8 Culture Universals

I. Arts
China has a variety of arts. They include poetry, calligraphy, paper cutting, shadow puppetry,
painting. pottery. and jade carving. They also make music. Chinese music has its own unique
tone and rhythm. There traditional instruments include percussion instruments, stringed
instruments, and wind instruments.

An example of Chinese writing.

II. Language
They speak mostly Mandarin. It's the national language so its taught all around the nation. Mostly everyone can read, write, and speak it. Many people though use the dialects or languages
of their geographical region. They are 50,000 characters that exist, but only 8,000 are used. To have basic literacy you need to know about 1,500 to 2,000.


III. Environment
China is roughly the same the size as the United States. Majority of the people live on the east side
of the country since the western part is mostly mountains and deserts. China has many rivers that
they depend on for agriculture. China's climate ranges from sub-arctic to sub-tropical. They also
have monsoons that cause flooding and kill thousands every year. Sandstorms also occur in China.

The Great Wall of China

China has a very diverse plant life but deforestation is an big problem. As a result of rapid growth air
and water pollution have become major problems.

IV. Time/Place
China has been around since 2000 BC. So China is a very old civilization. They have always roughly stayed in the same area. They have dominated and declined a lot. They have a lot of history. They have built the Great Wall of China and also have built the Terracotta Army. They keep on trying to grab as much land as possible though and keep expanding.

V. Recreation

Soccer being played in China

To pass time in China they eat, they do karaoke, and watch movies. Movies are extremely popular in China. People also travel other parts of China since incomes have increased. People are starting to afford cars more too so they can move around easily. Sports are popular too. Soccer is one of the favorite sports some others also include table tennis, swimming, and badminton. Chinese play board games a lot too. They also like to play chess. Basketball is increasing in China. While the wealthy play golf and tennis.

VI. Beliefs
China has variety of religions. But only about 30% of Chinese have some religious faith. They have Buddhist, Taoists, Muslims, and Christians. The Chinese government doesn't allow every religion and public practice is discouraged. And your not allowed to have an underground religion. Religions flourish more in the small towns. Chinese people are know for hospitality and reserve. They also greatly respect authority. The attire people wear is simple and conservative.

VII. Economy

Chinese farmers

China's is the 2nd biggest in the world. But they have a lot of people so thats what you expect. Its per capita income is at the level of a developing country. The wealth is not distributed. About half of the economy is in agriculture. The middle class is growing in urban areas and incomes are rising. Private enterprise is starting to be more common in China. China produces many goods that the world needs. They also have a huge work force. The world relies heavily on China for many goods. Some of the problems though are pollution,
corruption, crime and rising unemployment.



VIII. Institutions
Education is very important to the Chinese, and parents do everything they can do to help there child succeed in school and obtain a good education. Boys learn more than women. Chinese, English, and Math are the main subjects taught. In China you must take a selection exam to get into High School and its very tough. There are over 1,500 universities in China. The literacy rate in China is about 90%.
The government used to supply homes but now they encourage people to buy there own home. Most places are small. A new trend is community facilities where they share many different places. Its kind of like a little village with a school. Really in China they use all of the different transportation systems. From foot to a private minibus. Its becoming more common for people to own there own car. Air travel is still growing. China also has 16 T.V. channels and a variety of radio stations.

The Article on Worker Rights

Foxconn’s labour union elections put Chinese workers’ rights under the spotlight

Posted by: Emile Dirks , March 18, 2013

Click here to view original web page at theconversation.edu.au

Apple’s China-based contractor, Foxconn, is following a trend of increasing unionisation at transnational corporations in China by holding its first-ever democratic labour union elections.

As reported by the International Trade Union Confederation in 2012, branches of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions have been established for Chinese operations of Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Motorola and Samsung.

Since reports of worker suicides in 2009 and 2010, there has been scrutiny of employment practices at Foxconn, which owns three companies manufacturing Apple products. In 2012, the Fair Labor Association (FLA), an independent organisation which monitors labour standards on behalf of over thirty transnational corporations, found multiple violations of labor standards included in the FLA’s Workplace Code of Conduct. One of the actions recommended by the FLA was to conduct more democratic union elections and eliminate management dominance from the union, strengthening workers’ rights to freedom of association.

Under Chinese law, workers are not free to join the union of their choice, and unionisation is heavily regulated by the state. However, under the 2008 Rainbow Plan, the Chinese government has encouraged greater unionisation and collective bargaining, including in transnational corporations operating in China. The atmosphere is therefore more positive for unionisation. The FLA’s 2012 report criticised Foxconn’s practices as contrary to both Chinese and international law. Its recommendations on making Foxconn’s unions more representative encourage the company to follow new, local regulations.

