CHINA'S SECOND REVOLUTION.

• Author: Lee, Jennifer 8.

FOCUS: Young Chinese Dump Communist Ideals, Embrace Individualism and Capitalism

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand the sweeping reforms that are transforming China from a Communist to a capitalist economy, and how that change is making individualism--and even selfishness--a virtue

Discussion Questions:

* How would you distinguish between individualism and selfishness?

* Human rights groups say that in spite of China's new economic freedoms, the government continues to restrict political freedom, frequently jailing it opponents. Can the U.S. use trade to nudge China toward democracy? Or should the U.S. cut trade with China, to punish that country's leaders for their human rights abuses?

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

Scavenger Hunt: Students can teach themselves about China's economic boom. Before or after reading the article, students might conduct a scavenger hunt, noting kinds of Chinese-made goods in their homes or local stores. Athletic shoes, clothing, and personal electronics are major sellers in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, China sold the U.S. $82 billion worth of goods in 1999 (the most recent year for which figures are available), while U.S. sales to China were $13 billion.

Critical Thinking/Discussion: Note the gap between what teens are taught in school and what they learn outside school. Ask why schools teach about a Communist world that no longer exists. Might the curriculum change when a new generation of government leaders takes the helm?

Catchy Terms: Write "iron rice bowl" on the board, explaining that the phrase is a Chinese Communist maxim referring to people's right to lifetime jobs. Then, introduce a statement by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (duhng-shyow-PING): "It makes no difference if a cat is black or white [Communist or capitalist], as long as it catches mice [gets the job done]."

Which of the teens in the article would subscribe to which maxim? What does the gap between people who live in China's dynamic urban areas and the majority who live in rural areas reveal about the economy? What might happen in the future if some Chinese prosper, like the partying teens pictured on pages 14-15, while others, like Chu Chen Deng, languish in poverty?

Web Watch: For news about China, log onto www.thechinanews.net/

Forget Communism. Today's Chinese teenagers want to make money in a booming new economy.

Like other Beijing ninth-graders, Zuo Yilu, 15, dutifully takes notes for his required...