Here is a paper that I turned in last Friday for my history class. I'd like to share all the thoughts that I've had after reading these two books, but I don't really have the time or energy to write it all down, especially after putting so much effort into this paper. There were a lot more things that were on my mind that I couldn't put into the paper because there wasn't space (I could only write six pages). So if you want to talk about it, I guess you'll have to come over for a play date or something!
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High economic growth is essential for both China and India if they are to become superpowers. If their economies stall or fall apart, their standard of living, governments, and international influence will also be damaged. According to Gifford, income per capita in China is twice as much as in India (Gifford, 73), and China’s economic growth is faster than India’s (Gifford, 71-72). High economic growth must be complemented by improvements in infrastructure to facilitate that growth, and China’s government is aware of this. In fact, the government is largely building and constructing roads before the economic growth occurs, which is attractive to entrepreneurs. “There is also a lot of aspirational building in China, a sort of ‘build it and they will come’ approach in projects like this and in the attitude toward constructing the nation’s extraordinary system of new roads” (Gifford, 68-70).
Creative freedom will potentially allow the Indian people to bring about significant economic growth. Many Indians are very innovative. One is Mukesh Gupta, who is heading a project that involves breeding earthworms, which naturally make nutrient-rich soil that can be sold throughout the world, as can the food grown in the soil (Lak, 155-157). The problem India faces is that, unlike China, it is not investing in the roads that are necessary for the economy to function. “Put simply, if economic expansion is to be sustained at its current rate, India needs to start by building better roads, ports and airports. Some 40 percent of Indian produce spoils before it reaches the market. This is largely because of the long periods it spends on battered, overcrowded highways” (Lak, 241-242). China, in contrast, is investing in roads. “You can accuse the Chinese government of many things, but neglecting road building is not one of them” (Gifford, 43). India’s problems with transporting products severely limit its economy and prevent it from competing in the manufacturing sector. China, on the other hand, “is still the main center for global manufacturing” (Gifford, 286). This is a major reason why China’s economy continues to grow at a faster rate than India's.
China and India may both be achieving rapid economic growth, but they still need to take steps to improve the standard of living for most of their populations. China’s controlling style may not be popular among fans of democracies, but it is making more progress in helping its peasants than India. Ninety-three percent of Chinese people are literate, whereas only 60 percent of Indians are literate. Eighty-seven percent of Chinese women are literate, whereas only 45 percent of Indian women are literate (Gifford, 73). Illiteracy severely limits a person’s ability to ascend the economic ladder since literacy is needed for higher-paying jobs. One way the Chinese government is lifting people out of poverty is by paying for many of them to get an education in schools in the east, although an unfortunate side effect is that ethnic minorities lose their identity to some extent and become more like the Han Chinese. “The Chinese government says its policy provides a great opportunity for these children to get an even better education, and that is true . . . But the by-product of the policy is that the cream of Uighur youth have their ethnic identity diluted and become, in their formative years, more Chinese” (Gifford, 243). This integration stabilizes the Chinese government because if the minorities become more like the rest of China they won’t need to deal with revolts by angry minorities who want to leave China.
China’s direct role in lifting people out of poverty is causing its standard of living to rise at a more rapid rate than in India, where the government plays a much less direct role. There are many characteristics of Indian society that not only ignore Indians in abject poverty, but actually keep them in poverty with little hope of rising, and overcoming this is a very slow process. One problem is that India has severe issues with sanitation, particularly with the disposal of human waste. Hundreds of thousands of Indians make a living by collecting human waste and disposing of it, even though, according to Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, “Indian society . . . could have afforded another system of waste disposal but chose to continue with sweepers and scavengers, with all its foul effects.” Dr. Pathak explained to Lak, “This is barbaric, the worst work imaginable, and people who do it are beyond untouchability. No one wants to know them. They are doomed and their children are doomed to illiteracy, alienation outcast status” (Lak, 200). Until Indian society makes fundamental changes to their thoughts and attitudes, they will not be able to lift their most impoverished citizens out of poverty, even if their economy continues to grow at stunning rates, and this will limit the country’s credibility and available resources to act as a superpower. “Poverty will remain deeply entrenched because of social exclusion and denial of access to health and education services in the poorest areas . . . The ranks of the fortunate in India must start doing more to help their fellow citizens in poverty” (Lak, 158).
