e changed. Christianityùpreviously outlawed in Chinaùbecame released from prohibition and established itself in ôa close link between Christianity and western military and diplomatic rights that lasted until the mid-20th centuryö (Bays, 2002). The proliferation of Christian missionaries, churches, schools, and publishing houses produced internal unrest because it smacked of an alliance with an enemy nation. ôThrough the crises of two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Chinese civil war of the late 1940s, the Chinese Protestant mainstream never managed to shake its image of being in close collaboration with the foreign presence in Chinaö (Bays, 2002). Therefore, ChinaÆs entry into the World Trade Organization is not entirely about trade; it is partly about disassociating itself from a foreign power that it was previously humiliated by and under coercion from and becoming a world power in its own rifht.
In Republic`n China, 1911-1949, China became a World War I ally but was sorely misused when promises of returned land after the war were reneged upon. China subsequently became a Communist nation, and a long history of Communist activity ensued. The tragedy at Tiananmen Square in May 1989 is merely one of many historic events that helped shape the China of today.
Now, as China prepares to enter the global marketplace, its history of suffering injustice at the hands of the Allies as well as religious differences all play some part in its position versus the other players in the global economy. These past events factor into ChinaÆs present-day context in the market, even though they are not all economic factors. For example, on some level there is still some jealousy toward the United States and a desire to one-up our nation. In ôWretched Excess,ö Hannah Beech describes the lifestyles of the nouveau riche society of China. Huang Qiaoling, for exampleùone of the richest men in Chinaùbuilt his own private ...