It’s the battle of the titans – but one that neither side wants to win. Who has more poor people: the United States or China? And who’s poor are worse off? For the state-controlled Global Times, columnist Chiang Meng writes that despite recent statistics from the Chinese themselves, China’s poor are more numerous and far worse off than their American counterparts.
For the Global Times, Chiang Meng writes in part:
On September 16, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report showing that in 2008, the number of Americans living below the poverty line was 39,800,000, accounting for 13.2 percent of the total population. By 2009, the number had risen to 43,600,000, or 14.3 percent of the total population. This shows that one out of seven Americans is poor. On July 17th, at a special Party conference here on combating poverty, declared that China’s impoverished rural population dropped from 250,000,000 in 1978 to 3,597,000 in 2009 – and that by 2020, poverty will essentially have been eradicated.
This news seems to convey the following: China has fewer poor people than America does. America’s destitute are increasing while China’s impoverished are continually decreasing. It seems as if we really are “surpassing England and overtaking America.” Could this be true?
There must be a standard for measuring poverty. To be considered below the poverty line in America, the annual income of a family of four must be under $21,954, and for an individual below $10,956. In 2008, China’s impoverished consisted of people making less than 785 yuan a year. Please pay attention: with current exchange rates, one U.S. dollar is equal to 6.72 yuan. That means $21,954 can be exchanged for more than 140,000 yuan. In other words, America’s destitute make 180 times more than impoverished Chinese! And this is after taking account of the recent appreciation of yuan. Two years ago, the disparity was even greater.
Here is the difference between poor Americans and Chinese: their living standards are by no means being measured by the same rules. People in Beijing or Shanghai making 2,000 or 3,000 yuan a month run around struggling like ants, never being able to afford a home. Even their lives aren’t as comfortable as America’s poor. So what’s the reasoning behind the argument, “There are less poor Chinese than poor Americans?” It could be just ignorant boastfulness or perhaps just ill intent.
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