The Biggest News of the Decade
China’s rise tops 9/11 and the Iraq War as the most-read story of the 2000s
The end of 2009 marked the end of the 2000s decade. To celebrate this, news media around the world made lots of lists. But can you guess what the most-read news story was? According to an American research group, it wasn’t the 9/11 terrorist attacks ― that was third. And it wasn’t the Iraq War ― that was the second. It wasn’t Barack Obama, Michael Jackson, or the global economic crisis. In the last decade, the top news story was the rise of China as a global power.
The rise of China has truly changed the world. Now that it is the world’s factory, money is flowing into China from everywhere. Its people are enjoying a better standard of living. They can now buy houses, cars and goods that they could not afford before. In the past China mainly produced goods for other countries, but now its people are consuming goods and traveling abroad more. The country is showing its new face to the world through events such as the Beijing Olympics and the F1 Chinese Grand Prix. The Expo 2010 Shanghai will also help remind the world of China’s rise.
Unfortunately, this rapid growth is not helping everyone. China is now the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases. Many parts of the country are still very poor, and demonstrations against the government happen every day. However, freedom of expression is still very strictly controlled. Many Chinese now have access to the Internet, but they cannot freely search for information. And after incidents with poisoned foods and toys with lead paint, the safety of products made in China is still a concern.
China must find a balance between its new power in the world and the needs of its people. However, the world will soon see more of China than just the Chinatowns like those in Yokohama and Kobe. Young people in China are studying English very hard. They are building their skills and looking toward the future of China as a global business leader. Young people Japan must also work hard so that Japan does no fall behind.
