Up & Coming Weekly

6 UCW NOVEMBER 18-24, 2009 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM MARGARET DICKSON, State Representative and Contributing Writer COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or call 919-733-5776 or email MARGARETD@NCLEG.NET Thoughts On A Wide Awake Dragon by MARGARET DICKSON When President Richard Nixon reversed long-standing American foreign policy and visited China in 1972, it stunned many Americans. Is China not our sworn enemy — a Communist nation? What was President Nixon thinking, himself a long-time anti-Communist crusader? Never did I, who had been fascinated by Nixon's bold trip and the images of him with Mao Zedong, imagine that I would actually go to China. The only thing certain in life, however, is change, and I have just returned from my second trip to China in three years. Here are some of my observations of that rapidly changing nation on the other side of the earth. There are a lot of people in China. There are so many people in China that not even China knows how many there are, but one number used regularly is 1.3 billion compared to the United States' 300 million or so. Shanghai is the largest city in China. While we were in Shanghai, we heard population estimates ranging from 16 to 20 million, but whatever the correct number really is, it is about twice the population of North Carolina. Many Chinese people are very, very busy. China has tasted capitalism and clearly likes it, and her people are anxious to enjoy the fruits of their labors and the bounty of their expanding economy. There is so much building underway that people joke that their national bird is the construction crane. Crews work 24/7, and those that are off duty sleep on site in conditions few Americans would tolerate. Beijing, Shanghai and smaller cities such as Suzhou, which has only 6 million residents, now boast soaring, gleaming, and, to my eye at least, innovatively designed skyscrapers. I do not know who works in all those buildings, but the atmosphere certainly projects a sense of commerce in action. Chinese cities are struggling now with what they refer to as "migrant" workers, by which they mean people who have come into cities from the countryside seeking work. There is no labor shortage, and these folks take jobs such as window washing, which means they dangle from the tops of the glittering skyscrapers and allow themselves to be lowered down the glass walls, washing their way to the ground. They were too high for me to tell whether they were strapped to their washing benches, but I do know there were no safety helmets in sight. What on earth would OSHA say? There are also high-end retailers, purveyors of designer clothes from Europe and America and fancy German vehicles. I did not see many shoppers in these places, but they must be out there or the stores would not exist. If your idea of China's cities involves millions of people on bicycles, think again. Traffi c in Chinese cities looks much like ours, but with fewer driving rules and a preponderance of Volkswagen and Buick models unavailable in the United States. Life is slower in more rural areas, but people outside the cities obviously toil diligently in farming and other occupations to keep ends meeting in their changing economy. My travelling companions, mostly other legislators and business people, and I, spent considerable time discussing how China has developed so quickly. We agreed that the Chinese decision-making process is much faster than ours. Someone decides that a building, a bridge, a road or whatever should be built, and — presto — it is. The decision-making process is seemingly unfettered by committees, a Chinese version of the Environmental Protection Agency, or various other regulatory bodies and processes that affect the pace of projects in the United States. It is this speed that has allowed Pudong, a new area of Shanghai with 4 million residents and the site of the 2010 World Exposition, to be built on former rice paddies in less than two decades. We also visited Chinese educational institutions. China does not yet attempt to educate everyone as we do in the United States. Education, for their best and brightest, is impressive. School days and terms are longer than ours, and the students take more courses with concentrations in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. This is a subjective observation, of course, but Chinese students seem to understand that their futures depend on education while many young Americans do not. University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles statement that more people in Beijing take the SAT in English each year than do U.S. students still gives me chills. Napoleon is credited with saying, "China is a sleeping giant. But when she awakes the world will tremble." No one in our group was trembling, but we had no doubt that China is very awake. Chinese offi cials did not point out the obvious poverty of many people, both urban and rural, nor did we Americans point out the smothering pollution that made our eyes sting and obscured the sun or the surveillance cameras and lurking police and military presence. That being said, it was clear to our group of Americans that we must educate our children better if they are to compete with their well-educated Chinese contemporaries and that we must fi nd common ground with the Chinese people. The paths that rarely crossed during the 19th and 20th centuries are increasingly linked as we continue into the 21st century. I can help you with your changing insurance or financial needs. DENNIS KNOX 3710 Morganton Rd., St. 104 910-487-1989 dennisknox@allstate.com Subject to availability and qualifications. Insurance offered only with select companies. Allstate Insurance Company, Allstate Indemnity Company, Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company, and Allstate Life Insurance: Northbrook, Illinois © 2009 Allstate Insurance Company.

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