by Andre Sanchez

After the downfall of Mao’s Cultural Revolution,  China was crying out in need of a leader who could take it into the 20th century.  That person was Deng Xiaoping, who stated leaders to be men, not gods.

When the ten year Cultural Revolution came to an end in 1976,  China entered into a new period of its history.  To enable this to be carried out successfully,  a new leader was needed. Deng stood out as one who had achieved success in his struggle against the Gang of Four, and was highly regarded by the Party and the people.  He was not a follower of Communist ideology, and although he nevertheless firmly believed in one party rule, he also encouraged independent thought. 

As a result, people began to serious consider the position China was in and seek solutions to the problems. People began to act on logic rather than old ideology, and when the Third Plenary Session of the party’s Eleventh Central Committee convened in December, 1978, it was the beginning of new China.  The idea that class struggle was the key element of a socialist society was discarded, and Deng promoted a policy of social modernization.

One of his first reforms was to set up a system whereby life tenure of Party members in positions of political authority, that led invariable to the country being governed by the aged, was gradually replaced by a succession of younger members.  This radically changed the way China was governed with those in authority being more representative of the country as a whole.

China was at last starting to fall into line with the rest of the world and develop as a normal country should.  Without such reforms, China would never have been able to open itself to the outside world which, until then, was developing at a significantly faster rate than China was.  Until Deng took the reins of his country it was in danger of remaining a mediaeval backward part of a continent that was rapidly progressing, both socially and economically.

However, there was one fly in the ointment, and that was the continuing legacy of Mao Zedong.  There were those that vilified him and others that worshipped him and his historical role in China.  Deng presided over the drafting of a document that condemned the Cultural Revolution as the disaster that it was but at the same time praising Mao Zedong Thought, and recognizing that this should be developed.  The result of this was to clear up the confusion people had about Mao’s place in history, to unite all members of the Party irrespective of their personal views on Mao, and to bring a degree of stability that was required if the reforms were to have the desired effect.

Deng was the first to propose that China undertake economic reform in order to convert it into a  modern, prosperous socialist country.  He proposed that people be allowed to become prosperous through hard work, and that they be allowed to use their initiative in selling their own produce in a free market.  Self governing villages and towns were enabled to invest in industries that they regarded as profitable, and this helped to promote light industry and manufacturing. In these ways, financial incentives were used to motivate the people rather than political ideology.

The result was astonishing, and the standard of living of the country dwellers rose by so much that the reforms were applied in the cities.  Special economic zones were set up and fourteen cities were opened to the outside world  in order to facilitate this.  Deng promoted the economic cooperation of China with other countries in order to take their capital for internal investment and use their technologies to enable China to compete in foreign markets, and so develop its own economy. 

He proposed that the private sector be developed, but that socialism remains the dominant force. The result was that capital generated through favorable foreign exchange rates and light manufacturing exports was able to be reinvested in heavier industry and technology and so further improve the economy.

On his death in 1992 from a lung infection, Deng Xiaoping was a man who brought China kicking into the modern age and opened its borders to the outside world.  A China that now has the fastest growing economy in the world. He was a man of great vision with the view that  ‘socialism does not mean shared poverty’, and once his reforms began to take effect he urged that they be applied faster and faster so that the rollercoaster of economic  recovery could gather more and more speed.

Ironically, the man who did not believe in deification of great leaders was himself revered as almost a god by the communist leadership before his work was done.

The Reforms of Deng Xiaoping was originally published at http://www.globallifenow.com