Deng Xiaoping
“Deng the Small and Plain”
Kevin R. Sacerdote (except where noted)
Mandarin HS Jacksonville, FL USA
Sources
Deng: A Political
Biography
Benjamin Yang,
M.E. Sharpe
Publishers (1998)
China and the
Legacy of Deng
Xiaoping
Micheal E. Marti,
Brassey’s, Inc.
(2002)
Whether a cat is black
or white makes no
difference. As long as it
catches mice, it is a
good cat
Deng Xiaoping
But he also backs
Free Trade, Not Free People
Deng Xiaoping
 Born: 1904
Died: 1997 (92)
◦ Barley 5’ Tall, 120 Lbs.
◦ Joined the Communist Revolution in
the 1920’s
◦ Became the Dominant Leader of the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
 He dismantled Maoism
(Yang)
1976 The Year of the Dragon
 January 8th Zhou Enlai Died
◦ Deng was chosen to give the funeral eulogy
◦ Mao did not attend
 Physical and Political Reasons
 Sent Pine Wreath: “In Memory of Comrade
Zhou Enlai”
 Mao reduces the role of Deng (semi-purge)
 Angry at comments about the Cultural Revolution
 Mao promotes Hua Guofeng (Yang, pp.
189-213)
1976 The Year of the Dragon
 April 7th
Politburo announces two
directives of Mao
◦ Removal of Deng from all leadership (in and
out of the CCP)
◦ BUT: Deng lost his leadership, not his party
membership
◦ Why is Mao lenient?
◦ Appoints Hua Guofeng as Premier, Mao’s heir
apparent (Yang, pp. 189-213)
1976 The Year of the Dragon
 September


Hua Guofeng heads the Politburo
The Gang of Four Attempt to seize power
◦
◦
◦
◦

9th Mao Dies
Includes Mao’s Wife Jiang Qing (Madame Mao)
Arrested Oct. 20th,
1 Million March to Cheer
Put on trial, guilty, jailed
“Nobody respected Hua as an individual
politician, but everybody had to respect him
as a legitimate authority” ( Yang, p. 196)
The Gang of Four on Trial
Gang of Four On Trial
The most celebrated defendant is Jiang Qing,
67, the widow of Mao Tse-tung
 The Gang of Four, led Mao's reckless and
violent Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976
 They were arrested four years ago, shortly
after Mao's death in 1976
 Deng had been critical of the Cultural Rev. &
the Gang of Four
 20,000-word indictment

Gang of Four Out of the Way
They were sentence to death,
 Later commuted to long-term
imprisonment
 After a period of political indoctrination
Jian Qing was released in 1991 and died
soon after

◦ some reports say she committed suicide
Prior to Mao’s Death:
Deng Falls Out of his Favor Twice
Deng Xiaoping & Liu Shaoqi (Died in Prison)
Dengs’ “Re-education(s)”
(Labeled a “Capitalist Roader”)

First time: Oct.. 20, 1969 – Feb. 20, 1973
◦ Sent to Jiangxi Province, allowed to stay in CCP
◦ Lived in a two story building
◦ Half an hour’s walk from the tractor-repair facility
 Both he and his wife worked mornings there

Deng Wrote Mao Several Times for
Forgiveness
◦ Deng Pufang (His Eldest Son allowed back to a
Hospital) (Yang, 167-173)
Deng’s Second Banishment



April 1976 until July 1977
Allowed to stay in Beijing
Fully “REHABILITATED” by the Party’s 11th
Congress
◦ Dec. 18-22, 1978
◦ Cultural Revolution was denounced
◦ Party turns on Hua Guofeng’s powers are
reduced
◦ Turning Point for Deng: “Democracy Wall”
(Yang, p. 200-205)
◦ Hu Yaobang made Party Secretary
China:
Mao
& Deng
• Mao
Zedong VS Deng Xiaoping?
• Is the China that emerged in the 1990s the type of
China that Mao Zedong had envisioned and
worked toward?
• To what extent did Deng Xiaoping’s policies and
crackdowns change China?
• How are communism and capitalism existing side
by side in China today?
www.sanjuan.edu/.../files/china%20under%20deng%20-%20economic.ppt
Background to Deng Xiaoping



Participated in the Long March with Mao
Rose to power in the CCP as the general secretary
Views on economics differed from Mao
◦ Mao = egalitarian, Deng = focused on economic development


During the failure of the Great Leap Forward, Deng suggested
allowing privatization of farms to increase food production (Lenin’s
NEP?)
Survives all of Mao’s purges
◦ Deng utilized free market to revive the economy from GLF
◦ Back to politics in 1973 with the help of Zhou Enlai

