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You're confusing "China" with "all third world countries"
by statictype 11y ago
You're confusing "China" with "all third world countries"
- nicklaf 11y agoAlso, China was a Second World country (at least, back when the distinction still made sense). Of course, at some point, "Third World" became synonymous with "poor", and was euphemised to "developing".
- hirsin 11y agoWhen Mao created the notion of the Three Worlds, he included China in the Third World [1]. It was (ostensibly) unaligned, whereas Europe (and to an extent Japan) was aligned, making it Second World. He (via Deng) specifically called out the Third World as underdeveloped. [1] “Speech by Chairman of the Delegation of the People’s Republic of China, Teng Hsiao-Ping, at the Special Session of the U.N. General Assembly: April 10, 1974” (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1974).
- nicklaf 11y agoI was unaware of Mao's Three World theory. I had assumed that kelukelugames meant the phrase in the European sense of the term, coined in 1952 by Alfred Sauvy (according to Wikipedia).
- hirsin 11y agoQuite correct - I took Kissinger at his word [1] when he said Mao coined it. Kissinger tends to gloss over smaller details at times though, he's an excellent student of historiography. [1] On China
- mikeash 11y agoAccording to Wikipedia, Mao's concept is different, despite the similar name. The term "Third World" comes from 1952 and was used to refer to countries not aligned with either the US or USSR, which would not have included China at the time.
- meric 11y agoIn 1952 China was aligned with the USSR. It was in the midst of the Korean War of 1950-1953 where Chinese Communists funded by the USSR is helping North Koreans to fight against the South Koreans allied to the US. The Chinese Civil War where the Communists were funded by the USSR and the Kuomintang were funded by the US just finished 2 years prior.
- mikeash 11y agoSorry, double negative in my comment which is probably confusing. I meant that China was not included among the unaligned countries at the time, because it was aligned with the USSR. In short, yes, what you said.
- seanmcdirmid 11y agoBut when Mao made his speech in 1974, that was way into the sino-soviet split.
- maaku 11y agoMao didn't invent the term...
- seanmcdirmid 11y agoRight, but China was technically third-world (non-aligned) at that point.
- maaku 11y agoOr it was 2nd world (non-free).
- seanmcdirmid 11y agoAlbania was communist but was classic third-world given its rejection of the USSR. China would have been under the same umbrella in the 70s. Of course, now the cold war is over and the term doesn't make much sense in its original context.
- nitrogen 11y agoThis appears to be the speech cited: https://books.google.com/books?id=c1hUAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=third+world https://books.google.com/books?id=c1hUAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchw... There's likely to be a better source available to someone wanting to spend the time to find it.
- crdoconnor 11y ago>Also, China was a Second World country (at least, back when the distinction still made sense). Yea, and Switzerland was "3rd world" back then.
- est 11y agoApart from tier-1 cities, China is indeed a third world country.