Changes in Modern China and India

Terms and People Deng Xiaoping – the leader of China in 1981 who set China on a new path by enacting practical reforms to the economy Tiananmen Square – a huge plaza in the center of China’s capital, Beijing, where demonstrators staged a protest in 1989 and thousands were killed or wounded by government troops one-child policy – Chinese government policy limiting urban families to a single child Mother Teresa – a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta to provide food and medical care to thousands of Indian people

Terms and People (continued) Slobodan Milosevic – Serbian president and nationalist; supplied arms and money to Serbian rebels fighting in Bosnia; accused of ethnic cleansing ethnic cleansing – the killing or forcible removal of different ethnicities from an area by an aggressor so that only the ethnic group of the aggressor remains Kosovo – a province of Serbia with an Albanian ethnic majority that declared independence in 2008 3

What are the similarities and differences between the economies and governments of China and India? China and India are home to two-fifths of the world’s population. Both have undergone reforms to encourage economic development. As these nations became more powerful and productive, they overcame many challenges, but still face some problems today.

When moderate leaders took control of China after Mao Zedong died in 1976, the nation began on a new path. Deng Xiaoping became leader in 1981 and started a program called the Four Modernizations, which allowed some features of a free market. Farmers could sell surplus produce, and managers of state-run factories were given more freedom. The changes brought a surge of economic growth, as well as increased contacts with the West and United States.

Deng refused to allow democratic reforms. From April to June in 1989, students, workers, and other protesters gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing to demand democracy. As contact with the West grew, some Chinese demanded greater political freedom.

When the Tiananmen Square protesters refused to leave, the government sent in tanks. Thousands were killed or injured. People around the world watched this video of a single protester facing a row of tanks. This single event cost China the 1992 Olympic Games.

China’s population growth brought problems. Millions of workers moved to cities, straining resources. The government began a one-child policy in the 1980s. It worked better in urban areas than rural areas, but did help to slow population growth.

Economic growth also caused problems. Urban workers lived in poverty. New industries polluted the air and water. Travel and trade led to the spread of AIDS and diseases like SARS.

Human rights activists called attention to abuses in China. Abuses included lack of free speech, use of prison labor, and suppression of Tibet’s Buddhist culture. China’s trading partners pressured China to end abuses. Party leaders responded that outsiders had no right to impose Western ideas on non-Western cultures. China did issue its first human rights action plan in 2009.

Many Indian people found jobs providing computer and technology customer support to the rest of the world.

Like China, India struggles with a huge and growing population. Despite the growth of the economy, India is still plagued by poverty. Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun, founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata and helped thousands by providing food and medical care. Though the government backed family planning to try to slow population growth, it had only limited success.

The European powers that drew their borders had little concern for ethnic, religious, or regional differences. New nations were created with culturally diverse populations. Often one ethnic group dominated. Many new nations were created after World War II.

Ethnic, nationalistic, and religious tensions tore apart Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

The nation was held together by a communist government. Serbs, Montenegrins, and Macedonians were Orthodox Christian. Croats and Slovenes were Roman Catholic. Bosnians and Albanians were mainly Muslim. Before 1991, Yugoslavia was a multiethnic nation made up of many religious and ethnic groups. The nation was held together by a communist government.

This led to fighting between Serbs and Croats in Croatia. After the fall of communism, individual regions began to break away, starting with Slovenia and Croatia in 1991. This led to fighting between Serbs and Croats in Croatia. In Bosnia, fighting erupted among Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs.

With his aid, Serbs engaged in ethnic cleansing, removing or killing Croats and Muslim Bosniaks, to create ethnically “pure” Serbian regions. As the fighting spread, Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic aided and encouraged Bosnian Serbs.

Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, lay in ruins. During the Bosnian War, which lasted from 1992 to 1995, both sides committed terrible atrocities. Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, lay in ruins. NATO air strikes against the Bosnian Serb military forced both sides to negotiate. The Dayton Accords, sponsored by the United States, ended the war. This also sent hundreds of Bosnian refugees to the US. People in Sarajevo view the rubble of their home.

Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic began oppressing Kosovo Albanians in 1989. When a small guerrilla force of Kosovo Albanians emerged, Milosevic rejected international peace efforts and increased his ethnic cleansing campaign. In 1999 NATO launched air strikes at Serbia. Milosevic was arrested and sentenced to death in the world courts for war crimes.

Kosovo moved toward independence. Serbs protested, believing that Kosovo was a historic part of their country. Kosovo Albanians celebrated independence in 2008. A small NATO force remains to keep the peace.