If one were to go by the indications, China could well be a growing country that could grow out of the league of civilised world. Its growth is taking a heavy toll on its thinking. The great Asian country, that did Aisans proud by holding the marvellous Beijing Olympics, is blissfully ignorant of its own backyard. One might wonder what insight a Chinese backyard had to offer on issues related to development or, for that matter, to humanity?

The answer has been amply suggested by a recent study made by Harper Index, the signature development related 25th annual index of the Harper Magazine. Recently it has been published online. The China section of this index has got many entries which go against the tastes of modern world civilization that takes so much pain on human rights and human aspects of development issues. Some of the highlights of this index are like this :

9/06 — Number of Chinese illegals who have been caught by the United States but China has so far refused to take back: 39,000
(U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
9/06 — Minimum number of Chinese censors who monitor Internet activity: 100,000
(Xiao Qiang, China Internet Project, Berkeley, Calif.)
12/07 — Number of the world’s five most valuable companies last year that were Chinese: 0
(Bloomberg News, NYC)
Number this year: 3
(Bloomberg News)
12/07 — Estimated percentage of the world’s male smokers who live in the United States and China, respectively: 3, 31
(American Cancer Society, Atlanta)
Maximum number of divorces that prospective parents can have between them: 2 (China Center of Adoption Affairs)
9/07 — Earliest year, in a 2004 estimate, that China was projected to surpass the United States in CO2 production: 2024 (International Energy Agency, Paris)
11/08 — Average number of hours per week that an American and a Chinese person, respectively, spend shopping: 4, 10 (McKinsey & Company, NYC)
9/85Number of Chinese Communist Party and government officials forced to retire since 1981: 900,000 (New York Times)
5/08 Portion of all Chinese cancer deaths that are pollution-related, according to the government: 7/10 (State Environmental Protection Administration)
2/86Monthly earnings of China’s top female fashion model: $70
7/86Average weight of a Chinese man’s testicles (in grams): 19.01
One Medicine, by R. V. Short (Springer-Verlag, Berlin)
Of a Dane’s: 42

Now, if a country takes pride in its inhuman development that is reflected in this index, then it must be China. It has no identity with the great Chinese civilization that left the world in awe by its greatness. Long live China...!!!!