Transcript From Revolution to reform in China

FROM
REVOLUTION
TO REFORM IN
CHINA
COMMUNIST CONTROL OF CHINA
BACKGROUND – AFTER WWII CIVIL
WAR RESUMED BETWEEN MAO
ZEDONG’S (COMMUNISM) AND
JIANG JIESHI’S (NATIONALISTS)
MAO’S FORCES WON AND SET UP
THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
JIANG JIESHI AND HIS SUPPORTERS
FLED TO THE ISLAND OF TAIWAN
REASONS FOR VICTORY
MAO WON SUPPORT OF A HUGE
PEASANT POPULATION
COMMUNIST PLEDGED TO
REDISTRIBUTE LAND TO POOR
PEASANTS AND END OPPRESSION BY
LANDLORDS
MANY WOMEN BACKED MAO
THE COMMUNIST REJECTED THE
INEQUALITIES OF THE OLD
CONFUCIAN ORDER
REORGANIZING THE ECONOMY
WANTED TO MOVE TO AN INDUSTRIAL
SOCIETY
BUILD SOCIALISM AND REPAIR THE
ECONOMY
GOVERNMENT DREW UP 5 YEAR PLANS TO
DEVELOP AGRICULTURE AND HEAVY
INDUSTRY
MAO CALLED FOR COLLECTIVIZATION
REMOLDING SOCIETY
 MAO BUILT A ONE PARTY TOTALITARIAN STATE, WITH
COMMUNIST PARTY SUPREME
 COMMUNISM REPLACED TRADITIONAL THOUGHT
AND RELIGIONS
 ENDED OLD LANDLORD AND BUSINESS CLASSES – IN
PLACE PEASANTS AND WORKERS WERE HONORED –
THOUSANDS OF LANDLORDS AND MIDDLE CLASS
PEOPLE WERE BEATEN AND KILLED
 TO INCREASE LITERACY THEY SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
CHARACTERS
 READING AND WRITING WERE MIXED WITH
POLITICAL EDUCATION WHERE STUDENTS LEARNED
TO PRAISE MAO ZEDONG
CHANGES FOR WOMEN
WOMEN WON EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW
THEY WERE EXPECTED TO WORK ALONGSIDE
MEN IN FIELDS AND FACTORIES
STATE RUN NURSERIES WERE SET UP TO CARE
FOR THE CHILDREN
ONLY A FEW WOMEN WON PROMOTION TO
TOP JOBS IN GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY
WOMEN WERE OFTEN PAID LESS THAN MEN
FOR THE SAME WORK
ECONOMIC DISASTERS UNDER MAO
 GREAT LEAP FORWARD – 1958 – URGED PEOPLE TO
MAKE A SUPERHUMAN EFFORT TO INCREASE FARM
AND INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT
 HE CREATED COMMUNES – SEVERAL VILLAGES,
THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF LAND, AND UP TO 25,000
PEOPLE
 HAD ITS OWN SCHOOLS, FACTORIES, HOUSING, AND
DINING HALLS
 EACH COMMUNE HAD A PRODUCTION QUOTA
 IT WAS A HUGE FAILURE – THE COMMUNE SYSTEM
SLOWED FOOD OUTPUT
 BAD WEATHER AND DECLINING FOOD
PRODUCTION LEAD TO A TERRIBLE FAMINE
CHINA AND THE COLD WAR
THE US REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE THE
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
1971 – CHINA WON ADMISSION INTO
THE UNITED NATIONS
A YEAR LATER NIXON VISITED MAO IN
BEIJING
1979 THE US SET UP FORMAL
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CHINA
SPLIT WITH SOVIET UNION
STALIN AND MAO DISAGREED ON
MANY ISSUES
MAO HAD ADAPTED MARXISM TO
CHINESE CONDITIONS
MAO’S REVOLUTION RELIED ON
PEASANTS RATHER THAN FACTORY
WORKERS AS MARX PREFERED
REFORM AND REPRESSION
MAO ZEDONG DIED IN 1976
1981 DENG XIAOPING TAKES OVER
MORE INTERESTED IN RAISING
OUTPUT THAN IN POLITICAL PURITY
“I DON’T CARE IF A CAT IS BLACK OR
WHITE AS LONG AS IT CATCHES MICE.”
