Still a Developing Nation

The fact that China is still a developing nation was something I understood academically but had never truly seen. In politics and Political Science there is much discussion about China today, its economy, and its predicted economic superiority to come in the not too distant future. Actually being in China and seeing the poverty first hand has changed my view of its ascendant position in the world. There are many in this nation who speak about the dangers of China, its rapidly growing economy and its increasing military spending, but seeing that village and seeing the almost barren wasteland of Datong's surrounding area from coal strip mining has shown me that even though China's economy and military spending are growing and growing fast, it still has a far road to travel before it can be counted fully among the developed nations of the West and Japan.

China may have had an extra trillion dollars to spend this past year, but it has much work to do to complete its ascendance. The money that China is making is concentrated around Beijing and along the coast. Out away from the major cities, there is a lot of nothing. Some of the countryside was very beautiful especially along the train tracks to Datong and around Zhengzhou, but even then there was a whole lot of nothing. I was surprised to see the dilapidated houses in which so many people lived; the cleanliness of even the big cities is very questionable in places. I do not see how a nation can be considered a developed one when there are dirty cows roaming freely through the streets of a medium income farming village dropping their droppings wherever they wish. I live in a small town in rural Pennsylvania where there are a lot of farmers, Amish, and low income families, and there are no places I know of in any proximity to my town that are in the same condition as the Five Laws village we visited. I understand that China is still a developing nation and that it takes time for a place like Five Laws to become a place like my home. The point I want to make, however, is that fear of America's loss of unquestioned superiority that so many like to remind us of is as of yet largely unfounded.

China is a great nation with a long and glorious past, but it still cannot provide basic human needs to all of its citizens. I was very surprised and found it very telling that the Chinese do not even drink tap water without first boiling it, and then only do so usually only if they cannot buy any bottled water. People always say not to drink the tap water in Mexico, but I have never heard that the Mexicans do not drink the tap water. I find it unfortunate that with an extra trillion dollars, the Chinese government who makes all decisions concerning infrastructure do not seem to be using any of that money to improve their water filtration system. The idea of basic human needs is one that is mentioned often when discussing developing or underdeveloped nations in Political Science, and it is an extremely important and relevant topic. Things such as clean drinking water, air quality regulations, adequate health care, etc. are important basic human needs and I did not see those being in the forefront of the government's agenda. The trees planted on the barren hilltops in the mining areas were only planted after dust storms swept up from Shaanxi and hit Beijing; only then did the government act to help restore the vegetation lost during strip mining.