomplishment

This past Saturday a Chinese astronaut took the first official spacewalk for China. The astronaut was Zhai Zhigang, and he becomes the first Chinese man to be exposed in space from the nation of China. This recent action has become an historical landmark for China, as they show vast improvements in their space technology. This spacewalk has evoked a massive amount of national pride as the spacewalk was portrayed over a live broadcast. The Chinese government hopes that they can build on this successful space tour by building a space station by year 2020 and then one day walk on the moon. The New York Times reports "the achievement was another step toward establishing the country as an economic and technological superpower." Now China joins the company of the United States and Russia as being the only nations to have sent people to space with their own spacecrafts.

Chinese Water Crisis

It is now essentially common knowledge that China’s economy is growing a greater rate than that of any other country in the world. Countless books have been written, and countless projections have been made regarding the exponential economic progress China will make within the coming years. But there is at least one integral factor many of these predictions consistently fail to consider. Vastly smaller than the grand frenzy of notions of economic success is the body of work done on the Chinese water crisis. Few people realize that there is a foundational element in the Chinese economy which many predict will crumble, causing devastating setbacks to any progress China has made in the past decades. China’s economic success hinges upon the availability of clean and sufficient water supplies which, according to many scholars is far too shaky a foundation to put weight on.
Aside from the evident implications water has for human life, the Chinese people historically have been highly dependent on water resources as indirect sources of income. Presently, more than 400 million of China’s people live in coastal areas, which concurrently produce sixty percent of the country’s agricultural and industrial output. (CIAO) Fishing is a major industry in these areas, and is also a part of the subsistence of untold numbers of local families. Another major role water plays in these areas is for irrigation of crops. In coastal areas of China, water is an obvious resource, but it is equally depended upon as a source of income in other areas of the country as well. In many areas, hydroelectric power is the main energy source for homes and for industries. Furthermore, water plays a pivotal in many industrial processes. Without it, the economic and physical well-being of a vast number of people would be devastated. And this is not only a concern whose effects are set somewhere in the future. The Chinese water crisis has current implications on China’s economic progress. According to Pan Hue of the State Environmental Protection Administration, water problems are “the bottleneck constraining economic growth.”

Taikonauts

Today China made another great leap by launching Shenzhou -7 into space carrying 3 "space travelers" or Taikonauts. This word comes from the Chinese term "taikong" meaning space and the greek word "naut" meaning traveler. This word has been listed in several popular dictionaries like Oxford and Longman which shows recognition by many Englishmen. This can be seen as another sign of China's growing global influence. It is not the first time a Chinese word has been adopted by foreighners. Kungfu is another one. Chen says, "But all the other words that were borrowed by foreign languages users refer to things in China's past. The new word shows that China has more to export to the world than just Kungfu and Chinese food."
In 1988 Taikonauts was coined when China first began training astronauts. During the Shenzhou -7 mission one of the 3 taikonauts will make China's first space walk. The third nation in the world under the U.S. and Russia.

BLog 4 Pols 365- Typhoon Hagupit

The United States has experiences at least 4 hurricanes just within in the last month, with Hurricane Ike even hitting home here in the Louisville Area. It seems as if most of the Eastern part of the United STates has felt either the hurricanes or the windy weather following it. Louisville was in a state of emergency last week.

Well it seems as if other parts of the world are going through the exact same thing, and that part of the world is China. It has already caused flooding and wind related problems in Hong Kong but now its headed toward Guangdong. Thousands have had to evacuate this area and 51,000 ships called back to harbor.

Hurricanes and typhoons seem to be hitting places all over the world hard this year! I'm crossing my fingers China is okay and the United States has time to recover from Hurricane Gustav and Ike before another one strike again!

Blog 3 Pols 365- Tainted Milk

Okay so it's official, I'm scared to use products made in China. I just got done reading something on MSNC.COm that said over 53,000 people in China have gotten treatment due to tainted baby formula. 4 babies even died because of the tainted formula! Apparently, dairy producers were trying to cut costs by watering down the formula and adding a chemical called melamine which would pass the nutrition tests with artificial protein. Their "cost cuts" ending up costing small, innocent children their lives! What's next? I STRONGLY hope that China ups its' standards!

Blog 2 POLS 365

First blog for class, i hope this works
I have never taken any Political Science classese in my life, and this semester, my first one is People of the Republic of China. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect. Then this summer, the Olympics came on and I was mesmerized by China. I watched the opening of the games and could not believe how many people came together to put on such an AMAZING performance. From a distance, I honestly thought it was a machine of some sorts making all of the designs and even thought "There is no way thats people". Low and behold, it was all people!! Incredible! Beijing put on probably one of the most magnificent opening ceremonies ever. Watching the olympics actually made me really excited to start class this fall! I'm pumped to learn about a culture I know nothing about!