ECONOMIC REFORM
 FOUR MODERNIZATIONS – AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRY, SCIENCE,





AND DEFENSE
INTRODUCED SOME PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY AND
FREE MARKET POLICIES
IN AGRICULTURES, THE RESPONSIBILITY SYSTEM REPLACED THE
COMMUNES
GOVERNMENT TOOK A SHARE OF THEIR CROPS, BUT THE FAMILY
COULD SELL THE REST ON THE FREE MARKET
MANAGERS OF STATE RUN FACTORIES WERE GIVEN MORE
FREEDOM
DENG WELCOMED FOREIGN CAPITAL AND TECHNOLOGY
CONTINUED
 JOINT VENTURES – FOREIGN COMPANIES WOULD
ORGANIZE A BUSINESS WITH CHINESE FIRMS, WITH
PROFITS SHARED BY BOTH PARTICIPANTS
 SET UP SPEICAL ENTERPRISE ZONES – FOREIGNERS
COULD OWN AND OPERATE INDUSTRIES
 REFORMS LEAD TO GROWTH AND A BETTER
STANDARD OF LIVING FOR SOME CHINESE
 DOWNSIDE – CRIME AND CORRUPTION GREW
 INEQUALITIES INCREASED AS A NEW WEALTHY CLASS
EMERGED
TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE
 BY THE LATE 1980’S CHINESE WERE DEMANDING
MORE POLITICAL FREEDOM AS WELL AS ECONOMIC
REFORM
 THEY WANTED A DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT
 DENG HOWEVER DIDN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT
POLITICAL REFORM
 MAY 1989 TENS OF THOUSANDS OF
DEMONSTRATORS OCCUPIED TIANANMEN SQUARE
CALLING FOR DEMOCRACY
 DEMONSTRATORS REFUSED TO DISPERSE AND THE
GOVERNMENT SENT IN TROOPS AND TANKS
 THOUSANDS WERE KILLED WHILE MANY OTHERS
WERE ARRESTED AND TORTURED
CHALLENGES TODAY
China’s population 1.339 BILLION
1980’S CHINA ESTABLISHED A ONE CHILD
POLICY TO LIMIT THE POPULATION
IF YOU HAD ONE CHILD YOU WERE GIVEN
REWARDS SUCH AS BETTER HOUSING OR
IMPROVED MEDICAL BENEFITS
IF YOU HAD MORE THAN ONE CHILD YOU
FACED FINED AND OTHER PENALTIES
THIS POLICY WORKED BETTER IN CITIES
THAN IT DID IN RURAL AREAS
WHY?
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ISSUES
 DENG XIAOPING DIED IN 1997
 BETWEEN 1978 AND 2000 CHINA’S GDP QUADRUPLED
 WORLD’S SECOND LARGEST ECONOMY BEHIND THE UNITED
STATES
 PROBLEMS
 STATE RUN INDUSTRIES WERE INEFFICIENT
 COULD NOT CLOSE BECAUSE THEY WOULD RISK HIGH
UNEMPLOYMENT
 CITIES WERE OVERFLOWING WITH MILLIONS OF PEASANTS
EAGER FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES
 INEQUALITIES BETWEEN RICH AND POOR
 COMMUNIST IDEOLOGY WEAKENED
 PEOPLE WANTED PROFIT MORE THAN THEY WANTED
SOCIALISM
HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES
THE GOVERNMENT JAILED CRITICS
CHINA USED PRISON LABOR TO PRODUCE
CHEAP GOODS FOR EXPORT
CHINESE SUPRESSED THE TIBETAN BUDDHIST
CULTURE AS WELL AS THE FALUN GONG
THE GOVERNEMNT VIEWED THE FALUN
GONG AS A POLITICAL THREAT