Jiang Zemin
International Successes:
Failures within party
 Nov 1997: Yeltsin agreed to demilitarize
the 4300 mile border (russian president)
 1997: Britain hands Hong Kong back to
 Increased factionalism in the party
China, under a ‘one country two
(between his own and traditional
systems’ policy . Policy was designed by
marxists) through the inclusion of
Deng as a model for reunification with
private businessmen
Taiwan but Jiang presided over the
 Worsened by the Three Represents
trade.
campaign, as people thought
 Improved relations w USA: Clinton and
'advanced productive forces’ was
Jiang had a debate, Jiang visited Bush
another name for capitalism.
at his ranch in 2002
 July 2001: China wins its bid for the
Censorship (political/ social and press)
2008 Olympics
 “Fearful of becoming China's
 December 2001: China acceeds to the
Gorbachev, Jiang continued the
World trade Organization
repression of democratic activism,
the crackdown on religious
freedoms, and the denial of basic
Domestic Successes:
human rights”
 Reduced opposition to the party rule
 Refer to Falun Gong crackdowns
while advocating Chinese economic and
 police rooted out religious groups
international interests.
 Launched crackdowns on corruption,
Failure towards political liberalisation
organized crime, smuggling and other
 “people continued to be detained
descent known as Strike Hard.
and sentenced to terms of
 Businessmen were allowed party
imprisonment or ‘reeducation
membership. That, combined with his
through labor’
crackdowns ensured CCP rule for years
 In response to outcry of human
to come.
rights abuses: echoed Deng’s idea:
 Living standards of the chinese people
political liberalism must follow
rose with economic growth. Businesses
economic growth and social
enjoyed greater independence, and
stability.
poverty continued to decline.
 survival and development > other
 Use of propaganda: Introduced his 3
rights
represents ideology through a play
called ‘the vanguard of an era’ featuring Failure to reunify with Taiwan:
the stories of six heroes who personified
 Unwilling to create a new
the idea of the theory . Was praised by
reunification plan with Taiwan
the People Daily and other official
 Unwilling to coalesce with the
newspapers
Kuomintang to form a Chinese
Economic:
 Increased foreign investment by
reducing regulation
 Continued economic reform and
development
federation
Western Influence
 Increasing western influence along
with diminishing job security
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The nation gained WTO membership.
China’s economic boom averted threats
to Zemin’s power. [Alex Berenberg]
From 1996 to 2000, China's economy
grew more than 8 percent per year,
while total trade reached US$474.3
billion. Increased standards of living and
financial stability for the Chinese
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reduced his party’s grip over
political power
This necessitated greater
crackdowns on liberties
‘Spiritual civilization’
campaign: Bruce Gilley/Andrew
Nathan argue that this was put in
place to save chinese culture from
the invasion of western ideas.
Andrew Nathan (Harvard
Professor): Called Jiang a ‘slippery
and devious politician
whose priority was holding onto
power”
1990s (mid): Chinese economy
became overheated. Local officials
were jailed for approving large
projects without government
approval.
 Thousands of workers were
mobilized for emergency
projects
 Price controls introduced
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping#Takes_power_and_rule_1977%E2%80%931989
Deng Xiaoping
Deng’s return to power in the late 70s:
How he returned to power
 Death of Mao
 Hua Guofeng wanted to rid the Party of extremists and successfully marginalised the Gang
of Four.
 The official CCP newspaper, The People's Daily accused the group of trying to "rebuild" the
Communist Party, excluding senior officials and creating a "mass organisation".
 Chinese authorities now regard "pleading the Gang's innocence" as a "counter-revolutionary
act".

How he consolidated power to become ‘paramount leader’
 By carefully mobilizing his supporters within the party, Deng outmaneuvered Hua, who had
pardoned him, then ousted Hua from his top leadership positions by 1980
 Deng gradually outmaneuvered his political opponents. By encouraging public criticism of the
Cultural Revolution, he weakened the position of those who owed their political positions to
that event, while strengthening the position of those like himself who had been purged during
that time.
 Boluan Fanzheng (Beijing Spring) campaign: the removal of Cultural Revolution-era
Maoist policies, rehabilitation of victims of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese economic
reforms begin. But leaders of the CR faced minimal punishment. Scientists and
intellectuals were reintroduced into the labor force
 Legal controversy: perpetrators of crimes during the Cultural Revolution were
not legally persecuted (Guangxi Massacre)
Tiananmen Square:
Causes of the Democracy Movement (1980)
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Founding document: Wei Jingsheng’s Fifth Modernization, argued that political
liberalization was essential, got him sentenced to 15 years in prison
Short-Term cause of the tiananmen square protests: Death of reformer Hu Yaobang
 Triggered by the death of Hu Yaobang, a reform-minded Communist Party
Leader who had been removed from power two years earlier, several thousand
college students took to the streets to demand the posthumous rehabilitation of
Hu and a reversal of verdicts on the 1986-87 student demonstrations.
