Friday, June 1, 2012
Senior Reflection #2
This past week has been both relaxing and stressful at the same time, since most of my classes are ending as we're preparing for final exams or working on final projects. I've gotten through three final exams: Matrix Algebra, Biology, and English in this past week. Finals week is going to be easy because I've gotten through much of my difficult classes. However, I have a pretty busy weekend ahead of me (with tons of final projects and last-minute homeworks to finish up before the quarter/school year ends) along with graduation parties, volunteering, and so much more. So, here's to hoping that I'll have all my stuff done before the weekend is over, so next week can be an awesome week before school ends! I cannot wait until next week actually because we'll be getting school yearbooks on Monday. I've already had a chance to look at the new yearbook; however, I cannot wait to get it signed by all of my friends before we all head our separate ways to different colleges/states.
Senior Reflection #1
I guess it has been quite a while since I've had a chance to post on this blog, but I thought I would begin with a senior reflection on how this year has been so far. I want to go back and talk about the past couple of weeks, which have been extremely hectic because of AP Exams. I had four straight days of AP Exams, which completely wore me out. However, my AP exams went pretty well, so I've finally gotten over the hump of the school year and I've had a chance to finally relax with just doing simple/fun projects for classes. As of right now, we only have 6 days of school left for this Senior year. I cannot wait until school ends, so I can have a fun and relaxing summer.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Sacking of Bo Xilai
In the upcoming year, the world's strongest powers (USA and China) will be receieving new leadership. China's president, Xi Jinping, will become the Communist Party's head leader by taking Hu Jintao's leadership position.
On March 15th, the party chief of the southwestern region of Chongqing, Bo Xilai, was removed from office. His removal shows a certain sign of change for China. Bo Xilai seemed to be destined for leadership in the nine-member standing committee of the Politburo. Despite the fact that Bo Xilai's ideas while in office seemed rather extremist (with links to cracking down the Chinese "mafia" and following of Maoist beliefs), Bo Xilai's removal proves to show that there is something wrong with the Chinese political system. Bo Xilai focused on "red" and "anti-mafia" campaigns to discredit his opposition, Mr. Wang Yang, his predecessor in the Chongquing region. Yang has, however, come out on top in the competition with his somewhat liberal beliefs. Xilai's downfall does not come as a shock, as recently, Chongqing's corrupt affairs have been aired out for the Chinese public and the American consulate to see. His removal from office shows that China is moving toward less corruption and taking punishment on those who are firsthand in the corrupt affairs. According to the article, Chinese officials will still be able to get away with corruption, if it is brought out the correct way (without weapons).
The irony of the situation is that just a day prior to the sacking of Xilai, China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, had said that without the upcoming reforms (removal of corrupt leaders), China may enter another "Cutural Revolution" phase.
Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21550309
On March 15th, the party chief of the southwestern region of Chongqing, Bo Xilai, was removed from office. His removal shows a certain sign of change for China. Bo Xilai seemed to be destined for leadership in the nine-member standing committee of the Politburo. Despite the fact that Bo Xilai's ideas while in office seemed rather extremist (with links to cracking down the Chinese "mafia" and following of Maoist beliefs), Bo Xilai's removal proves to show that there is something wrong with the Chinese political system. Bo Xilai focused on "red" and "anti-mafia" campaigns to discredit his opposition, Mr. Wang Yang, his predecessor in the Chongquing region. Yang has, however, come out on top in the competition with his somewhat liberal beliefs. Xilai's downfall does not come as a shock, as recently, Chongqing's corrupt affairs have been aired out for the Chinese public and the American consulate to see. His removal from office shows that China is moving toward less corruption and taking punishment on those who are firsthand in the corrupt affairs. According to the article, Chinese officials will still be able to get away with corruption, if it is brought out the correct way (without weapons).
The irony of the situation is that just a day prior to the sacking of Xilai, China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, had said that without the upcoming reforms (removal of corrupt leaders), China may enter another "Cutural Revolution" phase.
Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21550309
Sunday, March 11, 2012
China's Prime Minister Bows Out
Wen Jiabao has entered his final year in the office of Prime Minister of China. As he recounts his past years in office, Jiabao warned in a two-hour speech to the National People's Congress of the new problems that China will be facing. He struggled to prove to the people of China that he had changed China for the better since the beginning of his term, so coming to terms with Jiabao's warnings will prove to be difficult for the Chinese people. Jiabao's position will be passed down to his deputy, Li Keqiang, and the presidential position will be passed to the current vice-president, Xi Jinping.
As Jiabao delivered his final state of the union address to the Chinese people and the NPC on March 5th, Jiabao took a moment to talk about the progress that his five-year term as a leading member of the Politburo has helped China. After his speech, the Chinese people discussed the progress that Jiabao and Jintao have made in China. Jintao has worked toward becoming an everyday man of the people. He has looked toward working for the Chinese people, by traveling all across China to gain a better understanding of the way the everyday Chinese man lives. In this effort, Jiabao has believed that building a "harmonious society" in China is the central goal. However, the Chinese people believe that Jiabao's pledge to create a harmonious China has actually not been working over the years. Though China's growth rates have been expanding by double digits compared to any other country in the world, only part of China's population is experiencing the wealth. The gap between the rich and the poor of Chinese society only continues to expand and unrest among the disadvantaged continues to grow. The article showed the number of dissenting people is slowing expanding in China, to a point where the people have become uneasy about their living standards and their economic statuses. They are concerned about the growing gap and this has led to less confidence in the government of China.
Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21549991
Sunday, February 26, 2012
China Urges Peace
With the developing threat of the Syrian crisis, China has been urging for a peaceful solution to end the violence in Syria. China has recently stated that they do not want armed intervention to bring the Syrian crisis to a violent end. China wants to be able to negotiate peaceful treaties to end the crisis. China plans on keeping peaceful negotiations by maintaining relationships with the Syrian government and the Arab League.
