COVER STORY

Line and leadership

Mao Zedong's socialist vision would remain a reference point for assessing the Deng Xiaoping line of reforms.

MANORANJAN MOHANTY

AS China celebrates the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, the people of China recall the Yi He Tuan movement, also known as the Boxer Uprising, whose centenary falls this year. It was an anti-imperialist armed struggle which star ted in Shandong province in 1899 and spread to Tianjin in early 1900 and to Beijing in May that year. The Qing dynasty dowager Ci Xi, after showing sympathy for the rebels, capitulated when the combined armed forces of Britain, Germany, Italy, Russia, th e United States and Japan landed to suppress the uprising in August. After this, yet another unequal treaty was imposed on China in 1901 giving more rights to the imperialist powers, including the right to set up their legation quarters in Beijing.

This uprising fuelled the sentiments of nationalism, leading to the 1911 Revolution that overthrew the Manchu monarchy and set up a republic. But only after the Bolshevik Revolution did the Chinese nationalist movement acquire a democratic content. The s tudents' protest in Beijing against the Treaty of Versailles giving German possessions to Japan spilled over into other cities. The May Fourth Movement of 1919 brought the masses into the political struggle against colonialism and social oppression. This struggle was led by the Communist Party of China (CPC), which was founded in 1921. After a tortuous process of political experiments, the CPC evolved its strategy of People's Democratic Revolution under the leadership of Mao Zedong and achieved victory on October 1, 1949.

The running theme of the 20th century history of China is gaining prestige for the nation and achieving welfare for the people and making them masters of their own destiny. Dr. Sun Yatsen, the leader of the 1911 Revolution, enshrined it in his Three Peop le's Principles - Nationalism, Democracy and People's Livelihood. Mao Zedong's theory of New Democratic Revolution built upon it and propounded the concept of a four-class united front of workers, peasants, petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie - constituting the people who formed 90 per cent of the population. This united front sought to carry out an anti-colonial and anti-feudal revolution. Deng Xiaoping reverted to this theme of nationalism with economic well-being in 1978 through his progra mme of reforms and an open-door policy. Mao's political line of the People's Democratic Revolution led to the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Deng's political line of building a socialist market economy has brought about significant economic successes in China and a steadily rising status for the country in the world. Deng followed the united front framework to mobilise social forces to the maximum extent in order to carry out economic modernisation.

Mao Zedong's line for building socialism was different from what Deng adopted. Mao advocated the application of the class struggle perspective while striving for economic development. He stressed that without the right political-ideological orientation e conomic growth may bring about capitalist development. The Cultural Revolution propounded this perspective, but in the course of the ideological campaigns during 1966-76, factional political battles became widespread, causing conditions of anarchy and la rge-scale persecution. Deng carried the party at the Third Plenum of December 1978 to repudiate the Cultural Revolution in toto and affirm the centrality of 'economic construction' in place of class struggle and emphasised the need for socio-polit ical stability as against the political campaigns of the Cultural Revolution.

Deng's and his successors' economic successes have put Mao's line on socialism in the museum of rejects. But two things cannot be denied. First, much of the economic successes of the reform period would not have been possible without the structure of col lective economy built during Mao's leadership. Secondly, as capitalist forces grow in China and the capitalist culture takes root and social inequality and regional disparity, corruption and crime acquire serious proportions, Mao's socialist vision remai ns a reference point to assess the Deng line of reforms. But without doubt, the living standards of every Chinese family have substantially improved during the past two decades.

WANG JIANMIA / XINHUA / AP
China's top leaders (front row, from left) Li Lanquing, Hu Jintao,
Zhu Rongji, Jiang Zemin, Li Peng,
Li Ruihuan and Wei Jianxing with nuclear and space scientists who were honoured at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 18.

The line has been put in place by a political leadership to carry it out firmly. This year is the tenth year of Jiang Zemin's leadership, which was installed by Deng Xiaoping in June 1989 after the crushing of the youth demonstrations in Tiananmen Square . Interestingly enough, both Mao and Deng tried out three sets of their colleagues to carry out their respective lines. Mao had Liu Shaoqi as his deputy in what was a collective leadership until 1965. During the Cultural Revolution, Liu was disgraced and Lin Biao, the Defence Minister, became the second-in-command. After Lin Biao's failed coup and death in an air crash in 1971, Premier Zhou Enlai took command and he brought back Deng Xiaoping. Deng was challenged by Mao's wife Jiang Qing, who led the 'G ang of Four' and was arrested in October 1976 (Mao died in September that year). Mao's designated successor, the centrist Hua Guofeng, could not withstand the new wave initiated by Deng, who proclaimed the new line at the end of 1978.

Deng Xiaoping decided not to occupy top party or state posts except a crucial position as the Chairperson of the Military Affairs Commission, which he held until after the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989. His first nominee was Hu Yaobang, who was the C PC General Secretary from 1982 to 1987 until he was replaced by Premier Zhao Ziyang. Zhao Ziyang was dismissed in June 1989 for his mishandling - read sympathising with - the Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

Jiang Zemin, then the Secretary of the Shanghai Party Committee, slowly consolidated his position as the leader since 1989. Deng reaffirmed the reform line in early 1992 during his tours of the Special Economic Zones and invoked people to carry out the r eforms vigorously without fear of capitalist restoration; he pointed out that the Communist Party leadership was there to direct it. Jiang moved fast and christened the new ideas in the 14th Party Congress as the theory of "socialist market economy" and Deng Xiaoping's theory of "building socialism with Chinese characteristics". After the death of Deng (in February 1997), the 15th Congress, held in September 1997, proclaimed Deng's theory as the new "ideological banner" of the CPC. In the meantime, Jian g assumed the office of the Chairperson of the Military Affairs Commission after Deng's retirement and became President of the People's Republic.

Jiang at 73 has sidelined his critics and challengers such as Qiao Shi who was retired in 1997 on consideration of age. He has pulled along reasonably well with former Premier Li Peng, 71, now Chairperson of the National People's Congress Standing Commit tee (NPCSC). Jiang's trusted colleague from Shanghai is Premier Zhu Rongji, also 71, who has directed the economy through periods of crisis and periods of smooth growth. Another technocrat in his team in the Standing Committee of the Politburo is Li Ruih uan, 65, who was the leader in Tianjin earlier. Now he is the Chairperson of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the United Front organ. Li Lanquing, 67, a Vice-Premier, is in charge of international economic relations, and We i Jianxing, 68, the Secretary of the Party Discipline Commission spearheading the ruthless drive against corruption, is in charge of Security Affairs. But the man of the future is Hu Jintao, the youngest member of the team at 57, the Vice-President of th e PRC who has been elevated to the post of a Vice-Chairperson of the Military Affairs Commission in the just-concluded Plenum of the CPC Central Committee. A former Secretary of Guizhou and, more important, of the Tibet Party Committee and earlier the Yo uth League leader, Hu has been the President of the Party School for many years. Jiang Zemin may be grooming him to become his successor at the 16th Party Congress to he held in 2002.

The leadership question does not seem to pose much of a problem as a common commitment to the Deng Theory has created layers of leaders in China. The Deng Theory has an intrinsic flexibility to address the burning socio-political problems that China face s at the turn of the century. But the legacies of the people's revolution of the century have created enough strength to pursue their agenda of national prestige and mass well-being and contribute to similar processes going on in other parts of the world .

Manoranjan Mohanty is Professor of Political Science, University of Delhi, and Director, Institute of Chinese Studies.