UNIT SUMMARY
Unit Title: Understanding China in the
21st Century: Political, Economic, and Security
Issues in the Asia/Pacific Region.
Unit Author: Carey Moore, Gary Mukai, and Jocelyn Young
with contributions from Amy Cheng and Greg
Fairbrother
Unit Publisher: Stanford Program on International and Cross-cultural
Education (SPICE), Stanford
University, Stanford, CA.
Tel: (800) 578-1114, http://iis.stanford.edu/
Grade Level: 9-12
Unit Overview:
This unit seeks to introduce students to policy options for U.S. and
Japanese relations with China at the turn
of the century. By identifying and examining these options, students
will gain an awareness of U.S., Japanese,
and Chinese perspectives on political, economic, and security issues.
Focus Questions
1. What are some historical legacies between Japan and
China and between the United States and China,
and how do they influence the relationships
and policies between these countries?
2. What historical conditions set the foundation for
China's current political situation?
3. How do reforms in China's socialist system affect
various groups of people in China differently?
4. How have politics in China influenced foreign policy
with the United States?
5. What are some of the challenges, obstacles, and achievements
of China's recent economic reforms?
6. How have the United States and other captialist countries
influenced China's transition to market-
socialism? What are some of
the United States' motives for engaging in a changing Chinese economy?
7. Do universal values exist? What are the advantages
and disadvantages of having universal values?
8. How do domestic events contribute to and cultivate
people's values?
9. How does the issue of human rights includence the
U.S.-Sino relationship?
10. What are some major security issues affecting Sino-Japanese
relations?
11. How is the territorial dispute in the South China Sea illustrative
of the interdependence of Asia?
12. What is Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)?
13. What are some Japanese and U.S. perspectives on APEC related
to China?
Culminating Activities
This unit is designed in six sections that can be used individually.
Some sections contain learning activities that
can be used to assess understanding. The curriculum coordinator
at the UVM Asian Studies Outreach Program
has identified Vermont standards that each section addresses.
Please see the information below on how to borrow
the complete unit from ASOP.
Vermont Standards
Lesson 1: Historical Legacies
Vital Results:
1.15 Students use verbal and nonverbal skills to express themselves
effectively. This is evident when students:
a. Share information
3.11 Students interact respectfully with others, including those
with whom they have differences.
Fields of Knowledge:
6.3 Students analyze knowledge as a collection of selected facts
and interpretations based on a particular
historical or social setting. This is evident when students:
d. Analyze interpretations
of events from the perspective of various groups, and evaluate the
credibility of differing accounts.
e. Identify and distinguish
among the uses and forms (official and unofficial) of propaganda.
Lesson 2: China's Political Situation
Vital Results:
1.13 Students listen actively and respond to communications.
This is evident when students:
c. Respond through
discussion and writing.
2.1 Students as a variety of questions. This is evident when
students:
b. Ask questions to
determine why events occur.
c. Ask questions to
compare and contrast, to determine similarities and differences
Field of Knowledge:
6.5 Students investigate both the traditional and the social
histories of the people, places, and cultures
under study, including those of indigenous peoples. This is evident
when students:
b. demonstrate understanding
of the relationships among powerful people, important events, and
the lives of common people
Lesson 3: China's Economy in Transition
Vital Results:
1.3 Students read for meaning, demonstrating both initial understanding
and personal response to what is read.
This is evident when students:
a. Comprehend grade
appropriate materials
3.7 Students make informed decisions. This is evident when
students:
cc. Describe and explain
their decisions based on a logical arguement
Field of Knowledge:
6.16 Students evalute the impact of economic systems on the needs
and wants of all people and on the
environment in various times in their various locations world wide.
c. Identify the elements
of various economic systems focusing on distribution of wealth, organization
of labor and the interplay between various economic and governmental systems
h. Analyze and compare
how economic systems have fostered or discouraged individual liberties
and the common good (e.g. the environment, consumer rights, poverty, basic
human needs)
6.17 Students understand how governments affect the flow or resources,
goods, and services. This
is evident when students:
bb. Identify and analyze
the role of government in regulating the economy.
Lesson 4: U.S.-Sino Relations:
With a Focus on Human Rights
Vital Results:
2.3 Students solve problems
of increasing complexitiy. This is evident when students:
aaa. Solve problems that require processing several pieces of information
simultaneously.
bbb. Solve problems of increasing levels of abstraction, and that
extend to diverse settings and
situations
2.12 Students modify or change their
original ideas and/or ideas of others to generate innovative
solutions.
Field of Knowledge:
6.12 Students understand the
concept of human rights in various times in their various locations
worldwide. This is evident
when students:
aaa. Identify and evaluate how individual and group action promote
or deny human rights
bb. Compare and contrast various statements about human rights
and examine their
current impact.
Lesson 5: Sino-Japanese Relations
Vital Results:
2.3 Students solve problems
of increasing complexitiy. This is evident when students:
aaa. Solve problems that require processing several pieces of information
simultaneously.
bbb. Solve problems of increasing levels of abstraction, and that
extend to diverse settings and
situations
Field of Knowledge:
6.3 Students
analyze knowledge as a collection of selected facts and interpretations
based on a particular
historical or social setting. This is evident when students:
d. Analyze interpretations
of events from the perspective of various groups, and evaluate the
credibility of differing accounts.
6.18 Students analyze the
nature of conflicts, how they have been or might be resolved, and how some
have shaped the divisions in various
times in the United States and the world. This is evident when students:
aaa. Analyze and evaluate conditions, actions, and motivations that
contribute to contemporary
global conflicts, showing how national interests cme into conflict with
one another.
Lesson 6: Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation
Vital Results:
1.15 Students use verbal and nonverbal
skills to express themselves effectively. This is evident when students:
a. Share information
g. Assume roles in group communication tasks.
3.10 Students interact respectfully
with others, including those withwhom they have differences.
Field of Knowledge:
6.19 Students unerstand the variety of influences and impacts
of the construction, preservation, and change
of identity, within families, other social structures, and nations.
This is evident when students:
h. Analyze and evaluate
how factors (e.g. political, economic) require international cooperation
and
lead to national and international interdependence (e.g. European Common
Market)
View Complete Unit:
This unit is available for loan from UVM Asian Studies Outreach Program.
Please contact Debby King,
dlking@zoo.uvm.edu for more
information.