All of this negotiations and planning for dealing with the Syrian crisis have been lead by the United Nations. The United Nations Security Council recently put up a resolution to have a crackdown on the proptests in Syria. However, China and Russia have vetoed the resolution. China's goal in all of this is to not support the current Syrian government, as that would create even more issues with the protesters. China wants to control the furthering of any violence in Syria because armed intervention did not work well in Libya. To begin the process of peaceful negotiations, China wants to increase political dialogue and support of both sides of the argument. China is seeking to gain the help of other countries in this effort, by pushing for peace between Palestine and Israel.
Source: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-02/25/content_14690756.htm
All of this negotiations and planning for dealing with the Syrian crisis have been lead by the United Nations. The United Nations Security Council recently put up a resolution to have a crackdown on the proptests in Syria. However, China and Russia have vetoed the resolution. China's goal in all of this is to not support the current Syrian government, as that would create even more issues with the protesters. China wants to control the furthering of any violence in Syria because armed intervention did not work well in Libya. To begin the process of peaceful negotiations, China wants to increase political dialogue and support of both sides of the argument. China is seeking to gain the help of other countries in this effort, by pushing for peace between Palestine and Israel.
Source: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-02/25/content_14690756.htm
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Trade Relations Between China and Turkey
In a recent article from the China Daily News, we can understand that the trade cooperations between China and Turkey have progressed exponentially after a meeting between the Chinese vice president, Xi Jinping, and Turkish president, Abdullah Gul. According to Xi Jinping, we can expect that trade relations between the two countries will become more connected, as it is beneficial to both countries.
Turkey has been playing a large role in trying to maintain stability and course for development between foreign countries; this has led to Turkey playing a "vital role in global and regional affairs." The two countries, China and Turkey, will not only cooperate in trade relations, but also in combating terrorism around the world and safeguarding world peace.
There will, of course, be inevitable frictions between the two countries due to their statuses as two of the fastest growing economies of the world, growing competition between the two, and an overall economic slowdown across the globe. However, despite these frictions, the benefits that China will experience due to expansion of trade are also beneficial to Turkey. Strategically, the cooperation between the two countries will create a co-dependent or symbiotic system, where both countries can reap the benefits of their efforts (linkage in cooperation).
Source: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-02/22/content_14662629.htm
Turkey has been playing a large role in trying to maintain stability and course for development between foreign countries; this has led to Turkey playing a "vital role in global and regional affairs." The two countries, China and Turkey, will not only cooperate in trade relations, but also in combating terrorism around the world and safeguarding world peace.
There will, of course, be inevitable frictions between the two countries due to their statuses as two of the fastest growing economies of the world, growing competition between the two, and an overall economic slowdown across the globe. However, despite these frictions, the benefits that China will experience due to expansion of trade are also beneficial to Turkey. Strategically, the cooperation between the two countries will create a co-dependent or symbiotic system, where both countries can reap the benefits of their efforts (linkage in cooperation).
Source: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-02/22/content_14662629.htm
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Wen Jiabao Stresses Reform for China
The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, says that he will continue to push for reform in China despite the problems that reform is currently facing. The premier believes that the only way for China to overcome its difficulties is to implement open reforms. His plans for managing this reform requires that China allow for self-governance of the rural administrations (such as with direct elections of village-level leadership and the need to ensure the voting rights of farmers). Wen wants local affairs to be dealt by the local governments, and in order to implement this, he seeks implementation of a strict legal system along with regulations for the elections. The strictness of these elections will allow for elections to become more transparent and allow for less corruption in leadership. The premier has placed focus on the rural governments because of the lack of reforms and building of corruption in those areas.
Reform is easier said than done. China has had trouble over the years in controlling the local/rural governments from electing or being taken over by poor leadership. The rural governments and their governing areas have faced many problems, mainly with the expropriation of farmland. "Land grabs" have occurred, in which companies have illegally (with authorization) taken farmland for their use. This has caused mass protests in China. Reform, of course, can control this issue, by ensuring the rights of the landowners and farmers. Reform will help protect from the illegal transfer of land by placing strict rules in place. This sort of reform will begin from the local governments to build a democratic form of government in China. Trying to set this system in place will be a major burden on the government, despite the Chinese Premier's strong belief in the program. Reforms cannot protect against rampant corruption within the Chinese government. However, these reforms will be a major advantage for the common man against the wealthy companies building on their lands. Farmers and small landowners will be able to protect their lands from illegal seizure. The government will also be able to organize the allocation of land by setting up separate sectors for spending within the local expenditures, as the article provided that China could allocate funding for "improving soil fertility of suburban land."
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-02/05/c_131392403.htm
Reform is easier said than done. China has had trouble over the years in controlling the local/rural governments from electing or being taken over by poor leadership. The rural governments and their governing areas have faced many problems, mainly with the expropriation of farmland. "Land grabs" have occurred, in which companies have illegally (with authorization) taken farmland for their use. This has caused mass protests in China. Reform, of course, can control this issue, by ensuring the rights of the landowners and farmers. Reform will help protect from the illegal transfer of land by placing strict rules in place. This sort of reform will begin from the local governments to build a democratic form of government in China. Trying to set this system in place will be a major burden on the government, despite the Chinese Premier's strong belief in the program. Reforms cannot protect against rampant corruption within the Chinese government. However, these reforms will be a major advantage for the common man against the wealthy companies building on their lands. Farmers and small landowners will be able to protect their lands from illegal seizure. The government will also be able to organize the allocation of land by setting up separate sectors for spending within the local expenditures, as the article provided that China could allocate funding for "improving soil fertility of suburban land."
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-02/05/c_131392403.htm
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