China Politics Midterm Review

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts discussed in the lecture on Communist China.

Egalitarianism

A belief in human equality, especially with respect to social, political, and economic rights.

Regime Legitimacy

The right to rule, often not questioned within China, based on the government's performance and the idea of meritocracy.

Beijing Consensus

A model of political and economic development characterized by state-led capitalism and high levels of state control.

Gaokao

The National Higher Education Entrance Examination in China, which is critical for university admissions.

Suzerainty

A relationship where a dominant state exerts control over a smaller state, which pays tribute in exchange for autonomy.

Opium War

A conflict in the mid-19th century that marked the beginning of China's century of humiliation, resulting in significant territorial and trade concessions to the West.

Spiritual Pollution

A term used to describe the negative influences perceived to corrupt Chinese society, often associated with Western ideas.

Tian Xia

A philosophical concept in Chinese history meaning 'All Under Heaven,' reflecting a worldview that emphasizes the suffering of all beings.

Princelings

Children of high-ranking officials in China, often associated with elite access to education and resources.

Century of Humiliation

A period in Chinese history marked by foreign invasions, territorial losses, and internal strife, significantly impacting national identity.

Liu Xiaobo

first chinese person to get noble peace prize, he was a professor and wanted things like the freedom of assembly to be protected, thrown back in prison and died not a free man

Li Wenliang

a Chinese ophthalmologist who warned about the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, faced backlash from authorities, and later died from the virus.

sima qian

a Chinese historian of the Han dynasty, known for his work "Records of the Grand Historian," which laid the foundation for Chinese historiography and documented over two thousand years of Chinese history.

Emperor Qin Shinhuang

first person that unified the country

↳  remember kung fu movie abt the assassination of this emperor, it promotes the beijing consensus, shows emperor to be misunderstood

Emperor Qianlong

the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty, known for his military campaigns, cultural accomplishments, and expansion of the Chinese empire during the 18th century.

“Sick Man of Asia” 

a term used to describe China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reflecting its perceived weakness and inability to resist foreign intervention and internal strife.

China’s Worst Diplomat

Wanyan Changhou

• Failed at peacemaker negotionas

• Even when dealing with foreigners he fucked up and had a bad relationship with France and Japan,

• Signed treaty without permission AND STILL ended up living out a peaceful life and didn’t get a harsh punishment

Li keqiang

the premier and china’s no.2 official, people mad at xi after he died

General zhang Yanxia

Was known as basically Xi’s older brother but was taken down by xi bc he thought he was leaking data to american gov and he was very paranoid

Hong Xiuquan

• Leader of christian movement , claimed he was younger brother of jesus christ, the milita saw it as a cult

 1911 Revolution:

• which overthrew the Qing Dynasty, and sought to integrate China’s diverse ethnic groups into a cohesive national identity 

 Sun Yat-sen

• Founding father of modern day china

• Founded a major political party in taiwan

• Lot of ideological disciples

May 4th Movement

• Marked birth of modern chinese nationalism , national youth day, modern language, led to birth of ccp

constructivism vs realism

• Realism- just abt power

• Constructivism- includes ethics, colonialism was shunned at that point in time

• Could britain afford a war with china at the time?

Reverse Nixon Strategy

doing the opposite of what nixon did and not opening up china or not reaching out to them to create a united front

Communist Revolution Features (1920’s)

1. no marxist social democractic tradition

2. greater amount of flexibility in interpreting marxism

3. led to the overthrowing of the national governence and establishing the CCP

CCP formation (1921)

founded in shanghai, city that was heavily divided so it was good for radicals, finished meeting on boat

Marxism Features

1. revolutionary route (violent)

2. reform route (peaceful through elections

3. tend to think about marxism in more of the former sense, marxism depiction of capitalism was correct, for china they seem to align more with violent revolutions

Seek Truth From Facts

1. encircling cities from countryside to recruit people to join the army, good at satisfying demands from peasants (flexible)

2. black cat white cat: deng xiaoping said that what matters is performance, which is why changed economic system to capitalist

Contemporary relevance 1: Two Door Phenomenon

Chinese people have the politics door shut to them but they can have a lot more non political freedom, arts and culture and foreign colleges

done to prevent instability and to add to regime performance

Contemporary relevance 2: legitimacy by tradition

make people think they can’t live without you (not unique to non democracies) eg. wearing the maoist clothes and riding in the same old car, shows how the ccp has always been in charge

contemporary relevance 3: international influence and china’s soft power

a lot of communist terms from chairman mao really made an influence on western politics, eg. communist revolution gave women access to education and not just reffered to as property

American Kill Line

rates of financial hardships within the US has led to shortened kill line and demonstrates how american people fall into poverty bc they don’t have a lot of cushion

first leader of PLA

Mao Zedong (1949-1976)

second leader of PLA

Deng Xiaoping (1978-1989)

Current leader of PLA

Xi Jinping (2012-present)

Xi as General Secretary

in china the PLA is a tool for the CCP, protect china means they are protecting the CCP, technically the PLA is under civilian control but it is under the CCP which is a civilian org

Princelings and loss of faith

before meritocracy was emphasized, anyone could rise to leadership, but with Xi it shows how since he was a princeling he got the position the regime lost faith in civilians and had to choose people to carry on regime

Li Keqiang Index

he was a technocrat, used bank loans, electric companies, train and plane cargos, to get a sense of how the economy is doing

China’s Dual Leadership Structure

head of state- role of president

head of government- premier, runs the day to day stuff

Standing Committee of Politburo

7 men who are the highest decision making group of china, based on democratic centralism, when he picks out these specific people it is deviating from meritocracy

phyrric victory

a win that is so costly on the victor that it is essentially a defeat

Chinese Dream

similar to the american dream, split into domestic and international. started in 1949 when the PRC was founded (annexation of tiber and xianjiang) and then in 1992 went into the economic dream (two door metaphor) emphasis on prosperity for freedom

Belt and Road Initiative

china sending out loans for infastructure, china just exports doesn’t need domestic consumption and this helps boost outside consumption

AIIB- Asian Infastructure and Investment Bank

China’s answer to world bank, the world bank and IMF are set up within america, need to have certain shares to have voting, not really fair and takes a long time so china set up AIIB bc there’s no other alternative

One Country Two Systems

understand moral and practical reasons to return hong kong: colonialism is bad, and China threatened to invade

Protests in HK

2014 Umbrella Movement- regarding chief executive of HK, beijing promised free governance and went back on it, don’t give option on who to vote for

2019-2020 Extradition Law: if someone escapes into HK they have to return them back

Thucyides Trap

famous international relations concept, if there are two superpowers (existing and upcoming) they will eventually have to fight

Lai Ching-te

current president of Taiwan under the democratic progressive party which is under pan green, emphasizes taiwan autonomy and more lower status and rural people vote for them

Taiwan Relations Act (1979)

federal legislation that says that the US doesn’t officially recognize Taiwan as a country but we will help taiwan defend itself