Why is my country called a third world - I'm Chinese?

Question

I'm Chinese. I wanna know why my country is funding America. It irritates me how we're called a "third world", yet we funding the, apparently, most richest nation in the world. Funny how "third world" nations like China and India will, in a few decades, overtake the US economy and consequently the military.
Right now our growths are important to offset the recession in the West. So much for being a "third world"...

Answer 1

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess it's because of your environmental pollution and standard of living. I don't even consider the stuff you technically breathe to be air.

Answer 2

I'm Indian and I tend to have a balanced view. China is definitely the next superpower, India won't be far behind but the average Chinese has a much lower GDP than the average American. The same goes for the Indians.

I have nothing against Chinese-made products. I get what I pay for. I wish China and India could collaborate in science, technology, space research, etc. We'd rule the world!

Answer 3

Since China was communist, there were no wealthy people, and little industrial power in China, and the standards of living were very low.



With the advent of business, industry and capitalism, China now has the fastest growing economy in the world, but still has a long way to go to catch up to the West.



China has been torn apart for just about the entire 20th century by political upheavals and revolution, and that's set the country back by more than a century.



Personally, I wouldn't classify China as a third world country anymore.

But there are still so many millions of Chinese peasants, achingly poor and subsisting on minimal incomes.



Hong Kong showed the rest of China the way to prosperity.



Who would have ever thought that in our lifetimes we would see Chinese billionaires? Yes, China is rising to be a superpower, but it still has a long way to go.

Answer 4

It's not just about unemployment but Gross National product (GNP) which is money earned per person. Despite being such a heavily populated country, china still has disproportionate levels of uneducated adults and poverty stricken areas when compared to the amount of people in the country. similarly to Russia, In china- It is very few people who are very rich. Also, China imports lots of foods and exports many professionals who seek the better pay of capitalist countries...China will need to retain their stars and become more self-sufficient to become a fully developed country.

Answer 5

Realistically if you want to take your country out of third world status, you would sign onto the Kyoto agreement/protocol.....and then when the environmental controls for your factories are in place you can see what the true cost of production is.....and you won't have an economic advantage at that point........but signing onto the Kyoto agreement is not likely to happen....



wikipedia lists that 300 million chinese have no access to clean drinking water and 700 million drink fetid water below the standards of the World Health Organization .....



maybe if your country would stop building factories to build dollar store items (mostly poor quality) and maybe built some water purification plants, that might take china out of third world status...



edit: statistics you cite show that it would be 468 million Chinese living below the poverty level....that is an interesting fact considering the total US population.....

Answer 6

the term is used to describe conditions that the majority of the people live under. once u leave the big cities in china, you find a lack of electricity, roads and running water. things that the first world countries take for granted. many still live a very primitive life style.



China and India has lately risen to a more capitalistic government and they need to try to provide more basic services to the people outside of cities. this will take time and money.



also, it can denote the form of government, a westernize country or not. many factors will be considered



china is being well compensated for the loaning of money. many of us disagree with this but can do little about it.



any government who spends money on making money or weapons rather than it's people, is considered a third world county. i think that china fits this one too.



it is good u love ur country as i love mine, even though i do not always agree with what they do. do u agree with everything your government does. i was wondering.

Answer 7

Comrade.....When your Country can provide untainted milk for your babies, when it can produce your own ideas without copying the original, when you can pay you labor workers more than 30 cents an hour, when your Country can provide freedom of speech China will be considered a True Leader.

Answer 8

Looking at the economy of China right now, I think you are very premature in saying China is gonna be a world power more than they currently are. Factories are closing, and I know many wealthy Chinese are relocating their families here to the USA in droves, that tells me that China is about to melt down and hard.

Answer 9

Because since the moniker third world has been used, China was indeed third world.



It is emerging from that. In some respects it is third world, in other respects it is first world. In many places their infrastructure is third world, in big cities and economic giants it is mostly first world.



Economically I would say China has emerged to become first world.



Also, monikers die hard. People still refer to your country as a communist state and that died the day Mao died in 1976, albeit capitalism was making some inroads before that.



Source

Transplanted American living and working in the central part of China.



Peace

Jim



EDIT

Capitalism, socialism and communism are economic models, not government models.



.

Answer 10

you want china to become first world?



then china should stop being cheap!



most Chinese products are very poor quality and risky to use. For instance selling melamine, a whitish ceramic powder to unsuspecting mothers whose babies became ill after consuming the 'Milk' with no apologies. Do you have a bureau that controls standards?



selling arms to African dictators like Robert Mugabe at a time when the whole world is calling for his removal.....Please.



China is indeed industrialized but they don't have the welfare of humans at heart. All they think about is becoming superpower

Answer 11

China is not third world country , but it is not considered truly civilised in the west . Mainly because of its appalling human rights record .

Answer 12

Maybe because China still shoots Tibetans in the back uhm what else..Organ Harvesting..Torture...Tainted Food & Drugs ...Corrupt Officials...Religion / Belief persecution. Need I go on?

Answer 13

that phrase: 3rd world was initially used to denote 30% of the world and not 3rd in the sense of 1st 2nd 3rd. A 3rd of world population is still in deep poverty. By that definition, most chinese still constitute part of that 30%.

Answer 14

Hi

I agree with you China is certainly 2nd world and if it didn't have such a huge population it wd have been first world long back. And u ARE funding the richest nation.



people must ponder over this

Answer 15

look at your poverty levels again, compare them to countries such as the USA, UK, Germany etc and then tell me you're not a third world country.

Answer 16

comrade, if you've already realized that your country will overtake the US in a few years, why fuss about a little insult like this? They're just unable to accept the fact that a new power is in town..that's all

Answer 17

a lot of chinese are unemployed compared to the number of unemployed in the US. china will become a superpower someday, but today it's simply still a third world country. you said china is funding america, did you think about where you're getting that money, it's from us. if we didn't open our factories in china, china will still be as poor as north korea.

Answer 18

because of your disgusting animal abuse which carrys on throughout china every year.

Answer 19

Because you poop in a ditch instead of a toilet?