History of the People's Republic of China (1976-1989)
Encyclopedia
In September 1976, after Mao Zedong
's death, the People's Republic of China
was left with no central authority figure, either symbolically or administratively. The Gang of Four
was dismantled, but Hua Guofeng
continued to persist on Mao-era policies. After a bloodless power struggle, Deng Xiaoping
came to the helm to reform the Chinese economy and government institutions in their entirety. Deng, however, was conservative with regard to wide-ranging political reform, and along with the combination of unforeseen problems that resulted from the economic reform policies, the country underwent another political crisis with the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
.
Regardless of official propaganda, most people took Mao's death calmly. They mourned him, but not in the way they had mourned Zhou Enlai. Meanwhile, his designated successor Hua Guofeng had assumed the post of party chairman. Hua was unaware that the Gang of Four were plotting his downfall until Defense Minister Ye Jianying
and several generals warned him about this, saying that he'd better do something before it was too late. Hua was a bit surprised, but he agreed, and in October the Gang were arrested. None of them put up any resistance, although one of Jiang Qing's housekeepers reportedly spit at her as she was being taken away.
The demise and arrest of the Gang of Four prompted nationwide celebrations, including parades in the streets of Beijing and other major cities. The Gang of Four symbolized everything that went wrong during the ten years of chaos of the Cultural Revolution
, and their demise, the general populace had expected, would mark the beginning of a new era.
In late 1976 and early 1977, the state propaganda machine was working overtime to promote Hua Guofeng. He was billed as being Mao's personally appointed successor and as having saved China from the Gang of Four. Hua tried to fill his mentor's shoes by, among other things, sporting an identical haircut. He stated that "in order to honor Chairman Mao, we should govern in accordance with his wishes." and proclaimed the "Two Whatevers", meaning that "Whatever Chairman Mao said, we will say, and whatever Chairman Mao did, we will do." During 1977-1978, policy efforts centered around economic recovery. Schools began to reopen, and the more extreme aspects of Mao's personality cult were toned down. It was now being said that he was a great leader and thinker, but not an infallible god and that the revolution had been the work of many people and not just him. The Cultural Revolution was said to have been a well-meaning idea that got out of control, and Hua declared that a second CR might be necessary in a few years. Beginning in April 1978, newspapers stopped printing Mao's quotations in bold text. Nuclear weapons testing, missile, and space launches continued apace.
Hua's reliance on Maoist orthodoxy led him to continue a cult of personality
surrounding his own image alongside Mao's, equating his presence to that of Mao, but pinpointing the focus at a nominally separate era. To provide for distinct identity, Hua attempted his own change of the Chinese written language
by further simplifying characters. A small number of these Hua-era simplifications continue to be in use informally, as there was no formal sanction of their legitimacy after Hua left office. In early 1977, the National Anthem
was changed to reflect pure communist ideology rather than revolutionary drive, inserting lyrics exclusively dealing with Mao Zedong Thought and building an ideal socialist nation, as opposed to the wartime patriotism reflected by the original lyrics.
Hua's unimaginative policies received relatively little support, and he was regarded as an unremarkable leader, lacking political support within the Politburo. At the time Deng Xiaoping
was still living in seclusion because of "political mistakes," and the issue of his return to politics was yet again put on the table. Deng had insisted on supporting all of Hua's policies in one of the letters the two men exchanged, to which Hua responded that Deng had "made mistakes, and rightfully must continue to receive criticism." The arrest of the Gang of Four, Hua said, did not justify that Deng's "revisionist" ideas should resurface. During a Politburo meeting in March 1977, many members voiced support for Deng's return, to no avail. In a letter to Hua dated April 10, Deng Xiaoping wrote, "I am fully behind Chairman Hua's policies and agenda for the country." This letter would be openly discussed in the Politburo, and in July 1977, Deng Xiaoping was restored in his former posts. In August, the 11th Party Congress was held, which again rehabilitated Deng and confirmed his election as the new Committee Vice-Chairman, and the Central Military Commission
's Vice-Chairman, Deng guaranteed the elevation of his supporters, Hu Yaobang
, Zhao Ziyang
and Wan Li
.
In February 1978, a new constitution was adopted. This was the third one used by the PRC, after the original 1954 document (which was not followed to any meaningful extent after 1957) and the short-lived 1975 "Gang of Four" constitution. The new one was patterned after the 1954 constitution and attempted to restore some rule of law and mechanisms for economic planning. In regards to the latter, Hua Guofeng wanted a return to the Soviet-style economics of the mid-1950s. He drew up a ten-year plan which emphasized heavy industry, energy, and capital construction.
In regards to foreign policy, Hua made his first trip abroad in May 1978. This was a visit to North Korea, where he was given a warm reception and joined DPRK leader Kim Il Sung in calling for the United States to withdraw its troops from South Korea. In September, Deng Xiaoping also visited Pyongyang. He was unimpressed with Kim Il Sung's extensive personality cult, having seen enough of this sort of thing in China and also took umbrage at being expected to lay a wreath in front of the giant gold-plated statue of Kim in Pyongyang. Deng reportedly expressed his displeasure at how the aid given to North Korea by China over the years was being spent on statues and monuments honoring Kim. He suggested that they might be better served using that aid to improve their people's living standards. The North Koreans appear to have gotten the message, for the gold plating was quietly scraped off the Kim statue in Pyongyang afterwards.
There was little sign of improved relations with the Soviet Union, and Deng Xiaoping declared the 1950 Sino-Soviet friendship treaty to be null and void. Relations with Vietnam suddenly turned hostile in 1979. These two countries had once been allies, but in 1972 Mao Zedong told Vietnamese premier Pham Van Dong that they should stop expecting Chinese aid and that the old historical feud between the two countries would erupt again. China also gave its support to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime that took power in Cambodia during 1975, provoking the hostility of the Soviet-backed Vietnamese government. In January 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and drove the Khmer Rouge from power. During his US visit, Deng Xiaoping remarked that Vietnam would have to "be taught a lesson". In February, a full-scale Chinese attack was launched on the Vietnamese border. Although China withdrew after three weeks and declared its objectives met, the war had not gone well and demonstrated the country's weakness. The PLA had lost over 20,000 men due to weapons and equipment that were outdated, poorly made, and in short supply (a side effect of the disruption caused by the Cultural Revolution), maps that were decades old, and the continued use of human-wave tactics from the Korean War. Even worse was the fact that the Chinese had not even engaged Vietnam's regular army (which was in Cambodia), but instead fought militia and home guard units. On the other hand, it was a political victory since the Soviet Union had failed to come to its ally's aid and contented itself with verbal protests.
China finally established diplomatic relations with the United States at the beginning of 1979. This had been planned since President Nixon's visit in 1972, but was delayed by the Watergate scandal and withdrawal from Vietnam. The US agreed to recognize the PRC as China's sole government. Diplomatic relations with Taiwan were terminated, but unofficial and commercial ties remained. Deng Xiaoping visited the US in February and met with President Carter. Meanwhile, Hua Guofeng headed to Europe in May. He first stopped in France, reportedly because it was the first western nation to recognize the PRC, and made a fierce attack on Soviet expansionism and hegemony. Later in Germany, he displayed more restraint and decided against making what would have been a highly provocative visit to the Berlin Wall.
. He elevated the social status of intellectuals from the lows of the Cultural Revolution to becoming an "integral part of socialist construction."
Deng chaired the (11th) National Congress of the Communist Party of China
, China's de jure legislative body, and stressed the importance of the Four Modernizations
, a series of advances in various fields aimed at strengthening the country by adapting to modern standards. By then Deng was poised to make a final political move to grab power. On May 11, 1978, the Guangming Daily newspaper published an article, inspected by Deng's supporter Hu Yaobang
, titled "Practice sets the only Standard to Examine Truth". The article stressed the importance of uniting theory and practice, denounced the dogmatic euphoria of the Mao era, and was, in fact, an outright criticism on Hua's Two Whatevers
policy. This article was reprinted in many newspapers across the country, and echoed widespread support amongst party organs and the general populace. Discussions sprung up nationwide in government and military organizations, and Deng's novel and pragmatic stance gained increasing popularity.
In April, Deng began the political rehabilitation of those who were formerly labeled "rightists" and counter-revolutionaries, a campaign led by Hu Yaobang
that pardoned the wrongly accused, restoring the reputation of many party elders and intellectuals who were purged during the Cultural Revolution and other campaigns going all the way back to the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957. Prominent politically disgraced people including Peng Dehuai
, Zhang Wentian
, He Long
and Tao Zhu
were given belated rank-appropriate funerals at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. Liu Shaoqi
was given a large state funeral
in May 1980, when the country was asked to mourn the former president eleven years after his death.
Meanwhile, the Gang of Four went on trial in 1980 on charges of counterrevolution, attempting to overthrow the state, and plotting to assassinate Mao. Only Jiang Qing tried to defend herself, repeatedly interrupting the proceedings with hysterical outbursts and sobbing. She argued that she had never done anything more than follow Mao's orders, saying "I was his dog. Whoever he told me to bite, I bit." and daring the authorities to cut off her head. The others were given life in prison, but Jiang was sentenced to death. However, Mao's memory still lingered strong, and her sentence was later commuted to life. She hanged herself in a Beijing hospital in 1991 while undergoing treatment for throat cancer.
The power transition from Hua to Deng was confirmed in December 1978, at the Third Plenum of the Central Committee
of the Eleventh National Party Congress, a turning point in China's history. The course was laid for the party to move the world's most populous nation toward the ambitious targets of the Four Modernizations.
After a decade of turmoil brought about by the Cultural Revolution, the new direction set at this meeting was toward economic development and away from class struggle. The plenum endorsed major changes in the political, economic, and social system. Hua renounced his "Two Whatevers
" and offered a full self-criticism. Replacing the old focus of class struggles was the new policy focused on economic construction. Meanwhile, the government also made a pledge to the people that it would never again launch mass campaigns like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
It also instituted sweeping personnel changes, culminating in the elevation of two key supporters of Deng Xiaoping and the reform program, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. In contrast to previous leadership changes, Hua would resign his posts one by one, although he remained on the Politburo until 1982. Hua was replaced by Zhao Ziyang
as Premier of the State Council in September 1980, and by Hu Yaobang
as CPC General Secretary of the party in September 1982. The post of chairman was abolished to ensure that no one person could ever dominate the party as Mao Zedong had done. Until the mid-1990s, Deng Xiaoping was China's de facto
leader, retaining only the official title of Chairman of the Central Military Commission
, but not the chief offices of the State, government, or the Party. Meanwhile, Li Xiannian
was appointed to the post of President, vacant since 1968. Li was a believer in central planning, and his appointment to this largely ceremonial position was a compromise move to appease conservative elements in the party.
