last update 12/11/2006
For Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 I will only ask broad questions. So be sure that you have reviewed them, but don't worry about the level of detail stressed below.
Starr: Chapter 8 -- Centrifugal Forces of Regionalism
What are Skinner's nine "macroregions" of China? What are they based on? When did Skinner create his regions?
Does Starr suggest any changes to Skinner's regions?
What is meant by the fact that "Chinese politicians have a strong preference for ad hoc arrangements..."?
How has the Party prevented the military from forming stable long-term local interests? Does this sound similar to what occurred under the Emporer's?
What was Mao's Robin Hood approach to the use of taxation in China? Did Deng Xiaoping take a similar or different approach?
Are there unfunded mandates in China? What are these?
Given current conditions in China is it likely that more or less decentralized political and economic systems will emerge?
Starr: Chapter 9 – Han and Non-Han
Who are the Han and what proportion of the population do they represent?
Roughly how many different ethnic minorities are there?
What is the geographic importance of many ethnic minorities?
Practically speaking, as illustrated by Inner Mongolia, what does autonomous region really mean?
What proportion of Inner Mongolia is actually Mongol? How important is agriculture in this region? How dependent is this region on grants from the central government, versus paying its own way?
In Xinjiang are there more Han or ethnic minorities? What is the tone of relations between the Han and the minorities? What is the major religion here and language? Do these minorities also exist in neighboring states? Why would this be important? Who actually is in charge in this region? Explain. Again, what is the role of agriculture in the local economy and are central government grants important? How stable is this area, explain?
Geographically and historically how does Tibet (TAR) compare to Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang? In comparison to the US how big is Tibet? And how many Tibetans are there (look at table) and how many in the TAR? When was the “Dalai Lama” first established in Tibet? Again how does agriculture and central government grants effect this region?
Starr: Chapter 10 – Environmental Degradation
What is meant by "There is very little profligacy in the Chinese people's use of natural resources"?
What 3 factors swung its environment out of a delicate historical balance?
What is the primary source of energy for cooking and eating? And what is the impact?
How great is the issue of air quality in China? Could you compare Beijing to New York?
What is the major cause of air pollution?
What is the indication that Chinese factories are much more efficient in energy use as compared to the US or Japan?
As an aside, China has successfully met its targets for automobile production!
Note below that China has moved up several places in the greenhouse gas sweepstakes.
| A. Emissions (6 gases) | B. Gross Domestic Product | C. Population | ||||||
| MtCO2 | % of total | $GDP bil (PPP) | % of total | millions | % of total | |||
| UnitedStates | 6,928 | 20.6 | EU-25 | 10,402 | 22.2 | China | 1,280 | 20.7 |
| China | 4,938 | 14.7 | UnitedStates | 9,965 | 21.3 | India | 1,049 | 16.9 |
| EU-25 | 4,725 | 14 | China | 5,607 | 12 | EU-25 | 454 | 7.3 |
| Russia | 1,915 | 5.7 | Japan | 3,285 | 7 | UnitedStates | 293 | 4.7 |
| India | 1,884 | 5.6 | India | 2,698 | 5.8 | Indonesia | 212 | 3.4 |
| Japan | 1,317 | 3.9 | ||||||
Over the last 20 years what is the pattern on tap water use in China? Given our lectures in class might this be problematic?
As an aside, the Han River diversion is in full swing, with water scheduled to arrive in the North in time for the Beijing Olympics.
What is impotable water? Why is this a concern in major cities of China?
Are there any success apparent in China's environment? Think especially of Beijing and Air Quality.
Where is the Three Gorges Dam? Who first proposed it? What are the three objectives of the project?
Was a single high dam required to meet the three objectives of the Three Gorges project?
Based on this chapter and the class lecture, what kind of negative impacts might result from the Three Gorges dam?
Why did the central government in China slice the city of Chongqing off of Sichuan province?
Why do Hubei and Hunan provinces support the dam? Does Shanghai also demonstrate such strong support?
Why did Li Peng (and his wife) support the dam?
By how much would former head of China's national EPA like to see environmental expenditures increased?
How are grassroots environmental groups doing in China? How does the central government view such organizations?
Is there a role for places like the US in solving China's environmental problems? If so what?