Miami Student

Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: Campus

With China continually making headlines for its economic size and success, according to one Miami speaker, key structural pitfalls threaten to endanger its stability.

This was the subject of the hour Tuesday, April 10, when Minxin Pei discussed the state of China's economic fate in his lecture, titled "China's Uncertain Future."

"I'm quite skeptical about using the linear method to determine a country's future," Pei said, who is senior associate and director of the China Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, located in Washington D.C.

According to Pei, China's importance around the world has been increasing for the past few years, yet structural problems still plague the country. Pei believes that these downfalls will ultimately cause the country to lose its place among the top five economies in the world.

One of these problems, Pei said, is China's health care system. According to Pei, the country has one of the worst health care systems in the entire world.

"Most people cannot even afford health care - only about 10 percent," Pei said. "That's just not enough."

Another problem, Pei said, is the money that China spends on its education system. With the majority of funds going toward high education, primary and secondary education is often left behind.

Pei also said that concern for the environment is also lacking, with China having some of the most polluted cities in the world. And with the air and water in the country not adequate for people to breathe and drink, Pei said that the resulting illnesses often go untreated under the poor health care system.

"If you look at these downfalls, I'm not very optimistic about China's future," Pei said.

Due to these factors, Pei claimed that many of his colleagues predict an imminent collapse of China's economy. Pei called for a complete reform of the Chinese government, yet sees little chance due to corruption.

"The Chinese motto is introducing market forces without introducing democratic forces," Pei said. "China is most successful in economic growth, not economic reform."

Pei also touched on corruption within the Chinese judicial system, including an instance in which a judge was reported to have taken bribes in exchange for upholding or lessoning sentences for criminals.

With many in the audience engaged, students inquired after Pei's viewpoint on China's position in the modern world, and what other countries can do to interact with and change the

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