With changes to the Chinese Constitution
in 1982, the President was conceived of as a "figurehead
" head of state
, with actual power resting in the hands of the Premier of the People's Republic of China
and the General Secretary
of the Party, who were meant to be two separate people. In the original plan, the Party would develop policy, and the state would execute it. Deng's intentions was to have power divided, thus preventing a cult of personality from forming as it did in the case of Mao. The new emphasis on procedure, however, seemed largely undermined by Deng himself, who assumed none of the official titles on the grounds that they should go to younger men.
After 1979, the Chinese leadership moved toward more pragmatic policies in almost all fields. The party encouraged artists, writers and journalists to adopt more critical approaches, although open attacks on party authority were not permitted. The Chinese government repudiated the Cultural Revolution. A major document presented at the September 1979 Fourth Plenum of the Eleventh National Party Congress Central Committee, gave a "preliminary assessment" of the entire 30-year period of Communist rule. At the plenum, party Vice Chairman Ye Jianying
declared the Cultural Revolution "an appalling catastrophe" and "the most severe setback to [the] socialist cause since [1949]." The Chinese government's condemnation of the Cultural Revolution culminated in the Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China, adopted by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This stated that "Comrade Mao Zedong was a great Marxist and a great proletarian revolutionary, strategist and theorist. It is true that he made gross mistakes during the "cultural revolution", but, if we judge his activities as a whole, his contributions to the Chinese revolution far outweigh his mistakes. His merits are primary and his errors secondary." As political ideology was downgraded, numerous statues of Mao were removed around the country and portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin were taken down from Tiananmen Square.
In late 1978, many emboldened people began staging rallies and protests in Beijing. They erected a large number of wall posters (the so-called "Democracy Wall") criticizing the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong, the Gang of Four, and Hua Guofeng. All these were tolerated because of being more-or-less in line with official positions, but some began calling for democracy and open elections. This was more than the authorities were willing to tolerate and they quickly stressed that the party would continue to hold power and guide the nation towards socialism. While greater freedom of thought would be allowed, loyalty to the party and socialist thought would still be required. Nonetheless, writers began criticizing corruption, privileges enjoyed by party officials, and unemployment, all things that supposedly could not exist under socialism.
Relations with the West improved markedly during Deng's term, although the People's Republic of China had gained a certain degree of recognition from the West in the late Mao era. In 1968, the government of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau initiated negotiations with the People's Republic of China that led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Canada on October 13, 1970. Canada and China established resident diplomatic missions in 1971, and it led to a series of diplomatic successes in the west. The People's Republic of China joined the United Nations
in 1971, replacing the international legitimacy previous held by the Kuomintang
Government of the Republic of China
on the island of Taiwan
. In February 1972, US President Richard Nixon
made an unprecedented eight-day visit to the People's Republic of China and met with Mao Zedong. On February 22, 1973, the United States
and the PRC agreed to establish liaison offices. Although both sides intended to establish diplomatic relations quickly, this move was delayed until 1979 due to the Watergate scandal
.
Deng traveled abroad and had a series of amicable meetings with western leaders, traveling to the United States
in 1979 to meet President Jimmy Carter
at the White House
. Carter finally recognized the People's Republic, which had replaced the Taiwan
-based Republic of China
as the sole Chinese government recognized by the UN Security Council in 1971. One of Deng's achievements was the agreement signed by the United Kingdom
and the PRC on December 19, 1984 under which Hong Kong
was to be transferred to the PRC in 1997. With the 99-year lease on the New Territories coming to an end, Deng agreed that the PRC would not interfere with Hong Kong's capitalist
system and would allow the locals a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years. This "one country, two systems" approach has been touted by the PRC government as a potential framework within which Taiwan
could be reunited with the mainland. Deng, however, did not improve relations with the Soviet Union. He continued to adhere to the Maoist line of the Sino-Soviet Split
era, which stated that the Soviet Union was a superpower
equally as "hegemonist" as the United States, yet even more threatening to the PRC because of its closer proximity. Deng brought China conflict with Vietnam
in 1979, following the Vietnam War
, under this subject of border disputes, and fought in the Sino-Vietnamese War
.
"Red China" was a frequent appellation for the PRC between the Communist ascendancy and the mid-late 1970s with the rapprochement
between China and the West (generally within the capitalist/Western bloc
). The term was first used, before the establishment of the PRC, in the late 1940s during the Chinese Civil War
, to describe the Communist side, and saw great prevalence in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Starting around 1972-1973, following Richard Nixon
's visit to China and the beginning of rapprochment and mounting likelihood of diplomatic normalization, the term began to drop in usage significantly. By the early 1980s, it was increasingly rare in mainstream journalism and publications in the Western countries. Since the early 1980s, however, the term remains in use in some circles, particularly right-wing or conservative
political discourse and publications; nonetheless, some, including some conservatives, feel the term is not applicable to China in the contemporary period as the country is no longer a "monolithic political entity whose subjects march in lockstep with an all-powerful Communist regime." As of the early 2000s, "Red China" still retains some use among more right-wing writers, especially when framing China as an economic or political competitor or opponent (e.g. the "China threat" theory). "Red China" is sometimes used in more mainstream/less overtly partisan journalism for metaphoric or comparative use (e.g. "Red China or Green", New York Times article title).
) and signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union
in 1978, China branded Vietnam the "Cuba of the East" and called the treaty a military alliance. Incidents along the Sino-Vietnamese border increased in frequency and violence. In December 1978 Vietnam invaded Cambodia
, quickly ousted the pro-Mao Pol Pot
regime, and overran the country.
China's twenty-nine-day incursion into Vietnam in February 1979 was a response to what China considered to be a collection of provocative actions and policies on Hanoi
's part. These included Vietnamese intimacy with the Soviet Union
, mistreatment of ethnic Chinese living in Vietnam, hegemonistic "imperial dreams" in Southeast Asia
, and spurning of Beijing
's attempt to repatriate Chinese residents of Vietnam to China.
In February 1979 China attacked along virtually the entire Sino-Vietnamese border in a brief, limited campaign that involved ground forces only. The Chinese attack came at dawn on the morning of 17 February 1979, and employed infantry, armor, and artillery. Air power was not employed then or at any time during the war. Within a day, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) had advanced some eight kilometers into Vietnam along a broad front. It then slowed and nearly stalled because of heavy Vietnamese resistance and difficulties within the Chinese supply system. On February 21, the advance resumed against Cao Bang in the far north and against the all-important regional hub of Lang Son
. Chinese troops entered Cao Bang on February 27, but the city was not secured completely until March 2. Lang Son fell two days later. On March 5, the Chinese, saying Vietnam had been sufficiently chastised, announced that the campaign was over. Beijing declared its "lesson" finished and the PLA withdrawal was completed on March 16.
Hanoi's post-incursion depiction of the border war was that Beijing had sustained a military setback if not an outright defeat. Most observers doubted that China would risk another war with Vietnam in the near future. Gerald Segal, in his 1985 book Defending China, concluded that China's 1979 war against Vietnam was a complete failure: "China failed to force a Vietnamese withdrawal from [Cambodia], failed to end border clashes, failed to cast doubt on the strength of the Soviet power, failed to dispel the image of China as a paper tiger, and failed to draw the United States
into an anti-Soviet coalition." Nevertheless, Bruce Elleman argued that "one of the primary diplomatic goals behind China's attack was to expose Soviet assurances of military support to Vietnam as a fraud. Seen in this light, Beijing's policy was actually a diplomatic success, since Moscow did not actively intervene, thus showing the practical limitations of the Soviet-Vietnamese military pact. ... China achieved a strategic victory by minimizing the future possibility of a two-front war against the USSR and Vietnam."
After the war both China and Vietnam reorganized their border defenses. In 1986 China deployed twenty-five to twenty-eight divisions and Vietnam thirty-two divisions along their common border.
The 1979 attack confirmed Hanoi's perception of China as a threat. The PAVN high command henceforth had to assume, for planning purposes, that the Chinese might come again and might not halt in the foothills but might drive on to Hanoi
. The border war strengthened Soviet-Vietnamese relations. The Soviet military role in Vietnam increased during the 1980s as the Soviets provided arms to Vietnam; moreover, Soviet ships enjoyed access to the harbors at Danang and Cam Ranh Bay
, and Soviet reconnaissance aircraft operated out of Vietnamese airfields. The Vietnamese responded to the Chinese campaign by turning the districts along the China border into "iron fortresses" manned by well-equipped and well-trained paramilitary troops. In all, an estimated 600,000 troops were assigned to counter Chinese operations and to stand ready for another Chinese invasion. The precise dimensions of the frontier operations were difficult to determine, but its monetary cost to Vietnam was considerable.
By 1987 China had stationed nine armies (approximately 400,000 troops) in the Sino-Vietnamese border region, including one along the coast. It had also increased its landing craft fleet and was periodically staging amphibious landing exercises off Hainan Island, across from Vietnam, thereby demonstrating that a future attack might come from the sea.
Low-level conflict continued along the Sino-Vietnamese border as each side conducted artillery shelling and probed to gain high spots in the mountainous border terrain. Border incidents increased in intensity during the rainy season, when Beijing
attempted to ease Vietnamese pressure against Cambodian resistance fighters.
Since the early 1980s, China pursued what some observers described as a semi-secret campaign against Vietnam that was more than a series of border incidents and less than a limited small-scale war. The Vietnamese called it a "multifaceted war of sabotage." Hanoi officials have described the assaults as comprising steady harassment by artillery fire, intrusions on land by infantry patrols, naval intrusions, and mine planting both at sea and in the riverways. Chinese clandestine activity (the "sabotage" aspect) for the most part was directed against the ethnic minorities of the border region. According to the Hanoi press, teams of Chinese agents systematically sabotaged mountain agricultural production centers as well as lowland port, transportation, and communication facilities. Psychological warfare operations were an integral part of the campaign, as was what the Vietnamese called "economic warfare
"--encouragement of Vietnamese villagers along the border to engage in smuggling, currency speculation, and hoarding of goods in short supply.
In recent years, both countries have pursued good relations and downplayed the years of hostility from 1979-1988. As a result, the Sino-Vietnamese conflict is generally not on the list of topics that may be openly mentioned in print or the media in present-day China, although veterans of the war are allowed to discuss their experiences on the Internet and correspond with their Vietnamese counterparts. On the other hand, a group of Chinese college students in 2007 discussed online plans for an invasion and conquest of Vietnam. This provoked considerable alarm in Hanoi
, but the Chinese government stated that these were in no way officially sanctioned.
After Ronald Reagan was elected US president in 1980, he gave a speech criticizing the Beijing government and proposing that diplomatic ties with Taiwan be restored. This aroused panic in China, and Reagan was convinced by his advisors to retract these statements. Vice President George Bush (who had been liaison officer to China from 1972–1978) then apologized for the president's remarks.
Despite this, Sino-US relations took a downward turn in 1981-1982. The Chinese took umbrage at Reagan's vocal anti-communism, even though it was mainly directed at the Soviet Union, as well as continued US arms sales to Taiwan. There were various minor squabbles such as the granting of asylum to a prominent tennis player, Hu Na, who feared persecution for refusing to join the CCP. China cancelled several educational and cultural exchange programs with the United States as a result of this episode. The US invasion of Grenada and stationing of missiles in Western Europe met with Chinese disapproval, and the two countries took opposing sides on the Falkland Islands conflict, the Palestinian question, and the presence of American troops in South Korea. By 1984, Sino-US relations had improved and President Reagan visited Beijing in April–May of that year. The trip went well, although a speech made by Reagan that promoted capitalism, democracy, and religious freedom, as well as indirect criticism of the Soviet Union, was not aired on TV in China.
In general however, China's foreign policy pronouncements were much more restrained than in the Mao era, and Beijing stated that its aim was now world peace rather than world revolution. Relations with the Soviet Union at last began to show some improvement and Foreign Minister Huang Hua led a delegation to Soviet president Leonid Brezhnev
's funeral in November 1982. Huang met with his counterpart Andrei Gromyko
and referred to Brezhnev as an "outstanding champion of world peace". He also expressed his hope for normalized Sino-Soviet relations, but in doing so apparently moved too quickly for the Beijing government, as he was removed from office almost as soon as he returned home (he had a history of making public statements that were at odds with official policy). On the state level, Sino-Soviet relations did improve during the 1980s. Trade and cultural exchanges grew substantially, but there was no indication of improved ties on the party level and no sign that the CCP was willing to treat the CPSU as an equal. Nagging foreign policy problems remained such as the presence of Soviet troops and nuclear missiles in Mongolia, as well as continued Soviet support for Vietnam and its occupation of Cambodia.
. These tenets aimed at expanding rural income and incentives, encouraging experiments in enterprise autonomy, reducing central planning, and establishing direct foreign investment in Mainland China. The Plenum also decided to accelerate the pace of legal reform, culminating in the passage of several new legal codes by the National People's Congress
in June 1979.
The goals of Deng's reforms were summed up by the Four Modernizations: the modernization of agriculture, industry, science and technology, as well as the military. The strategy for achieving these aims, all of which were designed to help China become a modern, industrial nation, was "socialism with Chinese characteristics". It opened a new era in Chinese history known as "Reforms and Opening up"(改革开放) to the Outside World.
The ten-year plan drafted by Hua Guofeng in 1978 was quickly abandoned on the grounds that China had neither the budget or the technical expertise to carry it out. Instead, a more modest five-year plan was adopted that emphasized light industry and consumer production.
In September 1982, the 12th Party Congress convened in Beijing. The United States and the Soviet Union were again criticized for imperialism and reunification with Taiwan stressed. Most importantly, another new constitution was adopted in place of the 1978 document. This version (which remains China's constitution to the present day) emphasized foreign assistance in modernizing and developing the country, thus rejecting the Maoist self-reliance of the 1975 and 1978 constitutions. The last remaining references to the Cultural Revolution were also removed. Instead, the 1982 constitution stated that the "exploiter" class had been eliminated in China and so class struggle was no longer a relevant issue.
However, these changes were not managed without overcoming opposition in the party, bureaucracy, and military. There were still a few extremist followers of the Gang of Four, but not many and efforts were made to weed them from the party. There did exist a large number of Stalinists who believed in orthodox central planning, and socio-political conformity. This group generally wanted to return to the ways of the 1950s and restore ties with the Soviet Union, believing that the communist world was China's natural friend. In particular, many of the Stalinists thought that Deng Xiaoping was moving too far in dismantling Mao's legacy and allowing greater freedom of expression. The largest number of them were in the military, which complained about having its budget cut from 10% of China's total GDP in 1978 to 5% by 1982. Several weapons projects that had been in the works during the '70s were dropped due to being too expensive and unnecessary and generals also objected at being asked to produce consumer goods (a common practice in the Soviet Union) instead of receiving badly needed defense modernization. Deng stressed the need for military obedience to party directives, reminding them of Mao's dictum that "The party must control the gun, but the gun must never be allowed to control the party." A higher degree of professionalism was emphasized in the PLA during the 1980s and the system of ranks that had been abolished in 1965 was slowly restored. On National Day (October 1) 1984, China staged its first military parade since 1959. These parades had been held every year during the 1950s, then called off due to cost reasons. The 1984 event however showed the relative backwardness of China's armed forces, which had only recently reached the technological level of the Soviet Union 25 years earlier.
Deng argued that China was in the primary stage of socialism and that the duty of the party was to perfect "socialism with Chinese characteristics." This interpretation of Chinese Marxism reduced the role of ideology in economic decision-making and emphasized policies that had been proven to be empirically effective, stressing the need to "seek truth from facts". Rejecting Mao's idealistic, communitarian values but not necessarily the values of Marx and Lenin, Deng emphasized that socialism did not mean shared poverty (thus repudiating the Gang of Four's slogan "We would rather be poor under socialism than rich under capitalism.") Unlike Hua Guofeng, Deng believed that no policy should be rejected out of hand simply because it had not been associated with Mao. Unlike more conservative leaders such as Chen Yun
, Deng did not object to policies on the grounds that they were similar to those found in capitalist nations. He merely stated that these ideas were part of the common heritage of mankind and not specifically tied to either capitalism or socialism.
Although Deng provided the theoretical background and the political support to allow economic reform to occur, few of the economic reforms that Deng introduced were originated by Deng himself. Local leaders, often in violation of central government directives introduced many reforms. If successful and promising, these reforms would be adopted by larger and larger areas, and ultimately introduced nationally. Many other reforms were influenced by the experiences of the East Asian Tigers
. Among other things, it was now being admitted that Taiwan's per-capita GDP was three times that of the mainland.
This is in sharp contrast to the economic restructuring, or perestroika
, undertaken by Mikhail Gorbachev
, in which Gorbachev himself originated most of the major reforms. Many economists have argued that the bottom-up approach of Deng's reforms, in contrast to the top-down approach of Perestroika, was a key factor in his success.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, Deng's reforms included introduction of planned, centralized management of the macro-economy by technically proficient bureaucrats, abandoning Mao's mass campaign style of economic construction. However, unlike the Soviet model or China under Mao, this management was indirect, through market mechanisms, and much of it was modeled after economic planning and control mechanisms in Western nations.
This trend did not impede the general move toward the market at the microeconomic
level. Deng sustained Mao's legacy to the extent that he stressed the primacy of agricultural output and encouraged a significant decentralization of decision-making in the rural economy teams and individual peasant households. At the local level, material incentives rather than political appeals were to be used to motivate the labor force, including allowing peasants to earn extra income by selling the produce of their private plots on the free market. In the main move toward market allocation, local municipalities and provinces were allowed to invest in industries that they considered most profitable, which encouraged investment in light manufacturing. Thus, Deng's reforms shifted China's development strategy to emphasize light industry and export-led growth.
Light industrial output was vital for a developing country that was working with relatively little capital. With its short gestation period, low capital requirements, and high foreign exchange export earnings, the revenues that the light-manufacturing sector generated could be reinvested in more technologically advanced production and further capital expenditures and investments. However, these investments were not government-mandated, in sharp contrast to the similar but much less successful reforms in Yugoslavia and Hungary. The capital invested in heavy industry largely came from the banking system, and most of that capital came from consumer deposits. One of the first items of the Deng reforms was to prevent reallocation of profits except through taxation or through the banking system; hence, the reallocation in more "advanced" industries was somewhat indirect. In short, Deng's reforms sparked an industrial revolution in China.
These reforms were a reversal of the Maoist policy of autarky and economic self-reliance. The PRC decided to accelerate the modernization process by stepping up the volume of foreign trade, especially the purchase of machinery from Japan
and the West. By participating in such export-led growth, the PRC was able to step up the Four Modernizations by taking advantage of foreign funds, markets, advanced technologies, and management experience. Deng also attracted foreign companies to a series of Special Economic Zones, where capitalist business practices were encouraged.
Another important focus of the reforms was the need to improve labor productivity. New material incentives and bonus systems were introduced. Rural markets selling peasants' homegrown products and the surplus products of communes were revived. Not only did rural markets increase agricultural output, they stimulated industrial development as well. With peasants able to sell surplus agricultural yields on the open market, domestic consumption stimulated industrialization, and also created political support for more difficult economic reforms.
Deng's market socialism
, especially in its early stages, was in some ways parallel to Lenin
's New Economic Policy
and Bukharin's economic policies, in that they all foresaw a role for private entrepreneurs and markets based on trade and pricing rather than government mandates of production. An interesting anecdotal episode on this note is the first meeting between Deng and Armand Hammer
. Deng pressed the industrialist and former investor in Lenin's Soviet Union for as much information on the NEP as possible.
Concurrent with economic reforms, China began a major crackdown on crime in what became known as "Strike Hard" campaigns. These have been launched periodically up to the present day and are typically accompanied by the liberal use of capital punishment and occasionally even mass executions. This stands in contrast to the Mao era, where executions were relatively rare after the CCP's consolidation of power during 1950-1952 and criminals were generally punished with labor reform and political reeducation.
, political corruption
, massive urban migration
, and prostitution
emerged. The 1980s saw a surge in intellectual material as the country emerged out of the conformity of the Cultural Revolution; the time period between 1982–89 saw freedom of the press
like never before, and has since then never been seen again. Two prominent schools of thought emerged. One school composed of students and intellectuals who urged greater economic and political reforms; the other, composed of revolutionary party elders, became increasingly skeptical on the pace and the ultimate goals of the reform program, as it deviated from the intended direction of the Communist Party.
Hard-liners in the party and especially the military stated that "art and literature must serve politics", while moderates were willing to tolerate apolitical material. Nonetheless, writers and artists were still told that their primary job was to "educate the people to believe in socialism". As such, the party took a stand against certain Western ideas and philosophies, as well as abstract theories of human nature. Highly personal poetry and discussions of the subconscious were viewed as representing an "unhealthy" tendency. Officials also took a stand against pornography, which was being imported from Hong Kong in large quantities. This was coming at a time when many young people were skeptical of the party's leadership and increasingly questioning whether it was really possible to achieve socialism or if doing so was desirable.
In late 1983, there appeared to be a brief revival of the Cultural Revolution when the "Anti Spiritual Pollution" campaign was launched. Pornography and unacceptable writings were confiscated, people with Western hairstyles were forced to cut their hair, and army units were required to sing "Socialism is Good", a venerable tune that had been banned during the CR for "keeping the people too quiet." However, Deng Xiaoping rather quickly halted the campaign.
During the 1980s, religious freedom was restored in China after having been virtually outlawed in 1966-1976. The state recognized five official faiths, Protestantism, Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and Taoism. Houses of worship were permitted to operate with a license and under the condition that they not oppose the party and socialism. This religious settlement remains in China to the present day.
In December 1986, student demonstrators, taking advantage of the loosening political atmosphere, staged protests against the slow pace of reform, confirming party elders' fears that the current reform program was leading to a kind of social instability, the same kind that killed hundreds of millions between the years of the Opium War and the founding of the PRC. Inspired by Fang Lizhi, a physicist from University of Science and Technology of China who gave speeches criticizing Deng's go slow policies, students took to protest. The students were also disenchanted with the amount of control the government exerted, citing compulsory calisthenics and not being allowed to dance at rock concerts. Students called for campus elections, the chance to study abroad, and greater availability of western pop culture. Hu Yaobang
, a protégé of Deng and a leading advocate of reform, was blamed for the protests and forced to resign as the CPC General Secretary in January 1987. In the "Anti Bourgeois Liberalization Campaign", Hu would be further denounced. Premier Zhao Ziyang
was made General Secretary and Li Peng
, a staunch conservative who was unpopular with the masses, formerly Vice Premier and Minister of Electric Power and Water Conservancy, was made Premier.
After Zhao became the party General Secretary, the economic and political reforms he had championed came under increasing attack from his colleagues. His proposal in May 1988 to accelerate price reform led to widespread popular complaints about rampant inflation and gave opponents of rapid reform the opening to call for greater centralization of economic controls and stricter prohibitions against Western influence. This precipitated a political debate, which grew more heated through the winter of 1988–1989.
The death of Hu Yaobang on April 15, 1989, coupled with growing economic hardship caused by high inflation and other social factors, provided the backdrop for a large-scale protest movement by students, intellectuals, and other parts of a disaffected urban population. University students and other citizens in Beijing camped out at Tiananmen Square
to mourn Hu's death and to protest against those who would slow reform. Their protests, which grew despite government efforts to contain them, although not strictly anti-Government in nature, called for an end to official corruption
and for the defense of freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
. Protests also spread through many other cities, including Shanghai
, Guangzhou
, and Chengdu
.
On April 26, the central leadership, under Deng Xiaoping
, issued the 4-26 Editorial on People's Daily
, which was subsequently broadcast on national media, denouncing all recent actions of protest as a form of "turmoil" (动乱). The editorial was the first in a series of events in an effort to contain the escalating protests through forceful measures. Thereafter, Deng's actions caused the presidency to have much greater power than originally intended. Various leaders sympathetic to the students, most notably Wan Li
, then the NPC Chairman with a degree of constitutional powers to prevent full military action, were placed under house arrest after landing in Beijing. Wan's seclusion ensured that Premier Li Peng
was able, in cooperation with Deng, then-head of the Central Military Commission, to use the office of the Premier to declare martial law
in Beijing and order the military crackdown of the protests. This was in direct opposition to the wishes of the Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang
and other members of the Politburo Standing Committee
.
Martial law was declared on May 20, 1989. Late on June 3 and early on the morning of June 4, a date now synonymous with the movement in the Chinese language, military units were called from neighboring provinces and brought into Beijing. Armed force was used to clear demonstrators from the streets. Official PRC estimates place the number of deaths at between two to three hundred, whilst groups such as the Red Cross believe the number to be in the two to three thousand range.
After the protests, the Chinese government faced hordes of criticism from foreign governments for the suppression of the protests, the government reined in remaining sources of dissent that were a threat to order and stability, detained large numbers of protesters, and required political re-education not only for students but also for insubordinate party cadre and government officials. Zhao Ziyang would be placed under house arrest until his death some 16 years later, and due to the subject still being largely taboo
in China, Zhao has not yet been politically rehabilitated.
. The policy, while controversial, is widely approved by the Chinese people, and has resulted in a dramatic decrease in child poverty. The law currently applies to about a third of the mainland Chinese, and does not apply to minority ethnic groups. As a result of this policy, the demographics
of China are rapidly changing.
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's death, the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
was left with no central authority figure, either symbolically or administratively. The Gang of Four
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four was the name given to a political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes...
was dismantled, but Hua Guofeng
Hua Guofeng
Su Zhu, better known by the nom de guerre Hua Guofeng , was Mao Zedong's designated successor as the Paramount Leader of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. Upon Zhou Enlai's death in 1976, he succeeded Zhou as the second Premier of the People's Republic of China...
continued to persist on Mao-era policies. After a bloodless power struggle, Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
came to the helm to reform the Chinese economy and government institutions in their entirety. Deng, however, was conservative with regard to wide-ranging political reform, and along with the combination of unforeseen problems that resulted from the economic reform policies, the country underwent another political crisis with the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
.
Hua Guofeng and the return of Deng Xiaoping (1976-1978)
Mao Zedong died on September 9, 1976. At his death, China was in a political and economic mess. The Cultural Revolution and subsequent factional fighting had left the country much poorer, weaker, and isolated than it had been in 1965. Scores of capable party officials, bureaucrats, intellectuals, and professionals were languishing in prison or laboring in factories, mines, and fields. Many schools had been closed, and an entire generation of young people were unable to obtain an education.Regardless of official propaganda, most people took Mao's death calmly. They mourned him, but not in the way they had mourned Zhou Enlai. Meanwhile, his designated successor Hua Guofeng had assumed the post of party chairman. Hua was unaware that the Gang of Four were plotting his downfall until Defense Minister Ye Jianying
Ye Jianying
Ye Jianying was a Chinese communist general and the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1978 to 1983.-Biography:...
and several generals warned him about this, saying that he'd better do something before it was too late. Hua was a bit surprised, but he agreed, and in October the Gang were arrested. None of them put up any resistance, although one of Jiang Qing's housekeepers reportedly spit at her as she was being taken away.
The demise and arrest of the Gang of Four prompted nationwide celebrations, including parades in the streets of Beijing and other major cities. The Gang of Four symbolized everything that went wrong during the ten years of chaos of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, and their demise, the general populace had expected, would mark the beginning of a new era.
In late 1976 and early 1977, the state propaganda machine was working overtime to promote Hua Guofeng. He was billed as being Mao's personally appointed successor and as having saved China from the Gang of Four. Hua tried to fill his mentor's shoes by, among other things, sporting an identical haircut. He stated that "in order to honor Chairman Mao, we should govern in accordance with his wishes." and proclaimed the "Two Whatevers", meaning that "Whatever Chairman Mao said, we will say, and whatever Chairman Mao did, we will do." During 1977-1978, policy efforts centered around economic recovery. Schools began to reopen, and the more extreme aspects of Mao's personality cult were toned down. It was now being said that he was a great leader and thinker, but not an infallible god and that the revolution had been the work of many people and not just him. The Cultural Revolution was said to have been a well-meaning idea that got out of control, and Hua declared that a second CR might be necessary in a few years. Beginning in April 1978, newspapers stopped printing Mao's quotations in bold text. Nuclear weapons testing, missile, and space launches continued apace.
Hua's reliance on Maoist orthodoxy led him to continue a cult of personality
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
surrounding his own image alongside Mao's, equating his presence to that of Mao, but pinpointing the focus at a nominally separate era. To provide for distinct identity, Hua attempted his own change of the Chinese written language
Chinese written language
Written Chinese comprises Chinese characters used to represent the Chinese language, and the rules about how they are arranged and punctuated. Chinese characters do not constitute an alphabet or a compact syllabary...
by further simplifying characters. A small number of these Hua-era simplifications continue to be in use informally, as there was no formal sanction of their legitimacy after Hua left office. In early 1977, the National Anthem
March of the Volunteers
March of the Volunteers is the national anthem of the People's Republic of China , written by the noted poet and playwright Tian Han with music composed by Nie Er. This composition is a musical march...
was changed to reflect pure communist ideology rather than revolutionary drive, inserting lyrics exclusively dealing with Mao Zedong Thought and building an ideal socialist nation, as opposed to the wartime patriotism reflected by the original lyrics.
Hua's unimaginative policies received relatively little support, and he was regarded as an unremarkable leader, lacking political support within the Politburo. At the time Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
was still living in seclusion because of "political mistakes," and the issue of his return to politics was yet again put on the table. Deng had insisted on supporting all of Hua's policies in one of the letters the two men exchanged, to which Hua responded that Deng had "made mistakes, and rightfully must continue to receive criticism." The arrest of the Gang of Four, Hua said, did not justify that Deng's "revisionist" ideas should resurface. During a Politburo meeting in March 1977, many members voiced support for Deng's return, to no avail. In a letter to Hua dated April 10, Deng Xiaoping wrote, "I am fully behind Chairman Hua's policies and agenda for the country." This letter would be openly discussed in the Politburo, and in July 1977, Deng Xiaoping was restored in his former posts. In August, the 11th Party Congress was held, which again rehabilitated Deng and confirmed his election as the new Committee Vice-Chairman, and the Central Military Commission
Central Military Commission
A Central Military Commission or National Defense Commission is an organisation typical of Communist one-party states, responsible for supervising the nation's armed forces....