China remains an outsider to most of the international treaties, which guarantee freedom of association and union rights. It has signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, but has declared that the right to form and join unions will be subject to the Chinese constitution and internal law. This reservation could effectively take away what the international treaty gives. China has been criticised within the United Nations for its failure to guarantee free unions, and several complaints against China have been brought to the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Freedom of Association Committee.

The FLA’s Workplace Code of Conduct is based on ILO treaties, including those on freedom of association. Since China has not signed these treaties, it is understandable that the FLA grounded its criticism of Foxconn in Chinese as well as international law. This makes the recommendations more acceptable to Foxconn and to Chinese authorities, and therefore more likely to be followed. The recent announcement of democratic union elections demonstrates the success of the FLA’s strategy of blurring the difference between the requirements of Chinese and international law.

Poor labour practices at Foxconn have placed Apple under pressure. NGOs such as China Labor Watch and Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehaviour publicised allegations of abuse of Foxconn employees, with a focus on Apple, Foxconn’s largest client. This publicity led Apple to appoint the FLA in early 2012 to audit Foxconn.

The FLA approach of linking international and Chinese law in its criticisms shifts the blame from the state to the company. The result, which could be repeated in other Chinese contractors to transnational corporations, is acceptance of stronger freedom of association standards. The method of maintaining commitment to international standards while masking them as internal law is a strategy worth adopting more widely. Even if China refuses to sign human rights treaties protecting freedom of association, a bit of creative thinking can make practical improvements to working conditions and access to union representation possible.

China Worker Rights Current Event Analysis

Dirks, Emile,"Foxconn's labour union elections put Chinese workers' rights under the spotlight", Web, April 9

I. Define the issue
The Workers in China are not receiving fair treatment and the employers and government are breaking international laws. The workers aren't allowed unions unless the government allows it. Unionization is heavily regulated by the state. China has been criticized by the U.N. for its failure to guarantee free unions. The FLA (Fair Labor Association) has been working towards letting unions happen in China. The FLA is using different strategies to let unions happen by using international and Chinese laws to force the companies to let unions happen. It has been a success and many companies in China have worker unions. Some examples are Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Motorola and Samsung.

II. Causes
One of the reasons is that Chinese law doesn't allow worker unions unless it is regulated by the government. There's a lot more reasons why unions are happening though. The companies that don't allow it have been criticized and forced to let unions be made. Another reason why there happening is FLA is using international laws and Chinese laws to force the companies to let it happen. The FLA also finds violations of labor standards in the factories which help them enforce rules.

III. Perspectives
There are many different views on the issue and what's right and what's wrong. In the article the it says, " China has been criticized within the United Nations for its failure to guarantee free unions, and several complaints against China have been brought to the International Labour Organisation (ILO)'s Freedom of Association Committee."  The FLA believes the workers right's are being violated and all deserve the rights to unionization. China has laws in there country that violate international law for example, "under Chinese law, workers are not free to join the union of their choice, and unionization is heavily regulated by the state." The Chinese government doesn't want to give there workers that many rights while the outside organizations think they should get more rights as it says by international law but Chinese law says otherwise.

IV. Successful Programs
FLA is taking a lot of actions to give worker rights. There are other organizations helping out. The FLA is enforcing international laws and finds violations in the factories and enforces the regulations. The UN is also criticizing companies to follow the regulations set for the worker rights.

V. Global/National/Local
Globally the world sees people are getting more freedoms and rights. The world becomes a better place. Companies realize that they could be the next target of the violations and act to make it better.
Nationally China sees that there laws aren't preventing unions. China lightens up on there strict rules and realizes there people deserve better.
Locally the people get more rights and a better working environment. They also get a better life.

VI. Potential Global/National/Local Impact
Globally more of the world gets more fair worker rights. More international laws are forced.
Nationally China could make more laws that counter the international laws and the worker lose there rights.
Locally people could prosper more or also if China takes rights away they could have worse conditions.

VII Think Globally, Act Locally
I could help support the organizations that give worker rights. I could give money to them.

VIII. SPE
Socially the people of China get more rights and more freedom. They also get more pay.
Politically tensions could rise because of the laws being looked and China not willing to give there workers rights.
Economically the people get more money and have more spending power. So they buy more. But a drawback it costs more to make the goods so it could also hurt it too.



IV Vocab
Unionization- To create or join into a labor union.
International Law- A body of rules established by custom or treaty and recognized by nations as binding in their relations with one another.
Worker Union- An organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members
interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions.