7/30/2019 China Article Analysis

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China Article Analysis

Sean Wada

Both articles emphasize that a weak China will be bad for everyone around the globe,

especially for the United States. Even though rebellions organised by the locals could possibly bring

democracy to the country, not many countries would approve as China would plunge into unrest and

its trade system could collapse. This is still a huge problem today and has similarities to the Taiping

Rebellion during the 18th century. If the Communist Party in China fell to the rebels today, it would

cause panic for many foreign investors, such as Ford, who have put in a lot of money in the Chinese

economy to make profits. Clearly, foreign investors cant afford to take risks in case a rebel

takeover took place in China. It would have huge consequences on the global economy even if

democracy is achieved in China, which is one of the priorities for the United States today.

Likewise, the situation present today in China relates to what was happening in the country

during the 18th century, when the Taiping Rebellion occurred. At that time, the Taipings disliked the

Manchus and waged war on them. According to the New York Times article, the British depended

on the Chinese economy so much that they fought with the Qing instead of the Taipings. It was

clear Britain didnt fancy a collapse of the government as they feared there would be a revoking of

the treaties and a loss of trading rights if the rebels had won. As one can see, the problems that

China faced during the 18th century are very similar to what the Communist Party are facing today.

On the other hand, the internal problems are similar as well. Corruption, for instance, was a

huge problem during the time of the Qing when many officials stole money from the treasury for

their own personal benefits. However, today, corruption in China has been widely condemned by

many nations. For example, many infrastructure projects have not been able to be completed due to

disappearances of funds, which has led to distrust in the stability of the economy. Both articles

outline this issue and stress the importance of tackling corruption.

The Chinese Communist Party knows how bloody and disastrous another internal rebellionwould be as more than 20 million people were killed as a result of the Taiping Rebellion. That is

why the current government are taking more precautions than usual as they know there is a lot at

stake. Furthermore, once Xi Jinping is elected as the new president, he will be determined not to

make his government more unpopular with the people. Just like how people in China during the

18th century wanted the Qing dynasty to fall, the Communist Party has proven to be unpopular as

well because of its ineffective policies and failings.

Overall, there seems to be many connections and similarities between Chinas past and its

present state. There still remains many problems from the past that have to be resolved.