's Vice-Chairman, Deng guaranteed the elevation of his supporters, Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang was a leader of the People's Republic of China who served as both Chairman and Party General Secretary. Hu joined the Chinese Communist Party in the 1930s, and rose to prominence as a comrade of Deng Xiaoping...
, Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang was a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China . He was the third Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989....
and Wan Li
Wan Li
Wan Li was during a long administrative career in the People's Republic of China Vice Premier, National People's Congress Chairman, and a member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, its Secretariat and its Politburo...
.
In February 1978, a new constitution was adopted. This was the third one used by the PRC, after the original 1954 document (which was not followed to any meaningful extent after 1957) and the short-lived 1975 "Gang of Four" constitution. The new one was patterned after the 1954 constitution and attempted to restore some rule of law and mechanisms for economic planning. In regards to the latter, Hua Guofeng wanted a return to the Soviet-style economics of the mid-1950s. He drew up a ten-year plan which emphasized heavy industry, energy, and capital construction.
In regards to foreign policy, Hua made his first trip abroad in May 1978. This was a visit to North Korea, where he was given a warm reception and joined DPRK leader Kim Il Sung in calling for the United States to withdraw its troops from South Korea. In September, Deng Xiaoping also visited Pyongyang. He was unimpressed with Kim Il Sung's extensive personality cult, having seen enough of this sort of thing in China and also took umbrage at being expected to lay a wreath in front of the giant gold-plated statue of Kim in Pyongyang. Deng reportedly expressed his displeasure at how the aid given to North Korea by China over the years was being spent on statues and monuments honoring Kim. He suggested that they might be better served using that aid to improve their people's living standards. The North Koreans appear to have gotten the message, for the gold plating was quietly scraped off the Kim statue in Pyongyang afterwards.
There was little sign of improved relations with the Soviet Union, and Deng Xiaoping declared the 1950 Sino-Soviet friendship treaty to be null and void. Relations with Vietnam suddenly turned hostile in 1979. These two countries had once been allies, but in 1972 Mao Zedong told Vietnamese premier Pham Van Dong that they should stop expecting Chinese aid and that the old historical feud between the two countries would erupt again. China also gave its support to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime that took power in Cambodia during 1975, provoking the hostility of the Soviet-backed Vietnamese government. In January 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and drove the Khmer Rouge from power. During his US visit, Deng Xiaoping remarked that Vietnam would have to "be taught a lesson". In February, a full-scale Chinese attack was launched on the Vietnamese border. Although China withdrew after three weeks and declared its objectives met, the war had not gone well and demonstrated the country's weakness. The PLA had lost over 20,000 men due to weapons and equipment that were outdated, poorly made, and in short supply (a side effect of the disruption caused by the Cultural Revolution), maps that were decades old, and the continued use of human-wave tactics from the Korean War. Even worse was the fact that the Chinese had not even engaged Vietnam's regular army (which was in Cambodia), but instead fought militia and home guard units. On the other hand, it was a political victory since the Soviet Union had failed to come to its ally's aid and contented itself with verbal protests.
China finally established diplomatic relations with the United States at the beginning of 1979. This had been planned since President Nixon's visit in 1972, but was delayed by the Watergate scandal and withdrawal from Vietnam. The US agreed to recognize the PRC as China's sole government. Diplomatic relations with Taiwan were terminated, but unofficial and commercial ties remained. Deng Xiaoping visited the US in February and met with President Carter. Meanwhile, Hua Guofeng headed to Europe in May. He first stopped in France, reportedly because it was the first western nation to recognize the PRC, and made a fierce attack on Soviet expansionism and hegemony. Later in Germany, he displayed more restraint and decided against making what would have been a highly provocative visit to the Berlin Wall.
Deng becomes Paramount Leader
Although Hua continued in his leadership role, his power began waning the moment Deng Xiaoping returned to Peking. The two continued to co-rule for a time, but the latter was rapidly gaining power. With Mao and Zhou Enlai gone, there was no one else in China with his experience and leadership abilities and his ideas seemed fresh and appealing as opposed to Hua's stale promotion of Maoism. Hua was quickly seen as being nothing more than a vacuous party hack with no ideas of his own. This was reflected in the 1978 constitution, which still contained references to proletarian internationalism and continuous revolution. As Vice-Premier in charge of Technology and Education, Deng restored the University Entrance Examinations in 1977, opening the doors of post-secondary education to nearly a generation of youth who lacked this opportunity because of the Cultural RevolutionCultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. He elevated the social status of intellectuals from the lows of the Cultural Revolution to becoming an "integral part of socialist construction."
Deng chaired the (11th) National Congress of the Communist Party of China
National Congress of the Communist Party of China
The National Congress of the Communist Party of China is a party congress that is held about once every five years. The National Congress is theoretically the highest body within the Communist Party of China, but in practice important decisions are made before the meeting. Since 1987 the National...
, China's de jure legislative body, and stressed the importance of the Four Modernizations
Four Modernizations
The Four Modernizations were goals, set forth by Zhou Enlai in 1963, to strengthen the fields of agriculture, industry, national defense, science and technology...
, a series of advances in various fields aimed at strengthening the country by adapting to modern standards. By then Deng was poised to make a final political move to grab power. On May 11, 1978, the Guangming Daily newspaper published an article, inspected by Deng's supporter Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang was a leader of the People's Republic of China who served as both Chairman and Party General Secretary. Hu joined the Chinese Communist Party in the 1930s, and rose to prominence as a comrade of Deng Xiaoping...
, titled "Practice sets the only Standard to Examine Truth". The article stressed the importance of uniting theory and practice, denounced the dogmatic euphoria of the Mao era, and was, in fact, an outright criticism on Hua's Two Whatevers
Two Whatevers
The Two Whatevers refers to the statement that "We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave" ....
policy. This article was reprinted in many newspapers across the country, and echoed widespread support amongst party organs and the general populace. Discussions sprung up nationwide in government and military organizations, and Deng's novel and pragmatic stance gained increasing popularity.
In April, Deng began the political rehabilitation of those who were formerly labeled "rightists" and counter-revolutionaries, a campaign led by Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang was a leader of the People's Republic of China who served as both Chairman and Party General Secretary. Hu joined the Chinese Communist Party in the 1930s, and rose to prominence as a comrade of Deng Xiaoping...
that pardoned the wrongly accused, restoring the reputation of many party elders and intellectuals who were purged during the Cultural Revolution and other campaigns going all the way back to the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957. Prominent politically disgraced people including Peng Dehuai
Peng Dehuai
Peng Dehuai was a prominent military leader of the Communist Party of China, and China's Defence Minister from 1954 to 1959. Peng was an important commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese civil war and was also the commander-in-chief of People's Volunteer Army in the Korean War...
, Zhang Wentian
Zhang Wentian
Zhang Wentian . He is also known as Luo Fu . His names in Wade-Giles are Chang Wen-t'ien and Lo Fu.Born in Jiangsu, he attended engineering school in Nanjing and also spent a year at the University of California. He later joined the Communist Party and was sent to study at Sun Yat-sen University...
, He Long
He Long
He Long was a Chinese military leader. He rose to the rank of Marshal and Vice Premier after the founding of the People's Republic of China.-Early life:He Long was a member of the Tujia ethnic group...
and Tao Zhu
Tao Zhu
Tao Zhu is a Former Member of the 8th Communist Party of China Politburo Standing Committee.-Biography:He was Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee and Commander of the Guangzhou Military Region....
were given belated rank-appropriate funerals at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. Liu Shaoqi
Liu Shaoqi
Liu Shaoqi was a Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and theorist. He was Chairman of the People's Republic of China, China's head of state, from 27 April 1959 to 31 October 1968, during which he implemented policies of economic reconstruction in China...
was given a large state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
in May 1980, when the country was asked to mourn the former president eleven years after his death.
Meanwhile, the Gang of Four went on trial in 1980 on charges of counterrevolution, attempting to overthrow the state, and plotting to assassinate Mao. Only Jiang Qing tried to defend herself, repeatedly interrupting the proceedings with hysterical outbursts and sobbing. She argued that she had never done anything more than follow Mao's orders, saying "I was his dog. Whoever he told me to bite, I bit." and daring the authorities to cut off her head. The others were given life in prison, but Jiang was sentenced to death. However, Mao's memory still lingered strong, and her sentence was later commuted to life. She hanged herself in a Beijing hospital in 1991 while undergoing treatment for throat cancer.
The power transition from Hua to Deng was confirmed in December 1978, at the Third Plenum of the Central Committee
11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
The 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was in session from 1977 to 1982. It held seven plenary sessions in the 5-year period.It elected the 11th Politburo of the Communist Party of China in 1977.-Members:*Hua Guofeng...
of the Eleventh National Party Congress, a turning point in China's history. The course was laid for the party to move the world's most populous nation toward the ambitious targets of the Four Modernizations.
After a decade of turmoil brought about by the Cultural Revolution, the new direction set at this meeting was toward economic development and away from class struggle. The plenum endorsed major changes in the political, economic, and social system. Hua renounced his "Two Whatevers
Two Whatevers
The Two Whatevers refers to the statement that "We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave" ....
" and offered a full self-criticism. Replacing the old focus of class struggles was the new policy focused on economic construction. Meanwhile, the government also made a pledge to the people that it would never again launch mass campaigns like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
It also instituted sweeping personnel changes, culminating in the elevation of two key supporters of Deng Xiaoping and the reform program, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. In contrast to previous leadership changes, Hua would resign his posts one by one, although he remained on the Politburo until 1982. Hua was replaced by Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang was a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China . He was the third Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989....
as Premier of the State Council in September 1980, and by Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang was a leader of the People's Republic of China who served as both Chairman and Party General Secretary. Hu joined the Chinese Communist Party in the 1930s, and rose to prominence as a comrade of Deng Xiaoping...
as CPC General Secretary of the party in September 1982. The post of chairman was abolished to ensure that no one person could ever dominate the party as Mao Zedong had done. Until the mid-1990s, Deng Xiaoping was China's de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
leader, retaining only the official title of Chairman of the Central Military Commission
Central Military Commission
A Central Military Commission or National Defense Commission is an organisation typical of Communist one-party states, responsible for supervising the nation's armed forces....
