Understanding China - Part II

See Understanding China Part I. There is no question that the historic partitioning of China by foreigners and particularly the brutal occupation of China by the Japanese during WWII had a profound affect on the psyche of the first three Communist Chinese leaders (Mao, Deng, and Jiang). Historically aware, Mao, Deng, and Jiang each maintained a steadfast suspicion of any outside interference in the “internal affairs” of China. And based on the frequent history of foreigner’s violent incursions into China, this suspicion seems completely understandable.

    It is noteworthy that of all the leading nations of the world, China’s resume as a NON-imperialistic country, is by far the cleanest. Even in its conflicts with Taiwan, a dispute in which the Chinese feel most justified, they have resisted all temptations to use militarily force to enforce its goal of repatriating the island.

    Suffice to say, the Marxist economic ideology that Mao attempted to implement in China failed miserably. As an economic system, government managed central-planning did not work any better in China than it did in the former Soviet Union, former Iron Curtain countries of Eastern Europe, North Korea, or Cuba. However, besides the mere economic folly of Mao’s ridiculous and ever-shifting economic policies, there were many other egregious mistakes China made in the wake of the communist takeover in 1949.

    It is difficult to create a short list of all of the things that life under Mao did to destroy the underlying confidence of the Chinese people. Under Mao it was as if the entire nation and ruling party were being held hostage by a mad man. Safe to say his reign of oppressive terror profoundly impacted the philosophies of future generations of China's leaders. Essentially, Mao crassly manipulated an entire nation repeatedly with one mini-revolution after another. His Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) could well serve as a case study of perhaps the largest state-sponsored effort at disorganization in human history. In the end, it was all about Mao and his ability to maintain control. If nothing else, Mao created a bit more reluctance by future leaders to encourage the nasty habit of hero worship in the people.

  Modernization of China began under Deng Xiaoping. Not surprisingly, Deng, the man who would turn the nation by 180 degrees in the opposite economic direction, was unable to avoid being purged by the machinations of Mao on several occasions. Deng was not the hand-chosen successor of Mao.

    There is not enough room here to provide a clear understanding of the subtle intricacies of political infighting in China, especially the maneuvering that led to Deng Xiaoping’s ascendancy to the top of the CPC leadership heap. What is important is to understand is that Deng (right) began a process that emphasized “thinking” over stubborn Marxist dogma. This process is still underway and the Chinese rulers are fast becoming advanced economic thinkers.

    To a great extent Deng engineered the beginning of the modernization of China. Two choices emerged in China in the years directly following Mao’s death. They were:

1. The “Two Whatevers” promoted by Mao’s hand-picked successor Hua Guofeng. Essentially this choice meant, “whatever Mao said and whatever Mao instructed.” or 2. Seeking TRUTH from FACTS, which was promoted by Deng. This process offered the party leaders an intellectual alternative to allowing Mao to rule through Hua from his grave.

    When Deng’s practical message eventually won the internal political struggle with Hua, Deng began a slow and tedious process of weaning the party (and to a lesser extent the people) off of the “cult of personality” system. Naturally, Deng did not mind wielding and enhancing the force of his own personality from time to time when it suited his purposes. Still, in the final analysis and despite the autocratic methods of Deng, he must be credited with initiating the greatest national economic transformation in human history.
    Deng began the transformation by reforming agriculture and introducing market forces for the benefit of farmers all over China. The response was predictable. Incentives to increase farm production precipitated large and consistent gains year after year.

    There is no question that the horrible incident at Tiananmen Square (right) in 1989 temporarily stalled the economic and social reform processes achieved under an aging Deng. Sharp criticisms of China, by virtually all nations in the world, caused the country to temporarily turn inward and reject outside interference. But the proverbial genie was out of the Chinese bottle. Selected personally by Deng, it would Jiang Zemin who would be given the responsibility for re-igniting the transformation of China in the post Tiananmen era. In Part III we will examine the profound impact of Jiang Zemin's leadership on China and the rest of the world.

Understanding China - Part II