Blog 1 POLS 365

I always thought that grew up "cultured", well rounded, and with a good education. Since starting this class, I have realized that I have NO CLUE whatsoever what is going on in other parts of the world. In fact, I've been oblivious to most things outside the midwest! I have always assumed that since America has something, the rest of the world probably does too. Well, clearly I'm wrong! While reading the "Wild Swans", I keep having to remind myself that this did not take place 250 years ago, it took place LESS than a 100 years ago! If baffles me! Cities in China with no roads anywhere in the 1950's! Something that has particularly bothered me and has stuck with me, is all the talk of torture and death in China throughout the beginning of the 20th century. How can people be SO cruel? Clearly, I am only at the beginning of understanding China!

Venezuela's Chavez arrives in China for visit

Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez arrived in China yesterday and plans to meet with Chinese president Hu Jintao. Besides seeking to improve relations with one another's respected countries, the presidents seek to sign agreements on combat aircraft. This move may bother the United States, if it views Chavez building up military and energies ties with powerful countries in an effort to annoy or provoke the West. 

Hugo Chavez views a relationship with China as being "strategic" and views emerging superpowers like China as giving other nations around the world more options, besides simply asking the United States for money or partnership. China is currently Venezuela's 6th largest trading partner. As it stands, China has made strong moves to enter the South American and African markets, hence China's influence is growing due to these new emerging alliances. 

Tainted Milk Supply

Recently it has been discovered that there have been some tainted baby formula sold in China. The formula was made in China which has made it cheaper to afford then other imported formulas, this caused many families to buy this product then the more expensive imported brand. This formula has killed three children and has made another 50,000 infants very sick. The New York Times has reported that melamine had been added to baby formula to boost protein counts, but this mineral is very poisonous if ingested. This issue has turned into a food safety scandal, and with many citizens of China and other countries being affected by this formula an investigation has been launched to get to the bottom of this scandal. A top Chinese government official, Li Changjiang, was forced out of his position which was the chief of China’s food and product quality agency. While China is taking action to get to the bottom of this scandal now, some are wondering if this tainted formula was discovered before or even during the Olympics in Beijing. While this conclusion has not been reached yet the World Health Organization is investigating to see exactly what happened.

Professor Qian Lecture

On Wednesday I attended the lecture on the Olympic games and Chinese political development by Professor Qian. It was quite interesting to actually fully understand how this past Olympic games have contributed to the political dynamics in China. Dr. Qian in his lecture made a great point how the Olympics effected China internally. Most scholars have only discussed the international impact of the games for China. Dr. Qian gave an in-depth look about how the games has and will continue to change China internally. Three main points I remember were that the games effected China's environment, infrastructure, and civil society.

According to Dr. Qian, the Environment argument one that China has to deal with internally and as well as internationally. With the rising global environmental crisis is upon this global society, China had to make improvements to help put a band aid on the crisis within their own country. In terms of infrastructure, Dr. Qian discussed how the Olympics allowed for an improvement in China's infrastructure. It was able to build new roads and facilities that can help continue to spur economic growth for China. Finally, he discussed how civil society was impacted by the Olympics in China and how the government has had to change some of it's ways it has to deal public situations with certain social problems that it has to encounter.

Paralympics close, ending China's Olympic party

With the Paralympics ending, China's Bird Nest stadium's flame went out for good. There is a bit of lingering sadness that the Olympics, which was China's coming out party in which it invited the entire world to come see, is now over. Yet many in China remain optimistic that the country's sports and arts programs are on the way up and by no means, will there be a post-Olympic vacuum due to China having already peaked. The general sentiment among the people is that China has proven itself on an international scale and is ready to continue making forward strides. Now China will find something else to look forward to, as this great 2-month long Olympic summer of charm has come to its end. 

Beijing desperately wanted to land the Olympics. Now the 8-year journey came to a close, but with new dreams blooming. 

China's dispute over the Olympics

China, as a rising power, has spent billions of dollars to hold the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. However, many government officials have their careers on the line. If anything was to disrupt the games, China has fears of what the rest of the world would think about them. Since China society has held to be benevolent, this all makes sense. Despite the aftermath of May's earthquake, putting on good games, is China's number one priority. There has also been talk of the "clash of civilizations" with memories of anit-western protest by ethnic chinese still fresh in their minds, nationalism will be tightly looked at during the games. Chinese leaders would rather outsiders look at how much China has changed and how at ease it is with the world. Some Chinese officials still thought that by holding the 2008 Olympics it was a perfect target for terrorism.

