Instruction
Answer two questions.You have a strict word limit of 800 for each
question. (Don’t go over the word count or under the word count too much)Please provide the word count.
The writing is open everything (book, internet, lecture notes), (Be sure to relate to some of the content taught in class)
Full formal citations are not necessary, but make sure to attribute ideas
that are not your own using simple parenthetical notes (e.g., Lecture 3;
Lieberthal 2004: 100).
Question 1 (Lecture8-11 are about Deng’s Policy)
In a speech given by Vice President Mike Pence in October
2018, he remarks that “After the fall of the Soviet Union, we
assumed that a free China was inevitable. Heady with optimism
at the turn of the 21st Century, America agreed to give Beijing
open access to our economy, and we brought China into the
World Trade Organization. Previous administrations made this
choice in the hope that freedom in China would expand in all of
its forms—not just economically, but politically, with a newfound
respect for classical liberal principles, private property, personal
liberty, religious freedom—the entire family of human rights. But
that hope has gone unfulfilled.”
“The dream of freedom remains distant for the Chinese people.
And while Beijing still pays lip service to ‘reform and opening,’
Deng Xiaoping’s famous policy now rings hollow.”
Do you agree with this assessment? Write an essay to support
or refute this view. Make sure to engage with political, economic,
and societal issues we covered in class.
Question 2
Since Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, China has
undergone tremendous political, economic, and
social changes. Looking back over China’s last
four decades (1976–2018), which year do you
think is especially important? What happened in
that year and what are the significance of those
events? How did that year shape the current
political landscape in China? What long-term
consequences do those events have or will have
on the Chinese economy and society?