Are You Paying Attention?
Approximate percentage of time educational researchers estimate 1st and 5th grade Beijing and Chicago students are paying attention to the teacher.
BEIJING CHICAGO
1st grade 82% 60%
5th grade 82% 55%
Approximate percentage lessons in which the teacher did not provide feedback to Beijing and Chicago children concerning their seatwork.
BEIJING CHICAGO
1st grade 25% 37%
5th grade 18% 48%
Source: Data from Harold W. Stevens and Shinying Lee, “The East Asian Version of Whole-Class TeachinR.” Educational Policy (June 1995).
Individual Incomes in China
Sources of individual income in China’s major cities:
- 32% of the average income of employees, in both state and non-state sectors, are from sources other than regular salaries.
- People make money through moonlighting, investment in the stock market, and other means.
Source: Baokan Wenzhai. (March 23, 1995).

Hong Kong and the U.S.
- Area of the world that is home to the largest American Chamber of Commerce outside of the U.S. Hong Kong
- Approximate number of American businesses in Hong Kong Over 1,000
- S. annual trade surplus with Hong Kong Approx. $2 billion
Source; America’s Stake in Hong Kong (The Heritage Foundation, October 2. 1995).
Asia and the Global Village
If we shrink the earth’s population down to a village of one hundred people but keep all existing human ratios the same, there would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 Western Hemisphere
people (North and South America)
8 Africans
Other Characteristics of the Global Village:
70 of the hundred people would be non-white
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
80 would live in substandard housing 70 would be non-Christian
1 would have a university education
Source: Asia/Link: A Newsletter fin. Teachers (University of Pittsburgh, February 1995).
Asia Economic Notes
Asia’s share of the World’s Gross National Product:
1960 – 4 percent
1990 – 25 percent
2000 – 33 percent (projected)
U.S. Pacific Trade
1984 – U.S. trade across the Pacific surpassed U.S. trade across the Atlantic.
1994 – One-third of U.S. exports were to East Asia. U.S. merchandise trade to APEC countries constituted 60% of total U.S. exports. More than 80% of the $154 billion U.S. global trade deficit was with APEC countries, mostly Japan and China.
Source: The Japanese Times Weekly International Edition (November 13-29. 1995).
U.S. and Vietnamese MIA Statistics
Missing in Action
United States 2,202
Vietnam 300,000′
This number includes both People’s Liberation Armed Forces and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam for the years 1954-75.
Source: Z Magazine (October 1995).
Women’s Average Wages in Manufacturing as Percentage of Men’s (1990)
Germany | 73 |
Hong Kong | 69 |
Japan | 43 |
Singapore | 55 |
South Korea | 50 |
Sri Lanka | 88 |
U.S. | 68 |
Source: “The World’s Women 1995: Trends and Statistics,” United Nations (New York: United Nations Publications, 1995).