China as an Economic Power

For the past 25 years China has developed itself into the rising power economically throughout the world. China has had the benefits of a faulty US economy that has continued to see jobs that have been shipped to countries like China, so that they have taken on this second industrial revolution. We have already seen this great economic power for China develop, with for example Chinese companies take over of many of the financial corporations in the United States. Also, with the trade deficit that the United States has to China right now, which is a sign that China is producing more goods at a faster rate than the US economy is doing. As we move farther into the 21st Century, China will continue to grow economically. However, certain barriers might restrict China from achieving that growth. China's continuing problems with human rights on the international stage might hurt some of that growth. Also, the growing concerns with environmental problems that China is facing right now. These maybe the only limits that China will face to it long time economic security. However, in the foreseeable future China will still be the rising power economically.

The Olympics and China as a Hegemon

Recently China was the host for the games of the 29th Olympiad. These Olympics were a big chance for China to show there stuff on the world's stage. It was time for the Chinese government to prove to the world that they have developed into on of the top powers in global politics. China surpassed all expectations coming into the games. However, with these Olympics behind us, China now has to answer some of the tough challenges that many world powers have to face. China will have to take the lead on the hard issues of the day from the world economic situation to the continuing environmental crisis that it contributes to. With this opportunity for China to host the Olympics in 2008, it has I believe given China the credibility it needs to take on these tough challenges of our time. Now China has placed itself among the leading powers of the world and will now have to take on the tough decision making.

Chinese Economy

The recent recession in America's economy and the troubles that Wall Street has encountered has had an adverse effect on the Chinese economy. With America being a large consumer for Chinese products, the market for Chinese exports has declined. While China has tried to prepare their economy for inflation through monetary policy, this has not worked and China is going to experience a downtime. One other market that has experienced downtime in China is the real estate market, particularly areas next to docks. These houses were supported by the exports that China was shipping out, and when the exports slow down the price of houses in this cities fall. In order to turn things around China has cut interest rates and eased bank lending restrictions in hope that this will not only boost China's economy but also the world economy.

Anti-satellite (ASAT) Weapons Test ?

In January 2007, when Beijing destroyed one of its own weather satellites with a ballistic missile, the news media carried the story globally, including Foreign Affairs magazine. At that time and subsequent thereto, many have questioned Beijing’s intended purpose. The number of those who have asserted that it was completely accidental, unintentional, and not meant to state anything has really surprised me, yet I am unable to embrace such a peaceful, laissez faire notion.

I, personally, believe that this was an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons test, intended as a warning shot at Washington concerning U.S. military prowess. After all, military strategists have argued for some time that Beijing needed to develop this kind of asymmetric capability in order to bridge the growing gap between the United States' military supremacy and China's own, in preparation for a potential clash in the Taiwan Strait. With the U.S. now as heavily dependent upon assets in space for real-time communications, weapons trajectory, battlefield awareness, intelligence interception and interdiction, etc., this launch may likely have been an attempt by Beijing to show Washington how they could overcome such logistical shortcomings in a relatively simple manner.

What do you think?

Foreign leaders congratulate China on success on Beijing Olympics

Foreign leaders have sent telegrams to congratulate the Chinese for being a good host nation and doing a fine job of running the events. Laos, Brazil, Canada, Botswana, Indonesia, Egypt, Oman, Argentina and Mexico have congratulated China. The nations of the world have reached a consensus and view the Summer Games as an incredible experience. Even as weeks pass and the world readies itself slowly but surely for the London Games of 2012, it will be a long time before Beijing 2008 is forgotten. 

Strife In Xinjiang: China keeps grip tight as strife stalks western region

Unrest and outbursts continue in the western region of China known as Xinjiang. The Chinese government have deployed troops to keep order in the region, yet several attacks have still occurred there. Future responses to upheaval in the area should continue to be firm, as China seeks to improve its control in the region. 

Olympics in Beijing

When I look back at the Olympics in Beijing this year, several points come to mind. Obviously, the opening ceremony was magnificent. To see the amount of people involved in this ceremony, and the performances that the Chinese performed was impressing to say the least. Another point of interest I found in this years recent Olympics was China's overall gold medal count. China ended up leading the world in gold medals with 58, and came in second just behind the US with an overall medal count at 100. China had captured 15 more gold medals then second place finisher, the US. Still another point of interest that I found was the unique architecture in China. A few of the buildings that stood out were, The bird's nest, the National Aquatic Center, and the headquarters for the CCTV television. Each of this buildings has a unique design to them which was very interesting. Overall my satisfaction with the Summer Olympics in Beijing was very high, and Beijing has stood out as being a very interesting city in the world.