Political History of China

1. Political History of China

2. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Four influences: • Geographical Influences • Historical Influences before 1949 • Historical Influences of the PRC • The Political Culture

3. Geographical influence • China means “middle kingdom” or zhongguo—they are at the center of political and cultural world.  Some of its important geographical features include • access to oceans/ice free ports • many large navigable rivers • major geographical/climate splits between north and south • geographic isolation of the western part of the country • mountain ranges, deserts, and oceans that separate China from other countries • These geographic features have shaped Chinese political development for centuries. 

4. Influences before 1949: Dynastic rule • The political culture inherited from centuries of dynastic rule centers around: • Confucian values, such as order, harmony, and a strong sense of hierarchy - "superior" and "subservient" positions. • China has traditionally valued scholarship as a way to establish superiority • Strong sense of cultural identity and a relatively high degree of cultural homogeneity.  • Ethnocentrism • A strong merit-based bureaucracy long before the Europeans adopted it

5. Control by Imperialistic Nations • Imperialistic nations • "spheres of influence" • Followed by Opium War (1839-1842) • Resentment of the "foreign devils" that they eventually rebelled against. • has led China to be cautious and suspicious in her dealings with capitalist countries today. • Developed a strong sense of nationalism

6. Revolutionary upheavals • Major revolutions occurred in China in 1911 and 1949, with many chaotic times in between.  • Three themes dominated this revolutionary era: • Nationalism • Establishing a new political community • Socioeconomic Development

7. China after 1911 • The Revolution of 1911 was intended to create a modern republican form of government in China. • Instead, the country broke up into warlord-dominated regions with increasing poverty and violence. • The Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party led the revolution, but controlled few areas.

8. Kuomintang Party • Sun Yat-sen was the main leader of the 1911 Revolution and the Nationalist Party (KMT). • He died in 1925 and was succeeded as leader by Chiang Kai-shek. • Chiang cooperated with the Communists for a time, but then massacred them in 1927.

9. Life of Mao Zedong • Mao led a Communist area in Jiangxi Province in 1934, but attacks by the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) government army forced them to undergo the “Long March” lasting over a year and covering 6,000 miles to a new, safer area to the north in Shanxi Province. • Mao emerged as a hero of the people, and many of his loyal friends on the March lived on to be prominent leaders of the People's Republic of China after its founding in 1949

12. Land Reform • Mao discovered even in the 1920s that the Communists could win the support of the peasants by taking away land from the rich and sharing this with the poor. • Mao learned how to get the vast majority of peasants on his side by concentrating the confiscations on a small minority of wealthy farmers.

14. Yan’an, 1935-1948 • For over a decade, Mao and the Chinese Communist leadership operated from Yan’an in the north of China. • Land reform was carried out in Yan’an. • During most of this time, the Communists were fighting against both the KMT and the Japanese. • The Communists and the KMT competed in terms of which best represented the national interests of China against the Japanese.

15. Yan’an, 2 • At the end of the Second World War, the Russians moved into Manchuria against the Japanese and were able to share some weapons with the Chinese Communists. • Stalin urged Mao to ally with Chiang Kai-shek rather than to fight him.

16. Communist Victory, 1949 • Due to corruption and inefficiency among the KMT leadership, the Communists took power in mainland China in October, 1949. • The KMT leaders retreated to the island of Taiwan. • “Two Chinas” • Now Mao was in charge of the whole country.

17. Maoism • Mao Zedong was strongly influenced by Karl Marx and Lenin, but his version of communism is distinctly suited for China.  • He believed in the strength of the peasant, and centered his philosophy around these central values: • collectivism • struggle and activism (don’t let people get comfortable, leads to corruption) • mass line • egalitarianism (focus on peasants) • self-reliance

18. Mao in 1949

19. Trials of landlords • During 1949-1951, the Communists held mass trials of landlords and KMT leaders all over the country. • Peasants were urged to denounce crimes committed by the former rulers. • Hundreds of thousands of members of the former elite were put to death in the mass trials of 1949-1951. • Their land was then distributed among the poorer peasants. • This was the most important revolutionary act in the rural villages of China.

20. The political development of the PRC • Phases: • The Soviet Model (1949-1957) • Land Reform. • Civil Reform • Worked to eliminate opium addiction and prostitution, ending arranged marriages which increased legitimacy • Five-Year Plans • nationalize • collectivize • socialize

21. Industrialization • Between 1949 and 1960, China followed the Russian strategy of industrialization. • They built large factories in the cities. • Many Russian engineers came to China to assist in this effort. • Many of the largest factories in China today were built during this period.

23. Hundred Flowers Movement 1956 • Mao was alarmed at growth of government, so encouraged openness among the people to air their opinions • The idea was allow for more participation in policy making, instead it led to industrial strikes and public criticism of Communist policies

24. Anti-Rightest Campaign 1957 • 100,000’s of people were accused of enemies of the Revolution and demoted, fired, or sent to labor camps “Struggle against the anti-rightest resolutely”

25. The Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) • In 1958, Mao decided that the Russian strategy of industrial development was not suitable for China because it was not helping countryside. • The Great Leap Forward was a utopian effort to transform China into a radical egalitarian society.   It's emphasis was mainly economic, and it was based on four principles: • All-around development • Mass mobilization • Political unanimity and zeal • Decentralization • The Great Leap Forward was a big flop • Misreporting common and starvation occurred on mass scale 

26. Great Leap Forward, 2 • The most mocked aspect of the Great Leap Forward was the backyard steel furnaces. • Mao thought that peasants could learn to make steel on a broadly decentralized basis. • Most areas of China, however, lacked the ore and fuel for this and it took men from the farms and the harvest to make steel (and steel was subpar).

