by: Stefanie Parsons

It’s no surprise that I’ve been thinking about China lately. Forget that large rodent and his shadow or the roses and chocolates for a special someone- it’s time to celebrate Chinese New Year!  But before I start making dumplings or practicing the dragon dance, I’ve done some research into the modern Middle Kingdom: The People’s Republic of China.

Since I have made friends with a new immigrant from China I have been curious as to why she has chosen to uproot her life and start all over again in Canada.  I can understand why refugees who are living in fear for their life look at Canada as a safe place to live in freedom from war, but what makes China a good place to leave?

It has been along time since the Tiananmen Square massacre where students led the biggest democracy demonstration ever against the communist government of their country and were violently confronted by tanks and soldiers of the Peoples Republic army.  The image of a lone man standing in the middle of a deserted Beijing street in front of a long line of tanks that were waiting to move into the Square will forever be in my mind as a symbol of the struggle for freedom.  But China is more of a world player now than it ever was and is about to show off a new image when it hosts the 2008 Olympics.

China has been a communist country since 1949 but it’s the oldest continuing civilization in the world at 4,000 years and counting and currently has 1.3 billion people – 20% of the world’s population.  In 2005 it had the second largest economy in the world behind the U.S. but according to the C.I.A. World Factbook: 150 million Chinese live below the international poverty lines. 

Those are just the basic facts, so lets look at two reasons for ‘bowing out’ of China in this century:

It’s unhealthy to remain!  According to a 2004 article in National Geographic titled ‘The Price of Growth in China’, “More than 25 million Chinese workers are now in regular contact with life – threatening toxic dust and poisonous material.”

Coal makes up for 75% of the country’s energy source resulting in 19 million tons of sulphur dioxide each year, which contributes to acid rain in a big way. 

“Indoor air pollution from coal burning takes more than 700,000 lives a year, and respiratory diseases cause nearly a quarter of all deaths in the countryside,” according to National Geographic.

China is also home to 7 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world.

No women for men to marry.  It is estimated that in 2020, 40 million marriageable-age men will have no one to marry in China as a result of the government’s one-child policy.  Because of the preference for a male child many orphanages are overflowing with children, mostly girls where over 100,000 are abandoned each year in China.

Lisa Ling for National Geographic reports that Chinese officials now say that gender imbalance is a major threat to China, resulting in an increase in prostitution, forced marriages and abductions of women.

“Domestic (human) trafficking remains the most significant problem in China, with an estimated minimum of 10,000-20,000 victims trafficked each year; the actual number of victims could be much greater;” states the C.I.A. World Factbook.  “Some experts believe that the serious and prolonged imbalance in the male-female birth ratio may now be contributing to Chinese and foreign girls and women being trafficked as potential brides.”
 

Chinese New Year and Tet (Vietnamese New Year) Activities

For those of you not celebrating that certain day, get some friends together and check out these New Year events in town:

Saturday, Feb. 17, The Central Ontario Chinese Cultural Centre is hosting a free New Year celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Waterloo Recreation Centre on Father David Bauer Drive in Waterloo.

Sunday, Feb. 18, from 3 to 5 p.m. celebrate Tet at the Vietnamese Alliance Church, 45 Hazelglen Drive (off Victoria St.,) Kitchener.