History of China

First, allow me to provide you with a little background on the reasons how China became two nations. 1911 was the start of continuous conflict in China upon the collapse of the Qing dynasty, the last of the major monarchy dynasties controlling China. The warlords controlled China from 1912-1949, especially the northern provinces, and they were constantly at war with each other. The anti-monarchist and national unificationist Kuomintang party (KMT) and the president of the Republic of China (ROC), Sun Yat-sen, sought the help of foreign powers. Sun Yat-sen's efforts to obtain aid from the Western democracies were ignored, however, and in 1921 he turned to the Soviet Union. For political expediency, the Soviet leadership initiated a dual policy of support for both Sun and the newly established Communist Party of China, which would eventually found the People's Republic of China (CPC). Thus the struggle for power in China began between the KMT and the CPC in 1927. This would be interrupted by the Japanese invading and controlling China from 1937-1945. After the Japanese unconditional surrender in 1945 to Americans, dictated by the United States, Japanese troops were ordered to surrender to KMT troops and not to the CPC present in some of the occupied areas. In Manchuria, however, where the KMT had no forces, the Japanese surrendered to the Soviet Union. Chiang Kai-Shek ordered the Japanese troops to remain at their post to receive the Kuomintang and not surrender their arms to the communists. The first post-war peace negotiation was attended by both Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong in Chongqing from August 28, 1945 to Oct 10, 1945. Both sides stressed the importance of a peaceful reconstruction, but the conference did not produce any concrete result. Battles between the two sides continued even as the peace negotiation was in progress, until the agreement was reached in January 1946. However, large campaigns and full scale confrontations between the CPC and Chiang's own troops were temporarily avoided. Chaing Kai-Shek was airlifted to the Northern Provinces even though the communists retained majority control. The truce fell apart in June 1946, when full scale war between CPC and KMT broke out on June 26. China then entered a state of civil war that lasted more than three years. The KMT received massive aid from the United States while the same held true for CPC as they received massive aid from the Soviet Union. During those three years of war, saw the battles swing back and forth. The CPC had a major advantage of weaponry when they captured the munitions left by the Japanese after the war. Eventually, the KMT retreated o the island of Taiwan and the CPC became

the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. There was never a peace agreement between both nations so both governments claim to be the legitimate government of all of China. However, in practice, the PRC governs mainland China, while the ROC governs Taiwan. Chaing Kai-shek became the President of the ROC on Taiwan while Mao Tse-Tung became the communist leader of the ROC.

Now to your question: The People's Republic of China (RPC) is a communist state where it's run by one party, the communists with an iron fist. After the take over of China by the PRC, they instigated a command economy. In 1958, Mao Tse-Tung set up a residency permit system defining where people could work, and classified an individual as a "rural" or "urban" worker. A worker seeking to move from the country to an urban area to take up non-agricultural work would have to apply through the relevant bureaucracies. The number of workers allowed to make such moves was tightly controlled. People who worked outside their authorized domain or geographical area would not qualify for grain rations, employer-provided housing, or health care. There were controls over education, employment, marriage and so on. One reason cited for instituting this system was to prevent the possible chaos caused by the predictable large-scale urbanization. Currently, as a part of the one country, two systems policy proposed by Deng Xiaoping and accepted by the British and Portuguese governments, thespecial administrative regions of Hong Kong (SAR) and Macao retained separate border control and immigration policies with the rest of the PRC. Chinese citizens had to gain permission from the government before travelling to Hong Kong or Macau, but this requirement was abolished after the handover by the British and Portuguese governments. Since then, restrictions imposed by the SAR governments have been the limiting factor on travel. Urban dwellers enjoy a range of social, economic and cultural benefits while peasants, the majority of the Chinese population, are treated as second-class citizens. Migrant laborers play an important part in spreading wealth in Chinese villages, however, they are treated "like second-class citizens by a system so discriminatory that it has been likened to apartheid. China also instituted a household registration and temporary residence permit system has created a situation similar to the passbook system in South Africa which was designed to regulate the supply of cheap labor. The government also clamps down on the freedom of the press, freedom of religion (although tolerated in Hong Kong and Macau. For years, they tried, without success, to stamp out Buddhism in Tibet) and they do not allow the dissenters as exhibited in 1989 protests at Tienanmen Square were put down by the riot police. China attempts to control the Internet has not been successful.

The ROC government is the first democracy in Asia, instituted in 1912, but was taken over by the warlords in 1913. In post World War II Taiwan, democracy came back. The only difference between our democracy and theirs is that the Premier is picked by the President without having to go to the legislature, however, the legislature can pass laws without needing the approval of the Premier or the President. The legislature is an unicameral (meaning only one house where the United States is a bicameral society). The Judiciary is appointed by the Premier and/or the president but do need the consent of the legislature.

hen Qin Shi Huang asked Li Si to help unify the script of Chinese language, Li Si and other scholars wrote a number of literary texts through which a new, simplified, standardized script, known as the Small Seal Script, was universalized throughout China.

Qin Shi Huang promoted the use of the reformed measuring system of his former kingdom, in which six feet equaled one Bu (Chinese double paces); 240 Bu equaled one Mu; and ten feet equaled one Zhang. In 221 b.c., a short imperial edict (of 40 Chinese characters) was promulgated on the unification of this measuring system, and it was required that all officially accepted measuring instruments must bear the edict's words.

In addition to writing and measuring systems, at the time of unification, different regions used different currencies. Qin Shi Huang reformed the currency system by declaring two types of currency: gold and copper. Gold was called upper currency, using Yi (24 ounces) as its unit, while copper was called the lower currency, which appeared in round coins with a square hole in the middle, each weighing a half Liang (half an ounce).

The second year after unification saw the beginnings of three major imperial highways, known as Chi Dao.With Xian Yang, the capital, as their center, the highways stretched northeast (reaching areas of the former kingdoms of Yan and Qi); southeast (reaching the former kingdoms of Wu and Chu); and north and south, about 800 kilometers (496 miles) with Wu Yuan (near today's Bao Tou in Inner Mongolia) at the northern end; and Ling Ling (in today's Hunan province) at the southern end. These highways were 50 Bu (300 feet) wide with pine trees planted along the sides at intervals of three Zhang (30 feet). Remnants of Chi Daosurvive today. With the total length of the Qin imperial highways stretching approximately 6, 800 kilometers (4, 216 miles), the completion of Chi Daogreatly increased the convenience of transporting troops and their supplies. In comparison, the total length of the Roman road system (ca. 150 a.d.) from Scotland to Rome and then to Jerusalem was about 5, 984 kilometers (3, 710 miles).