28. Great Leap Forward, 3 • Millions of peasants were pulled away from their agricultural tasks in order to engage in industrialization or water conservancy projects. • This lack of attention to the crops added to the problem of a serious drought and up to 30 million people died in China during this period.

29. Great Leap Forward, 4 • Small villages were done away with, and the peasants were moved to larger towns. • Mao attempted to have the peasants live in dormitories – with the separation of husbands and wives. • Communal kitchens and nurseries were established. • These measures failed.

31. Great Leap Forward, 5 • The Russians were insulted that the Chinese were no longer following their advice and pulled out their engineers. • Many factories that were being built could not be finished because the Russians had the plans and because the Russians provided the machinery.

32. The Cultural Revolution (1966-1978) • Political, social and economic change: • Mao’s main goal was to purify the party and the country through radical transformation. • Remove all vestiges of the old China and its hierarchical bureaucracy and emphasis on inequality.  • Included self-criticism session in the xiaozu’s • People would admit their shortcomings and promise to change • Included attacks on elites/capitalists; students would attack those who harmed them and they were sent to farms and not school • Mao died in 1976, leaving his followers divided into factions: • Radicals • The Military • The Moderates

33. Cultural Revolution, 2 • Cultural Revolution followed the Hundred Flowers Campaign (1957) which encouraged open criticism, but actually helped government locate those against government who were later imprisoned • Any Communist leader who was not strongly for equality were condemned in this movement. • The Cultural Revolution started among students (Red Guards), but it began to affect other sectors of society. • Eventually, the military stepped in and sent the students off to work as peasants. • “Reactionary” teachers and officials were common targets, who were often killed or committed suicide

34. Cultural Revolution Publicly criticized

37. Deng Xiaoping's Modernizations (1978-Present) • 1978, the new leader was Deng Xiaoping.  • New policies • "Open door" trade policy • Special Economic Zones • Reforms in education • Institutionalization of the Revolution

38. After Mao • From 1975 to 1997, China was led by Deng Xiaoping who welcomed economic reforms in the direction of capitalism (socialism with chinese characteristics). • Peasants were allowed to farm on their own and to leave the collective farms. • Local governments were permitted to establish industrial companies that functioned like capitalist firms.

39. After Mao • Mao would be turning over in his grave at the foreign investment and the consumer culture that is spreading in China today. • However, Mao’s efforts did create a strong, united Chinese state that after Mao’s death was able to make serious reforms to compete in a global economy. • Political legitimacy rests on economic growth and a rising standard of living.

40. Deng Xiaoping Theory • - "It doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice."  • The result of his leadership was a dramatic turnaround of the Chinese economy through a combination of socialist planning and the capitalist free market.  • True to Communist Party

41. Participation • Citizens are subjects of government, not participants in a political system.  • The communist state redefined political participation by creating a relationship between the Communist party and citizenship, and by defining the economic relationship between citizens and the government.  • In recent years popular social movements that support democracy, religious beliefs, and community ties over nationalism have influenced Chinese politics and helped to define China's relationships with other countries.

42. Political Party • The CCP is the largest political party in the world in terms of total formal membership, with about 58 million members at the turn of the century. • Only about 8 percent of those over eighteen (the minimum age for joining the party) are members of the CCP.  • Party membership is growing, with new members recruited largely from the CCP's Youth League.  About 68 million Chinese youths belonged to the Youth League by the late 1990s.

43. BACKGROUNDS OF PARTY MEMBERS • Transition in the backgrounds of party members.  • Cadres were peasants or factory workers, and few were intellectuals or professionals.  • Increasingly "technocratic" • Today less than 40 percent of party members come from the peasantry, although peasants  still make up the largest single group within the CCP.  • The fastest growing membership category consists of officials, intellectuals, technicians, and other professionals.  • Women make up only about 20 percent of the membership and only about 4 percent of the Central Committee.

44. INTERESTS, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, AND PROTESTS

45. Control Mechanisms of the Party • Interest groups and social movements are not permitted to influence the political process unless they are under the party-state authority.  • Mass organizations formed around occupations or social categories • All-China Federation of Trade Unions, • All-China Women's Federation.  • Danwei • Print and broadcast media is tightly controlled by the state; internet, cell phones, bloggers, challenges the states control

46. Policy Making in China • How to maintain the power of the elite • Desire to make China a world power • An orderly society • Compliance of a politically-passive people • Hope for respect from the global community

47. Protest • Difficult for the party-state to monitor citizens. • Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 • Major protests have been staged by religious groups • Village protests • Labor strikes • Stability issues

48. Other Challenges • New generations • Capitalist generation does not know Long March • Government run by technocrats, with little military experience • Urbanization • Population pressure: what do you do with 1.3 + billion people • Migration and Resource concerns • Pollution • Religion-official religion is atheism • Religious repression: Muslim, Falun Gong, Tibetan Buddhists because they take away from Party • Human Rights • Labor Rights • Information regulation-can you control over a billion people? • Corruption and use of guanxi