All over the world, everyone talks about the behemoth of a country, China, and its irrepressible economic growth. It is projected by the World Bank that China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will surpass that of America’s by the year 2023, and also by independent economists, that it’s annual GDP will sustain an unmatched 8% growth for the next several years. I have heard both sides of the argument for and against the “China” hype and I must say: nobody truly knows. As I was once told, “there is no China expert”.
After living in China for about four weeks now and gaining first hand experience of the culture and the mentality of the people, I do believe China is indeed in a “league of its own” and is a country too unique to be subjected to easy criticism. I have visited well over eight different major Chinese cities and have come in close contact with people of almost every Chinese nationality, especially from the ethnic minority groups, which is why I am writing this piece to display my view on China from a first-hand perspective.
As a westerner, I am usually prone to practicing ethnocentrism and judging other cultures based on Western ideologies and so it was hard to think about China, without a predisposed Western agenda. My approach to China is as such: the chicken or the egg? Which came first? Why not both at the same time? Does it even matter? What are the ramifications for either or both? If “chicken” is replaced with “economic progress” and “egg” is replaced with “social progress”, then my approach begins to get clearer. There is without a doubt in my mind that China is only going to continue to grow economically with its 1.3 billion population, eager workforce, infrastructure expenditures, and foreign investments; but, the socio-political environment is what can make or break the country (e.x. India’s troubled political past until just recently). Due to China’s vast socio-political problems, I will only focus on the social diversity and mentality of China.
Real contact with the world did not happen in China until the late 1970′s and as the world took advantage of globalization and a growing diversity within urban areas up to that point in time, China was already far behind socially (Still today, it is not uncommon for westerners in any Chinese city, no matter how commercially developed, to get stared at by the locals). The Chinese government has taken several steps to increasing diversity in China from its indigenous population to a globally diverse population by setting up cultural contacts with other countries to bolster mutual tourism and educational opportunities, as well as trade initiatives.
Most countries like America function very well due to an “open-minded” attitude towards diversity; the lack of this in China, in some parts more than others, is what will be China’ achilles’ heel if not improved upon exponentially. The “catch” to global diversity is that social progress is a must-have, as well as a supplement to economic progress. As new ideas come from a diverse body of people and economic prosperity achieves greater heights, a new demand for more social freedoms will be awaken in China and this is what the current one-party Chinese government fears the most. China is currently running on a “controlled chaos” model and if the Chinese government continues on its current path, while still wanting to prevent the country from social unrest…they simply can’t. The status change from a “developing country” to a ”developed” one can only occur if social progress achieves up to par with economic progress.