, but not the chief offices of the State, government, or the Party. Meanwhile, Li Xiannian
Li Xianniàn
Li Xiannian was President of the People's Republic of China between 1983 and 1988 and then chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference until his death. He was an influential political figure throughout the PRC, having been a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of...
was appointed to the post of President, vacant since 1968. Li was a believer in central planning, and his appointment to this largely ceremonial position was a compromise move to appease conservative elements in the party.
With changes to the Chinese Constitution
Constitution of the People's Republic of China
The Constitution of the People's Republic of China is the highest law within the People's Republic of China. The current version was adopted by the 5th National People's Congress on December 4, 1982 with further revisions in 1988, 1993, 1999, and 2004. Three previous state constitutions—those of...
in 1982, the President was conceived of as a "figurehead
Figurehead
A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and 19th century.-History:Although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and...
" head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
, with actual power resting in the hands of the Premier of the People's Republic of China
Premier of the People's Republic of China
The Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , sometimes also referred to as the "Prime Minister" informally, is the Leader of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , who is the head of government and holds the highest-ranking of the Civil service of the...
and the General Secretary
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China , officially General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the highest ranking official within the Communist Party of China, a standing member of the Politburo and head of the Secretariat...
of the Party, who were meant to be two separate people. In the original plan, the Party would develop policy, and the state would execute it. Deng's intentions was to have power divided, thus preventing a cult of personality from forming as it did in the case of Mao. The new emphasis on procedure, however, seemed largely undermined by Deng himself, who assumed none of the official titles on the grounds that they should go to younger men.
After 1979, the Chinese leadership moved toward more pragmatic policies in almost all fields. The party encouraged artists, writers and journalists to adopt more critical approaches, although open attacks on party authority were not permitted. The Chinese government repudiated the Cultural Revolution. A major document presented at the September 1979 Fourth Plenum of the Eleventh National Party Congress Central Committee, gave a "preliminary assessment" of the entire 30-year period of Communist rule. At the plenum, party Vice Chairman Ye Jianying
Ye Jianying
Ye Jianying was a Chinese communist general and the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1978 to 1983.-Biography:...
declared the Cultural Revolution "an appalling catastrophe" and "the most severe setback to [the] socialist cause since [1949]." The Chinese government's condemnation of the Cultural Revolution culminated in the Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China, adopted by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This stated that "Comrade Mao Zedong was a great Marxist and a great proletarian revolutionary, strategist and theorist. It is true that he made gross mistakes during the "cultural revolution", but, if we judge his activities as a whole, his contributions to the Chinese revolution far outweigh his mistakes. His merits are primary and his errors secondary." As political ideology was downgraded, numerous statues of Mao were removed around the country and portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin were taken down from Tiananmen Square.
In late 1978, many emboldened people began staging rallies and protests in Beijing. They erected a large number of wall posters (the so-called "Democracy Wall") criticizing the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong, the Gang of Four, and Hua Guofeng. All these were tolerated because of being more-or-less in line with official positions, but some began calling for democracy and open elections. This was more than the authorities were willing to tolerate and they quickly stressed that the party would continue to hold power and guide the nation towards socialism. While greater freedom of thought would be allowed, loyalty to the party and socialist thought would still be required. Nonetheless, writers began criticizing corruption, privileges enjoyed by party officials, and unemployment, all things that supposedly could not exist under socialism.
A new page in diplomacy
China and the United Nations
China's seat in the United Nations and membership of the United Nations Security Council was originally occupied by the Republic of China since October 24, 1945. During the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party of China repelled the government of the ROC from Mainland China to the island of...
in 1971, replacing the international legitimacy previous held by the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
Government of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
on the island of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. In February 1972, US President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
made an unprecedented eight-day visit to the People's Republic of China and met with Mao Zedong. On February 22, 1973, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the PRC agreed to establish liaison offices. Although both sides intended to establish diplomatic relations quickly, this move was delayed until 1979 due to the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
.
Deng traveled abroad and had a series of amicable meetings with western leaders, traveling to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1979 to meet President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. Carter finally recognized the People's Republic, which had replaced the Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
-based Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
as the sole Chinese government recognized by the UN Security Council in 1971. One of Deng's achievements was the agreement signed by the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the PRC on December 19, 1984 under which Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
was to be transferred to the PRC in 1997. With the 99-year lease on the New Territories coming to an end, Deng agreed that the PRC would not interfere with Hong Kong's capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
system and would allow the locals a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years. This "one country, two systems" approach has been touted by the PRC government as a potential framework within which Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
could be reunited with the mainland. Deng, however, did not improve relations with the Soviet Union. He continued to adhere to the Maoist line of the Sino-Soviet Split
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
era, which stated that the Soviet Union was a superpower
Superpower
A superpower is a state with a dominant position in the international system which has the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests...
equally as "hegemonist" as the United States, yet even more threatening to the PRC because of its closer proximity. Deng brought China conflict with Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
in 1979, following the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, under this subject of border disputes, and fought in the Sino-Vietnamese War
Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino–Vietnamese War , also known as the Third Indochina War, known in the PRC as and in Vietnam as Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa , was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...
.
"Red China" was a frequent appellation for the PRC between the Communist ascendancy and the mid-late 1970s with the rapprochement
Rapprochement
In international relations, a rapprochement, which comes from the French word rapprocher , is a re-establishment of cordial relations, as between two countries...
between China and the West (generally within the capitalist/Western bloc
Free World
The Free World is a Cold War-era term often used to describe states not under the rule of the Soviet Union, its Eastern European allies, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and other communist nations. The term often referred to states such as the United States, Canada, and Western European states such as the...
). The term was first used, before the establishment of the PRC, in the late 1940s during the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
, to describe the Communist side, and saw great prevalence in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Starting around 1972-1973, following Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's visit to China and the beginning of rapprochment and mounting likelihood of diplomatic normalization, the term began to drop in usage significantly. By the early 1980s, it was increasingly rare in mainstream journalism and publications in the Western countries. Since the early 1980s, however, the term remains in use in some circles, particularly right-wing or conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
political discourse and publications; nonetheless, some, including some conservatives, feel the term is not applicable to China in the contemporary period as the country is no longer a "monolithic political entity whose subjects march in lockstep with an all-powerful Communist regime." As of the early 2000s, "Red China" still retains some use among more right-wing writers, especially when framing China as an economic or political competitor or opponent (e.g. the "China threat" theory). "Red China" is sometimes used in more mainstream/less overtly partisan journalism for metaphoric or comparative use (e.g. "Red China or Green", New York Times article title).
Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979
China's relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam began to deteriorate seriously in the mid-1970s. After Vietnam joined the Soviet-dominated Council for Mutual Economic Cooperation (ComeconComecon
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance , 1949–1991, was an economic organisation under hegemony of Soviet Union comprising the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of communist states elsewhere in the world...
) and signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1978, China branded Vietnam the "Cuba of the East" and called the treaty a military alliance. Incidents along the Sino-Vietnamese border increased in frequency and violence. In December 1978 Vietnam invaded Cambodia
Cambodian-Vietnamese War
The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea. The war began with isolated clashes along the land and maritime boundaries of Vietnam and Kampuchea between 1975 and 1977, occasionally involving division-sized military formations...
, quickly ousted the pro-Mao Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
regime, and overran the country.
China's twenty-nine-day incursion into Vietnam in February 1979 was a response to what China considered to be a collection of provocative actions and policies on Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
's part. These included Vietnamese intimacy with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, mistreatment of ethnic Chinese living in Vietnam, hegemonistic "imperial dreams" in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, and spurning of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
's attempt to repatriate Chinese residents of Vietnam to China.
In February 1979 China attacked along virtually the entire Sino-Vietnamese border in a brief, limited campaign that involved ground forces only. The Chinese attack came at dawn on the morning of 17 February 1979, and employed infantry, armor, and artillery. Air power was not employed then or at any time during the war. Within a day, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) had advanced some eight kilometers into Vietnam along a broad front. It then slowed and nearly stalled because of heavy Vietnamese resistance and difficulties within the Chinese supply system. On February 21, the advance resumed against Cao Bang in the far north and against the all-important regional hub of Lang Son
Lang Son
Lạng Sơn , sometimes Langson, is a city in far northern Vietnam, is the capital of Lang Son province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Road 1A.-History:...
. Chinese troops entered Cao Bang on February 27, but the city was not secured completely until March 2. Lang Son fell two days later. On March 5, the Chinese, saying Vietnam had been sufficiently chastised, announced that the campaign was over. Beijing declared its "lesson" finished and the PLA withdrawal was completed on March 16.
Hanoi's post-incursion depiction of the border war was that Beijing had sustained a military setback if not an outright defeat. Most observers doubted that China would risk another war with Vietnam in the near future. Gerald Segal, in his 1985 book Defending China, concluded that China's 1979 war against Vietnam was a complete failure: "China failed to force a Vietnamese withdrawal from [Cambodia], failed to end border clashes, failed to cast doubt on the strength of the Soviet power, failed to dispel the image of China as a paper tiger, and failed to draw the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
into an anti-Soviet coalition." Nevertheless, Bruce Elleman argued that "one of the primary diplomatic goals behind China's attack was to expose Soviet assurances of military support to Vietnam as a fraud. Seen in this light, Beijing's policy was actually a diplomatic success, since Moscow did not actively intervene, thus showing the practical limitations of the Soviet-Vietnamese military pact. ... China achieved a strategic victory by minimizing the future possibility of a two-front war against the USSR and Vietnam."
After the war both China and Vietnam reorganized their border defenses. In 1986 China deployed twenty-five to twenty-eight divisions and Vietnam thirty-two divisions along their common border.
The 1979 attack confirmed Hanoi's perception of China as a threat. The PAVN high command henceforth had to assume, for planning purposes, that the Chinese might come again and might not halt in the foothills but might drive on to Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
. The border war strengthened Soviet-Vietnamese relations. The Soviet military role in Vietnam increased during the 1980s as the Soviets provided arms to Vietnam; moreover, Soviet ships enjoyed access to the harbors at Danang and Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in the province of Khánh Hòa. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers / 180 miles northeast of Hồ Chí Minh City / Saigon.Cam Ranh is...
