Questions from Classroom Discussion #1 led by Groups A &B (1/30/03)

Discussion Questions from Weston & Jensen book, China: Beyond the Headlines

Group A (Beyond the Headlines, pp. xiii-9, 13-35)

1. Explain the author’s “Stars Wars” association with China after the culmination of the Cold War. Do you agree with this analogy?

2. What is the current US diplomatic role in China, politically, economically and socially?

3. Wasserstrom suggests that the US public opinion of China included a more ominous image of that country under Clinton and his administration’s liberal foreign policy. Has this public opinion in any way changed with Bush’s conservative foreign policy?

Group B (Beyond the Headlines, pp. 69-95, 195-215)

1. How do the Chinese distinguish cultural groups in China? How is this process of ethnic distinction different in the United States?

2. List the five main concerns for China’s environment and then give one example of each as an illustration. Do you think that China will surpass the US as the world leader in the production of greenhouse gases? Why?

3. Explain Chinese government’s current view regarding religious tolerance. Give one example of intolerance, as well as one example of religious acceptance.