Structural/Institutional Causes:
 There was widespread discontent with the economic reforms, with corruption, and with
Communist ideology
 Decentralization without creating adequate regulatory authorities increased
political corruption
 State’s limited budget for education + limited opportunities for participating in prosperous
sectors of the market sector of the economy impacted students and intellectuals
 Sense that Eastern European reforms were leaving China behind in the communist
world
 Role of Media: Press was censored (part of the reform demands), however due to
campaigns to repair the party image, they had begun reporting on corruption (Caused
outrage)
 many segments of society that had experienced extreme disenfranchisement during the
Cultural Revolution and earlier CCP policies finally had a forum to vent their frustrations
 Economic faults of economic reform were not as important to the democracy movement
as the impact of these reforms on Chinese society (Xiao Xiaoming)
Timeline
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15 April 1989 - Hu Yaobang’s death
18-21 April - demonstrations spread, complains of dictatorship, inflation, housing,
salaries
22 April - Hu Yaobang’s memorial.
 Thousands gather despite warning from city govt that they were risking
‘severe punishment’
 Submit petition to meet with Li Peng (premiere), denied
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26 April - The Necessity for a Clear Stand Against Turmoil published by People’s
Daily, inflammatory, public outrage at the protesters
4 May - anniversary of the 4 May movement, tens of thousands have gathered
13 May - Hunger Strike before Gorbachev’s visit
15 May - Gorbachev’s state visit. Protests force govt to cancel official plans to
welcome him in the Square (diplomatic embarrassment)
19 May: Zhao Ziyang visits students on Tiananmen Square: final appeal for peace
 accompanied by Li Peng & Wen Jiabao, who will eventually become China's
premier in the future
 Zhao famously said ‘we have come too late’: one of his last political acts
20 May: Martial law declared, troops move into the city
24 May - 1 June: No visible security presence, atmosphere of jubilation among
protesters
2 June: Offensive approved
3 June : Night of Bloodshed: Army tries to break through barricades set up by
unarmed citizens, many deaths
4 June: Outrage at the worst night of bloodshed in Beijing under communist rule,
 the government claims the military campaign as a victory.
 Beijing English Radio station criticizes government for ‘barbarous suppression’
and ‘gross violation of human rights’
 Goddess of democracy statue destroyed by soldiers
5 June: Army has complete control of Beijing
9 June: Deng appears for the first time, praising military, criticizing student
protesters
Short-term impact of Tiananmen Square demonstrations + suppression
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China was singled out by human rights organizations as an abuser
Democratic nations supported the demonstrations, but remained silent about the
repression
Zhao replaced as General Secretary by a Deng loyalist
Deng resigned
Deng’s Reforms
10 Year Plan
 This was reminiscent of Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP). Included the use
of bonuses to increase productivity.
 Cost of the first year of the Ten Year Plan was around 40% of the GDP. Government
could not sustain this type of investment
 Even national newspapers like (Renmin Ribao) People’s Daily claimed that the initial
phase of the 10 year plan was flawed due to lack of preparation (which led to enormous
wastes).
 June 1979: Three year period created for the tweaking of the Ten Year Plan, announced
by Hua Guofeng.
 (Opposite to what Mao was aiming to do during the cultural revolution, he emphasised
self sufficiency and the growth of heavy industry)
1. Changes in Industry and Manufacturing (due to fiscal consolidation)
a. Iron, coal, steel and oil production were emphasized (Capital construction and
improvements in heavy industries). A total of 120 projects were to be completed
as per the objectives in 1977-78
i.
Early in the plan it was realized that targets were too ambitious, which is
why objectives were scaled back in 1979
b. Phase 1 (1978 - 84): The focus was on improving the attitude of the industrial
working class. Most workers viewed industrial work as a guaranteed job, (no
commission-based work) so their incentives were lacking
i.
There was a movement away from central planning to merely providing guidelines.
Mirroring the HRS (see agriculture below), the Industrial Responsibility System was created
(IRS).
ii.
Industrial Responsibility System (mirrored HRS see below) introduced
iii.
Supervisory body of a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) would have a contractual
agreement: percentage of production/profits would go to the state and SOE retained any
surplus.
iv.
Incentivized the improvement of levels of production, later the focus also shifted to
quality of production
v.
By 1980 there were 6600 SOEs
c. Phase 2 (1984 - 89): It was introduced in October ‘84, with the “Resolution on the
Reform of the Economic System”.
i.
This further loosened government control over enterprises while retaining public
ownership.
ii.
The resolution emphasized the ownership and management were
distinct entities, and the management should be given some amount of
autonomy to improve production
iii.
Private groups could now lease small and medium state enterprises, larger ones
remained directly under the control of the state.
d. Special Economic Zones
Local bubbles with loose economic regulations
Encourages entrepreneurship and foreign investment
iii.
Encouraged to produce goods at a lower price to profit in the
global market
iv.
The 24 million migrant workers who arrived in SEZs between 1978 and 1988 had an
economic ripple effect as their remittances helped raise the standard of living in rural areas.
v.
Remittance: money sent back home by migrant workers
i.
ii.
vi.
vii.
d. Foreign Investment
A law on joint ventures was passed in 1979 allowing foreign investment.