, and Soviet reconnaissance aircraft operated out of Vietnamese airfields. The Vietnamese responded to the Chinese campaign by turning the districts along the China border into "iron fortresses" manned by well-equipped and well-trained paramilitary troops. In all, an estimated 600,000 troops were assigned to counter Chinese operations and to stand ready for another Chinese invasion. The precise dimensions of the frontier operations were difficult to determine, but its monetary cost to Vietnam was considerable.
By 1987 China had stationed nine armies (approximately 400,000 troops) in the Sino-Vietnamese border region, including one along the coast. It had also increased its landing craft fleet and was periodically staging amphibious landing exercises off Hainan Island, across from Vietnam, thereby demonstrating that a future attack might come from the sea.
Low-level conflict continued along the Sino-Vietnamese border as each side conducted artillery shelling and probed to gain high spots in the mountainous border terrain. Border incidents increased in intensity during the rainy season, when Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
attempted to ease Vietnamese pressure against Cambodian resistance fighters.
Since the early 1980s, China pursued what some observers described as a semi-secret campaign against Vietnam that was more than a series of border incidents and less than a limited small-scale war. The Vietnamese called it a "multifaceted war of sabotage." Hanoi officials have described the assaults as comprising steady harassment by artillery fire, intrusions on land by infantry patrols, naval intrusions, and mine planting both at sea and in the riverways. Chinese clandestine activity (the "sabotage" aspect) for the most part was directed against the ethnic minorities of the border region. According to the Hanoi press, teams of Chinese agents systematically sabotaged mountain agricultural production centers as well as lowland port, transportation, and communication facilities. Psychological warfare operations were an integral part of the campaign, as was what the Vietnamese called "economic warfare
Economic warfare
Economic warfare is the term for economic policies followed as a part of military operations during wartime.The purpose of economic warfare is to capture critical economic resources so that the military can operate at full efficiency and/or deprive the enemy forces of those resources so that they...
"--encouragement of Vietnamese villagers along the border to engage in smuggling, currency speculation, and hoarding of goods in short supply.
In recent years, both countries have pursued good relations and downplayed the years of hostility from 1979-1988. As a result, the Sino-Vietnamese conflict is generally not on the list of topics that may be openly mentioned in print or the media in present-day China, although veterans of the war are allowed to discuss their experiences on the Internet and correspond with their Vietnamese counterparts. On the other hand, a group of Chinese college students in 2007 discussed online plans for an invasion and conquest of Vietnam. This provoked considerable alarm in Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
, but the Chinese government stated that these were in no way officially sanctioned.
After Ronald Reagan was elected US president in 1980, he gave a speech criticizing the Beijing government and proposing that diplomatic ties with Taiwan be restored. This aroused panic in China, and Reagan was convinced by his advisors to retract these statements. Vice President George Bush (who had been liaison officer to China from 1972–1978) then apologized for the president's remarks.
Despite this, Sino-US relations took a downward turn in 1981-1982. The Chinese took umbrage at Reagan's vocal anti-communism, even though it was mainly directed at the Soviet Union, as well as continued US arms sales to Taiwan. There were various minor squabbles such as the granting of asylum to a prominent tennis player, Hu Na, who feared persecution for refusing to join the CCP. China cancelled several educational and cultural exchange programs with the United States as a result of this episode. The US invasion of Grenada and stationing of missiles in Western Europe met with Chinese disapproval, and the two countries took opposing sides on the Falkland Islands conflict, the Palestinian question, and the presence of American troops in South Korea. By 1984, Sino-US relations had improved and President Reagan visited Beijing in April–May of that year. The trip went well, although a speech made by Reagan that promoted capitalism, democracy, and religious freedom, as well as indirect criticism of the Soviet Union, was not aired on TV in China.
In general however, China's foreign policy pronouncements were much more restrained than in the Mao era, and Beijing stated that its aim was now world peace rather than world revolution. Relations with the Soviet Union at last began to show some improvement and Foreign Minister Huang Hua led a delegation to Soviet president Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
's funeral in November 1982. Huang met with his counterpart Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet . Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1987. In the West he was given the...
and referred to Brezhnev as an "outstanding champion of world peace". He also expressed his hope for normalized Sino-Soviet relations, but in doing so apparently moved too quickly for the Beijing government, as he was removed from office almost as soon as he returned home (he had a history of making public statements that were at odds with official policy). On the state level, Sino-Soviet relations did improve during the 1980s. Trade and cultural exchanges grew substantially, but there was no indication of improved ties on the party level and no sign that the CCP was willing to treat the CPSU as an equal. Nagging foreign policy problems remained such as the presence of Soviet troops and nuclear missiles in Mongolia, as well as continued Soviet support for Vietnam and its occupation of Cambodia.
Economic Reform and Opening up
The new, pragmatic leadership emphasized economic development and renounced mass political movements. At the pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th CCP Congress, opened on 22 December 1978, the leadership adopted economic reform policies known as the Four ModernizationsFour Modernizations
The Four Modernizations were goals, set forth by Zhou Enlai in 1963, to strengthen the fields of agriculture, industry, national defense, science and technology...
. These tenets aimed at expanding rural income and incentives, encouraging experiments in enterprise autonomy, reducing central planning, and establishing direct foreign investment in Mainland China. The Plenum also decided to accelerate the pace of legal reform, culminating in the passage of several new legal codes by the National People's Congress
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress , abbreviated NPC , is the highest state body and the only legislative house in the People's Republic of China. The National People's Congress is held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China; with 2,987 members, it is the...
in June 1979.
The goals of Deng's reforms were summed up by the Four Modernizations: the modernization of agriculture, industry, science and technology, as well as the military. The strategy for achieving these aims, all of which were designed to help China become a modern, industrial nation, was "socialism with Chinese characteristics". It opened a new era in Chinese history known as "Reforms and Opening up"(改革开放) to the Outside World.
The ten-year plan drafted by Hua Guofeng in 1978 was quickly abandoned on the grounds that China had neither the budget or the technical expertise to carry it out. Instead, a more modest five-year plan was adopted that emphasized light industry and consumer production.
In September 1982, the 12th Party Congress convened in Beijing. The United States and the Soviet Union were again criticized for imperialism and reunification with Taiwan stressed. Most importantly, another new constitution was adopted in place of the 1978 document. This version (which remains China's constitution to the present day) emphasized foreign assistance in modernizing and developing the country, thus rejecting the Maoist self-reliance of the 1975 and 1978 constitutions. The last remaining references to the Cultural Revolution were also removed. Instead, the 1982 constitution stated that the "exploiter" class had been eliminated in China and so class struggle was no longer a relevant issue.
However, these changes were not managed without overcoming opposition in the party, bureaucracy, and military. There were still a few extremist followers of the Gang of Four, but not many and efforts were made to weed them from the party. There did exist a large number of Stalinists who believed in orthodox central planning, and socio-political conformity. This group generally wanted to return to the ways of the 1950s and restore ties with the Soviet Union, believing that the communist world was China's natural friend. In particular, many of the Stalinists thought that Deng Xiaoping was moving too far in dismantling Mao's legacy and allowing greater freedom of expression. The largest number of them were in the military, which complained about having its budget cut from 10% of China's total GDP in 1978 to 5% by 1982. Several weapons projects that had been in the works during the '70s were dropped due to being too expensive and unnecessary and generals also objected at being asked to produce consumer goods (a common practice in the Soviet Union) instead of receiving badly needed defense modernization. Deng stressed the need for military obedience to party directives, reminding them of Mao's dictum that "The party must control the gun, but the gun must never be allowed to control the party." A higher degree of professionalism was emphasized in the PLA during the 1980s and the system of ranks that had been abolished in 1965 was slowly restored. On National Day (October 1) 1984, China staged its first military parade since 1959. These parades had been held every year during the 1950s, then called off due to cost reasons. The 1984 event however showed the relative backwardness of China's armed forces, which had only recently reached the technological level of the Soviet Union 25 years earlier.
Deng argued that China was in the primary stage of socialism and that the duty of the party was to perfect "socialism with Chinese characteristics." This interpretation of Chinese Marxism reduced the role of ideology in economic decision-making and emphasized policies that had been proven to be empirically effective, stressing the need to "seek truth from facts". Rejecting Mao's idealistic, communitarian values but not necessarily the values of Marx and Lenin, Deng emphasized that socialism did not mean shared poverty (thus repudiating the Gang of Four's slogan "We would rather be poor under socialism than rich under capitalism.") Unlike Hua Guofeng, Deng believed that no policy should be rejected out of hand simply because it had not been associated with Mao. Unlike more conservative leaders such as Chen Yun
Chen Yun
Chen Yun was one of the most influential leaders of the People's Republic of China during the 1980s and 90s, and one of the top leaders of the Communist Party of China for almost its entire history. He was also known as Liao Chengyun ; it's unclear whether this was his original name or a pseudonym...
, Deng did not object to policies on the grounds that they were similar to those found in capitalist nations. He merely stated that these ideas were part of the common heritage of mankind and not specifically tied to either capitalism or socialism.
Although Deng provided the theoretical background and the political support to allow economic reform to occur, few of the economic reforms that Deng introduced were originated by Deng himself. Local leaders, often in violation of central government directives introduced many reforms. If successful and promising, these reforms would be adopted by larger and larger areas, and ultimately introduced nationally. Many other reforms were influenced by the experiences of the East Asian Tigers
East Asian Tigers
The Four Asian Tigers or Asian Dragons is a term used in reference to the highly developed economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. These nations and areas were notable for maintaining exceptionally high growth rates and rapid industrialization between the early 1960s and 1990s...
. Among other things, it was now being admitted that Taiwan's per-capita GDP was three times that of the mainland.
This is in sharp contrast to the economic restructuring, or perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
, undertaken by Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, in which Gorbachev himself originated most of the major reforms. Many economists have argued that the bottom-up approach of Deng's reforms, in contrast to the top-down approach of Perestroika, was a key factor in his success.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, Deng's reforms included introduction of planned, centralized management of the macro-economy by technically proficient bureaucrats, abandoning Mao's mass campaign style of economic construction. However, unlike the Soviet model or China under Mao, this management was indirect, through market mechanisms, and much of it was modeled after economic planning and control mechanisms in Western nations.
