Download - China Economy 2010
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Chinese Post War Economic Growth
By Kreston Thomas
Asian Politics Hemstock
June 18, 2010
Fayetteville State University
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Chinese Post War Economic Growth
Chinas economic growth faced a rocky road after the effects of War World II. In the
1920's Mao Zedong organized a revolution with the formation of peasants, strategic combat, and
eventually as campaigned to become a political leader. In October 1949, Mao established the
People's Republic ofChina as he becomes leader of PRC (wikipedia.org/Cultural_Revolution).
He set out to increase the economic order and establish a better political system, modeled after
Soviet Union's recent communist success. He coined this term Maoism in which he mixed views
of Marxism, Stalin, and Lenin, into a new communist vision (Nicholas D. Kristof).
The people ofChina have been plagued with war, social conflict, and high inflation in the
past 50 years. In 1950, China began its reconstruction as new leaders lobbied for restoring the
economy and rebuilding industries. Inflation was a top priority as the war damaged. Mao
Zedong becomes President of the PRC and launches a 5-year plan for instant industrialization of
China. This is called the Great Leap Forward which Mao campaigned for change as the leader of
the communist party. The Great Leap Forward started a new economic program to raise
agriculture manufacturing and industrial production (Yan Jiaqi). Rural farmers worked hard to
support the new plan by being innovative and creative with the little resources they owned. The
spirit of a hardworking society became prevalent to peasants, once forgot in the booming
industries in metropolitan areas in EastC
hina. Workers displayed patriotism, shouting slogans
while working, displaying flag for high visibility, and created new communes with long work
hours in different industries. The idea of competing with the United States in steel
manufacturing, the country could become successful. The steel industry grew tremendously, yet
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the quality of the goods were noted to be fragile and weak version of steel. Rural location used
backyard furnaces to process the materials and even giving up their own possession for the sake
of Maos revolutionary plan. The farming industries began to crash as each eager commune
inflated projected production outputs (Wikipedia.org, 2010). Each commune would compete in
honor of Mao's vision to increase production. Some peasants starved as communes gave all the
produced grain to keep figures high. Over 30 million people died of famine and farms became
vacated as workers decreased and resources were scarce. Mao became a prestige figure and the
loyalty caused a communication gap where no one dared to speak out against the Chairman.
This first campaign for change had led to 20-40 million starving citizens and the Great
Leap Forward was established to combat this and other economic issues, currently hurting the
country. He encourages anyone to challenge the government, although this led to weeding out of
dissidents and punishment for the opposition Others in the political party questioned, yet
fearfully kept commentary away from Mao or general public. In the 1960, Maos critics began
to gain power, including Liu Shaoqui, Deng Xiaoping, and Peng Dehuai. Peng was removed
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from his duties as Mao accused him of being against the views of the country. He was later
replaced by his good friend, Lin Biao, a peasant and military veteran. Liu and Deng began to
retreat some ideas of collectivism and tried to reverse some of the negative impact from Maos
previous failures.
Mao began a Socialist Education Movement in 1962, with hopes of gaining more control
and respect as a national icon. Mao Zedong aimed to educate children on Maoist ideology via
literature and at different venues such as communes and factories. An ongoing power struggle
and political opposition occurred in a subtle manner. In 1965, Maos fourth wife and socialite,
Jiang Qing, joined Maos direction and publicly started attacking performing art pieces that were
derogatory to her husband (MacFarquhar, Roderick and Schoenhals, Michael). Mao directed his
propaganda toward high level officials who did not show respect for all people and Liu Shaoqi
shared ideas of helping rid the delinquency of peasants.
In 1966, Mao launched a crucial campaign when his hopes and dreams crumble before
him, called the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution began a series of attacks on artist
and educators who seem threatening to the new plan. Lin Biao publicly promoted Maos
personality and gave much respect to the Chairman (Gao Yuan ). Mao created security and
military forces to help propel the political parities agenda, using high school and college
students, known as red guards. These students were encouraged to defend Maos plan and travel
to meet other young activists, gaining control over multiple regions. He encouraged youth
migration to Beijing with all expenses paid by the government. The red guards who were
ordered to destroy old Buddhist literature, Christian paraphernalia, religious temples, and
anything that was deemed threatening in starting Mao's revolution. The red guards publicly
destroyed items. Mao created a red book to describe the practices and views of his positions. It
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was published in 39 languages and over 3.5 billion copies, which amounted to 5 copies per
person, including infants (Wikipedia.org, 2010). These were available everywhere to boost
propaganda. The book included an outline of Mao's revolution and was carried and read
everywhere people went. Mao brought leader, Peng Dehuai, to Beijing for public humiliation of
his policies.
The communist and authorative approach also began to kill many who opposed the new
perspective plan for the nation, leaving educators and anti-government critics dead. Mao ordered
military not to interfere with the destructive tactics of the red guards. This led to over 700,000
dead to eliminate opposition against their future plans in controlling China. Also, the invasion of
Tibet caused the Buddhism spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and 100, 000 of his followers to flee
to India, while China and Soviets began disagreeing on political issues. Local governments
stopped functioning as Mao encouraged employees to oppose or be charged with being against
his policies. In 1970, Mao ordered red guards to move to the rural areas, called the Down to the
Countryside Movement. This movement would cause less social disruption and more order to
inner cities. After a long period of time, these young persons were allowed to return to inner city
living. Maos successor, Lin Biao, became overly asserted in gaining more power. The removal
of another leader, Chen Boda, served as a warning to Lin as Mao becomes suspicious of the
intentions of growing party members (Jin, Qiu). The increased fame of Lin Biao and desire to
become Vice President made Mao worry about his own safety, as Lin would inherit control of
China.
