This paper will examine Nuclear Nonproliferation and China. I will also discuss the land, climate, and history of China.
             At 3,705,751 square miles, China is just larger than the United States. Because mountains or desert covers much of China, the majority of people live in the east, where rivers and plains allow for productive agriculture. While summers are warmer and winters are colder, China's climate is much like the United States. Monsoons cause frequent summer floods. China's geographic features are vastly different between regions, ranging from the Himalayan Mountains to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (the "roof of the world) to subtropical islands (Peoples 65) (Geography 320).
             The Chinese have one of the world's oldest continued civilizations, spanning some five thousand years. From early on, China was ruled by a series of dynasties. Some were ruled by native Han (such as the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644), and some were established after nomadic tribes from the North (the Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911) conquered China. A revolution inspired by Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911. In 1912 Sun Yat-sen established the Kuomintang (KMT) political party in an effort to unify China (Peoples 65).
             After Sun's death in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek took control (1927) and ousted the once-allied Communist Party. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, are famous for their Long March across China to regroup and fight the KMT for control of China. Mao ruled from 1946 to 1976 (Peoples 65).
             While the Chinese initially welcomed communism, the periods of the Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) had disastrous effects on the country. More than 40 million people starved or were killed during Mao's rule. After Mao died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping came to power and gradually moved away from Maoism. His more moderate policies led to foreign tourism, a more liberal economy, private enterprise, growth, trade, and edu...