Martin Jacques

I havent had time to buy Martin Jacques book on the rise of China as a global power but I listened to his talk and seem to see a remarkable transformation in short span of half a century.When Deng Xiao Peng started on opening up China,special economic zones were opened up in the eastern coastal areas in  the 1970s when China's GDP was less than the African states.It projected by 2030,China's GDP will make up 34% of world GDP,followed by India at 18%,US at 15%,EU at 13% and so on.That remarkable leap in GDP is due to its export of electronic goods,its base as a contract manufacturer and push into heavy in dustries like ship building,drone building and intermediate manufacturing goods.Its rise is also based on the meritocracy system of competitive education system.
           A member of the audience posed the question that since it is a patriarchal system of governance,what would be the unequal status of females.Looking at it,indirectly the one child policy to control population boom had benefited the female's status in society.Whereas in the past the males would have the best of educational and career opportunities,with the one child policy,Chinese females had the chance of education and career opportunities in which previously marriage was the only means of economic advancement for a Chinese female.The number of female Chinese entrepeuneurs and billionaires in China far outweigh those from countries like Japan,Korea or India.
        It seemed a blessing in disguise when the reproductive rights of females was limited to one  child because mothers could have more time and energy to devote to small businesses and contribute to the household income ,thus giving them a bigger chance to be decision makers in the family as they had a louder voice unlike the past.I feel that statistically the college admissions of females could have outnumbered the males as trends in education show the female applicants are more focused and less distracted.In many ways even in the US,females reproductive rights are curtailed by the religious right's  control over planned parenthood which doesn't give females as much freedom as in China which is basically agnostic.
       It's only in the field of politics that women haven't reached the representation that  they should hold or in the legislative arena.But so too ,that was the low representation of women in the US until recently.
      The 21st century might see the emergence of female participation in the political and legislative arena and it would impact on how global policies would change to a more inclusive priority on education,healthcare,food policies,access to basics of sewage,water and electricity and etc.