In 1971, Lin Biao dies in a plane crash with his wife and son, under unknown
circumstances. The death signifies more power for Maos wife, Jiang Qing. She began to take
control over communication networks, such as, media broadcast and print industries. Jing aimed
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attacks at other political leaders, notably, Zhou Enlai. Zhou later died and received a flood of
supporters at the funeral concessions. Jing was fearful the support could change the peoples
perspective on current policies and issues. She launches media attacks against Deng. Mao later
died the same year causing an emotional impact on Chinese citizens. Hua Geofeng was next in
power after a scribed note left by Mao legitimized his position. Maos wife and three other
associates coined the Gang of Four, are arrested. Deng Xiaoping is reinstated and gains more
power as Hua is pressured to allow him into central government (Deng, Rong). Deng continues
to push issues of Mao by using the help of his protg, Hu Yaobang. Hu writes an article that
creatively describes Dengs ideology in parallel to Maos most cherished values. Political parties
began to criticize one another and openly discuss issues and Deng introduces Beijing Spring
for formal debates(Wikipedia.org, 2010). He becomes more popular with great policies and
visiting the United States for open relations in hopes of recovering the Chinese economy. Deng
pushed for more foreign trade and for students to study abroad in modernized nations.
China began to produce more agriculture and supply the world as Japan and Europe
competed in higher end products or markets. Deng help to push reform for farmers and by 1984,
98% of farm households were under a responsibility system (Deng, Rong). Incentives spread
across the agriculture industry and communes were vanishing. Poverty had decreased from 53%
in Mao Era, to 19% in 1985. The new pricing system as well as diminishing state control in
resource allocation became a key focus in the economic reform of the late 1980s (Gittings,
John). The Chinese were allowed to choose their jobs as reforms pushed for higher wages and
employer benefits. The country adopted practices of capitalist societies and integrated more
technology in everyday business functions.
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Students became active and protested policies as well. Many demonstrations took place
which ultimately led to the resignation of Hu Yaobang as CCP General Secretary in January
1987. Li Peng and Zhao Ziyang were reinstated as leaders in the reform plan. Student
movements grew fierce when inflation grew at an alarming rate (Michael Schoenhals). They
pushed for more economic control and strict regulation against foreign influence in business
industries. Hu Yaobang died in April 1989 and sparked a massive protest movement from
citizens of urban areas. Some students camped out at Tiananmen Square to honor Hus death
and protest those against the reform. This protest was marked by many casualties and fatalities
after government officials stepped in. The event lasted for the next seven weeks and was not
fully cleared until June 4. Deng decides to resign and step down as Central Military Commission
Chairman.
The next decade included more planning of banking and capital markets established
throughout the country. Deng makes a great tour acrossChina, making a political campaign for
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new reformist views. He decides to retire completely from the political scene in 1992, yet was
hailed a hero by many Chinese citizens. This was considered to be the Deng Era, although he
formally retired. Most communist cadres only retired upon their death and did not believe of
giving up their position merely because of old age. Deng Later died in 1997, marking the end of
his Era and many others wary about the direction of the other leaders. Current trends indicate
growth in technology as the company picks up automaker flaws in American manufacturing.
They have been active in trade shows that have potential to help generate a healthier economy.
Current GDP of 1952 2009 is listed below:
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Bibliography
Jin, Qiu. The Culture of Power: The Lin Biao Incident in the Cultural Revolution. Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 1999.
Yan Jiaqi. History of theChinese cultural revolution. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i
Press, 1990.
Gittings, John. The Changing Face ofChina: From Mao to Market. Oxford; New York: Oxford
University Press, 2005.
Lin, Jing. The Red Guards' path to violence: political, educational, and psychological factors.
New York: Praeger, 1991.
Maomao (Deng, Rong). Deng Xiaoping and the Cultural Revolution: a daughter recalls the
critical years. (trans. Shapiro, Sidney). 1st American edition. New York :C. Bertelsmann, 2005.
Gao Yuan. Born red: a chronicle of the cultural revolution. Stanford, CA: Stanford University
Press, 1987.
A Tale of Red Guards and Cannibals by Nicholas D. Kristof. The New York Times, January 6,
1993.
Michael Schoenhals, ed., China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969: Not a Dinner Party (Armonk,
N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1996. An East Gate Reader). xix, 400p
MacFarquhar, Roderick and Schoenhals, Michael. Mao's Last Revolution. Harvard University
Press, 2006
Deng, Peng "Chinese Economy in the 1990s, The". Journal of Third World Studies.
FindArticles.com. 18 Jun, 2010.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3821/is_200210/ai_n9115402/
Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. (2004, July 22). FL: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved
June 15, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution
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Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. (2004, July 22). FL: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved
June 16, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping
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June 16, 2010,
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_reform_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China