--- title: China: modern China, space and contested topics — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «China: modern China, space and contested topics», a lesson of the history course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Since about 1980 China has changed faster than almost any country in history. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/) / China: modern China, space and contest… # China: modern China, space and contested topics Lesson 59 of the history course of Mova's primary school: 21 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/0/) — Since about 1980 China has changed faster than almost any country in history. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/3/) — The teacher checks: the World Bank numbers on poverty are real and enormous, the rover found signs of ancient water, not life, and per person China is still a middle-income country. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/4/) — Some topics make people shout: Taiwan, Tibet, Tiananmen in 1989 and Hong Kong in 2019–2020. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/5/) — A good teacher does not pick a team. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/6/) — Like a referee who first tells the facts everyone saw, then says what each side claims, he names each topic as contested and lets families talk at home. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/7/) — Wise: be proud of real achievements, check the big words, and when views divide sharply, describe instead of shouting. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/8/) — Friends can disagree about politics and still share lunch. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/9/) — China's economy grew very fast from about 1980 to the 2010s; counted in US dollars it is now the world's second biggest, after the USA; but shared out among about 1.4 billion people it is much less per person than in rich countries, so China is still a middle-income country, and growth has slowed in recent years. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/10/) — The World Bank estimates that more than 800 million people in China left extreme poverty since 1980; in 2021 the government declared extreme poverty ended by its own measure, though by the measures used for richer countries many people are still poor. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/11/) — China's high-speed rail network, over 40,000 km long, is larger than the rest of the world's high-speed lines combined, by most reports. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/12/) — Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut in 2003, making China the third country, after the USSR and the USA, to send people to space on its own rockets. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/13/) — Chang'e 4 made the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon in January 2019, and Chang'e 6 brought back the first samples from the far side in 2024. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/14/) — In 2021 China's Tianwen-1 mission orbited Mars and landed the Zhurong rover, which studied the ground and found signs of ancient water; no life was found. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/16/) — Taiwan has been governed separately since 1949 by the Republic of China, with its own elected government; the People's Republic considers it part of China, and most countries do not formally recognise Taiwan as a state but keep informal ties. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/17/) — Its status is contested. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/18/) — Tibet came under the control of the People's Republic in 1950–1951; the Chinese government says Tibet has been part of China for centuries, while the Dalai Lama and many Tibetans abroad describe it as historically independent or self-governing. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/19/) — This is contested. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/20/) — In spring 1989 students and workers protested in Beijing's Tiananmen Square; on 3–4 June the army cleared the area and many people were killed. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/21/) — The number is unknown and disputed, the government says it restored order, and the event is not openly discussed in mainland China. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/22/) — In 2019 large protests in Hong Kong began against a bill that would have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial; in 2020 Beijing introduced a national security law. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/59-china-modern-china-space-and-contested-topics/23/) — Supporters say it restored order, critics say it cut freedoms; views are strongly divided. - ← previous: [China: 1911, 1949 and Mao](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/58-china-1911-1949-and-mao/) - next →: [China: Mei's exaggerations and everyday China](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china/) - ↑ back to [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/)