1978 becomes the Chairman of the PLA (People’s Liberation
Army) – key to controlling China
◦ He is 74 years old at the time!!!
“De-Maoization”
 Against
the Cultural Revolution – 1979
declared a major setback
 Four Modernizations :industry,
agriculture, science and technology, and
national defence
 Deng’s policies more practical and
responsive to the economic times
 Willing to alter communist ideologies
for what’s best for the country
Deng Xiao Ping’s Successes
Education:
 Tries to reverse the “un-education” of the
Cultural Revolution
◦ encourages studying abroad
◦ intellectuals sent to the farms during the Cultural
Revolution, Hundred Flowers and Great Leap
Forward were allowed to reunite with their families

Promotes learning in universities and scientific
research
*He studied in France in his 20s
Deng Xiao Ping’s Successes
Economics
 Farmers were allowed to produce more food
on their own initiative
 Private ownership is allowed
 Borrowed from foreign states to boost
infrastructure (failure?)
 1979 Special Economic Zones instead of
borrowing money
◦ First four cities Shenzen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Xiamen
near HK and Taiwan were given administrative
independence and legal freedom to conduct foreign
trade

An “open door policy” announced 1979
◦ Four “Special Economic Zones” were created
to open regions to foreign investment and
partnerships
 Markets rather than central direction
SEZs Locations
Guangdong Province
 Fujian Province
 Hainan Province
 Hunchun
 Pudong Development Zone
(Shanghai)

Southeast China
Special Economic Zones
Special tax incentive for foreign
investment in the SEZs
 Greater independence is provided for
International trade activities
 Products are primarily export oriented
 Market driven economic activity
 Attracts and utilizes foreign capital
 Means to China’s booming manufacturing
industry flowing through these zones

DENG WAS THE FIRST
COMMUNIST LEADER TO
VISIT THE USA (1979)
Deng Xiaoping’s Successes





1984 successful negotiation to return Hong Kong to the
Chinese
Agreed that HK would be returned to China in assurance
that it would keep its economic and social systems
Leads to mass emigration (a lot to Richmond) in fears of the
changeover – 80’s and 90’s
HK acts like a SEZ
Instead of China bringing down HK, it seems that the success
in HK has become a model for China to follow
Deng Xiao Ping’s Successes
Tenure was abolished and many made way
for more qualified people to take
government positions
 1984 revives China to a point that it is
self sufficient on food
 1984 successful negotiation to return
Hong Kong to the Chinese
 Mao re-unified China, Deng pushed its
economy forward

Success or Failure?
One Child Policy 1979
 1980 China has 1 billion people
 Began as a temporary measure but lasts
to today and will continue (reassessment
in 2010)
 Has been limited to urban populations
 Fines, pressures to abort a pregnancy, and
forced sterilization accompanied second
or subsequent pregnancies
Effects of One Child Policy

Caused a disdain for female babies
◦ abortion, neglect, abandonment, and even infanticide
114 males for every 100 females (world average
is 105:100)
 “Little Emperor Syndrome” of spoiled only
children
 Estimated to have lowered the population by
300 million
 80’s generation now of childbearing age and are
allowed to have two per couple (if you don’t
have siblings)

Deng Xiao Ping’s failures





Continued to purge any threats to the CCP –
1978 and 1986 puts down democratic
demonstrations
No protests (Tiananmen Square)
1979 border war with Vietnam
1979 failure to revive a relationship with Russia
Didn’t want years of revolution to go to waste –
therefore continued to push for dictatorship, not
democracy
Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989
Leaders of the 1986 demonstration were
painted as hooligans and were misleading
other students
 Hu Yaobing (General Secretary) had been
tolerant of student demonstrations and
dies in 1989
 Students gather to mourn Hu’s death

“To Get Rich is Glorious”
—attributed to Deng

Economic Reforms
◦ “Socialism and a market economy are not
incompatible”
◦ Opening to international trade and
investment
◦ Export-led growth
◦ Introduction of profit motive
◦ Special Economic Zones

“Socialism with Chinese Characteristics”
or Capitalism in a Globalized Era?
Billboard in Shenzhen
Special Economic Zone (SEZ)
An Economic Miracle
China’s economy has grown at about 8%
yearly per person for the last 30 years—
about a tenfold increase in output per
person.
 By some measures, China now has the
second-largest economy in the world.
 When Deng became leader, over half China’s
population was poor by global standard.
Now the figure stands at 10% or less.
 At the same time, there are about 28
Chinese billionaires as of 2010

The Reforms of Deng Xiaoping
How Will History Judge His Reforms?
1925 Pond’s Cream Ad
1991 Ad—same Product
Toward a Consumer Society
Deng Xiaoping
“Deng the Small and Plain”
Kevin R. Sacerdote (except where noted)
Mandarin HS Jacksonville, FL USA