Another challenge facing China and India is establishing stable and effective governments. This is essential if they are to be taken seriously abroad and bring about economic improvements. Chinese government maintains stability by integrating ethnic minorities in the West, such as the Uighurs, into Han Chinese society, starting with the education of their children. Han Chinese are also encouraged to move west to aid in this integration. “Tibetans fear that the number of Han Chinese will slowly climb until there are as many Han as there are Tibetans in the region,” Gifford says (Gifford, 159). As more minorities like the Uighurs and Tibetans become like Han Chinese, and as more Han Chinese move west, successfully revolting and leaving China will become impossible, and the Chinese government’s influence over the western region will be stronger. China also maintains control by prohibiting public questioning of the political system. “Many people’s mind-sets about science and progress have been changed, but the government will still not allow people to think about political change . . . If China is to hold together, questioning like that cannot be tolerated” (Gifford, 167). While, to a Western mind, this may not seem desirable, it is true that the Chinese government does need to maintain control over dissent, or it will fall apart.
Most Indians consider democracy to be the country’s greatest achievement (Lak, 111). Unfortunately, India’s government has not achieved the stability or effectiveness of China’s government, despite the ability of the people to check the government using their right to vote. The Indian people are passionate about their right to vote, and “voter turnout is almost always high” (Lak, 8). At one polling place in Bihar, many people stayed to vote even after being shot at by Maoist guerrillas (Lak, 117). The problem is that illiteracy and lack of education limits many people’s ability to make an informed vote. They can refuse to vote for a leader who hasn’t done a good job, but it is difficult to make an informed decision on a replacement for that leader. As a result, in many cases an election becomes a popularity contest or a matter of a contender’s appearance, rather than being based on merit and ability. One actor campaigned for an office in Andhra Pradesh wearing costumes from movies in which he had been portrayed as the Hindu god Krishna. He served two terms, and his policies caused significant problems for the area before he was removed by the people’s vote (Lak, 119-120). Thus we see that even though Indians are much more capable than Chinese of influencing and making changes in their government, Indian government is still frequently ineffective because the people cannot make informed choices at the ballot. If India can raise its literacy rates and improve its education, the government has the potential to be more stable and effective, but at this point, China’s authoritarian government is in a better position to stay in control of its country.
Finally, China and India must develop international influence and power. China has made several achievements that have allowed the country to wield power around the globe. China’s greatest strength in this respect is that it has a significant amount of influence on the global economy because of its manufacturing industry. The Chinese government has also bought government bonds from the United States, which served to keep United States interest rates down (Gifford, 286). Ownership of these bonds has expanded Chinese influence in recent years as debt in the United States has become a growing problem. China also has a position on the UN Security Council (Lak, 249). Thus, China is already projecting influence around the world and is well-positioned to participate in world issues as a superpower.
India’s international influence is growing, but it is largely focused on the regional level. India has strong influence over many of its neighboring countries. “India has been known to throw around its considerable weight in the region” (Lak, 222). Yet even this influence is not very well received by those countries. Like China, India does have nuclear weapons, which are a powerful resource for international influence. However, India mainly wanted nuclear weapons for the purposes of defending itself and exerting influence over its neighbor, Pakistan. When India tested its nuclear weapons, it was well known that Pakistan already had nuclear technology and could build nuclear weapons (Lak, 211). India was mainly interested in nuclear weapons as a regional influence, not a global influence. Applying global influence is a necessary characteristic of a superpower, and while India does have the potential to do so, at this point its influence is mainly in countries close by. Meanwhile, China already has significant influence abroad.
Both China and India have the potential to become world superpowers. They are making noticeable strides in economy, standard of living, government, and international influence. Of these four factors, economy has the largest impact on the rate at which the two countries approach the status of superpower. Without a strong, growing economy, standard of living ceases to improve, government loses approval, and international influence suffers since the country cannot participate in the global economy on a large enough scale. China’s economy is far ahead of India’s, which is a major reason why it is closer to becoming a superpower than India. This economic growth is sustainable because of the government’s purposeful investment in infrastructure. China’s government also is taking action to alleviate poverty through education—a move that, coupled with intolerance of dissent, gives it stability. China also already exercises considerable influence internationally. In contrast, India’s economic growth is stunted by its bad roads, its peasants are held down by fundamental societal problems, its government is ineffective because so many Indians are not literate enough to make informed votes, and its influence abroad is only focused on the regional scale. This does not mean that India will never become a superpower; however, China has a significant head start and is positioned to become a superpower before India.
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