This trend did not impede the general move toward the market at the microeconomic
Microeconomics
Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the behavior of how the individual modern household and firms make decisions to allocate limited resources. Typically, it applies to markets where goods or services are being bought and sold...
level. Deng sustained Mao's legacy to the extent that he stressed the primacy of agricultural output and encouraged a significant decentralization of decision-making in the rural economy teams and individual peasant households. At the local level, material incentives rather than political appeals were to be used to motivate the labor force, including allowing peasants to earn extra income by selling the produce of their private plots on the free market. In the main move toward market allocation, local municipalities and provinces were allowed to invest in industries that they considered most profitable, which encouraged investment in light manufacturing. Thus, Deng's reforms shifted China's development strategy to emphasize light industry and export-led growth.
Light industrial output was vital for a developing country that was working with relatively little capital. With its short gestation period, low capital requirements, and high foreign exchange export earnings, the revenues that the light-manufacturing sector generated could be reinvested in more technologically advanced production and further capital expenditures and investments. However, these investments were not government-mandated, in sharp contrast to the similar but much less successful reforms in Yugoslavia and Hungary. The capital invested in heavy industry largely came from the banking system, and most of that capital came from consumer deposits. One of the first items of the Deng reforms was to prevent reallocation of profits except through taxation or through the banking system; hence, the reallocation in more "advanced" industries was somewhat indirect. In short, Deng's reforms sparked an industrial revolution in China.
These reforms were a reversal of the Maoist policy of autarky and economic self-reliance. The PRC decided to accelerate the modernization process by stepping up the volume of foreign trade, especially the purchase of machinery from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the West. By participating in such export-led growth, the PRC was able to step up the Four Modernizations by taking advantage of foreign funds, markets, advanced technologies, and management experience. Deng also attracted foreign companies to a series of Special Economic Zones, where capitalist business practices were encouraged.
Another important focus of the reforms was the need to improve labor productivity. New material incentives and bonus systems were introduced. Rural markets selling peasants' homegrown products and the surplus products of communes were revived. Not only did rural markets increase agricultural output, they stimulated industrial development as well. With peasants able to sell surplus agricultural yields on the open market, domestic consumption stimulated industrialization, and also created political support for more difficult economic reforms.
Deng's market socialism
Market socialism
Market socialism refers to various economic systems where the means of production are either publicly owned or cooperatively owned and operated for a profit in a market economy. The profit generated by the firms system would be used to directly remunerate employees or would be the source of public...
, especially in its early stages, was in some ways parallel to Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
's New Economic Policy
New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy was an economic policy proposed by Vladimir Lenin, who called it state capitalism. Allowing some private ventures, the NEP allowed small animal businesses or smoke shops, for instance, to reopen for private profit while the state continued to control banks, foreign trade,...
and Bukharin's economic policies, in that they all foresaw a role for private entrepreneurs and markets based on trade and pricing rather than government mandates of production. An interesting anecdotal episode on this note is the first meeting between Deng and Armand Hammer
Armand Hammer
Armand Hammer was an American business tycoon most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, a company he ran for decades, though he was known as well as for his art collection, his philanthropy, and for his close ties to the Soviet Union.Thanks to business interests around the world and his...
. Deng pressed the industrialist and former investor in Lenin's Soviet Union for as much information on the NEP as possible.
Concurrent with economic reforms, China began a major crackdown on crime in what became known as "Strike Hard" campaigns. These have been launched periodically up to the present day and are typically accompanied by the liberal use of capital punishment and occasionally even mass executions. This stands in contrast to the Mao era, where executions were relatively rare after the CCP's consolidation of power during 1950-1952 and criminals were generally punished with labor reform and political reeducation.
Tiananmen Square protests
At the same time, political dissent as well as social problems, including inflationInflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
, political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, massive urban migration
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
, and prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
emerged. The 1980s saw a surge in intellectual material as the country emerged out of the conformity of the Cultural Revolution; the time period between 1982–89 saw freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
like never before, and has since then never been seen again. Two prominent schools of thought emerged. One school composed of students and intellectuals who urged greater economic and political reforms; the other, composed of revolutionary party elders, became increasingly skeptical on the pace and the ultimate goals of the reform program, as it deviated from the intended direction of the Communist Party.
Hard-liners in the party and especially the military stated that "art and literature must serve politics", while moderates were willing to tolerate apolitical material. Nonetheless, writers and artists were still told that their primary job was to "educate the people to believe in socialism". As such, the party took a stand against certain Western ideas and philosophies, as well as abstract theories of human nature. Highly personal poetry and discussions of the subconscious were viewed as representing an "unhealthy" tendency. Officials also took a stand against pornography, which was being imported from Hong Kong in large quantities. This was coming at a time when many young people were skeptical of the party's leadership and increasingly questioning whether it was really possible to achieve socialism or if doing so was desirable.
In late 1983, there appeared to be a brief revival of the Cultural Revolution when the "Anti Spiritual Pollution" campaign was launched. Pornography and unacceptable writings were confiscated, people with Western hairstyles were forced to cut their hair, and army units were required to sing "Socialism is Good", a venerable tune that had been banned during the CR for "keeping the people too quiet." However, Deng Xiaoping rather quickly halted the campaign.
During the 1980s, religious freedom was restored in China after having been virtually outlawed in 1966-1976. The state recognized five official faiths, Protestantism, Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and Taoism. Houses of worship were permitted to operate with a license and under the condition that they not oppose the party and socialism. This religious settlement remains in China to the present day.
In December 1986, student demonstrators, taking advantage of the loosening political atmosphere, staged protests against the slow pace of reform, confirming party elders' fears that the current reform program was leading to a kind of social instability, the same kind that killed hundreds of millions between the years of the Opium War and the founding of the PRC. Inspired by Fang Lizhi, a physicist from University of Science and Technology of China who gave speeches criticizing Deng's go slow policies, students took to protest. The students were also disenchanted with the amount of control the government exerted, citing compulsory calisthenics and not being allowed to dance at rock concerts. Students called for campus elections, the chance to study abroad, and greater availability of western pop culture. Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang was a leader of the People's Republic of China who served as both Chairman and Party General Secretary. Hu joined the Chinese Communist Party in the 1930s, and rose to prominence as a comrade of Deng Xiaoping...
, a protégé of Deng and a leading advocate of reform, was blamed for the protests and forced to resign as the CPC General Secretary in January 1987. In the "Anti Bourgeois Liberalization Campaign", Hu would be further denounced. Premier Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang was a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China . He was the third Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989....
was made General Secretary and Li Peng
Li Peng
Li Peng served as the fourth Premier of the People's Republic of China, between 1987 and 1998, and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, from 1998 to 2003. For much of the 1990s Li was ranked second in the Communist Party of China ...
, a staunch conservative who was unpopular with the masses, formerly Vice Premier and Minister of Electric Power and Water Conservancy, was made Premier.
After Zhao became the party General Secretary, the economic and political reforms he had championed came under increasing attack from his colleagues. His proposal in May 1988 to accelerate price reform led to widespread popular complaints about rampant inflation and gave opponents of rapid reform the opening to call for greater centralization of economic controls and stricter prohibitions against Western influence. This precipitated a political debate, which grew more heated through the winter of 1988–1989.
The death of Hu Yaobang on April 15, 1989, coupled with growing economic hardship caused by high inflation and other social factors, provided the backdrop for a large-scale protest movement by students, intellectuals, and other parts of a disaffected urban population. University students and other citizens in Beijing camped out at Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world...
to mourn Hu's death and to protest against those who would slow reform. Their protests, which grew despite government efforts to contain them, although not strictly anti-Government in nature, called for an end to official corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
and for the defense of freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
Constitution of the People's Republic of China
The Constitution of the People's Republic of China is the highest law within the People's Republic of China. The current version was adopted by the 5th National People's Congress on December 4, 1982 with further revisions in 1988, 1993, 1999, and 2004. Three previous state constitutions—those of...
. Protests also spread through many other cities, including Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, and Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
.
On April 26, the central leadership, under Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
, issued the 4-26 Editorial on People's Daily
People's Daily
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
, which was subsequently broadcast on national media, denouncing all recent actions of protest as a form of "turmoil" (动乱). The editorial was the first in a series of events in an effort to contain the escalating protests through forceful measures. Thereafter, Deng's actions caused the presidency to have much greater power than originally intended. Various leaders sympathetic to the students, most notably Wan Li
Wan Li
Wan Li was during a long administrative career in the People's Republic of China Vice Premier, National People's Congress Chairman, and a member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, its Secretariat and its Politburo...
, then the NPC Chairman with a degree of constitutional powers to prevent full military action, were placed under house arrest after landing in Beijing. Wan's seclusion ensured that Premier Li Peng
Li Peng
Li Peng served as the fourth Premier of the People's Republic of China, between 1987 and 1998, and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, from 1998 to 2003. For much of the 1990s Li was ranked second in the Communist Party of China ...
was able, in cooperation with Deng, then-head of the Central Military Commission, to use the office of the Premier to declare martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
in Beijing and order the military crackdown of the protests. This was in direct opposition to the wishes of the Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang was a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China . He was the third Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989....
and other members of the Politburo Standing Committee
Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Communist Party of China, whose membership varies between 5 and 9 people. The inner workings of the PSC are not well known, although it is believed that decisions of the PSC are...
.
Martial law was declared on May 20, 1989. Late on June 3 and early on the morning of June 4, a date now synonymous with the movement in the Chinese language, military units were called from neighboring provinces and brought into Beijing. Armed force was used to clear demonstrators from the streets. Official PRC estimates place the number of deaths at between two to three hundred, whilst groups such as the Red Cross believe the number to be in the two to three thousand range.
After the protests, the Chinese government faced hordes of criticism from foreign governments for the suppression of the protests, the government reined in remaining sources of dissent that were a threat to order and stability, detained large numbers of protesters, and required political re-education not only for students but also for insubordinate party cadre and government officials. Zhao Ziyang would be placed under house arrest until his death some 16 years later, and due to the subject still being largely taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
in China, Zhao has not yet been politically rehabilitated.
One Child Policy
In 1979, the Chinese government instituted a one child policy to try to control its rapidly increasing populationOverpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
. The policy, while controversial, is widely approved by the Chinese people, and has resulted in a dramatic decrease in child poverty. The law currently applies to about a third of the mainland Chinese, and does not apply to minority ethnic groups. As a result of this policy, the demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
of China are rapidly changing.