Tax reductions and devaluation of the yuan.
2.
Agriculture
a.
Priorities were shifted away from heavy industry towards agriculture and light industry
following the tweaking of the plan (1979)
b.
Investment in agriculture was increased from 26 billion to $59 billion
c.
Light manufacturing industries that could earn foreign currency were encouraged
d.
Construction + heavy industry was cut back
e.
Household Responsibility System, implemented in 1979
i.
Succeeded the Maoist communes wherein there was neither an agricultural market nor
private cultivation of land
ii.
Each farming household received a plot of land which they could use as they saw fit, but
this was not private land, just private cultivation (not private ownership)
iii.
They would contract with their local commune to provide a certain amount of work and
crops- and a quota would go back to the commune in exchange for using the land for 15 years
iv.
Households had control of labour and produce within the household and could allocate it
how they saw fit
v.
They could keep or sell surplus produce (which then created a market)
vi.
By 1983, 90 percent of households were participating due to the strong incentive. HRS
policy still exists- as it increased productivities and allowed for a chain reaction of development
on the whole economy
vii.
Deng was clearly implementing a fairly capitalist policy. Although he did not introduce
private ownership, he still allowed market forces to act freely.
viii.
Removed the ‘Iron Rice Bowl’ Guarantee- that everyone would have a job
ix.
Deng didn’t face much opposition as the Pragmatists were in power, but still had to
justify his policies (which compromised ideological purity) to the Politburo. Deng’s justification : “
It does not matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches the mouse, it is fine”
3.
Defense
a.
During the period of border incidents and tension with the USSR in the
mid-1970s and the failed invasion of Vietnam in Feb 1979, it became clear that
the army known as the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) had weaknesses that
needed to be addressed.
i.
China required a modern, capable army with a hierarchy that
supported the other reforms taking place.
ii.
The PLA was huge but there was a lot of bureaucracy.
iii.
By the end of the 1970s, over 70 top ranking army officers had
been dismissed.
iv.
The army was restructured. If the officers had become
bureaucratic, they were sent to do bureaucratic jobs.
v.
Salaries were made competitive to reduce corruption. This worked as when there was a
huge pro-democratic protest in Tiananmen Square in 1989 demanding political reforms (similar
to those being implemented in USSR by Gorbachaev), the army proved its loyalty.
b.
In 1975, 76, Deng had supported student protests as he was not a core
member of the power regime. Now that he is heading the government, he
ordered the army to deal with them. Hundreds of protestors died.
i.
Global media was there to cover Gorbachev’s visit to China during this time so the
protest and the army dispersing the protestors also received media coverage.
4.
Science and Technology
i. Talented students were given scholarships to study overseas.
ii. Foreign universities were allowed to have campuses in China.
iii. Scientists could travel abroad and meet with foreign scientists.
iv. 1980. Further incentive was granted with the promulgation of the patent law to protect
intellectual property rights.
V. GAOKAO system reintroduced; higher education system in China restarted
Impact of the Four Modernizations
a.
By the late 1980s, the PRC had the appearance of a capitalist economy
i.
Was a source of discontent within the CCP during the ‘80s, specially by its older
members
ii.
Chen Yun (architect of the FYP in the 1950s) felt that Deng’s reforms were moving too
quickly and that the free market should be tightly controlled.
iii.
Deng referred to the PRC’s new modernizations as a new
interpretation of Maoist doctrine to end poverty
b. Special Economic Zones & Rise of Class Inequality
SEZs were tied to the world economy and created a new class of managers who were
familiar with the workings of global capitalism
ii.
Eg: Shenzhen grew from a fishing village (Across border from hong kong) into a
manufacturing hub with millions of migrants.
iii.
Outside the SEZs and in the interior, agriculture still dominated the
economy and SOEs remained uncompetitive
iv.
Up to 50,000 managers were running factories in collaboration with foreign investors by
the end of the decade
v.
Rural areas and most cities remained poorer than the SEZs : created an underclass and
an elite
i.
c. Inflation
1987-89: Problems in inflation, unemployment, income inequality, govt corruption and
worsening urban living standards became apparent
ii.
1988: inflation rate was 30%
iii.
Ccp sought to control these market forces by returning to price controls and rationing
iv.
Immanuel Hsu: those living in urban areas saw purchasing power decline by 100%
between 1983 and 1988.
i.
d. Unemployment
i.
Many workers in the SOEs lost their jobs in an effort to make industries more efficient +
competitive
ii.
As in developing countries, there was a large migration to cities from rural areas- the
average industrial worker earned 8 times what the average farmer earned
iii.
Influx from the countryside created an urban underclass of up to 1 million people in
Beijing alone by 1989. They did not qualify for government aid as they were non-official urban
residents.
e. Corruption
i.
Deng’s son had a conglomerate with over 100 subsidiaries until they shut it down in
1988 due to allegations of not paying taxes. Dynastic politicians were referred to as ‘princelings’
ii.
In 198_, 150,000 CCP members were punished for corruption/abuse of authority